Here’s another new entry in the bluegrass blogging community - The Australian Bluegrass Blog.

The site is managed by Greg McGrath, a serious Aussie bluegrass enthusiast who I met last spring when he was visiting in the US. Greg also maintains Gippsland Bluegrass, a blog for pickers and bluegrass fans in his part of Victoria.

During a recent discussion, Greg shared the story of how he came to be involved in blogging, and it demonstrates the sort of missionary zeal that has kept bluegrass music active and growing for so many years - and especially how it manages to extend its reach so far from where it was born sixty years ago.

“I was inspired to do something after my big trip to the USA last year. I wanted a medium to show my pictures and tell the stories of the many wonderful people I had met in North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Kentucky. I was also taken by the work that Pete Wernick was doing through his Jam Camps; I was invited to attend the one in North Carolina last year and spent four days there in awe of what Pete and Joan were achieving with otherwise ‘closet pickers.’

I got home and explored some web site options, but did not have the immediate technology to take advantage of them. I tried building websites, but as a frustrated perfectionist I was not happy with the results and I could not afford software to build them or the cost to host them. After a several months of frustration I virtually gave up trying to get what I thought were some great stories up on the web.

One of the folks I met during my time in the USA was Ted Lehmann who spends his days traveling to festivals and reporting on them on his blogsite. I did not readily understand what a blog was then, but it was always there in the back of my mind.

More months passed and I happened across Ted’s blogsite once again and spent some time there, trying to understand the mechanics of how he made it work and what might be involved for me. (more…)

Niall Toner will be on Ireland’s RTÉ Radio 1 this week with the first two installments of his Nashville Sessions series, recorded while he was in attendance at the IBMA World Of Bluegrass convention earlier this fall.

These shows will air at 1:00 p.m. (EST - 6:00 p.m. local UK time) on December 27 and 28 and feature interviews with several performers, songwriters and instrument builders Niall caught up with in Nashville. Guests include Greg Cahill, Pete Wernick, Barry and Holly Tashian, Steve Huber, Goldheart, Broken Wire, Steve Kaufmann, Keith Sewell and a number of others.

Additional shows to be broadcast in 2008 will be announced shortly after the new year.

RTÉ Radio 1 broadcasts over the air at 88-89 FM, and listeners worldwide can tune in online via live audio streaming.

Niall is also hard at work finishing up his latest CD, We Believe In Clean Endings. He says it will feature 13 of his new songs, and a release date for next year should be announced by February.

Pete Wernick tells us that he has one scholarship yet to be awarded for his Advanced Banjo Camp in Colorado January 21-26, 2008.

The scholarship is intended for players who might otherwise not have the resources to attend Pete’s camps, and covers the cost of tuition only. Four have been awarded already, with three going to teen pickers from Utah, Kentucky, and Massachusetts.

Pete hosts a number of banjo camps every year, each oriented towards the needs of players at specific skill levels. The Advanced Camp is geared to motivated players in performing bands, and focuses on execution, performance, and creative approaches within the bluegrass format. Pete says that it’s the only banjo camp of its kind, and class size is limited to 15.

To apply for the sole remaining scholarship spot, contact Pete by email. Accommodations and airport shuttle, if needed, are approximately $400.

We posted yesterday afternoon about Hot Rize performing during and after Steve Martin’s “surprise” wedding ceremony at his home in Los Angeles on July 28. As we might have suspected, Pete Wernick (Dr. Banjo) was in the thick of the preparations, owing to his friendship and banjo connection with Martin.

Pete provided this overview of how it all went down.

It wasn’t exactly a surprise wedding. It was planned months ahead, but due to Steve’s celebrity, he was concerned about paparazzi disrupting things, and asked that it not be discussed at all in advance, as word about such things tends to travel fast.

In brief, Steve got in touch with me some months ago about providing music for the wedding (at his home in Beverly Hills). I asked if he wanted me to get some musicians from the area, or just “whoever I want.” He said to get whoever I want. When I asked, what would you think of having Hot Rize, he said, “I’d kill for Hot Rize.” Thank goodness that wasn’t necessary. Bryan Sutton, who generally plays guitar with us, was not available, so we got David Grier, who did just fine of course.

