The October 25th benefit show for Eddie and Martha Adcock at Nashville’s Station Inn was a great success. The packed audience at the Station Inn was treated to the sounds of some of the finest in Bluegrass, who donated their services (and also their own funds) to help Eddie and Martha through some difficult times following Eddie’s successful brain surgery last August.

The Nashville Bluegrass Band was followed by Missy Raines and the New Hip. Then Jerry Douglas told how his father’s first experience hearing the Country Gentlemen with Eddie Adcock prompted his father to buy every Country Gentlemen record he could find, which Jerry listened to constantly for the next year. Jerry was joined by Russ Barenberg on guitar for some hauntingly beautiful tunes.

Next the Whites with dad Buck and daughters Cheryl and Sharon demonstrated family harmony at its best. Jerry Douglas joined with surprise guest Ricky Skaggs to round out the Whites’ portion of the show. Jesse McReynolds and his family showed that the Virginia Boys sound is alive and well. Jesse concluded his set with El Cumbanchero, again confirming that his picking is as fast (or faster) and clean as ever — an amazing performance.

Harley Allen sang several of his own songs, showing all why he is one of the world’s best songwriters. He was ably assisted by the Infamous Stringdusters’ Andy Hall on Dobro, David Harvey on mandolin, and Barry Crabtree on banjo. Speaking of songwriters, Dixie and Tom T. Hall were in the audience. Others attending to support Eddie and Martha included Sonny Osborne, Terry Eldridge, Roland White, David Sebring, and many other notable Nashville area musicians.

Sam Jackson handled the emcee duties and “Supe” Granda from St. Louis delivered several of his original songs. The climax was when Eddie Adcock himself took the stage with former II Generation bandmate Gene Johnson (now of Diamond Rio), Missy Raines, and Don Wayne Reno. After a few moments of Eddie’s picking, there was no doubt that his surgery had been a success, and his trademark baritone voice proved as smooth as ever.

It was a magical evening where the excellence of the music mixed with the atmosphere of love and respect, and once again our Bluegrass community stepped up to assist one of our own.

If you would like to add your contribution to assist Eddie and Martha, you may send a contribution to:

Martha Adcock
P.O. Box 219
Lebanon, TN 37088

His guest this week on The Grand Old Time Machine is none other than Ricky Skaggs himself. The entire hour long show is a conversation with Ricky concerning his latest CD, Songs My Dad Loved.

This interview is unlike any other you’ve heard Wichita do. In fact, it’s unlike any you’ve heard Ricky do! Over the course of an hour you’ll get to hear all 13 of the tracks from the CD, and you’ll hear Ricky talk about the tunes, his childhood, growing up in rural Kentucky and learning to play bluegrass. He really opens up and shares his heart in this interview.

It’s a riveting discussion that gives you a picture into Ricky’s past, and his thinking about the music. I’m sure the story will resonate with many who grew up in similar circumstances.

Here’s a short clip to give you a taste of what the interview is like throughout.

If you want to hear the whole thing, you’ll have to tune in to SiriusXM radio channel 14(XM), channel 65(Sirius). Below are the show times.

Friday the 6th – 9 pm eastern
Saturday night the 7th – 12 midnight
Tuesday the 10th – 3 pm eastern

His songs have been cut by Skaggs, Montgomery Gentry and Sonya Isaacs, and Love Is A Journey, his debut solo project, was released on Skaggs Family Records in 2005.

He is also a gifted songwriter, an impressive multi-instrumentalist and a persuasive vocalist, yet large-scale success in the business has so far eluded his grasp.

Keith’s latest CD, The Way Of A Wanderer, is just out and if there is any justice in the music world (I know…), 2010 should be a breakout year for Sewell. It’s a fabulous project that showcases his varied abilities, tied together thematically, and recorded/mixed to take full advantage of the blended bluegrass and progressive country genres where he has plied his trade.

The new album includes 11 new songs, all written by Sewell, 4 as co-writes with Niall Toner. Keith produced, provided the vocals and played the bulk of the instruments (guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, bass and minimalist keyboards). Rob Ickes guests on resonator guitar and Luke Bulla provides fiddle on 2 tracks.

Sewell grew up in a Texas bluegrass family, and learned to play as a boy, trailing his grandfather Kenny Sewell to festivals all over the US where he performed with The Shady Grove Ramblers. Young Keith showed an interest in all of the bluegrass instruments, becoming proficient on banjo, madnolin, fiddle and guitar while still in school. At age 19, he went to work for Ricky Skaggs in his country band, which brought him to the attention of the Nashville acoustic scene as well.

