They played their entire October 31 show in Tompkinsville, KY in full KISS makeup and wigs, and Tim said that they had a blast! Barry Scott & Second Wind was also on the bill, but they didn’t have a chance.

Tim explains how their alter-ego evolved…

“I was always a KISS fan growing up, and one of the guys at our new management company used to work with KISS, and it just seemed like it would be fun.

Me and Joe did our own makeup, and and Joe’s wife Rachel did Josh and Jamey’s.”

I think this may be a first… a bluegrass band, done up as KISS, playing Little Maggie.

On a more serious note, Shelton said that things were really coming together for NewFound Road right now, and all the guys are excited about 2010. They have a new booking agency (The Roots Agency) and the aforementioned management (Entertainment Services), not to mention a new CD and music video.

“Entertainment Services is run by two guys, Larry Mazer and Harvey Leeds, who have many, many years of experience in the music business. We are their first bluegrass clients. Larry used to manage KISS, and Harvey worked at Epic and Sony during the Michael Jackson hey day.

When we signed with The Roots Agency, they started sending our CD around to stir up a buzz, and I got a text from them one night saying that a couple of major players in the entertainment industry were pretty excited about the new album. The text said that they would call me in the morning to talk about it, and I was like ‘No way…  I want to know about this now!’

Tim said that he knew who Larry Mazer was from reading KISS books during his fan days, and after Googling Harvey Leeds, he was sure that these two could really help the band take it to the next level.

“They have gotten us signed with a huge agency in Europe for international dates, and are working with an artist from way outside of bluegrass who will be doing a traditional, rootsy album with hints of grass. We will be getting together with them next year to write some and hope that it will turn into something.”

I suggested that they may have started a trend with the KISS makeup…

“This might become an annual thing – each year would be better and better!”

NFR head honcho Tim Shelton is mighty pleased with the result, and he shared a few words with us about it.

“The song was written by Tim Stafford and the first time I heard it I loved it. I’m a sucker for sad songs and this song just sounds sad. The video was directed by Matt Zervos and myself, and it’s pretty much a storyline/performance video.

Watching it, I think about a prank we pulled on our banjo player, Josh Miller. The last day of the shoot was done at the Zervos family home and they’ve got a long driveway with a big iron gate at the entrance of it. The gate has a big Z in the middle of it. We were all there waiting on Josh, and upon his arrival the gate was closed and Joe Booher told him the only way to open the gate was by walking up and placing his hand on the big Z.  And he did, so there he was standing with an instrument in one hand and his other hand on the Z waiting to get in…of course all he had to do was punch in the code next to the gate to get in, but we were all in the house looking out the window watching him… funny stuff.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

You know that we had a busy IBMA when it’s Sunday morning before I have a chance to post comments on the Wednesday night showcase performances.

Sugar Hill hosted a reception late Wednesday afternoon, and I enjoyed speaking with a number of folks, including music writer, author and Wall Street Journal columnist Barry Mazor. His new book, Meeting Jimmie Rodgers, was published earlier this year, and he has a couple of new projects in the works that will be of interest to bluegrass lovers. Sorry… can’t share details yet.

I also spoke with Barry Bales, who said that the next Alison Krauss & Union Station CD which he had told us earlier would be completed in August, has been pushed back a ways. He told us that once they finished the songs they had chosen to cut, a number of them just didn’t seem strong enough, so they are heading back to the drawing board to find some new material. No predictions yet on when the album might see the light of day.

From the Sugar Hill soiree we headed to one hosted by Rural Rhythm Records. It featured sets by several of their artists, plus a special announcement. More on that later.

I made it down to the ballroom for the main stage show just in time for Joe Diffie’s set. Joe had a string of country hits in the 1990s, both as a songwriter and a singer, but he is returning now to his bluegrass roots for Rounder Records, with a new CD expected early in 2010.

NewFound Road served as Diffie’s band, with Chris Ward on fiddle and Cory Walker on resonator Guitar. Joe stuck with music from his upcoming Rounder album, and his voice was strong and definitely bluegrass. He is a very solid performer and his re-embrace of bluegrass is a welcome one, judging from the reaction on Wednesday night.

We’ll try to get some details about this CD next week.

Despite being completely worn out, I slipped downstairs to catch a couple of the late night sets. The Jeff & Vida Band was one that I had been looking forward to hearing at IBMA, and their showcase on Wednesday did not disappoint. The group is fronted by Jeff Burke and Vida Wakeman, whose original material is the basis for their recordings and live shows.

Theirs is an eclectic sound, combining buegrass, old time and traditional country in a quirky-cool mix. The band includes Jake Schepps on banjo, Justin Hoffenberg on fiddle, Greg Schochet on guitar and Will Downes on bass. Jeff plays mandolin and Vida guitar, with both sharing vocal duties. I enjoyed their music very much.

Before falling over from exhaustion, I also caught part of a set by Toy Hearts, who traveled from England for a US tour, culminating at IBMA this week. The focus here is on the Johnson sisters, Hannah on mandolin and vocals, and Sophia on guitar. They are lovely and talented young ladies, and the group made quite a mark with several appearances over the past few days.

