I caught up with Lonesome River Band banjo picker Sammy Shelor today, and he filled me in on their next CD.

Sam said that they have finished recording (14 tracks) and he will start mixing later this week. 13 tracks are vocals, with one banjo instrumental, and Sammy said that it is strong, in your face bluegrass.

This will be the first project with the current version of LRB: Sammy Shelor on banjo, Brandon Rickman on guitar/vocals, Andy Ball on mandolin/vocals, Mike Anglin on bass and Mike Hartgrove on fiddle.

As soon as the mixing is finished (end of February), Sammy will shop the completed master to a number of labels and hopes to see it released sometime this spring.

Also on Internet radio today is Uncle Billy Dunbar’s interview with Sammy Shelor of Lonesome River Band on WorldWideBluegrass.com. Dunbar sat down with Sammy at the Nebraska Bluegrass Festival in Lincoln, NE and they discussed the band’s fall schedule and future recording plans.

Check out the Shelor interview on Country Unplugged with Uncle Billy Dunbar on WWB today (10/11) from 4:00-6:00 p.m. (eastern).

To listen to the 24/7 WWB audio stream online, just visit their streaming page, and choose a connection speed and file type.

Last year around this time, we told you about Lonesome River Band banjo picker Sammy Shelor’s side business when fall rolls around. He and his wife Sue plant a field of corn each spring, not to bring to market, but as the base for their annual Corn Acoustics corn maze.

Last year’s maze was cut in the shape of the Crooked Road logo, a southwest Virginia tourism and music project with which Sammy has been involved. This year’s maze isn’t cut into so intricate a design - though it does honor the 25th Anniversary of Lonesome River Band - but Sammy says the maze is a bit more challenging to navigate.

“We’ve got some tricky trails cut. I was mowing in there the other day and got lost myself!”

The Grand Opening of Corn Acoustics is over this coming Labor Day Weekend (9/1-3), and will include bluegrass entertainment each day at no additional charge.

Find out more on the official maze web site.

Sammy Shelor let us know today that he has two new members with him in Lonesome River Band. To be precise, it’s actually one new member, and one returning.

Brandon Rickman is back with the band, playing guitar and singing lead, returning after being gone for a year and a half. He had asked out in the fall of 2005 to focus on his songwriting and spend time with his family, but decided that performing is where he wants to be.

Sammy sounded pleased to have him back.

“Brandon is a great vocalist and songwriter, and one of the best emcees I’ve ever seen. It will be good to have him on stage with us again.”

New to LRB is bass player Mike Anglin, who has recently been working with both Larry Cordle and 3 Fox Drive, and previously with Continental Divide, among other stage and studio gigs. Sammy said that Mike brings something to the band he has wanted for some time.

“Mike can wail on either the upright or electric. If we are playing a traditional bluegrass show, he can play the acoustic, and if we are at a jam grass or high volume show, he can grab the electric.”

Rounding out the band is Matt Leadbetter on dobro, Andy Ball on mandolin and Sammy on banjo.

The newly revised version of the band will be on display next weekend for the first time, performing on the radio and on stage. On Friday (2/23) they will be a featured guest on WDVX radio’s The Blue Plate program between noon and 1:00 p.m., and later that evening at The Station Inn in Nashville.

They will also be in Clay City, KY on February 24 at the Meadowgreen Music Hall. You can find the full LRB schedule on the band’s web site.

The newest release in the Crooked Road series from the Virginia Folklife program is just out. It is by Linda Lay, Sammy Shelor & Crooked Run, and entitled Taking The Crooked Road Home.

Linda Lay grew up in Bristol, VA singing and playing with her family’s string band since she was a small child. She later formed her own band, Appalachian Trail, which was a fixture at festivals in the Blue Ridge area for twenty years, and performs now with her husband David, and David McLaughlin as Springfield Exit.

Most of our readers know Sammy Shelor as the powerhouse banjo picker with Lonesome River Band, which has been his home for the past 17 years. He and Linda did a show at a folk festival a few years ago, and plans to record together were hatched not long after.