The Way Of A Wanderer struck me as being more relaxed and coherent than his first CD, an observation that caught Keith off guard.

“I haven’t really thought about this record as having a bit more relaxed feel but that’s an interesting observation. I do think the songs are more personal and retrospective this time. I will say that I rarely set out to write a song with a title or a ‘hook’ in mind. For me, It’s always a riff or a melody that sets the mood for what I wanna say. ( Then I have to figure out what I wanna say- a chore sometimes).

I also didn’t intend to play most of the instruments starting out. I was really laying things down in a ‘pre-production’ mindset, but the further I got into the project, I couldn’t hear the parts being replaced. I think I understood the songs and where they where going, so the parts I played really became signatures to the outcome.  My wife was encouraging me also. She was like, ‘why wouldn’t you just play the instruments that you can play?

I feel like my Grandfather would have wanted me to play fiddle on a few tunes anyway.”

Perhaps most notable about this album is how Sewell uses the familiar, acoustic bluegrass instruments the way a pop or modern country producer might employ electric guitars and keyboards to provide a bed for the songs. You hear the guitar, mandolin, fiddle and banjo in the mix, but they aren’t always in their traditional roles in the rhythm section. The songs are all catchy, and this sonic approach gives the whole record a fresh sound.

Though I found every song delightful, a number of the tracks really jumped out at me. Imogene, especially, grabbed my ear – it is becoming my new favorite song. It’s a kicky, driving grasser, and when Keith told me he had written it about his grandmother, I had to have a more detailed explanation.

Listen to the sample before reading his comments…

Imogene – Listen Now    

“I realize that some things aren’t meant to be taken literally in songwriting, and sometimes it’s like uncovering a treasure when you do discover what a writer was really trying to say, but that song is pretty much coming right out of my mouth verbatim!

To be more specific, my grandmother Imogene and I were very close. She was a very strong Christian lady. Unlike my other grandparents who died very slowly in nursing situations, Imogene died suddenly when I was 13 and it was very shocking and difficult. I know this might sound ‘out there’ but I always felt like, and still feel like she is very near.  Almost like a Guardian Angel of sorts.

The song was born out of those times in my life where I wasn’t necessarily making her proud.’  ‘You know better than that son,’ she might say!

My adolescence wasn’t anything abnormal but I thought it was a good premise from which to write how I felt about her. It took a while before I could sing that without choking up, not very common for an uptempo bluegrass song!”

Another track that grabbed my attention was Abigail, a quirky number that demonstrates how much some of his previous employers’ music has rubbed off on him.

Abigail – Listen Now    

“I had been foolin’ around with this 5/4 melody for a while. I will say that the time I spent touring in Jerry Douglas’ band and certainly Sam Bush’s band surely has inspired me to be a little LESS Orthodox in my writing.”

Josie’s Reel is a tribute to Keith’s other grandmother, which combines old time and bluegrass inluences in a very appealing way.

Josie’s Reel – Listen Now    

“Niall Toner and I wrote this tune in 04′ and my friends Special Consensus cut it on their Trail Of Aching Hearts record. I’ve always loved this tune, imagining what it must have been like to see my grandmother Josie in her teens. I wrote the reel first and then the lyrics came.”

Lastly, Muscadine Wine is a song that I thought must surely be autobiographical, but Keith said “no.”

Muscadine Wine – Listen Now    

“This one is not really a true story – just an example of how a riff can materialize into a tune. I love Doc Watson and George Shuffler’s crosspicking style, and I suppose of was thinking of them when I came up with teh opening signature lick.”

Do yourself a favor and check out Keith Sewell and The Way Of A Wanderer. It’s great music.

I’m a fan.

You can listen to all 13 tracks in full on iLike until the release date of September 15, and be entered to win valuable prizes by pre-ordering the new album online. The winner will receive:

• Tickets for two to any 2009 Ricky Skaggs concert (US only)
• An exclusive “meet and greet” with Ricky at the show
• A $50 Visa gift card

The CD is Skaggs’ first true solo project, with Ricky playing all the instruments and singing all the parts. The music is as much old time as it is bluegrass, reminiscent of the wonderful album he did with Tony Rice back in 1980, Skaggs & Rice.

Great stuff!

Songs My Dad Loved, due September 15 on Skaggs Family Records, features Ricky on 13 tracks, accompanied only by himself on guitar, mandolin, mandocello, fiddle and banjo. He also provides the lead and harmony vocals on this set of primarily traditional old time and country songs.

