We heard right back from bass player Bill McBee, with information about the band’s new lineup and the hot young super picker they have brought on board.

“Good to hear about Dale finding a new spot with the boys of Grasstowne. He departed PMRR a couple of months ago to take care of personal business.  All of us certainly admire his talent and knowledge of bluegrass and gospel music; we wish him nothing but the best.

Seth Taylor, of Bryson City, NC, has joined us on banjo and also doubles on some guitar leads. Seth is one of the brightest rising stars in bluegrass. In 2008, Seth won the Merlefest Adult Guitar Championship. This year, Seth won the Merlefest Adult Banjo Championship as well. On top of that, Seth is very accomplished on both mandolin and dobro; he also appeared at IBMA last year as a distinguished member of Kids on Bluegrass along with Sierra Hull and a host of terrifically talented young pickers.

Seth is an extremely intelligent young man, an advanced-placement home schooled student. Seth is more mature than his years might suggest and travels – and performs – like a true pro picker. He has been lighting up audiences already at Bean Blossom, Turkey Tracks, and other festival/concert appearances around the country as our newest member. Several instrumentals we perform, such as Big Mon and Rebecca, showcase him switching between guitar and banjo during the numbers – all performed flawlessly and at a high rate of speed.”

You can look over the PMRR tour schedule online to see when you might have a chance to catch Seth with the band at a show in your neck of the woods.

Bluegrass Recorded Song (song; album; artist; writer; label)

• Help Is On The Way; Help Is On The Way; Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver; Michael E. Reed; Horizon Records
• I See A Crimson Stream; Sounds Like Sunday; Janet Paschal; Garfield T. Haywood; Vine Records
• The Old White Flag; You Gotta Love It!; Triumphant Quartet; Dianne Wilkinson; Daywind Records
• They’re Holding Up The Ladder; We Are Family; Jeff & Sheri Easter, Lewis Family, Easter Brothers; Russell Easter, James Easter, Edd Easter; Daywind Records
• What Will I Wear?; I Just Wanted You To Know; Kim Hopper; Deborah Bailey; Canaan Records

Bluegrass Album (album; artist; producer; label)

• Bluegrass Worship; Various; Steve Ivey; Star Song Music
• Help Is On The Way; Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver; Doyle Lawson; Horizon Records
• Hymns From Chigger Hill; Chigger Hill Boys & Terri; Mike Richards, Terri Argot Gore, Ricky Gore, Mark Dunham, Bobby Strangenberg, Ethan Blair, Justin Kropf; Daywind Records
• I Don’t Regret A Mile; Larry Sparks; Larry Sparks; Sparks Music
• Pickin’, Praisin’, & Singin’: Hymns From The Mountain; Cody Shuler & Pine Mountain Railroad; Bill McBee, Dale Thomas, Jerry Cole, Cody Shuler, Matt Flake; Rural Rhythm
• We Are Family; Jeff & Sheri Easter, Lewis Family, Easter Brothers; Jeff Easter, Sheri Easter; Daywind Records
• What A Journey; Paul Williams & The Victory Trio; Paul Williams; Rebel Records

Bluegrass artists, musicians, producers and labels are also represented among the nominees in a variety of other categories, most notably in the following …..

Special Event Album (album; artist; producer; label)

• Billy: The Early Years Official Motion Picture Soundtrack; Brooks & Dunn, Mac Powell, Sara Evans, Alan Jackson, China Edelman, Patty Griffin, Brandon Heath, Gregory Page, Michael W. Smith, Melinda Doolittle, Roy Orbison, Brad Paisley, Josh Turner, Sierra Hull, John Cowan, Harry Stinson, Ronnie Bowman, Ronnie McCoury, John Wesley Ryles; Anastasia Brown; Arista Nashville, Essential Records
• Country Bluegrass Homecoming Volume One; Gaither Vocal Band, Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives, The Grascals, Buddy Greene, The Isaacs, Gordon Mote, Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys, The Booth Brothers, George Jones, Wesley Pritchard, Reggie & Ladye Love Smith, Brittany Allen, Jeff & Sheri Easter, Charlotte Ritchie, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Jimmy Fortune, Dailey & Vincent, Jason Crabb, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, Cherryholmes, Lisa Daggs-Charette, Vince Gill, Sonya Isaacs, Becky Isaacs Bowman; Bill Gaither; Gaither Music Group
• How Great Thou Art: Gospel Favorites from the Grand Ole Opry; The Charlie Daniels Band, Mac Powell, Alan Jackson, Patty Loveless, Ronnie Milsap, Ricky Skaggs & The Whites, Sara Evans, Brad Paisley, Trace Adkins, Loretta Lynn, Vince Gill, Dierks Bentley, Carrie Underwood; Steve Gibson; Sony BMG Nashville

Long Form Music Video (title; artist; director; producer; production company; label)

• Country Bluegrass Homecoming Volume One; Bill & Gloria Gaither; Doug Stuckey; Bill Gaither; Gaither Television Productions; Gaither Music Group

The recipients will be announced at the televised show on April 23 in Nashville, Tennessee.

