Rounder Records has announced details of the debut release by Danny Paisley and the Southern Grass. The CD entitled The Room Over Mine (#0589) is scheduled for release on June 24. It is the band’s first release since signing with Rounder Records in August 2005.

Recorded during three separate sessions at Bias Studios, Springfield, Virginia, the material featured on the album comes from the classic country music period, a more recent country song, old band favourites, two instrumentals and a couple of newly written songs.

Of the newer songs, there is one penned by Chris Stuart and Ivan Rosenberg, Don’t Throw Mamma’s Flowers Away, and a Stan Keach song that is tailor-made for the Southern Grass treatment, The Drowning Sailor.

Other tracks include Raising Cain In Texas, a song that singer Gene Watson recorded and was a Top Twenty hit on the Billboard country chart for him in 1980, which Danny arranged Jimmy Martin-style and a few older country songs: The Convict And The Rose, written by Betty Chapin and Robert A. King and recorded by Marty Robbins and Charlie Moore among others; At the End of a Long Lonely Day, a song that Danny’s father recorded, but now done in a different way and with different lyrics; I Thought I Heard You Calling My Name, done in a honky-tonk style with walking bass; A Memory of You, another song that Bob Paisley sang and that was previously recorded by Jim and Jesse; I’m Coming Back But I Don’t Know When, a song Danny first heard done by Charlie Monroe and Another Bridge to Burn, a song that A&R man Ken Irwin sent Danny’s way. Donnie Eldreth Jr. does a great job singing this song from the repertoires of Little Jimmy Dickens and Ray Price.

The band do a reprise of the popular The Room Over Mine, recorded a few years ago for one of Bob Paisley’s Brandywine CDs, and Leaving Detroit, a Charlie Moore song that Danny did for Rounder [Rounder 0142, 1981], along with a couple of old instrumentals, Sweet Potato Rag and Mountain Sally Ann, the latter of which finds Bobby Lundy using a special banjo tuning to get an old-time sound. (more…)

Hot on the heals of the success of Rounder recording artists at The Grammy award show on Sunday comes news of an award for the label itself.

The North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance (Folk Alliance) will honor Rounder Records as a recipient of the 2008 Elaine Weissman Lifetime Achievement Awards (LAAwards) at the Folk Awards Show Wednesday, February 20, 2008, in Memphis, Tennessee.

The awards, a highlight of the Folk Alliance’s annual conference, are given to those who have inspired others, achieved definitive leadership in their field and contributed to the advancement of folk music and/or dance. Each year the LAAwards honor two performers, one living and one legacy, and a person or institution involved in the business or academic side of the folk world, who have devoted their life’s work and talent to the advancement of the performing folk arts. Mavis Staples and the late Tommy Jarrell take the award in the living and legacy categories, respectively.

The Rounder story is well-known, indeed we have recently posted a link to a press article in a Massachusetts newspaper. However, here’s what the Rounder press release says about themselves.

In 1970, with only their passionate enthusiasm for American roots music lighting the way, three Cambridge, Massachusetts college students, Bill Nowlin, Ken Irwin, and Marian Leighton Levy, cast their lot into the perilous music industry. The tenacious trio went the distance: from humble beginnings to what is now America’s premier independent record label. From its early interest in rural American music (via fiddle, stringband, blues, and bluegrass recordings) to an expansive catalogue of more than 2,500 titles running the gamut from folk to world, soul to socas, jazz to juju, Cajun to Celtic, and beyond, Rounder has emerged as the pre-eminent source for vital, uncompromised music of all genres.

Rounder’s award comes in the Business/Industry Lifetime Achievement Award category.

I asked Marian Leighton Levy for her reaction to this news

“It’s wonderful to be honored with Folk Alliance’s Lifetime Achievement Award. It came as a complete surprise and is the kind of recognition of Rounder artists, the label’s history and catalogue, that makes us both pleased as punch and very proud. While it’s always nice to have Rounder recognized within the industry, it’s particularly meaningful when it comes from an organization so devoted to the music and make up of fellow-music lovers like ourselves.”