They are assisted on this CD by David McLaughlin and Jeff Parker on mandolin, David Lay on guitar, and Ron Stewart on fiddle. Though the sound is solid traditional bluegrass, most of the songs are new, with contributions from Tom T. and Dixie Hall, Mike Evans and Harley Allen.

Sammy said that recording this project was a blast for him.

“I love the way bluegrass music is played in southwest VA and east TN, and this project perfectly captures the drive, the power and the soul of that sound. Linda is the strongest vocalist I have ever worked with, and I think those who have never heard her sing are in for a surprise.”

Audio samples for all 12 tracks can be found online.

Like the last few Lonesome River Band releases, Taking The Crooked Road Home is available for purchase on the band’s site as an audio CD, or for immediate digital download as MP3 files.

Radio service is being handled by Sammy Shelor, so show hosts who would like a copy for airplay should contact Sammy via the LRB web site.

In October of 2006 banjo player Jody King fell off a ladder and broke his pelvis. He was hospitalized and underwent surgery. One month later he was back in the hospital for two additional surgeries to treat infection. He continues to wear a wound vac, and visits his doctor 3 times weekly.

In addition to his own mounting medical expenses, he has medical bills from other family matters. They are all on the mend at this point, but the expenses have been quite high.

In an effort to help offset these expenses, The Jeanette Williams Band will host a benefit concert for Jody at the Fairview Ruritan Club in Galax, VA this Sunday January 21, 2007, at 3-7 p.m. Tickets are $10 each and additional donations are welcome.

Many of Jody’s friends in bluegrass music will be there to perform and take part in the fund raising efforts.

Featured performers include:

• Bailey Savage & Broken Wire (with Jody’s student Nick Keen on mandolin)
• Jeanette Williams Band
• New Vintage (Special Reunion Performance!)
• Sammy Shelor
• Shannon Slaughter
• Ronald Inscore
• Alyssa Emerson
• And MORE!

Additional information is available online at the Bluegrass In Galax website.

Bull and Tammy Harman will again be hosting their weekend guitar and banjo workshop in 2007. St. Louis Flatpick will be held March 9-11, 2007 at Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel in St. Louis, MO.

There will be two days of guitar workshops, with Kenny Smith teaching on Saturday (3/10) and John Chapman on Sunday (3/11). The banjo class is a one day only workshop, taught by Sammy Shelor.

All of the instructors, plus host Bull Harman, will participate in a Saturday night concert. You can find all the registration details on the St. Louis Flatpick web site.

We expect that readers of The Bluegrass Blog know Sammy Shelor as the award-winning banjo player and manager of Lonesome River Band. Some may be aware of his work with the state of Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail, more commonly known as The Crooked Road, and a few may even realize that his wife, Sue, operates a small crafts business, Mountain Meadow Farm and Crafts Market.

Not many will know that he is set to open a music-themed tourist attraction this weekend, not far from his home in Patrick County, VA. It will be known as the Corn Acoustics Corn Maze, and is located on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Meadows of Dan, VA. Sam was inspired to create the maze by the efforts of his friend John Arnold of the Lonesome Highway Bluegrass Band, who does a similar maze himself each year near Romney, WV.

The Grand Opening is scheduled for September 2, in conjunction with the 2nd Annual Chinquapin Festival in Meadows Of Dan. Visitors can try their hand at navigating the maze, cut to resemble the official Crooked Trail logo, which is styled in the shape of a banjo.

The maze was planted in May of this year, and they have a number of photos of the proces of planting and cutting the maze up on their web site, along with tips for solving it should you want to give it a try.

You can find the Corn Acoustics Corn Maze along the Crooked Road, adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway near Milepost 178 on State Route 795 (Concord Road). Hours, admission fees and contact info are available on the Mountain Meadow web site.

Episode #40 features an interview with banjo player and band leader Sammy Shelor. We’ve interviewed Sammy before, but felt like it was time for an update. Lonesome River Band has seen some band member changes, has a new CD out, and a new website and online store since the last time we talked to Sammy. Sam discusses all those things and more in this interview.

