He is really excited about the banjo, a soon-to-be-released Chris Pandolfi signature model Huber. It will differ from the rest of the Huber line in that it employs a mahogany rather than a maple rim. The fingerboard is also fairly stark by modern standards, using dot inlays with a winged emblem at the 5th fret and Chris’ signature at the 21st fret.

Chris worked with Steve Huber to design the banjo, and is delighted with the result.

“I’ve been playing it around the clock for the past couple weeks and it’s really sounding great. It’s been a long process, and Steve has been really gracious with his time to make sure we get this right.

It has a very big dynamic range, which I think comes from the mahogany rim, allowing for a wider range of tone and dynamics – especially away from the bridge.

My goal all along with this banjo was to find something that suits my playing – a more modern as opposed to traditional approach. I still love to play grass, and I prefer a typical bluegrass set up, which I find more responsive.

You can set this banjo up with lighter strings and lower action, and the rim (to my ear) serves to mellow out the tone with a normal bluegrassy set up. But it doesn’t sacrifice anything when it comes to bluegrass playing.

Noam Pikelny (of Punch Brothers) came by the other day with his old pre war, and we got all the banjos out for some side-by-sides. He had his flathead and I had my two Hubers – the new one and my Lancaster – plus my Robin Smith banjo. Especially comparing the two Hubers, you could hear the difference that comes from the mahogany rim.

Noam really dug the new Huber too.”

Chris and the rest of the ‘Dusters will be packing it up and heading to Charlottesville, VA next week to record their next album for Sugar Hill Records. They will be recording at Haunted Hollow, the private studio of the Dave Matthews Band.

“Our manager works with their management on some things, and he hooked us up with this place. The Dave Matthews Band built it with the label advance for one of their projects a few years ago, and it is awesome.

We’ll all be living in a big house for nine days out in the woods, adjacent to the studio. Their gear list is amazing, and the rooms are beautiful. We decided to do it there to get out of Nashville to record, do something different, and explore the various sorts of music the Stringdusters can do.”

Gary Pacsoza will be engineering, along with Brandon Bell. Chris said that Pacsoza will be producing, along with the band.

“We have already done pre-production ourselves, and will share the producer credit with Gary. Most of the material was written by band members, a lot of it in group writing sessions. We’ve been leaving Nashville for 3-4 days at a time to write and work on new material as a band, and it has really paid off.

With six guys – all serious writers and players – the arranging is as important as the writing. Just trying to find an effective way to use six instrumental voices is a challenge in itself. It can be tricky with so many writers and musicians working together that we have a clear understanding and mutual respect for each other. It makes it easier to loosen your own artistic grasp and work as a group without so much ego involvement. I try to never take for granted what a great situation we have with the Stringdusters.”

The guys will finish recording at the end of the month and plan to make it to IBMA by Wednesday (9/30). We’ll try to get some feedback on how the recording went when we see them in Nashville.

I tried to get Chris to categorize the new material and the sound they are going for on this new project, but he deferred.

“I hesitate to try and describe the musical direction of this new record. For us, we don’t try to have many discussions about what we do, or what we should do – we just try to approach the songs and the arrangements as musically as we can as a group. It reflects what we’ve learned as a band over the years, and how we each now write material tailored to the band sound.

I guess I can say that it will be the most in depth exploration yet of what we do as a band, without setting stylistic expectations. It will be our most current musical statement.”

You can take that to the bank!

In addition to playing banjo with The Infamous Stringdusters, Pandolfi is also their official videographer. Here is his latest effort, a promo for the band’s upcoming November tour.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper will be featured in a special Saturday afternoon edition of Blue Plate Special on WDVX. This is a live performance program which typically airs Monday-Friday at noon from either the WDVX studio or the Square Room in Knoxville. This show, however, is a live remote from The Olde Mill Square in Pigeon Forge, TN.

Van Eaton & Friends will also appear, starting at noon. You can catch WDVX over the air at 102.9 FM in and around Knoxville, and online at wdvx.com.

WBRF in Galax, VA will have an interview with Lou Reid & Carolina during the 8:00 p.m. hour of their Blue Ridge Backroads show. Host Judith Burnette will have Lou and the band on hand to discuss their new CD, My Own Set Of Rules.

The station broadcasts at 98.1 in Galax and online at blueridgecountry98.com.

The Grand Ole Opry also has a number of bluegrass acts on the bill for Saturday night. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band will be on the show, along with The Infamous Stringdusters and Jesse McReynolds & The Virginia Boys.

Look for The Dirt band to highlight material from their upcoming CD, Speed Of Life.

The Saturday Opry runs from 8:00-10:00 p.m., broadcast on WSM AM 650 from Nashville, and online at wsmonline.com.

All times indicated are EDT.