A complete list of nominees and more information about the GMA and the Dove Awards is available online.

Dale’s bass singin as been a distinguishing marks of the bands he’s performed with in the past, including the Lonesome River Band, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, and David Parmely & Continental Divide.

Dale has periodically taken time off the road between bands to run his Lakeside Recording Studio, even recording the last Pine Mountain Railroad CD. I asked Cody Shuler to share with us the story of how Dale came to join the band.

I am glad to have Dale Perry be a part of this band. His vocal work along with his great banjo playing brings some great new sounds from this band. We have been working on some great quartets that feature some of his great bass singing. Dale recorded our latest cd “Pickin’ Praisin’ & Singin’ at his Lakeside Studio in Moneta, VA. He will also be recording a cd we are currently working on as well. Dale has played with some great groups through the years, The Bluegrass Cardinals, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, and David Parmley. I am very excited to have him join CS & PMR.

Be sure to keep an eye on PMR’s tour schedule and go hear them with Dale Perry in the band.

Recently voted 2007 winner of the Bluegrass Gospel Song Of The Year award by Singing News magazine and backed with several Top 10 albums and songs on the Bluegrass Unlimited and Billboard charts, Pine Mountain Railroad has released its eighth album, Pickin’, Praisin’ & Singin’ Hymns From The Mountain (Rural Rhythm RHY-328).

The specially-priced 16-track album contains a mixture of gospel classics from yesterday with a few new songs that the group hope will become standards of the future.

Among the standards are Where The Soul Of Man Never Dies, a familiar and beloved hymn given a very-different-from-the-traditional treatment; How Beautiful Heaven Must Be; The Old Rugged Cross, on which Jerry Cole sings lead; What Would You Give In Exchange, performed as a true-to-tradition tribute to the Monroe Brothers; and Rock Of Ages, with intricate harmonising.

Less well known are Run On which was originally recorded by the Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet in the 1920s and, later, by Elvis Presley. The Pine Mountain Railroad version is done with 5-part harmony and an original ending; The Gospel Ship, a relatively-obscure song, but one that has been around a long time; So High, done a cappella style; and I Bowed On My Knees and Cried Holy, from the black gospel music repertoire of the 1930s.

Alongside are newer compositions My Eye’s Shall Be On Canaan’s Land, which Shuler wrote just for this album; Blood Bought My Freedom; and Let’s Meet By The River, originally by The Spencers and a No.1 hit recording for them in Southern Gospel music market.

The recordings were done at Dale Perry’s Lakeside Studios in Moneta, Virginia. Perry also mixed and mastered the project, having particular regard to the specific way that Shuler wanted the vocal mix.

Cody Shuler & Pine Mountain Railroad comprises Shuler (mandolin and vocals), Bill McBee (bass and vocals), Matt ‘Scooter’ Flake (fiddle and vocals), Jerry Cole (guitar & vocals) and Dale Thomas (banjo and vocals).

Railroad Pickin’, Praisin’ & Singin’ Hymns From The Mountain is available for a special introductory price on the Rural Rhythm web site.

BMP has as its focus, the people who play, write, and produce the music, along with those who build and maintain the instruments on which it is played. They focus on the personalities, and seek to help fans get to know the people who make the music happen.

This summer issue also contains an interview with Reid Burgess of King Wilkie, where he speaks candidly about the band’s decision to move away from the traditional bluegrass format that brought them to early success. They were so enamored of Bill Monroe, that they chose the name of one of Bill Monroe’s horses as the moniker for the band.

“King Wilkie initially tried to fit the mold of Bill Monroe’s brand of bluegrass. To me, Bill Monroe is bluegrass and unfortunately he’s not still here to do it better than everybody else. I guess we eventually realized – like many people do – that we’re not Bill Monroe and never will be.”

Publisher Kevin Kerfoot shared a few other tidbits found in the new issue:

Other features include a Q&A with Doyle Lawson, Shop Talk with Tony Trischka, a DJ Profile on Main Street Bluegrass Show’s Ward McAfee, David Peterson’s Bluegrass Favorites, a Q&A with Bluegrass Boy #37 Frank Buchanan, an Instrument Profile on Gibson’s Ricky Skaggs Limited Edition Distressed Master Model Mandolin, a feature remembering Grand Ole Opry Fiddler Casey Jones – which includes an interview with his daughter Marilyn Boyd, a feature about the International Bluegrass Music Museum’s Video Oral History Project, a Promoter Profile on Carolyn and Johnny Vincent, and a Songwriting Profile on Larry Cordle. You’ll also find BMP’s Bluegrass Mailbag, Anything Bluegrass News, Top 20 Hot Singles and Top 10 Bluegrass CDs, Festivals, Grassifieds, Web Sightings, Bluegrass Store, and Fresh For The Pickin’ CD reviews.