This GrassCast is 13 minutes in length, with a download size of 15 MB (for the MP3 file).

Below is an mp3 file which you can hear now, or download to your computer. The GrassCast is also available in the iTunes music store as an enhanced podcast containing photos and hyperlinks relative to the subject matter being discussed in the interview.

Listen now:
Direct Download: ep40_sammy_shelor.mp3
Subscribe with:
Free Download: The GrassCast iPodder software

To subscribe with your own podcatching software, copy and past this url into the appropriate entry box in your software: http://www.thegrasscast.com/rss

We found a nice article in The Blue Ridge Gazette on the contributions of Patrick County, VA residents to traditional Appalachian and bluegrass music. The article is specifically about the opening of a historical marker and information kiosk in Meadows Of Dan, VA along The Crooked Road, Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail. The article includes some info on Lonesome River Band’s Sammy Shelor, a Meadows Of Dan native, and both his and his family’s contributions to the music.

We have posted once before about The Crooked Trail, a tourist and promotional effort, funded by both private and governmental sources. They describe the Road as:

…a driving route through the Appalachian Mountains from the western slopes of the Blue Ridge to the Coalfields region of the state. The trail connects major heritage music venues in the Appalachian region such as the Blue Ridge Music Center, Birthplace of Country Music Alliance, and the Carter Family Fold.

You can read the article online.

Blue Ridge Gazette is a new blog recently launched to foster interest and raise awareness of the beauty, history, people and arts of the Blue Ridge Mountains. A recent entry features longtime Blue Ridge resident Sammy Shelor - of Lonesome River Band fame - and his wife, Sue. The article offers a brief history of Sammy’s involvement in bluegrass music, and how he and Sue met and were married, but is primarily focused on Sue’s arts business, Mountain Meadow Crafts. She and Sam have become deeply involved in The Crooked Road project, another effort to celebrate the unique musical and cultural contributions this part of the United States has added to our lives, and Sue’s arts and crafts market is located on this Crooked Road trail.

Read the piece on Sammy and Sue here.

The Huber banjos web site has just been updated with information on their latest addition - the Sammy Shelor signature model banjo. This new Huber is based on a prized pre war, style 75 banjo that Sammy owns, built using the same double cut headstock shape and distinctive “Birds & Bows” inlay pattern as the original 1930s vintage banjo, but made with a wider, radiused fingerboard as per Sammy’s preference.

The Shelor model uses a mahogany neck and resonator, much like the custom Huber Lancaster model Sammy had been playing of late. It is constructed with the same components, and assembled with the same attention to detail that has made Huber such a popular choice among banjo players in recent years, and sells for $4350. More details can be found on the Huber site.

“The new Huber ‘SS’ model is without a doubt the best banjo I have ever played without 65 years of age on it. It looks, plays, and sounds like my original 75. It kills!”

Sammy used his new signature model Huber to record a number of tracks with the newly reorganized Lonesome River Band, and they are available for free download on the band’s web site (quick, free registration required to access the audio).

In episode #9 of The GrassCast we bring you an interview with Sammy Shelor. Sammy stopped by the AcuTab office to share some exciting news about The Lonesome River Band with John, and we captured it as an interview. They talk about Sammy announcements concerning the band, a new Sammy Shelor instructional DVD, a solo CD, and what else is new for 2006.

This GrassCast is 16 minutes in length and the file download size is 15 MB.

Direct Download: ep9_sammy_shelor.mp3
Subscribe with:
Free Download: The GrassCast iPodder software

To subscribe with your own podcatching software, copy and past this url into the appropriate entry box in your software: http://www.thegrasscast.com/rss

UPDATE [6:36 am]: LonesomeRiverBand.com does not appear to be pointing at the new page just yet. It will still take you to the old site. The new sign up page should be live sometime today. We’ll let you know as soon as it is.

NOTE: This post is open to comments, so please share your thoughts about this episode here. Also feel free to share with us your thoughts about The GrassCast in general.