Steve and his wife Anne gave a lot of thought to the music they wanted, and they took my suggestion to use Romance Is a Slow Dance, a great song of Tim’s, to begin the ceremony. Then Tim fiddled a beautiful Irish air as the bride and her father came forward. The ceremony, performed by “Reverend” Bob Kerrey (former U.S. Senator), was followed by a rousing banjo tune.

Steve had indicated that if Hot Rize was there, “it would be a sin” not to have us do a mini-set for the guests. He added, “as in, I would go to hell.” So following dinner, Steve introduced us and we did five songs including Blue Night, High on a Mountain, and a song I wrote for Steve and Anne, This is Our Time. For the last two tunes, we were joined by Steve on banjo, and played Steve’s tune The Crow and finished with Foggy Mt. Breakdown. We were very well received, with the guests applauding for solos and many nice comments afterwards. In attendance were such notables as Tom Hanks, Diane Keaton, Carl Reiner, Eugene Levy, and Martin Mull. Steve and Martin both participated in the jamming that went on into the night.

Steve arranged that all guests receive a copy of the band’s So Long of a Journey CD as a party favor. As they filtered out and the party wound down, we continued to play informally, with Steve and Anne asking for one more rendition of Romance Is a Slow Dance.

The next morning we headed for LAX, and I made it all the way to Elkins, WV for Bluegrass Week at the Augusta Heritage program, which is where I’m writing this from!

In closing, I’ll say it is truly an honor for Hot Rize to be appreciated in such a high class way by such a respected figure of American culture as Steve Martin. People ask me what sort of person he is, and I can say in all honesty that he is one fine gentleman, with the wonderful quality of showing interest in other people and making them feel appreciated. Almost impossible to fathom that, given his irreverent style of humor, but it’s true. I also am often asked about whether Steve might do one thing or another for “the bluegrass cause,” and I can only say time will tell. Naturally if he has any desire to do that, I will be glad to facilitate!

When Hollywood stars and friends of comedian (and banjo player) Steve Martin accepted his invitation to a dinner party at his Los Angeles home on July 28, no one was expecting anything other than some good music, and good times together.

When the guests arrived - including film luminaries like Tom Hanks, Diane Keaton, Eugene Levy and Carl Reiner - they realized that they were actually to be the guests at Martin’s surprise wedding to Anne Stringfield, his girlfriend of the past three years.

A reunited Hot Rize was on hand to provide the bluegrass music, with original members Tim O’Brien, Pete Wernick and Nick Forster joined by David Grier on guitar. They not only entertained after the wedding dinner, but also provided the music for the ceremony itself.

O’Brien sang his song Romance Is A Slow Dance to start the ceremony, and played the traditional Irish air, Sheebeg and Sheemore on fiddle for the processional. Wernick played a jaunty version of Cripple Creek on the banjo as the newlyweds recessed.

After dinner, Martin introduced Hot Rize for a short set, during which he joined them on stage with his banjo, performing his tune The Crow, and a double banjo version of Foggy Mountain Breakdown.

Congratulations to the happy couple. A marriage consecrated by bluegrass music is bound to take, yes?

The latest release is now available from Pete Wernick & Flexigrass, previously billed as Live Five. The title, What The, is surely evocative of the reaction they often get when audiences first realize that Pete and his 5 string banjo are fronting a band made up of bass, drums, vibraphone and clarinet.

What The includes 14 tracks, mixing new Wernick originals with popular classics from both the traditional string music and jazz/swing libraries. They describe their music as “a mix of both traditional and modern elements of American roots music.”

Members of Flexigrass are Greg Harris (vibraphone), Bill Pontarelli (clarinet), Kris Ditson (drums), Roger Johns (bass) and Pete Wernick on banjo. Joan Wernick guests on vocals.

There is one audio track from the CD, and several video clips of the band up at Dr.Banjo.com, Pete’s web site. Samples of all 14 tracks are available at CD Baby.

BluegrassCountry.org recently interviewed a number of bluegrass stars. Those interviews are now being aired on the Open Mic show. It’s a two hour show that will be repeating, in its entirety, through July 17th.

