This report comes from Casey Henry, a banjo player and writer living in Nashville, TN. She performed the past few years with her brother, Chris, in The Two Stringers, now disbanded.

We’re getting down to the final stretch on Next Great American Band. I’m happy to report that the Clark Brothers made it into the top four. Their competition now is Sixwire a country band from Nashville, TN; Denver and the Mile High Orchestra, a big band also from Nashville; and Light of Doom, a group of 12 and 13-year-olds from California who play hard rock.

This week the Clarks added two musicians‚Äîa drummer and a bass player (not other Clark brothers, though). This allowed them some more freedom to be the front people and stretch out but didn’t really change their overall sound. They played Queen’s These are The Days of our Lives and the original Homestead.

The judges all loved the cover and Dicko deemed Ashley "The best front person we’ve got in this competition." He was harder on the original, calling it a "crap song" with lyrics that are "country 101," and encouraging them to push themselves lyrically. He said one of their strong points is connecting with and conveying the emotions in a song and with lyrics like "Back to the farm/back to the farm/eatin’ fried chicken with the girls in the yard" there is not any emotional content there to build on.

I predict that it will be down to Sixwire and the Clarks in a couple weeks. Of course it all depends on the voting public, so tune in next Friday to Fox and get your thumbs ready to dial!

This report comes from Casey Henry, a banjo player and writer living in Nashville, TN. She performed the past few years with her brother, Chris, in The Two Stringers, now disbanded.

The Clark Brothers delivered another truly outstanding performance on last night’s Next Great American Band. Their version of Rod Stewart’s You’re In My Heart was a stripped-down, acoustic beauty. They sat on stools with Ashley on guitar, Adam on mando, and Austin on dobro and harmony vocals. Their moving, sensitive performance judge brought Sheila E to tears. She literally couldn’t say anything after hearing them play. John Rzeznik said, "I’m really moved. You guys take a song and attach all the emotion to it." A song like that will, "make guys hate you and make women love you." And Dicko added, "You brought something magical. You always do."

We got to see a little segment of the boys talking about their musical influences. What they said sounded so familiar to me, and probably to anyone else who grew up in a bluegrass family. Ashley said he didn’t hear the Beatles until he was sixteen and was surprised to find that they were really good, since his dad had always dismissed them for not having a banjo. Austin said the first time he saw Jerry Douglas play he bought every one of his CDs, even though he didn’t have a CD player at the time! There were a couple of clips of the Clark Family playing, with all the other brothers and their dad, when the boys were younger. They looked so familiar to me because that’s what they looked like back when we used to play at some of the same bluegrass festivals.

I think the Clarks have a good chance of moving on to next week. I just hope all the people who are voting agree! You can watch Cliff Wagner and the Old #7’s final performance online now, as well as all the other bands songs.

This report comes from Casey Henry, a banjo player and writer living in Nashville, TN. She performed the past few years with her brother, Chris, in The Two Stringers, now disbanded.

Bluegrass got the boot last night when Cliff Wagner and the Old #7 got voted off Next Great American Band. The Clark Brothers made it into the top six, though, delivering a standout performance of the Rolling Stones’ Gimmie Shelter.

Everyone seemed disappointed to see Cliff and the band go. The judges had some parting words, all on a positive note. John Rzeznik said that he really appreciated their sense of humor and the chemistry between the band members. Sheila E. deemed them "so real, so genuine," and said "we love you very much." Dicko praised them for "bringing some real variety" to the show and asked what their plans for the future are. Cliff eloquently said that they’ve gotten "new inspiration" from being on the show and have expanded musically from where they were before. They are now able to play more "outside the box."

Cliff said, to the television audience, "Thanks to everyone who voted. We had a great time on the show," and he wished, "good luck to all the other bands." And even the final band to play, Dot Dot Dot, said as they took the stage, "We love you, Cliff Wagner!"

The NGAB site now features Cliff’s Green Room acoustic performance. Hopefully, even though he didn’t win the show, this national exposure will benefit Cliff’s career and help keep his playing schedule full for years to come. Maybe they’ll add their take on Brown Sugar that we didn’t get to hear to their shows‚Ķ

The Clarks version of Gimmie Shelter was stunning. They started out sparse and low and built up the tension. By the end, according to Dicko, they’d "turned it into a blind panic." Ashley’s singing continued to impress, Austin rocked on a black, flying-V electric dobro, and Adam even got a short mandolin solo. All three judges gave them a standing ovation and Sheila deemed them "the band to beat."

Be sure to tune in next week bands tackle the Rod Stewart catalog. You can watch all the past weeks’ performances on the NGAB site.

This report comes from Casey Henry, a banjo player and writer living in Nashville, TN. She performed the past few years with her brother, Chris, in The Two Stringers, now disbanded.

Next Great American Band on Friday night held the first big surprise of the show. Franklin Bridge, the band that judge Sheila E. had predicted would win the contest, got voted off. The judges were shocked; I was shocked. But in my heart of hearts I was glad because it meant that both Cliff Wagner and the Old #7 and the Clark Brothers made it through to play another night.

Cliff chose the Lieber and Stoller song Poison Ivy to sing and adapted it very well. Cliff was back on the banjo, though there was no banjo break in the song. He looked quite dapper in a suit with an ascot. In the pre-song clip about the group we learned that Cliff does everything from booking to promotion to writing the songs for the band. If the band was a kingdom, one of the guys said, "Cliff would be the emperor."

The Clark Brothers chose Lieber and Stoller’s Saved, and delivered an absolutely amazing performance. Ashley sang the fire out of it with a truly passionate lead vocal; Austin wailed on the dobro, and Adam pounded out the rhythm on the guitar. The judges were practically beside themselves with praise. John Rzeznik said, "I’m questioning everything now‚Ķ" meaning, I believe, that before he thought a drummer necessary to a rockin’ performance. Shelia deemed it "Magnifico," and the dour Dicko said, "Even a wretch like me feels closer to salvation" after hearing that song.

Next week bands tackle a Rolling Stones cover. As I said last time, the competition is truly fierce now and it all depends on the stamina of Appalachian-America’s thumbs (dialing those phones) to determine if our bands make it through another round.

Unfortunately last week’s performances are not up on the show’s site, but you can still see songs from weeks 1, 2, and 3.