Bandleader and lead vocalist Tim Shelton tells us that he will be heading down to East Tennessee for the shoot, where Zervos and the rest of the band are living.

“Matt’s got some really cool locations for the shoot. It will be part performance, part story line for the song. Some of the performance will be shot at the legendary Down Home in Johnson City.

We’re pretty anxious and excited to shoot our very first video, for such a great song, Same Old Place.”

Can’t wait to see the final result.

UPDATE 11:20 – Matt Zervos shared a few more details about the video:

“I have been doing promotional and concert stuff for the band, but when I heard their song Same Old Place, I knew a music video had to be done for it. Tim Shelton and I have been talking back and forth for the last month, planning and writing the music video together. It’s been a blast working with the band already, and I can’t wait to get started on the video.

We start filming this weekend. Besides the band, we’re hoping to have the writer of the song, Tim Stafford, come out and play a part in the video.

This is such an emotional, beautiful song… I believe that once images are added to a great song, it can take the music to another level. I hope that this video can do the same for Same Old Place.“

Click here to view the embedded video.

Dailey & Vincent will now be represented by Columbia Artists Management and NewFound Road has signed with The Roots Agency. Both of these companies are large outfits who manage and book acts in a wide spectrum of styles.

Columbia Artists (CAMI) has historically focused on classical artists, conductors and ballet companies. They started in 1930 as an offshoot of CBS and have grown into the world’s largest agency in the classical and dance worlds. They have more recently expanded their roster to include world music, bluegrass and jazz artists, with Cherryholmes being the first grassers to sign.

The Roots Agency represents artists in folk and folk-derived genres popular in The US – folk, bluegrass, Cajun, Celtic, jazz and Latin to name a few. Folk giants like Arlo Guthrie, The Chieftains and Richie Havens are represented here, as are Claire Lynch and Frank Vignola.

Both Dailey & Vincent and NewFound Road are hoping to be able to bring their music to new and larger audiences with these moves.

Here’s the live version of Houston (I’m Comin’ To See You), from their Life In A Song CD.

Click here to view the embedded video.

We promised at the time to put up a baby picture as soon as we got one, and so we have.

That’s a couple big ol’ boys right there!

We’ll post a photo as soon as we get it.

Congratulations to the proud parents from The Bluegrass Blog!

We had commented a number of times about this album as it was progressing from concept to reality, and have been anticipating its release since last summer. The sound is fuller to my ear than their last, and the song choices show a depth and variety well-suited to the band’s style.

Jim Van Cleve served as co-producer along with the band, and says that they took more time tracking, and tried some new approaches to the material this time out.

Here are a couple of quick samples from the CD, along with some thoughts from bandleader, guitarist and lead vocalist Tim Shelton.

Try To Be -  Listen now:   

Jim VanCleve sent me this song when we started gathering material and arranging songs for the record, it was written by Sonya Isaacs. I love a good intense, bluesy sounding bluegrass song and this one turned into that.  It’s going over very well at the shows, and it opens the CD as the first track.

Same Old Place -  Listen now:   

Tim Stafford wrote this song and I love it.  It’s got such a sad feeling to it, which I love, and it’s definitely the biggest sounding song that NewFound Road has ever cut.  We posted this on the band’s MySpace page and within a week the song had over 1000 plays and continues to average that, so evidently, folks are loving the song as well.

Audio samples for all 12 tracks can be found on the band’s web site, where you can also place a pre-order for the CD, shipped to arrive next week when it is officially released.

Tim Shelton sent along this photo of the group at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

A new CD from NewFound Road, Same Old Place, is set for an April 28 release on Rounder Records.

Just a short while after the sudden announcement that Jr. Williams was leaving NewFound Road comes news of their hiring of another red-headed banjo picker.

Josh Miller, formerly with Carrie Hasler & Hard Rain, will be holding down the banjo spot with NFR.

Tim Shelton of NewFound Road tells us that as always, change can be a trial, but he feels that they are coming out even stronger from this switch.

“Josh has an insane amount of energy and presence onstage and his playing is on par with anyone on the scene today.  I hated to see Jr. quit abruptly, but at the same time I’m excited about the possibilities that Josh will open up.

We played our first show with him last night, and Josh KILLED it!!!!”

You can find the band’s tour schedule online for a chance to catch them in person in your neck of the woods.

Their new album, Same Old Place, is set for an April 28 release on Rounder Records.

He will instead be performing with his wife, Kati Penn, in her group.

Jr. sent this note last night…

“After months of prayer and reflection, I have decided to resign my position with NewFound Road.

Nearly 8 years on the road have left little time for family, school plays, softball games… so as to spend more time with my wife and kids, I have decided to make this change.

I will be joining the Kati Penn Band and look forward to traveling with her and band members CJ Cain, James Kee, and Terry Poirier.

My thanks to Tim, Joe and Jamey and my best to them and continued success of NFR.