This time out, we find the guys at the Northwest String Summit in North Plains, OR. See our heroes prepare for the fest with a Quickie Mart stop, creating an improvised set list, and covering Jerry Reed’s marvelous song, The Likes Of Me – also famously recorded by Tony Rice.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s a fun look at the way the guys interact with each other off stage, and shows some of their day off adventures in Colorado.

Click here to view the embedded video.

See the guys run out of gas in the middle of the desert, make it just in time for a radio show and clown around in their down time.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The guys picked a few live in the studio and talked with host Chris Diestler about songs, CDs and such. Listen to the show in two segments online.

You can check the ‘Dusters’ schedule to catch them out west where they will be until mid-August.

Andy Hall, resonator guitarist with The Infamous Stringdusters, married Janice Young, agent with Keith Case and Associates. Their wedding was held on May 9 at Riverwood Mansion in Nashville, TN with plenty of bluegrass royalty in attendance.

Janice sent along a couple of photos, and provided this recap.

“Bradley Walker sang a beautiful rendition of Walk Through This World With Me, accompanied by Andy Falco on guitar, Katie Studley on violin, and Hannah Schroeder on cello. Tyler Grant played several classical guitar pieces while the families were being seated, and Dave Peterson and His Old Tyme Country Review played at the reception.

We went to Deep Creek Lake in Maryland for our honeymoon, and stayed at the lovely lake house of Ben and Barbara Eldridge.”

Sounds like a lovely ceremony and a great start for their married life. Congratulations to the happy couple!

When The Infamous Stringdusters were at the Bluegrass Country studios yesterday in DC, Jen Hitt asked them to add their names to the petitions which will be sent to the US Postal Service requesting a commemorative Bill Monroe stamp.

Of course, they happily obliged, giving a big thumbs up to the whole concept.

See how you can become involved in helping ensure that the 100th anniversary of Big Mon’s birth is recognized with his own stamp. It’s easy, it’s fun… and it just may work!

The guys will be playing some live music and chatting with Bluegrass Country’s Production Director Jen Hitt starting at 12:30 p.m. (EDT).

WAMU’s broadcast signal can be heard over the air at 88.5 HD2 or 105.5 FM in the DC metro area, and online at www.BluegrassCountry.org.

It should be a fun show. The ‘Dusters really let it loose when they perform live.

He catches the band in the van, backstage and onstage with Keel. It’s a wild – and sometimes psychedelic – ride.

The CD features Garrett on fiddle and lead vocals, accompanied by his fellow Infamous Stringdusters and other special guest artists on 11 tracks, many of them Garrett originals.

I Am A Stranger is available from The Infamous Stringdusters’ online store, and in iTunes.

Catch him with Katy Friday morning at www.bluegrasscountry.org, where they stream bluegrass music 24/7 online.

A series of rambles about CDs by bluegrassmercury…

A big bundle of CDs has landed on my desk in the recent past. They include those by Danny Paisley, the Infamous Stringdusters, Williams & Clark Expedition, Kenny & Amanda Smith Band, Daughters Of Bluegrass, High Windy, Gold Heart, Cherryholmes, Earl Scruggs, The Mashville Brigade, Crowe Brothers, Ralph Stanley II, Longview, Big Country Bluegrass.

The Infamous Stringdusters - Travis Book (bass, vocals), Jesse Cobb (mandolin), Andy Falco (guitar), Jeremy Garrett (fiddle, vocals), Andy Hall (dobro, vocals) and Chris Pandolphi (banjo) – are a bunch of young honchos who have just released their second album. This self-titled collection (Sugar Hill 4043) is growing on me. Book’s soulful vocals shine on Won‚Äòt Be Coming Back, the melodic Bound For Tennessee and the bluesy Get It While You Can. Garrett is a fine vocalist as well, as demonstrated on Three Days In July (historians, think Gettysburg, 1863), I Wonder and You Can‚Äòt Handle The Truth. There’s three enjoyable instrumentals in Glass Elevator by Pandolphi, Golden Ticket by Cobb and Black Rock by Hall, keeping interest going until the end. Overall the sextet produces a warm, full sound with fiddle and Dobro ¬Æ prominent, rather than just having one or other, as a lot of groups do.

There aren’t any surprises on Danny Paisley’s The Room Over Mine (Rounder 0589); he continues where he and his father left off. The 13-tack collection epitomizes the hard-driving Galax area mountain-style of bluegrass, with fiddle kick-offs and driving banjo ringing loud and clear. There‚Äòs a couple of outstanding new ‚Äòold’ songs in Chris Stuart’s opener, Don’t Throw Mamma’s Flowers Away and Drowning Sailor, both of which suit Paisley to a ‚ÄòT’. Most of the rest are bluegrass versions of songs from the classic country catalogue, with a couple from his dad’s repertoire, now re-done. In the former category are The Convict And The Rose, written by Betty Chapin and Robert A. King and recorded by Marty Robbins and Charlie Moore among others, I Thought I Heard You Calling My Name, done in a honk-tonk style with walking bass and I’m Coming Back But I Don’t Know When, a song Danny first heard done by Charlie Monroe.