All of the performances are heartfelt and restrained and the duet singing is simply gorgeous. Skaggs also shows his mastery of a number of stringed instruments, with his clawhammer banjo playing being especially prominent.

He describes the concept behind this album, a tribute to his father, in a recent interview with former WSM host Keith Bilbrey.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ricky Skaggs is doing a solo project, but he is still firmly in place as the fearless leader of Kentucky Thunder. In fact, it’s a solo project in the truest sense of the word.

His next CD, Songs My Dad Loved, is due on September 15 and Ricky played and sang each part on every track. Skaggs plays fiddle, guitar, mandolin and clawhammer banjo on the new CD, and sings harmony as well as lead vocals on memorable classics from The Monroe Brothers and The Stanley Brothers, plus some timeless hymns and Gospel songs.

The album is a tribute to Hobart Skaggs, Ricky’s father, who had been an old time music performer in the first half of the 20th century. Hobart fostered Ricky’s musical interests when he was still a lad, and help sow the seeds that grew into one of the most remarkable careers of any bluegrass musician alive today.

Ricky had a memorable stage debut at a Flatt & Scruggs show before he hit his teens, and was performing as a member of Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys while still in high school. He has always credited his dad, and his mother, Dorothy Skaggs (both now deceased) with encouraging him in his music, and teaching him to sing and love the sound of old time, country and bluegrass music.

Tracks include:

• Foggy River
• What Is A Home Without Love
• Colonel Printess
• City That Lies Foursquare
• Little Maggie
• Sinner You’d Better Get Ready
• Pickin’ In Caroline
• I Had But 50 Cents
• Green Pastures In The Sky
• Calloway
• This World Is Not My Home
• Branded Wherever I Go
• God Holds The Future In His Hands

This ought to be a good’n.

Bluegrass Nights at the Ryman, an annual concert series in Nashville, begins June 25 with a show featuring Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, with Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper in support. The series at the historic Ryman Auditorium will also feature Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder (July 2), Rhonda Vincent & the Rage, Bobby Osborne & the Rocky Top X-Press and Next Best Thing (July 9), Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys and Jim Lauderdale (July 16), the Dan Tyminski Band and Steep Canyon Rangers (July 23) and Dailey & Vincent and the SteelDrivers (July 30).

Ticket information can be found at The Ryman web site.

The cover feature is on Ricky Skaggs and his label, Skaggs Family Records.

There is also an article on David Harvey, noted mandolinist and luthier with Gibson Acoustic Instruments, images from the new photo mural at East Tennessee State University, plus pieces on Maine’s Al Hawkes and East Side Dave Kline from Mountain Folk radio.

Subscription and single-issue information can be found online.

Leading the two shows on the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium on February 28 are Opry members Ricky Skaggs and Del McCoury, together the winners of a total of 14 Grammy and 30 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) awards.

The show will also feature multiple IBMA award-winners The Infamous Stringdusters.

The Charlie Haden Family & Friends 2008 Grammy-nominated release and roots music-orientated Rambling Boy features appearances by Skaggs as well as a number of other great musicians, including Haden’s son-in-law, Golden Globe-nominated actor Jack Black.

Among others who both appear on Rambling Boy and are set to be part of the Haden Family Opry shows are renowned musicians Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Mark Fain, Rob Ickes, Jim Mills and Bryan Sutton.

"Together, the exemplary artists confirmed for this show have amassed more than 30 Grammy awards and an amazing 50 plus awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association," said Opry Vice President and General Manager Pete Fisher. "We are looking forward to seeing these masters of their various instruments together on the Opry stage."

Del McCoury, Jesse McReynolds & The Virginia Boys and Bobby Osborne & Rocky Top X-Press will also perform on tonight’s Friday Opry show.

The Grand Ole Opry is broadcast live on WSM AM 650, on XM channel 11 (XM Nashville), and simulcast worldwide via online streaming at wsmonline.com.

The Tuesday Night Opry resumes on March 3.

Congratulations to Ricky and the boys!

Alison Krauss and Robert Plant won 5 Grammies for their Raising Sand CD – Album Of The Year, Record Of The Year, Pop Collaboration With Vocals, Country Collaboration with Vocals, and Contemporary Folk/Americana Album.

Wow…

B?©la Fleck & The Flecktones won the Best Pop Instrumental Album award for their Christmas-themed CD, Jingle All The Way.

Unfortunately, none of the other bluegrass or bluegrass-tinged artists or projects that received nominations went home with awards. Oh well… there’s always next year.

The new version is not necessarily a bluegrass arrangement, but the song certainly has a grassy flavor.

