Y’all Wire, a large country music video web site, has announced their Top 8 Bluegrass Videos for 2008 to date.

The video ratings are based on the site’s Multivariate Audience Meter, which measures a video’s popularity of “audience engagement.” In addition to online views, this measure includes how often a video is selected as a favorite, forwarded to others, embedded elsewhere, tagged, receives comments and is rated by Y’all Wire users.

Here’s how this measurement system rates bluegrass videos for 2008:

1. Rhonda Vincent, Heartbreaker’s Alibi
2. Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Sadie’s Got Her New Dress On
3. The Grascals, Me and John and Paul
4. The Gibson Brothers, I Got A Woman
5. Sam Bush, The Rivers Gonna Run
6. Lori Willcuts, Black Eyed Susans
7. Ryan Shupe and The Rubberband, Banjo Boy
8. Yonder Mountain String Band, Classic Situation

Y’all Wire also publishes a weekly list of the top 7 bluegrass videos, and you can browse all of them on their site.

Artists or labels who would like to see their videos appear at YallWire.com can register online.

Chris Thile isn’t the only bluegrass picker with a pure love for baseball. Sam Bush is another, and his fondness for America’s pastime was recently chronicled on the Baseballisms site.

Sam’s video remembrances of growing up playing baseball are especially poignant, as the first was posted just after Fathers Day, and in it Sam fondly remembers his dad, Charlie, who passed away just last week.

In the second video clip, Sam discusses his passion for the St. Louis Cardinals and the mixed feelings he experienced when the Boston Red Sox, his dad’s favorite team, met them in the 2004 World Series.

I suppose I should admit that I also have a lifelong love for baseball. The start of spring training each April is always a happy time, and a reminder that both the baseball and the bluegrass festival seasons are just around the corner.

The state of Kentucky honored native son Sam Bush this week, and Sam returned the favor by picking a few for the KY State Senate in Frankfort on Monday.

The Senate approved a resolution which celebrated Bush’s contributions to newgrass music, specifically for his crucial membership in both Bluegrass Alliance and New Grass Revival. The full text of the resolution appears below:

A RESOLUTION adjourning the Senate in honor of Kentucky’s own Sam Bush, the founder of New Grass music.

WHEREAS, Sam Bush was born on April 13, 1952, in Bowling Green, Kentucky; and

WHEREAS, Sam Bush began playing the fiddle in his early childhood, winning several awards, including National Fiddle Champion at age 15. As a teen, he was also proficient on the mandolin and guitar, and was soon a key member of a bluegrass band, the Bluegrass Alliance; and

WHEREAS, inspired by the pioneering progressive bluegrass band, the New Deal String Band, Sam Bush formed the New Grass Revival in 1971. The New Grass Revival broke new musical ground with its pioneering fusion of bluegrass, jazz, rock and roll, and soul; and

WHEREAS, the New Grass Revival toured extensively until they disbanded in 1989, and they have been credited with “slapping a new coat of paint” on a style of music that had fallen out of favor with the record-buying public. It was Bush’s hope that his music would lead record buyers back to original bluegrass artists like Ralph Stanley and Bill Monroe; and (more…)

Sam Bush will a featured guest on this weekend’s edition of A Prairie Home Companion, broadcast on public radio stations all over the US.

The show will broadcast live from St. Paul, MN on February 9 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. (EST) over a great many stations in the US, and on XM Satellite Radio track 133. Broadcast times vary from one affiliate to another, with many carrying the live feed on Saturday afternoons, and others running it instead early on Sunday afternoon. Check local listings for air times in your area.

You can also listen live online, accessed using Windows Media Player from the Prairie Home Companion web site. Past shows are archived on the PHC site, with audio files usually available by the Monday morning following a weekend broadcast.

A movie and a mandolin…?

Sam Bush will be the guest on Hazel Smith’s Southern Fried Flicks on CMT this weekend. He’ll join Hazel on her kitchen set for some cooking tips as she prepares some of her tasty dishes - before, and during the breaks - while they air the 1991 hit movie, Fried Green Tomatoes.