In the second group are At the End of a Long Lonely Day, now done in different way and with different lyrics and A Memory of You, previously recorded by Jim and Jesse. Donnie Eldreth Jr does a great job having learned how to follow Danny’s lead singing and does likewise when he is singing lead as on Another Bridge to Burn, a song from Ray Price’s repertoire. Those Paisleys and the Lundy brothers know how to do it and they do it exceptionally well.

High Windy is a North Carolina-based quintet that has been together for a few years. A Greater Storm (on the Mountain Home label, # 11292) is their first album. I have been listening to this CD for a while now and get a lot of enjoyment each time that I play it, which is often.

How would I describe High Windy? They’re not traditional, they’re not contemporary, they are both at the same time. If I were to mention that the banjo player, Patrick McDougal, wrote the hit song Wheels for Dan Tyminski, then perhaps you will understand what I am saying. McDougal wrote five of the songs featured on this album, including Stuck in the Rain, the gospel song The Richest Man to God, Dance Around the Daisies, which has an old-time and Celtic edge, and Four Winds, all of which McDougal sings with great authority and soul, with a slight mountain edge.

Shane Lail (guitar) sings lead on five songs also, three of which, Love of a Lifetime, Good Ole Days and Coming Home, are written by him. He has a slightly lighter voice, but that doesn’t detract from his soulfulness. Last but by no means least in terms of song writing ability is mandolin player, Ty Gilpin’s Iron Horse, an ode to the fact that the industrial age didn’t always bring a good life. Anchoring everything is Mark Davis on bass and harmony vocals. While Tim Gardner plays some excellent fiddle lines and clawhammer banjo on Dance Around the Daisies, as well as providing harmony vocals on three songs. High Windy has been getting a considerable amount of air play and is a band that should go very far. Very highly recommended.

Brand New Set Of Blues is the fifth career CD for Williams & Clark Expedition, a quartet from Sparta, Tennessee. The Williams referred to is, in the first instance, Blake Williams, well known as the banjo player for Bill Monroe for many years. Additionally, there is Kimberly Williams, the bass player and Blake’s wife, who shares the lead vocal duties with guitarist Wayne Southard. Bobby Clark, (mandolin, vocals), from Oklahoma originally, but living in Nashville for the past 25 years, working with Vassar Clements, Larry McNeely, Peter Rowan, the Bluegrass Cardinals and Mike Snider, completes the line-up. They are ably assisted by Tim Crouch (fiddle), Buck White (piano) and harmony singers Claire Lynch and Jonathan East.

The members of the band provide almost all of the 13 numbers here, many from Blake Williams or from Williams in collaboration with Southards. Williams composed the banjo showcase Highlands Ramble and Clark the mandolin piece Jalapeno Quickstep. The album begins with the mid-tempo title song, followed by the bouncy Destiny’s Highway then the more sedate In My Heart. Other highlights are the singing of Southards on (Love is Coming to) A Heart Near You, the up-tempo gospel song Travelin’ Heaven’s Road which Southards leads with Ms Williams harmonising, similarly another gospel number Marching, on which the roles are reversed, the jazzy fiddle, the piano solo and the split guitar/mandolin break on the swinging Goodbye Heartache (Hello You) and the waltz-like Heaven On Earth, with Ms Lynch singing the harmony part.

Anybody who has seen this band live will know that Blake Williams is a bit of a comedian; they will be pleased to know that there is a bonus track of some jokes, obviously recorded at a festival or concert. Clark, Southards and Williams are all virtuoso pickers and that element of their talents that is given as great a profile as the vocals from Ms Williams and Southards.

The Mashville Brigade is a "young but seasoned" assembly of pickers who periodically moonlight away from their regular bands by playing at the world-famous Station Inn. Rural Rhythm Records has released an album, Bluegrass Smash Hits Volume 1 (Rural Rhythm 325), of recordings ‚Äòlive’ at the Station Inn. I say "live" in this instance to indicate that all tracks were done without any overdubs or editing, rather than in front of an audience.

