If you’ve ever wanted to sing bluegrass harmony and didn’t know how to learn, or if you’ve been trying and need some help figuring out the parts, Stephen Mougin has come to your rescue.

Stephen plays guitar and sings with Sam Bush. He knows his way around bluegrass harmony, and he’s come up with a learning tool that is top notch.

His recording studio, Dark Shadow Recording, has produced two CDs designed to help you learn to sing harmony naturally.

Bluegrass Tenor Singing (featuring Russell Moore)
Bluegrass Baritone Singing (featuring Ronnie Bowman)

What Stephen has done is to take five traditional bluegrass songs, and produce a great quality recording of each one. The songs are:

• Little Cabin Home On The Hill
• Mr. Engineer
• Blue Ridge Cabin Home
• My Little Georgia Rose
• How Mountain Girls Can Love

I spent some time with the tenor CD and it’s great. The recordings are well done and these are quality arrangements worth learning. The band consists of Adam Steffey (mandolin), Megan Lynch (fiddle), Ned Luberecki (banjo), Daniel Hardin (bass), and Stephen Mougin (guitar). The vocals, the focus of the project, are sung by Stephen (lead vocal), Russell Moore (tenor), and Ronnie Bowman (baritone).

The first track for each song presents you with the full mix of the tune so you can get a feel for what the finished product should sound like. We all like to sing along with recordings, so go ahead do so, but be sure to spend some time just listening as well. Listen to the blend of the three vocals.

The second track for each tune consists of just the choruses of the song, cut together back to back, with only the band and the lead vocal. This track is important. It will help you learn the melody, as well as the phrasing and dynamics. I worked with Little Cabin Home On The Hill, and noticed that the final chorus is a bit different than the others. It’s got a minor little frill that sets it apart. This is common in bluegrass, and I’m glad they included it in the arrangement.

Once you’re comfortable with the melody, phrasing, and dynamics of the song, you can move on to the third track. This track is identical to the second, back to back choruses, with the tenor (or baritone, depending on which CD you’re working with) vocal, and no others. This allows you to hear the part you’re trying to learn. Still in the context of the band, you’ll hear where the harmony part lies within the chords. You can repeat this track until you’re confident that you know the part, then move on.

The fourth, and final, track for each tune is the same as the first, but with the harmony part removed. On the tenor CD, you’ll hear the full mix of the song, solos and verses included. On the choruses however, you’ll hear only the lead and baritone vocals. It’s up to you to provide the tenor part. This provides you with a sort of “jam along” track, where you can try out your new skills.

This is a great way to learn these parts, and I think you’ll learn more than just the five songs included on the disc. You’ll learn to hear where the parts are, and should be able to take your new skills and figure out the harmony to other songs as well.

The Bluegrass Harmony Training Series CDs are sold individually for $15 + S/H or you can purchase both the tenor and baritone CDs as a package for $25 + S/H.

Here’s a video introduction to the series.

Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out grace the cover of the latest (Sept/Oct) issue of Bluegrass Music Profiles.

Russell is also the subject of a feature interview, where he discusses the group’s latest eponymous CD, his co-writing, how he spends his free time, and the new band name – which puts his name out front after billing themselves as a band for 18 years, a move suggested by the fact that Moore is the sole founding member remaining.

“I had been strongly advised by several people that this was something I needed to do. Either do it like that or change the name totally. I contemplated about that for a long time because I didn’t want anybody to feel like I was saying I was better than they are. It takes every one of us in this group to do what we do, and I’m the first one that’ll tell you that I can’t get up on stage and do it by myself. I sat down with all the guys in the group and we talked about  it, and I explained my position and asked their opinions. I didn’t tell them I was going to do something. I asked them what their opinions were, and we talked about it. Everybody was fine with it. They know where my heart is. They’re like brothers to me and I’m proud of every one of them. We all still feel the same way about each other. That hasn’t changed. The music hasn’t changed. We still go about it the same way. But now I have all the bills. They all come to me.”

Also included in this Fall issue include profiles on Jerry Butler and John Wade’s group The Blu-J’s and promoter Sheldon Frost, ShopTalk with mandolin legend Frank Wakefield, Dan Tyminski’s Bluegrass Favorites, a Songwriter Profile of Ray Edwards, and The Bluegrass Side of Michael Martin Murphey. This issue also includes a fold out, full color poster of Dailey & Vincent.

Find more details on BMP online.

We haven’t yet had a chance to comment on Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out, the new CD from the band of the same name. It’s their first full length studio CD in five years, and their first with a record label since 2001 – though they did release a compilation project with a couple of new tracks for Rounder last year.

The band was a powerhouse in the early part of this decade, working a grueling tour schedule and selling an impressive number of CDs, both on the road and via retailers. They made the decision to form their own record company and produce new projects on their own.

The first release on Chateau Music Group was Singing on Streets of Gold in 2002, followed by The Best Durn Ride’ in ‘04 and Round III at the MAC on both CD and DVD in 2007. When the label was formed, Russell Moore still had a number of partners to assist with the workload, but with both Mike Hartgrove and Ray Deaton having left IIIrd Tyme Out, Russell figured it was time once again to change horses.

“I decided to search for a label to work with when I realized that we (me and my wife, Carol) just didn’t have the hours each day that are needed to do a good job of running a record label. My workload for the band’s day to day operations have increased to the point that there’s just not enough time to run a band and a label both.”

He settled on Rural Rhythm Records, and together they have produced a stellar CD showing that IIIrd Tyme Out is still a powerhouse, and reminding us all that there are few bluegrass singers who can match Russell Moore in skill and dexterity. Moore also has a keen ear for a great song, and this new release features 12 fine examples of the sound that catapulted this band to the top of the bluegrass world when they first hit in 1991.

The current lineup contains a number of faces that will be familiar to longtime fans, and a couple of relative newcomers. Steve Dilling is on banjo, where he has been for 15 years, and Wayne Benson is back on mandolin after a 5 year absence. Edgar Loudermilk joined on bass in 2007 when Ray Deaton left the band, and Justen Haynes has been with them on fiddle this past few years. (more…)

Russell Moore and IIIrd Tyme Out have signed with Rural Rhythm Records for their next CD. The band has been tracking at Greg Luck’s studio and are hoping for a late spring or early summer release.

Sam Passamano, President of Rural Rhythm Records, is delighted to welcome them to the label.

“I have been a big fan of Russell Moore’s singing for years. He and IIIrd Tyme Out have created some of my favorite music over the years, so you can imagine how thrilled I am to be a part of this new chapter for Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out. It’s been 5 years since their last full studio album release, The Best Durn Ride, and we can’t wait to share with everyone their powerful new studio album. We look forward to a long and prosperous relationship together.”

In additional to founder Moore on guitar and lead vocals, the album will feature current members Steve Dilling on banjo, Wayne Benson on mandolin, Justen Haynes on fiddle, and Edgar Loudermilk on bass.

Russell shared a few words about the nearly completed project…

“We’ve been in the studio and the tracks are sounding GREAT! We’ve still got a couple of days of recording before we get to the mixing stage, but it’s going very smoothly at this point.

The band is producing the recording ourselves and we may, or may not, have guest artists; we’ll decide that for sure at a later date. More than half are original songs – many from within the band – as well as a few covers. Some of the writers include me, Wayne Benson, Bill Castle, Dee Gaskin, Becky Buller, Kim Fox and Ray Edwards.”

A new 3TO album will be great news for the band’s many fans, among whom I count myself.