The first hour features interviews with Dr. Banjo (Pete Wernick), and Jamie Dailey of Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. The second hour includes interviews with Tony Williamson, and three members of Carolina Road (Lorraine Jordan, Jerry Butler, and Ben Greene).

The show will air today at 12 Noon, and again several times this week at various times. You can visit BluegrassCountry.org and click on Schedule Changes for a full listing of show times.

Another interview that might be of interest is with the Cherryholmes family. That interview runs during a different show and airs today at 8:05 PM.

Through the generosity of some private donors, Pete Wernick is pleased to announce the availability of several scholarships for his 2007 Bluegrass Jam Camps. These camps are open to students of any bluegrass instrument, and designed to help them learn to play together with others in a jam session environment.

The scholarships cover tuition fees only, and are intended for those with limited financial means, to enable them to attend. Like all of Pete’s jam camps, the only qualifications to attend are the ability to tune one’s instrument and change smoothly between G, C, D, and A chords.

Scholarships will be offered for the following camps:

Pete asks that scholarship applicants please contact him by email, including the information requested in the registration form for the camp you hope to attend, along with a short statement of interest in attending, and circumstances.

Making Music Magazine is a glossy, bi-monthly print publication dedicated to the amateur musician and the pursuit of their musical goals. Now in their third year, the magazine means to provide stories of inspiration as well as tips to assist folks whose primary career is outside of music - and help them have fun learning to play.

They describe a typical issue thusly:

Read stories about music makers from all walks of life, learn about the latest medical research into the benefits of making music, discover tips to make you learn better and get the most out of your hobby, and much more.

The March/April 2007 issue has a feature about taking on a musical instrument in retirement, which has its focus Pete Wernick’s jam camps, which provide new pickers the skills and the opportunity to play with other musicians in a controlled environment. They interview a number of Pete’s jam campers about their experiences, both at the camp, and in learning to play later in life.

The article also include some comments from Pete, and a nice overview of why bluegrass music appeals to a growing number of people. It also features a number of photos taken at a jam session held at the home of actor/comedian and banjo picker, Steve Martin. Pete was in attendance, as was Martin’s fellow actor/comedian Martin Mull, who is also an accomplished musician.

Read the article online at the Making Music web site, where you may also request a one year trial subscription, free for the asking.

Pete Wernick, a.k.a. Dr. Banjo, has long been regarded as one of the pre-eminent banjo instructors in bluegrass music. His book, Bluegrass Banjo, published in 1974, has sold over 200,00 copies and taught thousands to become banjo pickers over the last 30 years. Together with Tony Trischka, he compiled the reams of information offered in the massive volume, Masters of the 5 String Banjo, with interviews, photos and information on 68 popular banjo players.

Pete has also released a number of instructional videos, focusing primarily on helping new players get started and learn to jam with one another.

His newest, Bluegrass Banjo Backup, has just been released from Homespun Video. It is designed for new pickers, and includes footage from his previous Bluegrass Slow Jam and Bluegrass Jamming DVDs. After showing video from an actual jam session, Pete describes the techniques, lick and patterns being employed, which are also found in the included tab booklet.

The new Wernick DVD can be ordered directly from Pete’s web site, or from Homespun, which also features a couple of bits of sample video.

Pete Wernick, aka Dr. Banjo, has announced his bluegrass banjo and jam camps for 2007. The first is actually underway now in Boulder, CO with another set to kick off there next week.

Many of his camps are scheduled in conjunction with major festivals, making it convenient to brush up on your picking or jamming skills, and catch your favorite artists in concert.

The complete schedule of camps can be found on Pete’s web site.

We found a link on Pete Wernick’s web site that points to the audio from a recent edition of Etown, the weekly radio show hosted by former Hot Rize bass man Nick Forster. The show included one of the occasional reunion performances by Hot Rize, plus an appearance by Earl Scruggs.

Scruggs’ segment starts off with Rob Ickes leading the band through Foggy Mountain Rock, followed by a version of John Hardy. Nick Forster then interviews Earl about how he came to develop his groundbreaking banjo style, which Earl describes in his typically understated and unassuming manner. He also speaks about the early days performing on the road and on TV with Flatt & Scruggs, and how he came to be associated with The Beverly Hillbillies.