Two Rounder artists, The SteelDrivers and Vienna Teng, will be performing at conference showcases throughout the week.

The 2008 International Folk Alliance Conference runs from Wednesday, February 20 until Sunday, February 24. The full schedule is available on their web site.

The Folk Alliance was founded in 1989 and seeks to create new and better opportunities for all those involved in the performance folk arts. With thousands of attendees annually, their conference offers a complete view of the business world of traditional and contemporary folk music and dance through showcases, educational seminars, films, and a networking-rich trade show.

As we ponder the results of the 2008 Grammies - and breathe a sigh of relief that Cherryholmes didn’t have to worry about being photographed with Amy Winehouse - there are yet a few more stories that bear mentioning.

On Saturday, February 9, Earl Scruggs was the recipient of a 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award at a separate Grammy ceremony in Los Angeles. Here is how he was described…

Earl Scruggs revolutionized and popularized the banjo and developed what is now known worldwide as the “Scruggs Style Picking.” His style of picking is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music. For more than 20 years, Scruggs performed with vocalist and guitarist Lester Flatt forming the most famous band in bluegrass history. But Scruggs parted with Flatt and in 1969 formed Earl Scruggs Revue with his three sons. In 2003, Scruggs received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and in that same year he and Flatt were ranked No. 24 on “CMT’s 40 Greatest Men of Country Music.”

Using The Grammies as the hook, The Daily News in Newburyport, MA ran a feature over the weekend on Rounder Records. The piece by correspondent Jessica Benson looks at the humble beginnings of the company which is now among the more successful independent music labels in the United States.

“We were simply people who were music fans,” said Leighton Levy, who was an undergrad at Clark University in Worcester at the time. “There’s really no way we could have anticipated how the company was going to grow.”

It started in 1970, when Irwin was hitchhiking home to Cambridge after enjoying a fiddler’s convention down south. He was picked up by a guy who, with no formal training, had started his own record company.

Read the full article, which traces Rounder from their start to the present, online.

And one more comment regarding Merle Haggard having been refused consideration in the Best Bluegrass Album category in the Grammy voting…

This year’s winner, Jim Lauderdale, like Haggard is a country artist who made a decision to release a bluegrass project in 2007, both of which included the word “bluegrass” in its title.

This is not in any way to suggest that Jim’s award is undeserved. Bluegrass Diaries was produced and recorded by Randy Kohrs - a noted bluegrass artist, writer and producer - and aggressively promoted to bluegrass radio and media. Jim was also an active participant in last year’s IBMA convention in Nashville, and was personally involved in asking the bluegrass world to embrace his latest effort.

In the end, bluegrass purists may find fault with either Lauderdale or Haggard being considered for such an award - and we have heard from them - but does it seem odd that one is fair game while the other was labeled as “country?” My own guess is that the decision was based more on Merle Haggard’s long association as a country artist than on the actual recording itself.

Bluegrass super group Blue Highway is about to release their latest CD, Through the Window of a Train.

With the release coming in February, they’ve just released a short (under 8 minutes) video EPK. The video was produced by Nashville filmmaker Craig Havighurst of String Theory Media. The band narrates along with comments from Sam Bush, The Infamous Stringdusters, and others. We hope you will watch the whole thing.

Thanks to Rounder Records and Blue Highway for choosing The Bluegrass Blog to host this video online.

Mixing bluegrass and blues influences in their music - rhythm’n'bluegrass, as they like to call it - is the signtaure sound of The Steeldrivers, whose debut CD is due on Rounder early in 2008.

Their self-titled project features all-original music written within the band, all of them veterans of the music business who now find themselves in Nashville. Richard Bailey is on banjo, Mike Fleming on bass, Mike Henderson on mandolin, Tammy Rogers on fiddle with Chris Stapleton on guitar, and also taking the primary lead vocal spot.