Thanks, and come see the Kati Penn Band when we’re in you area, my best, Jr.”

The band enlisted a new producer, Jim Van Cleve, and spent more time in the studio than they had on previous projects. Jim told us that he encouraged the guys to try some new approaches, and both he and the band are extremely pleased with the finished product.

I had an opportunity to hear some of the mixes last summer, and the sound struck me as “bigger,” with a more forceful, in-your-face attitude. Van Cleve said that he was trying to get a more commercial, radio-friendly mix and he certainly filled the tracks to the brim.

We asked NFR band leader and vocalist Tim Shelton how he saw Same Old Place differing from their earlier releases.

“Jim thinks big. The album is so well produced, and the tones that Jim and engineer Dave Hall  got were really the best we could ask for.  We put more time and effort and money into this album too, and are very proud of the end result.”

Tim also credits the quality of the songs they recorded as a big factor in the overall sound of the new album.

“We’re always looking for new songs and open to hearing new songs but I approached some of my favorite writers, Tim Stafford, Ronnie Bowman, Sonya Isaacs and had a song from Tim O’Brien sent to us…  that’s where we started. I felt if we had strong original songs to build the album on, then our chances of having a great record were much better. And all of the writers that I mentioned and approached are great!

The title cut, Same Old Place is one of my favorites, and River of Pain is a very cool song written by Ronnie Bowman. The opening track, Try To Be – written by Sonya Isaacs – is very fun to perform live, and the Tim O’Brien song, Full Circle is a favorite of mine too.”

It’s hard for a band that has been on the scene for a number of years to hit with a “new sound,” but Same Old Place really is a new chapter for NewFound Road.

“I’m very excited to get this recording out to radio and in the hands of our fans, and bluegrass fans in general. We’re extremely proud of the work the band has done and our co-producer, Jim VanCleve and Dave Hall, our engineer, really made this experience great. Everyone involved put a lot of time and energy into this record, and I think it shows, and hopefully will pleasantly surprise a lot of people.”

Jamey Booher, formerly of Grasstowne and The Booher Family, is replacing Randy Barnes on bass in the contemporary bluegrass quartet.

A native of Johnson City, Tennessee, and the brother of the band’s current mandolin player, Joe Booher, Jamey  is reported as being “glad to be playing music with my brother again, and to be a part of NewFound Road!”

NewFound Road has been part of the Rounder stable of artists since the release in 2006 of their CD, Life in a Song, an album that documented the band’s song writing abilities, their exciting instrumental work and their soulful solo and harmony singing.

NewFound Road are, individually, Tim Shelton (guitar/vocals), Jr. Williams (banjo/guitar/vocals), Jamey Booher (bass), and Joe Booher (mandolin/vocals). They have new album, Same Old Place, to be released in February ‘09.

They will do a 15 minute set during the show, which airs at noon (EST), broadcasting at 102.9 FM in Knoxville, TN – and via live streaming online.

The guys will be in Knoxville ahead of a concert with Blue Highway at The Bijou Theatre on Saturday night.

Producer Jim VanCleve tells us that the next NewFound Road CD is very nearly done, and that both he and the band are extremely pleased with the final result. Rounder has not scheduled a release, but an early ‘09 street date is expected.

UPDATE 3:45 p.m. – We just heard from Rounder that 2/10/09 is the street date for the new CD, entitled Same Old Place.

The sub-theme of the Thursday remote is tonight’s International Bluegrass Music Awards.

Appearing this afternoon (10/2) are:

• Pine Mountain Railroad
• New Found Road
• Grascals
• Preview of The Awards Show – musical medleys of nominee categories
• Profiles of Hall of Fame Inductees by Fred Bartenstein
• Phil Nusbaum on the Ryman’s importance to the bluegrass world

Brandon is originally from Kentucky, but now lives in Nashville. He had previously worked with Wildfire and Karl Shiflett.

New Found Road’s Tim Shelton told us that he is very pleased to have Brandon with the band, and to expand the lineup to five pieces.

He has already posted several videos from Thursday (1/31), including several hallway jams and a performance on the Gospel Showcase from New Found Road. There are also a good many photos taken today posted already, with more to come over the course of the weekend.

Find them all here.

Guitarist and lead vocalist Tim Shelton tells us that they have completed the instrument tracking and have started in on vocals. Jim VanCleve is producing.

“There are some really good songs on this record. I’m most excited about a Tim Stafford composition called Same Old Place that he sent a couple of years ago, and we just got around to recording. I’ve always liked the song, but I’ve really loved it lately…. it’s become my favorite on the album if I had to pick just one.

We’ve also got a song from one of my favorite songwriters and vocalists, Ronnie Bowman, which is very cool. Sonya Issacs sent us a good bluegrass song, I co-wrote one with Josh Schilling, and we’ve got a gorgeous song from Tim O’Brien that is very personal to me.

I’m extremely pleased with the album. Jim VanCleve and David Hall (engineer) have been awesome to work with.”

No word yet on when the CD will be released, but we’ll pass along what we find out as the time draws near.