J. D. Crowe and Charlie Cushman join Sonny Osborne, Alan Munde, Ned Luberecki, Bill Evans and Frank Neat to round out the teaching staff for the 8th Annual NashCamp Banjo Retreat, October 17-19th at the Hachland Hills Vineyard in Joelton, Tennessee - about 15 miles north of Nashville.

This event is hosted by noted banjo players Sonny Osborne and Bill Evans, along with Cindy Sinclair. They welcome beginning through advanced bluegrass banjo players for a weekend of small group instruction, jamming for all ability levels, a faculty concert and much more.

Evans shares a few thoughts about NashCamp…

“While folks come to learn banjo, the emphasis is also on making friends, hanging out with your banjo heros, having fun and eating lots of great food. We’ve had young and old attend each year, men and women - people from all parts of the United States and even Japan. I’m especially proud of the fact that we have a great group of women who attend each year - and that number grows with each camp. Sonny has been our guiding light with this event - his positive energy and enthusiasm along with his interest to stay involved with others who love the banjo inspires everyone around him. This camp has a great spirit. This is the camp to attend if you’d like comfortable surroundings, great food and tremendous fellowship in the company of some of the best banjo players and teachers in the world.

And with Sonny and J. D. in one place, who knows what will happen?”

Students are grouped according to ability level - from beginners with one year of playing experience to the most advanced players. Small group instruction is mixed with full group interactive sessions and the Friday night jam features some of the best Nashville musicians sitting in with students. (more…)

Recording King has introduced the latest in their growing line of affordably priced tone ring banjos, a signature model for Sonny Osborne.

This new model is called The Scout, and is a maple banjo with nickel plated parts. The peghead has “The Osborne” inlaid in mother of pearl script, and Sonny’s signature is engraved on a block in the 12th fret.

The neck is made from figured maple and the one-piece resonator is flamed maple, both finished in a sunburst. Sonny has long been known by his nickname, “Chief,” and both the peghead and the fingerboard inlays are styled in an arrowhead design.

Sonny also markets a high end, professional grade banjo of his own, known as The Chief. It is made in the US from what Sonny deems to be the best materials available, and sells for nearly $5,000. The Recording King banjos are made in China, though designed by US banjo experts like Greg Rich and Scott Zimmerman.

No pricing information for The Scout is given on the Recording King site, but we will update here as soon as we obtain that information. The RK banjos typically sell between $1,000 and $2,500.

Detailed specs can be found online.

UPDATE 10:00 a.m.: The Osborne Scout retails for $2295, with hard shell case and limited lifetime warranty.

More than 60 banjo players will converge in the small town of Cumberland Furance, TN this weekend for the 7th Annual NashCamp Banjo Retreat. Hosted by Sonny Osborne and Bill Evans, this year’s camp also features multi-IBMA award winner Tony Trischka, Alan Munde, Ned Luberecki, Kristin Scott-Benson and Frank Neat. Camp director is Cindy Sinclair, who co-directed this year’s IBMA Awards Show.

The setting for the Banjo Retreat is the stunning 1865 Drouillard House and its surrounding grounds and The Mad Platter, an acclaimed Nashville restaurant, caters the event.

“While we try to get the best teachers and players we can each year, the Drouillard House and the food are probably what keep people coming back. I’ve taught at most banjo camps across the country, and I’ll proudly admit that I think the comfort level of our camp is second to none. And that creates a relaxing atmosphere for folks to have a great weekend.

We’re also excited about Kristin Scott-Benson being with us. She’s one of our favorite players and people and her playing and teaching are going to bowl people over!”

Small group classes, faculty concerts, jamming and a wide choice of electives highlight this year’s class offerings, with a special emphasis this year on double banjo playing, in honor of Tony’s CD, Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular.

Folks do seem to come back year after year - this year’s camp sold out in early June. As a special added feature for 2007, Munde, Evans and Luberecki will perform at the Station Inn on Thursday night, October 18th at 8 p.m., backed by guitarist Tim May, fiddler Megan Lynch, mandolin player Roland White and bassist Jon Weisberger.

If you want to get in on the NashCamp experience, reservations will be accepted for the 2008 event on January 2, 2008.

Pinecastle has wonderful news for fans of The Osborne Brothers. They are set to release a 3 disk set recorded on July 30, 1989 in Streekermoor, Germany entitled, appropriately enough, The Osborne Brothers: Live In Germany. Tom Riggs at Pinecastle says that this is just the first of several unreleased Osborne Brothers recordings which they will put out over the next few years.

This concert was part of a European tour with Bill Monroe, and the accompanying liner notes from Sonny and Bobby describe bus travel with the Father of Bluegrass.

“While traveling, everyone wore just plain old riding clothes and such, but not Mr. Monroe. His traveling uniform was a suit and tie, along with his hat, which I thought was strange, but that was Monroe. Our only transportation was two small and I mean small, vans in which to carry two complete bands.”

The Osborne’s band at the time included Terry Eldridge on guitar/vocals and Terry Smith on bass - both currently members of The Grascals - and Steve Thomas on fiddle, along with Bobby and Sonny Osborne.

This live set includes two audio CDs, and a DVD video of the show. The audio has been painstakingly remastered, produced and overseen by Sonny Osborne with John Eberle of Americana Mastering. The DVD is included, despite the fact that it was not professionally recorded, because it is one of the few video recordings on the band from that era.

Many Osborne Brothers favorites are on tap: Kentucky, Listening To The Rain, Georgia Mules and Country Boys, Midnight Flyer, Tennessee Hound Dog and - of course - Rocky Top.

Pinecastle has The Osborne Brothers: Live In Germany scheduled for release on April 3, 2007.

Gibson has made a brief video lesson from Sonny Osborne available on their web site. It is taken from his Homespun DVD, The Bluegrass Banjo of Sonny Osborne, and has him demonstrating his solo for Sunny Side Of The Mountain.

The video clip runs about a minute and a half, and a tab for the song is presented on the Gibson site along with the video.

Mandolin Cafe has published a press release from Gibson that promises more online lessons from Gibson artists, but it isn’t clear whether there will be any new content, or simply video and tab samples from commercially available DVD releases.