Hazel has become a very popular cooking personality with a successful cookbook in addition to her CMT show, and has made numerous guest appearances on Emeril Live and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. She had worked for many years in the music publishing and record business in Nashville and as a free lance journalist - and is also the mom of bluegrass artists Billy and Terry Smith (Grascals).

The show will air on CMT Saturday (2/2) at 8:00 p.m. and on Sunday (2/3) at 4:00 p.m.

Not long ago we brought you a story about Stephen Mougin playing in Slovakia. The tour is done, Stephen is back in the states and on the road with Sam Bush again, but he sent us some reflections on the state of the bluegrass scene in Eastern Europe.

Stephen tells us the concerts, in which he performed with Slovakian pickers, were a blast. He shared some thoughts about the various bands he came in contact with while there.

The band šSidlo played traditionaly oriented songs. They have a GREAT lead singer (apolgies for not remembering or knowing how to spell the names….) and a GREAT tenor vocalist. The young fiddle player is an extremely talented young man and he truly understands the bluegrass genre.

He also told us about a new, up and coming band, Grass Country Drive. (more…)

This morning (11/1), BluegrassCountry.org has interviews on tap with a couple of bluegrass and acoustic music legends.

Sam Bush drops by at 9:00 a.m. to talk with Katy Daley about his current tour with Edgar Meyer and Jerry Douglas, which stops tonight in DC.

Then at 11:00, Lee Michael Demsey will preview his lengthy interview with Jerry Douglas. The full interview will run on Sunday (11/4) at 6:00 p.m., in which Lee and Jerry take a look (and listen) back over Jerry’s long career in music, and take a look at where he is headed next.

Catch it all live via live streaming at www.BluegrassCountry.org.

Stephen Mougin, of the Sam Bush Band, just emailed in to let us know that he is currently visiting Slovakia and doing a number of shows with friends while there.

He played last weekend with the band Fragment. Fragment has toured several times in the US and features Steven’s wife Jana on bass and vocals, along with Petr Brandejs on banjo, Ondra Kozak on fiddle, guitar and vocals, and Henrich Novak on dobro and vocals.

I chopped along on mandolin and added some solos when I thought I knew the tune!! The band sounds great as usual… my only question… where do they keep finding those HOSS guitar players???? There’s got to be something in the water over here! Or is it the beer????

This weekend Stephen will be playing a concert with Henrich on Sunday. The show will focus on Henrich’s resophonic guitar playing with Stephen accompanying him. Material will range from bluegrass to americana, in Slovakia folks! Stephen also suggested that members of the band Grass Country Drive may join them towards the end of the show for a few traditional bluegrass numbers.

His visit will culminate with what he termed an “out and out bluegrass celebration” on November 3, 2007. The concert that evening will feature Sidlo, Grass Country Drive, and Stephen Mougin. Stephen will play guitar and be joined that evening by some native Slovakian pickers, some of whom will be familiar to IBMA 2007 attendies. Milan Benkovic (resophonic guitar) and Michael Barok (mandolin) from the band Meantime will be part of Stephen’s ensemble that evening. Rounding out the sound will be Richard Cifersky on banjo, and Roman Sykora on bass.

Here’s what Stephen has to say about picking with these guys.

I rarely get to front my own band and I’m really having a great time with all of these fine pickers! They truly understand OUR music and try their best to honor it with every note!

Be sure to check out Sam Bush’s tour schedule to find a time when you can hear Stephen back here in the states.

Look for Sam Bush on GAC TV this afternoon at 1:00 p.m. He’ll be on their Edge of Country show to talk with host Kylie Harris about his hosting the IBMA Awards Show on Thursday, and to preview the debut music video from his concert DVD, On The Road.

This show will be rebroadcast several more times over the next few days, but the times are not yet listed on the GAC site. Look for re-airings of Videos From The Edge in the GAC listings if you miss today’s showing.

Sam Bush will be a guest host this evening on Sirius Bluegrass, warming up for next week’s IBMA convention in Nashville, where Sam will serve as host for the International Bluegrass Music Awards on October 4.

