The news continues to be good regarding the health of IIIrd Tyme Out sound man Donnie Carver after having suffered a pair of heart attacks earlier this month.

When we last heard from 3TO leader and lead singer Russell Moore, he reported that Donnie’s recuperation was running ahead of schedule and that they were hopeful of having him join them on the road again soon.

Russell spoke with Donnie again yesterday (1/12), and sent along this update…

“I just got off the phone with Donnie and, aside from the expected and normal soreness and tenderness associated with having stent surgery, he’s feeling good and glad to be at home!! He said that everything went really well with the surgery and that he should be ready to travel with us when we go to Waterford, Michigan at the OCC Highland Lakes Campus and then on to Clay City, Kentucky’s Meadowgreen Park Music Barn on January 22nd & 23rd, respectively.

At this time, the only restrictions Donnie has, aside from a slight change in his diet, is no lifting of anything heavier than 5-10 lbs. for the next 6-8 weeks, but that’s normal procedure. We’re all excited about Donnie’s progress and want to thank all of you, again, for your thoughts and prayers!!!”

Wonderful news. The Bluegrass Blog joins all the many fans and friends of IIIrd Tyme Out in wishing a speedy recovery to this true road warrior.

Russell Moore has some very encouraging news about the condition of IIIrd Tyme Out sound man, Donnie Carver. Donnie suffered two heart attacks just before New Years and spent several days in the hospital.

Russell told us this past Wednesday (1/6) that Carver was resting at home and would be re-evaluated by his doctors later this month before having additional stents placed in his arteries. Now comes news that his progress warrants an expedited schedule.

“I spoke with Donnie yesterday (January 7th) and his doctors have updated his procedures. Instead of waiting two weeks to add more stents in his arteries, he’ll be returning to the hospital on Monday, January the 11th to have the remaining procedures performed.

As I said in my earlier statement, they’re going to add two more stents in other arteries and perform balloon angioplasty on, yet, another artery. The doctors feel like this is a better option than performing open heart, bypass surgery. After the next round of stents are put in, and as long as everything goes well as expected, Donnie will need 7-10 days of R&R to recover. That being said, it looks like Donnie will be back on the road with us in time for our trip to Waterford, Michigan at the OCC Highland Lakes Campus and then on to Clay City, Kentucky’s Meadowgreen Park Music Barn on January 22nd & 23rd!!

We’re excited about Donnie’s progress and want to thank all of you, again, for your thoughts and prayers!!”

Russell Moore, fearless leader of IIIrd Tyme Out got back to us last night with some more info on Donnie Carver’s health situation.

“I talked to Donnie earlier this morning (January 5th) and he’s back home and feeling much better. They put two stints in place while he was in the hospital and have him on medication (blood thinner, etc.).  He has to return to the hospital in two weeks to have two additional stints put in place and, also, have balloon angioplasty performed on another artery. After that, as long as everything goes well with the next procedures, he’ll need 7-10 days of R&R and he should be back on the road with us!  That should be somewhere around the first weekend in February.

We all realize that this event could have been SO much worse than what it has turned out to be……and it’s bad enough as it is……..and we’re thankful that the Lord saw fit to leave Donnie with us for a while longer!!

Donnie, his family, and all of the band and their families, would like to say ‘THANKS’ to everyone for your thoughts, prayers, e-mails, texts and phone calls!!!  It means so much to all of us!!!

Like I told Donnie, ‘You can’t keep a good man down!!!’ and we’ll be back at full speed in no time!!!”

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.