A complete track listing and audio samples from The Steeldrivers can be found on the Rounder web site. The CD will be released on January 29, 2008.

UPDATE: We just heard from Rounder Records, and they tell us the release date has been pushed up to January 15.

This weekend those that are able should make plans to attend the ROMP 2007 event in Owensboro, KY. ROMP is the music festival sponsored by the International Bluegrass Music Museum (IBMM), and features a line up that will make you want to be there.

There are over 30 artists scheduled to perform at this year’s event, including Marty Stuart, Del McCoury, Jesse McRynolds, Byron Berline, Dan Crary, Doyle Lawson, Tim O’Brien, The Grascals, Michael Cleveland, and more.

In addition to all the great performances you can expect from this line up, there are other events worth noting. The festival will once again host the Bluegrass Masters Film Festival, Bluegrass Legends Concert, new exhibit openings at the museum, Bluegrass Hall of Honor plaque unveilings, instrument workshops, and a Sunday open house at the museum.

The entire event will be recorded by a joint effort of Kentucky Educational Television (KET) and Rounder Records. The recording will then be televised as part of KET’s Jubilee series and released to DVD in the near future by Rounder.

ROMP takes place June 21-22-23, 2007, in three Owensboro venues.

Indoor performances and exhibits are held at the museum, 117 Daviess Street.

The Legends Concert takes place June 21 next door at the RiverPark Center’s Cannon Hall, 101 Daviess Street.

All outdoor performances are held at Yellow Creek Park, 5710 Highway 144.

Tickets for the three day event are $60 for adults and $35 for seniors and students, and may be purchased online at RiverofMusic.org or by calling 888-MY-BANJO. Single day passes will be available at the event for $25.

All proceeds from the festival are used to fund the IBMM’s Video Oral History Project (VOHP).

May is Bluegrass Month and Rounder Records has teamed up with Borders Books & Music to promote and celebrate bluegrass music at all Borders stores nationwide. During the entire month, when you purchase a Rounder bluegrass release you’ll receive a free exclusive CD sampler entitled Fresh Cut Bluegrass. This sampler disc includes selections from recently released Rounder bluegrass titles, as well as new tracks from upcoming releases by both King Wilkie and Ron Block.

Again, this sampler is included free, while supplies last, when you buy new albums by Alison Krauss, J.D. Crowe, The Grascals, Donna Hughes, Doyle Lawson, Peter Rowan & Tony Rice, Uncle Earl, and Bradley Walker — all of whom are featured on FRESH CUT BLUEGRASS! Stop by your local Borders to take advantage of this special offer…

This is a great idea to get new bluegrass music in the hands of current bluegrass fans. I’m not sure how many new fans this will reach though. Possibly country fans who buy an Alison Krauss CD, but that’s about it. Honestly I would have liked to have seen this sampler given out with the purchase of another product (or genre) in order to introduce the music to new fans. But for the bluegrass fans, this may encourage you to buy a new CD this month from Borders. And if they have any in-store advertising for the sampler that may help as well.

Today marks the 36th anniversary of the first two album releases by Rounder Records. Rounder 0001 - George Pegram and Rounder 0002 - The Spark Gap Wonder Boys were both released on October 20th, 1970.

In the following 36 years Rounder has released over 3,500 records and is still owned by the original three founders.

Congrats guys!

This morning I was surfing around the net and discovered that Rounder Records has a video online about Bradley Walker. They’re calling it an ecard, but it’s more like a mini-documentary. It contains some obvious promotional elements, but that’s ok. It also features some great background info, pictures, old video footage, and comments from other artists and producers. Of course it centers around Bradley himself so you get to hear him talk about where he grew up and what his dreams are for the future, and of course, you get to hear him sing. In fact, it starts out with him sitting on a front porch and singing with no accompaniment.