Sam takes over at 5:00 p.m. today (9/27) for an hour of talk and music. He’ll spin tracks of his choosing, and expound as his inclinations direct. Sounds like fun…

The show will be rebroadcast on Saturday (9/29) at 9:00 p.m. and again on Sunday (9/30) at 3:00 p.m. All times eastern

Sirius subscribers can find Bluegrass on channel 65, broadcasting bluegrass 24/7.

Sam Bush will be appearing on television twice this week as a member of Lyle Lovett’s band, with whom he has performed on many occasions. Look for them on Tuesday (9/11) on Live with Regis and Kelly, and then on Wednesday (9/12) on Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

Late Night airs on NBC, typically following The Tonight Show with Jay Leno at 12:30 a.m. Full episodes are available for viewing the following day after broadcast.

Live is a syndicated program which airs at different times in different markets. Local stations can be found online.

Here’s a fun YouTube clip we found on Sam Bush’s web site. Those of us of a certain age will get a kick out of seeing a pop icon like Ringo Starr speaking excitedly about artists held in high esteem by fans of acoustic string music - like Sam Bush.

The clip has Ringo extolling the virtues of an upcoming book from noted Nashville photographer Jim McGuire (Senór McGuire as he is known to many), the galleys of which Ringo is thumbing in the video. The traveling exhibit of 60 McGuire photos which Brance posted about last month will be reproduced in book form in the near future.

Nashville Portraits- Legends of Country Music by Jim McGuire is set for an October 1, 2007 release from Lyons Press. All of the photos are reproduced in their original black and white, printed on heavy stock and hardbound.

A great many bluegrass artists who have been the subject of McGuire’s photos are featured, including Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley, JD Crowe & The New South, Marty Stuart, John Hartford, Béla Fleck, Lester Flatt and Vassar Clements.

And now… here’s Ringo.

As they had promised earlier this summer, The Infamous Stringdusters have some new live tracks for free download on their MySpace page. The new tunes are This Weary Heart and 40 West, offering a fine chance to hear this young band on a Stanley Brothers classic and one of their more progressive instrumentals.

Both were recorded at The Livery in Harbor Springs, MI on July 13. Listen closely for Critter’s (Chris Eldridge) reaction to the end of his guitar solo on This Weary Heart.

The Dusters have now bidden farewell to Eldridge. This past weekend marked his last show with the band, commemorated on YouTube with video of a mega jam with both The Infamous Stringdusters and The Sam Bush Band on a rousing version of Rolling In My Sweet Baby’s Arms.

We all seem to enjoy celebrity interviews. They give us a peek into the lives of the people who’s music we love so much. So how could we not love a celebrity interview conducted by a celebrity?

In a web exclusive for Country Weekly magazine, country music star Dierks Bentley plays reporter and sits down with the father of Newgrass, Sam Bush, for an interview.

Sam seems reluctant to accept that title though.

For years, I fought calling stuff “newgrass” just cause people were saying “You’re the father of newgrass.” I always thought it was John Duffey with the Country Gentlemen who made the first new bluegrass. But so did the Osborn Brothers and so did Jim and Jessie. Jim and Jessie did a whole Chuck Berry album in the ’60s called Berry Pickin’ Time in the Country.

A couple questions later though, Sam does accept the label of Newgrass:

The word newgrass probably applies, especially now that … I’ve got a banjo player, and if we want to play bluegrass we feel that we can really play bluegrass. And if we want to vary off, we have Byron House on bass … who’s great on the upright.

Other topics covered in the interview include baseball and dogs, two passions shared by both Bush and Bentley.

You can read the interview on Country Weekly’s website.

In addition to the new Charlie Sizemore CD we highlighted yesterday, there are several other notable bluegrass projects released on August 14 that are worthy of your attention.

New from Rebel is Lovin’ Pretty Women from The Steep Canyon Rangers. We have mentioned this project a number of times recently, and now that it is available widely, we expect it will get a lot of attention. Clever songwriting and crisp execution mark this CD as a keeper.

You can hear audio samples on the band’s MySpace page, or check out their video bio with both live clips and CD audio.

