After a break of over a decade Richard F. Thompson has rejoined the editorial team of British Bluegrass News (BBN). Following the recent re-organization of the British Bluegrass Music Association (BBMA), Richard has taken on the role of Features Editor of the association’s quarterly magazine.

He has introduced new features to BBN, including Favourites and The Story Behind The Song, and plans to introduce a column called Light In The Window, in which there will be a brief review of CDs that cross his desk.

Thompson, who will serve as Press Relations officer for the BBMA, is a founding member of the BBMA and has been a member of the IBMA for over 20 years. He sometimes writes under the name bluegrassmercury.

He has also been a valuable contributor to The Bluegrass Blog this past two years, and has been known to refer to himself as “the other Richard Thompson,” i.e., not his fellow Brit with the same name who wrote Del McCoury’s mega-hit, 1952 Vincent Black Lightning.

Richard welcomes correspondence at the following address:

After 21 years together, one of the most popular and well-known names on the British bluegrass music scene, Monroe’s Revenge, has finally released their debut CD.

The band from south-east England has made regular appearances at festivals around the country for over two decades, playing traditional and contemporary songs and fast-paced, virtuoso instrumentals with a rootsy, edgy energy.

Their new self-titled CD contains 17 tracks and includes favourites from their live set such as Washington County, I’m Working On A Building and He Will Set Your Fields on Fire. Other songs that are included are Hemlocks And Primroses, Just Because, Muddy Water, Pig In A Pen, Good Imitation Of The Blues, Somewhere On The Road Tonight, One More Dollar (Gillian Welch and David Rawlings) and the Kenny Baker fiddle tune Denver Belle.

The band is fronted by Dave Plane (guitar and vocals), who has been playing bluegrass music since the 1960s, with Roger Blackbourn (playing banjo and providing vocals), Joe Hymas (mandolin and vocals), Richard Partridge (fiddle and vocals) and Dick Embery (double bass). Many commentators consider that this line-up is its strongest yet.

Fiddler Richard Partridge has provided a bit about the band’s recent history that has culminated in the release of their CD ‚Ķ‚Ķ‚Ķ‚Ķ‚Ķ.

“Monroe’s Revenge’s current line-up has been playing together for the last three or four years. I joined on fiddle about five years ago (it’s hard to remember exactly) and Joe Hymas joined us on mandolin a year or two later. Having gigged fairly regularly to increasingly receptive audiences (last year we were the ‘headlining British band’ at Didmarton, having the penultimate slot on the Saturday night, after Mollie O’Brien and before the American headliner, Blue Highway) we eventually felt that we were ready to record an album.

The choice of material was pretty much a ‘no-brainer;’ we knew which were the strongest songs in our current repertory. Some of them, such as Roust-a-bout, are ones that our singer/guitarist Dave Plane sang for years in his duo with the late Andy Townend. Others we have brought in more recently.

It took a couple of years of experimenting to work out how we wanted to record it. We decided against the modern way of recording rhythm tracks first and overdubbing everything else. Everything on the CD is recorded live with no overdubs. We feel that the live energy more than makes up for any roughness in the playing and achieves what we hope we have become known for; raw, hard-driving bluegrass.”

The CD can be bought at their shows or through their brand new website where you can also hear sample tracks.

Other musical samples can be enjoyed by visiting their MySpace page.

Our UK correspondent, Richard F. Thompson, put together this report on an important event we missed last fall.

In November the legendary folk/bluegrass singer, songwriter and activist Hazel Dickens was honored as one of the inaugural inductees into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony at The Cultural Center in Charleston, West Virginia.

Belatedly, I submit this tribute and report of the evening’s activities ‚Ķ‚Ķ‚Ķ.

Considered one of the most influential and powerful artists, male or female, in the world of Americana music, Ms. Dickens was presented with her award by her longtime admirer, Alison Krauss.

Born in the coal-mining region of West Virginia (Mercer County), Ms. Dickens moved to the Baltimore area while in her late teens. There she found friendship and musical compatibility with local area musicians like Mike Seeger and Alice Gerrard. Dickens, Gerrard and Seeger along with Tracy Schwarz and Lamar Grier recorded an album released an LP under the name of the Strange Creek Singers. Later, Hazel and Alice worked together as a duo. They recorded four ground-breaking albums before they went their separate ways in 1976.

Subsequently, Ms. Dickens has released several solo albums that have presented what has been described as “her uniquely personal amalgam of old-time string band sounds, bluegrass, protest songs, and classic country.”

Her music is renowned for the way in which she has spoken up for the impoverished, like the coalminers of her own and nearby states. Songs such as Working Girl Blues, Black Lung, and Don’t Put Her Down, You Helped Put Her There speak typically of her feelings for the cause of those who have suffered or are suffering hardship in their lives, like many of the Dickens’ family members themselves.

Her music was featured in the Oscar-winning documentary Harlan County, U.S.A., which depicted the tensions surrounding a coal miners’ strike in rural Kentucky. Her poignant songs, such as Mama’s Hand, Few Old Memories, West Virginia, My Home and You’ll Get No More Of Me, have been widely recorded by other artists.

In 1993 Ms. Dickens was presented with the International Bluegrass Music Association [IBMA] Award of Merit. Three years later she won the IBMA Song Of The Year award after Lynn Morris recorded a superb version of Mama’s Hand.

In 2001 Hazel Dickens was awarded a Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts, the highest official honor bestowed on traditional musicians by the U.S. Government. (more…)

Our UK correspondent, Richard F Thompson, shares this review of a project he found especially worthy.

When cross-pick guitar expert and Clinch Mountain Boy James Alan Shelton was selecting the songs and tunes for this, his ninth solo CD, Walking Down The Line, he was in a nostalgic mood, reflecting on particular moments in his musical life.

The opening track, Soldier’s Joy, pays tribute to the late Clarence White, tragically killed in an automobile accident, and sets a driving tempo with plenty of hot licks from fellow Clinch Mountain Boy Dewey Brown (fiddle) and Adam Steffey (mandolin) as well as Shelton himself. Audey Ratcliff (rhythm guitar) and Barry Bales (bass) provide a solid rhythm section here and throughout.

Shelton had worked up a finger-picked rendition of My Grandfather’s Clock some years ago, but it isn’t until now that he has gone ahead and recorded the tune. Young straight-ahead banjo picker, Daniel Grindstaff provides the essential harmonic chimes here. Also played finger style is Old Toy Trains; it’s one tune that I am going to have to listen to again and again. It’s a lovely sedate melody, written by country singer Roger Miller.

I love Tony Ellis’s original tunes and Shelton’s version of Stephen twins lead guitar and his own banjo playing beautifully. Both of these last two performances are captivating. Salt Creek, or Stoney Creek as it is known in Stanley Brothers’ circles, features Stanley-style banjo from Steve Sparkman, a long-standing Clinch Mountain Boy with Shelton. These four tunes alone admirably demonstrate the varied shadings in style that can be found on this CD.

Nashville Blues comes from the version on the original Will The Circle Be Unbroken LP, a set that is a musical landmark in so many people’s lives. Shelton recalls Randy Scruggs’ guitar break while Grindstaff echoes Earl’s break, at the same time being innovative with an overdubbed second banjo part to one of the breaks. Another slower-paced tune is Fair And Tender Ladies; it is much enhanced by some triple fiddle parts from Brown. (more…)