If, like me, you are a fan of Bradley’s music, then the video is worth the time it takes to download it. It’s available in Windows Media and Realplayer formats, sadly no Quicktime version is available. I was able to open the WM version in QT and give it a watch. It is a 30 MB download so be prepared for it.

I should note that I discovered the video thanks to Craig over at String Theory Media. He produced the piece for Rounder and blogged about it recently.

Watch it.

Fiddler Richard Greene established himself as among the leading lights on his instrument when his stellar Duets album was released on Rounder in 1977. Not that he wasn’t already a major player. He had done his time with Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys (along with Peter Rowan and Bill Keith), and been a part of seminal 60s/70’s acts like Jim Kweskin’s Jug Band and Seatrain (again with Rowan).

Duets set a high bar, as it was an entire album of just that, Greene performing in duet with a “who’s who” of progressive bluegrass and acoustic artists at the time. Tony Rice, David Grisman, Tony Trischka and JD Crowe are featured, along with jazz pianist Dave Frishberg. The material is primarily taken from the traditional fiddle tune repertoire, but the arrangements and the playing are daring and inventive - especially by 1970s standards.

Rounder has resurrected this gem, set for an online exclusive release on July 25. These online releases are available as an audio CD, but not sold through outside distributors, available only on the Rounder web site.

If you have cherished this fine recording since its original release, this will be a welcome opportunity to purchase its digital counterpart. If you are unfamiliar with the project, and follow Greene’s fiddle work, or that of the various guest artists - or simply appreciate adventurous improvisational acoustic music - you’ll want Duets in your collection.

No audio samples up yet on the Rounder site, but pre-ordering is enabled.

Many a current bluegrass fan first encountered the music watching The Andy Griffith Show on television. During the early-to-mid 1960s, The Dillards appeared on this hit show in regular guest spots as The Darling Boys, hillbilly musicians who would come to town from time to time, generally with hilarious results. This helped propel the band to folk and bluegrass music stardom, with the band headlining festivals and recording for Elektra Records for the next decade or so.

They began to experiment with adding percussion and electric instruments to their original bluegrass sound, and became early pioneers of the then burgeoning folk rock scene in the late 60s and early 70s. Collaborations with such mainstream artists as Gene Clark and The Byrds followed, with the band becoming less recognized as a bluegrass act.

Rounder Records is set to reissue an album from 1979, Decade Waltz, which comes from this folk rock period for The Dillards. Rodney Dillard and Dean Webb are featured, along with Herb Pedersen, Jeff Gilkinson, Douglas Bounsall and Paul York. It is scheduled to be available tomorrow, June 27.

No audio up on the Rounder site at this time.

Rounder Records is bringing a number of instrumental classics out on CD this fall, starting with the release today of Bela Flecks’ debut solo project from 1980, Crossing The Tracks.

When this album first hit, the groans of anguish from banjo players could be heard all over the world. Those of us active at the time had been hearing about this young banjo phenom up in Boston for as much as two years before this record came out, and it seemed impossible that he could really be as good as the few who had seen him live had reported.

I’ll never forget the “reality check” I got from listening to Crossing The Tracks that first time. Any pretense I had as a young banjo player of “rewriting the book on banjo” were torn to bits by Bela’s obvious mastery of the instrument, not to mention his vision as a soloist and his obvious skill as a composer. Wow.

Of course, those “groans” from banjo players were only metaphorical, and we all recognized that a major voice had emerged on the instrument. His promise seemed limitless, and it has been a pure joy to follow his career since. I might liken it to the way the mandolin world reacted when Chris Thile hit in earnest - a mix of awe and disbelief, with just a touch of embarrassment.

Some of the material from this release had appeared on Fleck collections already, but I urge anyone interested in Bela’s music, or the modern history of the banjo, to get this reissue.

Also due to be reissued on CD this fall on Rounder:

The four CDs highlighted above are described as Online Exclusives, which seems to mean that they will only be available from the Rounder web site.