After the discussion, the band returns to play The Ballad Of Jed Clampett and Foggy Mountain Breakdown. The music is fine, of course, but for many Scruggs-o-philes, the interview may be the more enjoyable part of the show.

There is a direct link to the audio on Wernick’s site, or it can accessed directly via the Etown archives. Access to the archives is restricted to registered users on the Etown site, so if you feel that you are “getting over” by using Pete’s direct link, you can register and get the audio from this and other Etown programs.

Speaking of Wernick’s web site and Hot Rize…

Pete now has two bits of sample video up at Dr.Banjo.com taken from the recently released Hot Rize concert DVD, shot in 1987. One is the band performing Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning, and a song from their bus mates, Red Knuckles & The Trailblazers doing One Woman Man.

These are Quicktime files of one entire song each, and may take a few minutes to download or open in your browser.

This post is a contribution from David Hollender, a professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He has been keeping us updated on the way bluegrass music and traditional acoustic instruments are being presented at the school.

Pete and Joan Wernick are in Boston this week to play at the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival and present a Jam Camp. They used the occasion to visit Berklee College of Music Wednesday, where they presented a master class sponsored by the college”s Ensemble Department.

Pete and Joan kicked things off by playing two tunes and then worked with a student band in an open master class format. Students Charlie Worsham, Ashleigh Caudill, Kristen Weber and Joe Walsh, all members of Back Bay Bluegrass, played on stage for Pete, Joan and fellow students.

The extent of Pete”s work with up-and-coming musicians was evidenced by the fact that he had met three of the four band members before and had notes about them going back as far back as ten years ago. By coincidence, Walsh happens to be Joan”s cousin.

Pete and Joan were very complimentary of the band. They offered suggestions and worked with them to fine-tune some fine points of their playing. They spoke about how singers could emphasize the meaning of lyrics and critiqued the arrangements. Along with the specific suggestions Pete and Joan expounded on their personal philosophies of what makes good music and what it takes to reach a large an audience.

Preceding the master class Pete spent time working one-on-one with another student banjo player.

Boston area readers can hear Pete and Joan, Back Bay Bluegrass, The Stringdusters (with Berklee graduates Chris Pandolfi and Andy Hall) play sets Friday night at the Joe Val Festival, which runs Friday through Sunday.

Pete Wernick, aka Dr. Banjo, sent us a copy of a moving tribute he wrote to commemorate the passing of Louise Scruggs. Pete was headed to Nashville for the funeral when he sent this along, and we wanted to quote briefly from his piece, and also suggest you visit Pete’s site to read the entire thing.

Like so many folks who have taken the occasion of Mrs. Scruggs’ passing to comment on her status in the music business, Pete has also taken pains to make reference to her generosity and kindness of spirit - traits often unseen to those outside the Scruggs’ circle of family and friends, and perhaps in stark contrast with the widely-held persona of a tough-as-nails businesswoman.

“My last conversation with Louise was on Jan. 6, Earl’s birthday. I have called Earl on his birthday for many years. This year, that day saw them sharing a room at a rehab facility, where he was recuperating from the fall he took in late November. The only way to call in was Louise’s cell phone. I was in Colorado putting together a performance with 12 banjo players at my Advanced Banjo Camp. I called Louise on the cell, and she answered, in a clear voice. Earl was not able to get to the phone, so the two of us talked. I put her on the speaker phone for the campers to hear. She sounded downright lively, asked about the camp, and gave her greetings to the group, and extended Earl’s. She said the one thing she regretted was that she couldn’t “jump right out of bed” and throw Earl a party, as she was used to doing. There, in the last month of her life, suffering from multiple ailments, her greatest joy remained honoring her man.”

Pete’s entire commentary is worthy of your attention if you are a fan of Earl Scruggs, or simply interested in the people who helped make this music possible.

This post is a contribution from Alan Munde, banjo legend, teacher, performer, and writer. Be sure to check out Alan’s band The Alan Munde Gazette.