Sugar Hill has SCENEchronized, the first new set from Seldom Scene in quite some time. Both long time fans and followers of a newer vintage should enjoy this CD. Even with Ben Eldridge as the lone original member, the song selections, arrangements and performances all bear the hallmarks that have set this band apart for more than 30 years.

More details on SCENEchronized can be found in our earlier post, and audio samples can be found in iTunes.

Also from Sugar Hill comes Sam Bush’s first live concert DVD, On The Road. It was recorded last August in Colorado, and features The Sam Bush Band in their element - live on stage. Featured are Scott Vestal on banjo (and banjo synth), Byron House on bass, Stephen Mougin on guitar, Chris Brown on drums, and Bush on mandolin, fiddle and lead vocals.

I could not find any video clips online, but there is a full track listing on Sam’s web site.

The IBMA has announced that Sam Bush will host the 2007 International Bluegrass Music Awards show, to be held October 4 at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, TN.

His wit and stage presence are sure to add to this year’s show, and possibly even creating the awkwardness of the show host being the recipient of an award or two!

Speaking of Sam Bush…

His new live concert DVD, On The Road, is due for release this week. I had a chance to watch it last week, and enjoyed it very much. As much as his many fans appreciate each new Sam Bush recording when it is released, they’ll all tell you that you can’t experience the full Bush vibe until you catch him live.

This new Sugar Hill DVD release will give just that opportunity. See a complete track listing and place an order in the official Sam Bush store online.

Gibson and Sam Bush are offering a chance to win a new Sam Bush signature model mandolin, valued at nearly $10,000. Additional prizes for the winner include 10 sets of Gibson Sam Bush mandolin strings, and an autographed copy of the live Sam Bush concert DVD.

To enter online, visit the Gibson web site and fill in the entry form.

Entries are limited to legal residents of the United States, 18 years of age or older, and must be received by October 8, 2007.

Complete contest rules can be viewed on the Gibson site.

Sam Bush is looking at August 2007 to release his debut live concert DVD, recorded at the Sierra Nevada Brewery concert hall, The Big Room, in Chico, CA. Bush fans have long understood that not matter how much you might enjoy his recordings, the full experience of his live show takes it to another level altogether.

Sugar Hill Records says that the DVD will include live performances of some of Sam’s older songs, as well as tunes from more recent releases. Bonus features will include music videos and some in-studio candid clips which are certain to be hilarious.

Sam is among the most naturally gifted entertainers in acoustic music, wholly apart from his undeniable skills as a musician. Look for this DVD to be a rollicking good time.

UPDATE 6/29: The Bush live DVD will be titled On The Road, and the release date on Sugar Hill is August 14.

The Americana Music Association has announced the nominees for their 2007 Honors and Awards, with the winners to be announced on November 1 during their 6th Annual Americana Music Association’s Honors and Awards Show in Nashville.

Several of the nominees will be familiar to readers of The Bluegrass Blog, including Sam Bush for Instrumentalist, Uncle Earl for New and Emerging Artist, and both The Duhks and Old Crow Medicine Show for Group/Duo.

You can see the complete list of 2007 AMA nominees on their official web site, where you can also find details about the Americana Music Conference, October 31 through November 3, 2007.

Jazz sax man Bill Evans made waves in 2005 with the release of his Soulgrass project, merging jazz, funk and R&B grooves with bluegrass and traditional string music. It included such acoustic luminaries as Béla Fleck (who also co-produced), Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas and Stuart Duncan along with Evans and fellow jazz giants John Scofield on guitar, among many others.

Soulgrass was nominated for a Grammy in ‘05. Audio samples can be found on the Bill Evans web site.

Evans is hard at work this summer recording a new project, again featuring this jazz/bluegrass jusion approach. Already announced as contributing in the studio are Sam Bush, Béla Fleck and Victor Wooten along with his touring band of Ryan Cavanaugh (banjo), Christian Howes (fiddle) and Joel Rosenblatt (drums).

This new CD, as yet untitled, is expected to be released in Europe in October 2007, and in the US early in 2008.