If you haven’t caught it yet, here’s the extended cut of the video.

CMT also did an interview with Jack White and Brendan Benson of The Raconteurs, and Ashley Monroe, where they discuss how this new version came to be.

Jack Black is a funny man for sure. He’s been through the School of Rock. Now he’s taken up an interest in bluegrass music.

Black’s father-in-law is jazz bass legend Charlie Haden. In September of 2008 Haden released a CD by the title Rambling Boy. The CD includes Haden’s family & friends, and is accordingly subtitled. The CD takes Haden back to his roots of bluegrass, folk, and old time country music. Featuring songs such as Single Girl, Married Girl, Wildwood Flower, A Tramp On The Street, and Shenandoah, the CD features all four of Haden’s children.

The original plan had not included any performance by son-in-law Black, but when he heard the mixes, he took an interest in the instrumental version of Old Joe Clark, asking if there were any lyrics to it. Soon enough, Black had laid down a vocal track to the tune that became part of the finished production.

I wasn’t sure what to expect because I haven’t recorded or really sung any old songs like that before, bluegrass style, but it came very naturally and I cranked it out in two takes.

There was something in the music that I think struck a chord in my DNA. I think I’ve got some hillbilly in my roots. … I’m already practising my square dancing if we play the Grand Ole Opry.

The “friends” part of the CD includes performances by Vince Gill, Dan Tyminski, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, and Ricky Skaggs.

In fact, the iTunes version of the disc includes an exclusive bonus track of Hold What Ya Got, recorded with Ricky Skaggs and his family, The Whites.

The mini-site for the project, hadenfamilyandfriends.com features audio samples and a video introduction to the project, including footage of Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Bryan Sutton, and of course Skaggs himself.

You can read more about Jack Black’s involvement at this link.

HT: The Australian Bluegrass Blog

Referring to his catalog of music, Ricky said:

"There’s a lot of great music in the past that I’m very proud of but I just feel like I haven’t even hit my stride yet. I’m 54 and I’m looking for more."

You’ll also find a DJ Profile with Pete Hart, a Q&A with Tim Hensley, coverage of the Vicki Simmons Benefit Concert in Renfro Valley, KY, a ShopTalk with Jerry Douglas, Junior Sisk’s Bluegrass Favorites, a Promoter Profile with the Florida Bluegrass Festival’s Dawn Taylor, a Songwriter Profile with High Windy’s Patrick McDougal, as well as the 2009 Annual Festival Guide.

Find full details online.

Skaggs’ enthusiastic and highly visible support of Bourgeois played a large role in bringing wider attention to the brand when it was launched in 1995, and during the subsequent reformation of the company as Pantheon Guitars in 2000.

It seems that Dana has not taken Ricky’s support for granted, as he has unveiled a new, limited edition Ricky Skaggs signature model guitar, the RS-42 LE, as a tribute.

These will be dreadnaught bodies with a red spruce top and Brazilian rosewood back and sides, assembled with hide glue. The bridge is made of fossilized ivory and the top and rosette are bound with abalone.

The fingerboard and pickguard are inlaid with abalone, using custom patterns unique to this model. Even the Waverly tuning pegs are custom-engraved with the initials “RS.” Both Skaggs and Bourgeois will sign each of these numbered guitars before it is shipped.

The RS-42 LE carries a retail price of $15,000, with a hard shell case and lifetime warranty. Only ten of these guitars will be built, available now through selected dealers.

Two of the ten are already sold, and Bonnie Lloyd at Pantheon told me that they are working on #5 now at the shop in Lewiston, Maine.

Bourgeois and Skaggs have put together a YouTube video to help introduce this elaborately appointed guitar to the market.

Here are the nominees for Best Bluegrass Album for 2009.

• Cherryholmes III: Don’t Believe – Cherryholmes
• Del McCoury Band ‚Äî Live At The 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival – Del McCoury Band
• The Ultimate Collection / Live At The Ryman – Earl Scruggs With Family & Friends
• Honoring The Fathers Of Bluegrass: Tribute To 1946 And 1947 – Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
• Wheels – Dan Tyminski

Cherryholmes also was nominated in the Best Country Instrumental Performance category for the track Sumatra from that same CD, as was Jerry Douglas for Two Small Cars In Rome from Glide, and B?©la Fleck & The Flecktones for Sleighride on Jingle All The Way.

The Steeldrivers were nominated in the Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals category for Blue Side Of The Mountain from their self-titled debut release.