Individual issues can be purchased for $3.00, and annual subscriptions run $15.00. Get more details on the BMP web site.

Yesterday, we got word from the band that they have hired Elmer Burchett on banjo, joining Cody Shuler on mandolin, Bill McBee on bass, Matt Flake on fiddle, and both Mark Cable and Eil Johnson on guitar. Johnson had originally joined the band on banjo.

The band invites everyone to visit their newly redesigned web site, and hear a preview of Awful Lonesome Train, a cut from their upcoming CD, Alone With Forever, due in February 2007. That cut will be released as a single on the January issue of Prime Cuts Of Bluegrass (#85).

Jerry has joined up with Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road where he will be featured as a lead singer along with band leader Jordan. He joins the existing band, which includes Lorraine Jordan on mandolin/vocals, David Guthrie on guitar, Ben Greene on banjo, Josh Goforth on fiddle, and Todd Meade on bass.

Butler has been involved as a bluegrass performer since he was 12 years old, when he had a band with Phil Leadbetter of Wildfire called The Knoxville Newgrass Boys. Before his tenure with Pine Mountain Railroad, Jerry worked with the Joe Isaacs Band.

Jerry is very pleased with the new gig.

“I am excited to be working with Lorraine and the boys. They are a good group to travel with as I have already found out on a recent trip to Branson. I look forward seeing old friends and making new ones as well.”

The excitement runs back in his direction from Lorraine Jordan as well.

“Jerry will give Carolina Road the extra sound that it needs to reach the next level. What a great singer and entertainer he is! This is a great move for both he and I.”

You can find the band’s schedule on the Carolina Road web site.

At the time, we indicated that mandolinist Cody Shuler had assumed management of the band, and that banjo picker Kipper Stitt and guitarist/vocalist Jerry Butler would be leaving.

During IBMA week, Nothin’ Fancy announced that Eli Johnson would be departing to play banjo with Pine Mountain Railroad, but no comment had yet been issued by PMR.

They have now officially announced Johnson coming on board playing banjo and guitar, as well as the hiring of Mark Cable as guitarist and lead vocalist. Cable’s background is in southern Gospel music, with a strong familiarity with bluegrass.

Along with Shuler on mandolin, Bill McBee remains on bass, and Matt Flake on fiddle.

McBee, who handles publicity for the band, tells us that they are also adding a sixth man, and that an announcement of that hiring is imminent.

Mandolinist Cody Shuler has taken over management of PMR, and is bringing in some new faces. We understand that guitarist Jerry Butler is gone, and banjo player Kipper Stitt will be leaving just after IBMA week.

Coming in to play banjo will be Eli Johnston, who until just last week was playing bass with Nothin’ Fancy. His leaving brought about a happy reunion for Nothin’ Fancy fans, as original bassist Tony Shorter has decided to return to traveling full time with the band.

I’m sure that we can pick up some more details later today when folks start schlepping down into the exhibit area.

Beyond the Rain, the gospel tune written by Mark “Brink” Brinkman, has charted at Number 1 on the PowerGrass.com Gospel Chart. Beyond the Rain has also made its first appearance on The Southern Gospel Top 50 chart, entering the chart at Number 42.

Kipper Stitt’s Laura Jean is currently Number 7 on the PowerGrass.com Gospel Chart.

Bandleader Kipper Stitt said this about the album’s success:

We are honored that these two songs from our Heartache & Hope album are already making chart appearances. And we’re very thankful for the many air personalities here and abroad who are giving so many spins to these and other tracks from our new CD.

For more information about the CD and to hear samples, please visit at PineMountainRailroad.com

PMR fans can pre-order the CD now from the band’s web site, where audio samples from each of the 12 tracks can also be found. The guys say that they will sign and ship pre-release orders as soon as they receive the CDs.

The show is broadcast over the air on FM 106.3, and is also available via online streaming from the WTUF web site. The Afternoon Bluegrass Show with Lazy Len runs from noon to 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays, and the Pine Mountain Railroad segment is scheduled in the 3:00-4:00 p.m. segment.

The PMR boys are looking forward to the release of their next CD in the second week of March, 2006. This new project, entitled Heartache and Hope, was produced by Missy Raines, and recorded by Ben Surratt at Rec Room Studios in Nashville.

The benefits of sponsorship also extend to Pine Mountain Railroad friends and fans, who are entitled to a discount on all orders placed online through The Fedora Store. Details on the special pricing offer here.