Long time mandolinist with The Gibson Brothers, Rick Hayes, recently announced his intention to retire from the road to focus on Hayes Mandolins, his budding mandolin building endeavor.

Eric and Leigh Gibson are happy to welcome young mandolinist Joe Walsh in Rick’s stead. Joe is a recent graduate from The Berklee College Of Music and has been performing with several bluegrass and acoustic bands in the northeast, and teaching mandolin and guitar in Portland, ME.

Joe was Berklee’s first mandolin student and moved from Duluth, MN to Boston to study there. One of his professors at Berklee, David Hollender, shared a few thoughts.

“Joe has great time, beautiful tone and he really knows how to connect with other players and make a band groove. His playing has contemporary elements but retains a deeply rooted, down to earth quality that not that all young players have. When Joe is in the band you can be sure the music will just feel good.

I think everyone who knows Joe knew it was just a matter of time until he’d land a gig like the one he has now. It’s said that success comes mainly from motivation, determination and perseverance. Joe exemplified this when he was a student at Berklee. He had to struggle to stay in school. You’d see him on his bike on cold winter days with his mandolin on his back headed to class after getting up to drive a bread truck at 4:00 am every day. Later you’d see him at night heading off to jam. Nothing would stop him and it’s great to see all that work starting to pay off.”

He will do his first show with The Gibsons on January 2, 2009 at the New Year’s Bluegrass Festival in Jekyll Island, GA. Joe joins Eric (banjo and guitar), Leigh (guitar), Mike Barber (bass), and Clayton Campbell (fiddle) to make up the band’s new look.

Rick Hayes, mandolinist with The Gibson Brothers, will join Carol Beaugard on Friday morning (8/1) for a discussion about his recent CD, Fly By Night.

Carol’s show, Lonesome Pine RFD, is broadcast from 9:00 a.m. to noon (EDT) on 89.1 FM in the NYC area, and streamed live online at WFDU.fm.

Rick will phone in at 10:30 a.m. to talk about his solo project, the latest from The Gibsons, Iron and Diamonds, the handcrafted mandolins he builds, and his recording studio and graphics business.

Busy guy…

Sometimes, new CDs and news of their releases, come in faster than we can post about them. Here is some information about a number of recent projects that may be of interest.

We offered a few words about Rick Hayes’ debut solo project, not long ago on The Bluegrass Blog. The CD, Fly By Night, was released this week, and features Rick on mandolin and lead vocals, along with The Gibson Brothers, with whom he performs on a regular basis.

Audio samples from the CD, which also features Ron Stewart on banjo, Jim Van Cleve on fiddle, Josh Swift on resonator guitar and Rick on mandolin and bass and guitar, can be heard on the Rick Hayes web site.

Rick will be interviewed online this Saturday when he joins Gracie Muldoon on WorldWideBluegrass.com. Catch Rick and Gracie on Muldoon with the Blue Moon on May 24 at 10:00 p.m.

Can’t Wait, the the second CD from the Allegheny Drifters, was released in, April right on time for the Pennsylvania group’s 5th anniversary performing as a unit.

The band includes Bernie Cunningham on lead vocals/guitar, Bob Artis on baritone vocals/mandolin, Karen Artis on tenor vocals/bass and Keith Beaver on bass vocals/banjo, with guest artist Michael Cleveland on fiddle.

Audio samples from several tracks can be found on their web site, along with their summer schedule of live shows

Also celebrating their second CD release is The Jason Boone Band from the state of Mississippi. Their new project is I Hear Mississippi Calling, which highlights the strong tenor voice of the band’s namesake, along with Don Robinson on banjo and lead vocals, Johnny Rawls on bass, Lee Ely on mandolin and Jeff Boone on fiddle. Jason plays guitar.

The material is a mix of band originals and country/Gospel hits, all performed in a driving bluegrass style. This relatively new band, formed in 2004, has been making noise on the circuit since they first appeared, and their previous self-titled Gospel CD has been well received as well.

Audio samples can be found on CD Baby or in the iTunes Music Store.

Rick Hayes, mandolinist with The Gibson Brothers, is in the studio putting the finishing touches to his first solo CD, Fly By Night, due for release in May. Rick plays mandolin, guitar and bass on the project with Ron Stewart on banjo, Jim VanCleve on fiddle and Josh Swift on dobro.

Hayes handles the lead vocals as well, with the exception of a guest lead each by his bandmates Eric and Leigh Gibson. Harmony vocals were provided by Dwight McCall, the Gibsons and Clay Hess. The CD will also include a bonus track sung by his father, Green Hayes.

Hess contributed three new songs to the project, and Mark Cole, formerly of Larry Sparks & the Lonesome Ramblers, has two.

Fly By Night was recorded in Rick’s studio, Hayes Productions, where he has previously tracked projects like Dwight McCall’s Kentucky Peace of Mind and Clay Hess’s Red Haired Boy. It will be released under his new label Kang Records ‚Äì an homage to the bluegrass pronunciation of the legendary King Records.