This past weekend saw the 3rd annual gathering of resonator guitarists in Nashville known as ResoSummit. The event is co-produced by Rob Ickes and Betty Wheeler for ResoRevolution.

Instruction was provided by a team of resophonicians including Ickes, Curtis Burch, Cindy Cashdollar, Dave Giegerich, Jimmy Heffernan, Orville Johnson, Randy Kohrs, Megan Lovell, Sally Van Meter, Lou Wamp, and Michael Witcher. Noted builders Paul Beard and Tim Scheerhorn were also on hand.

Rob explained what went down…

“ResoSummit 2009 brought together more than 100 resonator guitar enthusiasts in Nashville last week — participants, faculty, and luthiers — for three days full of workshops and four nights of performances and after-hours jams. It was definitely ‘Total Dobro Overload’ by design, with the goal of sending participants home with enough materials, ideas and especially inspiration to make the next year a highly creative and productive time in their musical lives. We had participants this year from all over the United States as well as Germany, Israel, Ireland, and the U.K., and at every level from beginner to very advanced. Every year, this event sells out quickly, because as one past participant said, it truly is ‘like fantasy baseball for reso-players.’

This was our third year, and we’ve tentatively scheduled the fourth ResoSummit for the last weekend in October in 2010.”

ResoSummit photographer Lee Hiers sent along a number of photos to showcase the spirit of the weekend

Have a Jerry, Jerry Christmas?

That suggestion was surely knocked down early on when choosing a title for the new Jerry Douglas Christmas album, recently released by E1 Music (formerly Koch Records). The actual title is Jerry Christmas, and the CD contains a dozen Christmas favorites, both traditional and modern, recorded with his touring band.

This is his first holiday album, featuring Luke Bulla on fiddle, Guthrie Trapp on mandolin and guitar, Todd Parks on bass and Doug Belote on drums. Jerry plays a variety of resonator and slide guitars, and Maura O’Connell guests on vocals.

Songs include:

Several audio samples can be found on Jerry’s web site, with snippets of all 12 tracks in iTunes.

Douglas will do a limited tour in December performing the material from Jerry Christmas with his band (Bulla, Trapp, Parks, Belote), and his good friends (and singers) O’Connell and John Oates (of Hall & Oates fame). You can see the tour details online.

UPDATE 10/28, 11:45 a.m. – download issues now resolved. Please try again if you had a problem.

Just in time for Halloween!

Randy Kohrs is offering readers of The Bluegrass Blog a free download of a scary ghost story from his upcoming CD. The song is The Ghost Of Jack McLine, written by Andrew Crawford with assistance from Kohrs.

It comes from Quicksand, Randy’s next CD on Rural Rhythm Records, due for release on January 12, 2010. It had originally been slated for release in mid-October, but has since been pushed back.

Randy explains why this track is being offered now, both here on The Bluegrass Blog, and to radio via Airplay Direct…

“Since we didn’t get to put the record out when we originally said we would, I wanted to at least do something around that date.  This song just seemed perfect for the Halloween season, so we rushed to get it out. I know we’ve only got a few days left before the 31st, but I’m hoping people will still be able to enjoy and appreciate it for the holiday.”

The Ghost Of Jack McLine features Tim Crouch on fiddle, Aaron Ramsey on mandolin and bass, Mike Sumner on banjo, Andrew Crawford on guitar, Chris Wood on percussion, and Kohrs on resonator guitar and vocals.

The Ghost Of Jack McLine:  Listen Now   

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Colorado Case Company is going pink in October in observation of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. They will donate a portion of the sales price this month if you order in pink.

During the month of October only, you can order any Colorado Case Company branded soft case, case cover or rigid case in pink.

We will then donate 25% of the base case price to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. This money will be used to help find a cure for breast cancer through increased research and awareness.

In addition to this gorgeous pink color, we will be embroidering a pink ribbon on each case at no extra charge.

This offer is only valid through the end of October 2009. Full details online.