Alison Krauss received several with Robert Plant for their Raising Sand CD – Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals, Best Country Collaboration With Vocals and Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album.

Bill Monroe’s 1940 single recording of Mule Skinner Blues will also be inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame this year.

The 51 st Grammy Awards will be broadcast live on CBS February 8, 2009. The bluegrass awards are announced and distributed in a  separate ceremony to be held earlier that day.

It runs to just under seven minutes and shows the band with Skaggs and guest vocalist Ashley Monroe recording live to 2 inch analog tape in a large studio space. Ricky and his mandolin are featured prominently throughout.

The digital single of this new version of Old Enough is available as an Amazon.com exclusive until 12/9, when it will be offered through all digital resellers. Look for the track on 7” vinyl starting 12/16.

The original version included acoustic guitars, mandolin, and fiddle, along with electric bass and drums. This new version is scheduled for release sometime in the next few weeks and will feature Skaggs on mandolin, and country singer Ashley Monroe joining the group vocally.

A photo album of the recording session is available on the group’s website.

Here is the original music video for the tune. It’ll be interesting to hear just how different it might sound with Skaggs on board. I like that Skaggs takes on projects like this one. He’s introducing himself, and bluegrass music by extension, to a whole new group of people who seem predisposed towards acoustic music, but may not have heard any good bluegrass before.

The Raconteurs “Old Enough”

Ricky talks briefly about his new Cracker Barrel exclusive CD, The High Notes, which includes reworked versions of his country hits in a bluegrass style, and then he and the boys tear it up.

Here’s the video, which follows after a brief CBS commercial message.

The show airs live from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. (eastern), but is carried at different times by CBS affiliates across the US.

Check the show schedule online to double check when it will be broadcast in your area.

bluegrassmercury – Travelogue #2
by Richard F Thompson

We had the pleasure of attending the Grand Ole Opry last night (9/27). I say we, my wife Karen will probably get many mentions over the next week or so; she’s my trusty photographer.

It was my third visit to the Opry, if my memory serves me correctly and Karen’s second experience of the show.

The format never changes; it’s an institution and it works, so why fix it! It is a superb variety show with entertainment for very nearly all tastes. For those that don’t know, each artist is limited to one or two songs on his or her portion of the show, which for this particular evening, was split into four parts, each half an hour long.

There was a good mix of ladies of country music – I mean real country music.

The still beautiful Connie Smith demonstrated why Dolly Parton rates her among the top three female singers in any genre, telling me that she Never Once Stopped Loving You. The feeling’s mutual Connie! Marty, you are one very fortunate fellow.

Canadian Terri Clarke has a rare empathy with an audience and won more favor with a very good version of Loretta Lynn’s first recorded song Honky Tonk Girl. Karen was thrilled by that. And Suzy Bogguss reminded us that the art of yodeling is still alive and well.

Little Jimmy Dickens was in good wise-cracking form and reminded us of his abilities as great ballad singer, even at 87 years of age or thereabouts. In contrast the portly Jack Greene looked as though age had caught up with him a few years ago.

There were four bluegrass acts this evening; Jesse McReynolds and the Virginia Boys, who performed just one song; I’ll Love Nobody But You. He was accompanied by his granddaughter, Amanda Lynne and grandson Garrett (guitar), both singing harmony, and an ever-smiling legend, Jim Buchanan on fiddle, Terry Lease (banjo) and Matthew Madden (upright bass). Jesse still has nimble fingers.

The Del McCoury Band did two numbers in succession. The title of the first escaped me; the second was the Ronnie McCoury instrumental Quicksburg Rendezvous. Mark Fain, bass player with Kentucky Thunder deputized for Alan Bartram.

Ricky Skaggs hosted the next portion of the show and kicked it off with Why Did You Wander?, before later doing his late mother’s favourite song Mother’s Not Dead. In between, he introduced The Whites, who did a rousing Gospel number with Buck White featured on piano, rather than mandolin.

The Grascals effectively closed the show. It was the first time that I had seen them and I found them to have a presence and power; they reminded Karen of that aura associated with The Johnson Mountain Boys. I have to agree that that is a very apt comparison. They treated the receptive audience to Only This Whole World (title?) and Happy Go Lucky.

Front and centre were Terry Eldridge, Jamie Johnson and Terry Smith, combining voices excellently, while Danny Roberts impressed with some powerful mandolin playing. I will have to make listening again to his Mandolin Orchard CD one of my first tasks when I get home.

It was a very satisfying evening and whetted the appetite for what is to come next week when there will be sizeable sets rather than snapshots of obviously great talents.