I have been teaching banjo in the Creative Arts Department (when I began it was known as the Country and Bluegrass Program) of South Plains College in Levelland, TX since 1986. Before that I was a touring bluegrass musician with Country Gazette, and before that a Sunny Mountain Boy with Jimmy Martin. During my time as a touring musician I tried my hand at giving lessons to supplement my income. Guided by my own experiences as a learner (a degree in Education from the University of Oklahoma was also helpful) and aided by the few instructional books available at the time, I created the best instructional method I could. I continued that method at South Plains College, expanding it with more teaching ideas from other banjo teachers and colleagues here.

For these many years I have tried my best to explain things I have found to be relevant in learning to play the banjo, things a good player needs to know how to do. But I continued to struggle with one issue that I still had trouble explaining. Students ask me, “Why can”t I just play what I feel? Why should I have to copy or learn the music of another player?” Many esteemed players, including Tony Trischka and Peter Wernick in their very fine book, Masters of the 5-String Banjo, added to my dilemma by giving contradictory advice that runs something like this: play it like Earl, don”t copy anybody, learn everything Scruggs did, develop your own style.

I finally realized that Trischka and others are addressing two different audiences. The first audience is of banjo students. As a student, we should strive to learn as much as we can about how the creators and masters of the instrumental style played so that we, too, might be able to play successfully in the style. What better model do we need than Earl Scruggs? Of course, there are others to learn from also - Stanley, Reno, Osborne, Shelton etc. - to get the full scope of the bluegrass banjo world. The second audience is banjo players as musical artists. Here one should strive to develop a personal style “? take the things we have learned as a student and add our own views of the art and become our own musical person. (more…)

Pete Wernick describes his latest instructional DVD from Homespun Tapes, Bluegrass Slow Jam for the Total Beginner, as “A Super-Easy, No-Fail Play-Along Session.” Designed for relative beginners on any bluegrass instrument, this DVD allows a new player to pick along on 17 popular bluegrass standards at a comfortable speed - a crucial step in building the confidence you need to join in at jams. All the tunes on the DVD require just four chords (G, C, D and A) and the tunes are played by Pete, along with a band made up of bluegrass professionals.

Visit Pete’s web site for more details.

CBS has made a video clip available on their web site of the recent appearance with Earl Scruggs, Steve Martin, Pete Wernick, Charles Wood and Tony Ellis. It is in Real Player format and can be accessed here.

As is often the case with online video, the quality is such that the images don’t always synch perfectly with the audio, but it is still fun to watch.

Pete Wernick, aka Dr. Banjo, has posted a delightful piece on his web site about his recent television appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. The performance on September 21 was a five banjo extravaganza, put together and championed by Steve Martin, including Martin and Wernick along with Earl Scruggs, Tony Ellis and Charles Wood.

Pete’s web article reads like a personal diary, and gives a glimpse not only into the nuts-and-bolts operation of a major television program like this from a featured performer’s perspective, but also into the insecurities and uncertainties that even seasoned pros experience going before a national audience of this size.

Now we’re watching the beginning of the show on the monitors in the small rooms in the backstage area. Steve indicated he was nervous, and it surprised me a bit, with his huge amount of successful stage work. I asked, wasn’t the standup comedy he’d done for so many years at least as stressful? No, he said, that came much more naturally to him. Bravo to Steve for building his picking skills to a high level and braving on to this challenging spot, despite music stage inexperience. He pulled it off, too! But I’m getting a little ahead of myself.

Read the whole Wernick piece here.

You can see more info about the genesis of the group, Men With Banjos - Who Know How To Use Them in our earlier post.

Pete Wernick informs us that he has been invited to be a part of a unique banjo event in New York later this month, including a performance at the New Yorker Magazine’s New Yorker Festival 2005 on September 24, and an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman on September 21.

This event was speaheaded by Steve Martin, long known for his devotion to the five string banjo in addition to his professional work as an actor, writer and comedian. Martin put together a show entitled Men With Banjos (Who Know How To Use Them) for the New Yorker Festival, featuring Martin and special guests Earl Scruggs, Tony Ellis, Charles Wood and the emminent Dr. Banjo, Pete Wernick.

This same group of pickers (including Joan and Will Wernick among the accompanists) will also be featured on the Letterman show on Wednesday, September 21.

Hats off to Steve Martin for his continuing efforts to promote the popularity of the banjo and bluegrass music!