Anyway, the Brigade consists of Randy Barnes (acoustic bass), Ashby Frank (mandolin, vocals), Aaron McDaris (banjo, vocals), Jim Van Cleve (fiddle) and Darrell Webb (guitar, vocals), who play their way through a set of 16 songs and tunes of long-standing popularity. Individual credits aren’t given on a track-by-track basis, but Webb and Frank share the lead vocal duties with McDaris providing the harmonies. Although there isn’t any doubt that the material chosen is, in the present-day parlance, a ‘hit’, the group digs a little deeper to avoid the blindingly obvious like Rocky Top. Without rejecting their grounding, the Brigade play their arrangements of My Home’s Across the Blue Ridge Mountains, White House Blues, Bury me beneath the Willow, I’ll Remember you Love in my Prayers, Ain’t Nobody Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone, Little Maggie, Going Across The Sea and Salt Creek with a modern attitude. I bet they’re fun to watch.

Live And Learn (Rebel 1828) is the latest CD from the Kenny and Amanda Smith Band. It features 13 tracks with Amanda Smith taking the lead on all but three, those featuring husband Kenny. The duo share the harmony work along with guest Alan Bartram. Zachary McLamb (bass) and Aaron Williams (mandolin) round out the band. The quartet is further supplemented by Ron Stewart (fiddle and banjo).

Ms Smith’s demonstrates the vocal capacity to deal with slower numbers such as Ramblers Blues, Just One More Time, Words You Use and Man Looks On The Outside as well as the up-tempo ones like the rockabilly I’d Jump The Mississippi, You’re Gonna See Me Shine and Heartbreak Express. The first group appeal more so than the latter. The stand-out track is the well-arranged traditional song Cruel Willie with excellent close harmony and top-notch fiddle playing. The tracks on which Kenny Smith sings lead are well programmed into the mix, Changing kicking off the album with Randall Collins and Icicle Canyon placed at strategic intervals. Bluegrass very much in the modern groove.

Longview is an ad-hoc band, a combination of pickers from other bands doing a bit of moonlighting. Their latest CD, Deep In the Mountains (Rounder 0578), is the fourth using the Longview name. However, the personnel here is slightly different from previously, Dudley Connell, Joe Mullins and Glen Duncan having been replaced by Lou Reid, JD Crowe and Ron Stewart. James King, Don Rigsby and Marshall Wilborn remain from the original aggregation.

Just like the Bluegrass Album Band, Longview re-energises the old songs; neglected gems from classic bands or lesser-known regional acts. I say old songs, Room at the Top of the Stairs, Baptism of Jessie Taylor and Weathered Grey Stone are relatively recent, of course. It’s great to see bands mining the Dudley Connell song book. King, Rigsby and Reid share the bulk of the vocal duties, singing either lead or harmony, with Stewart, Crowe and Wilborn covering the baritone part. Crowe sings a low tenor on At the First Fall of Snow. Other classic songs with matching performances are Don’t Leave Me Alone, Eating Out Of Your Hand, Old Log Cabin, I Love You Yet, Georgia Bound and I’ll Love Nobody But You. Heart-warming stuff!

To be continued…

The guys cut versions of Fork In The Road and Bound For Tennessee, before host Doug McElway joins them on Golden Ticket to take the show out.

They’ll perform a couple of tunes and chat with show hosts Doug McElway and Natasha Barrett.

The show streams live online, and video of the various segments can be found on the Let’s Talk Live web site shortly after the show airs.

I Am A Stranger features Garrett on fiddle and vocals supported by his Stringduster brethren and a host of other top bluegrass pickers and singers. The songs include ones Jeremy has penned, several from his favorite writers, and a few that have stayed with him over the years.

He explains further in the liner notes…

“As far back as I can remember, music has been a huge part of my life and I always try to make a mental note when I hear a song that I really like. Some of these songs are from what I have collected through the years, some are my own thoughts, and some are written by personal friends who I respect, admire, and learn from. It really all starts with a song…”

Jeremy shared a few thoughts with us about two of the grassier tracks, sampled here for your enjoyment.

Echoes Of Goodbye – Listen now:   

Julie Elkins (banjo), Dennis Crouch (bass),  Jake Stargel (guitar), Shawn Lane (mandolin), Jamie Daily (tenor vocal), Josh Williams (baritone vocal)

“I was looking for a hard driving bluegrass song with harmonies that could be suspended in the tradition of Bill Monroe, that hadn’t been done to death.  It seemed like every one that I really liked had already been recorded, so I decided to write one.”

End Of The Line -  Listen now:   

Chris Pandolfi (banjo), Andy Hall (resonator guitar), Andy Falco (guitar), Jesse Cobb (mandolin), Travis Book (bass), John Pennell and Jeff White (writers)

“I definitely wanted to get my fellow band mates, The Infamous Stringdusters, on some songs on this record! These guys are not only fun to tour with, they are some of my favorite musicians on the planet. This song was one that stood out as a number that had strong ‚ÄòDuster potential.”

You can hear the title track, written by Jeremy and his dad Glen, and Hank Thompson’s honky tonk country ballad, Today, on MySpace.

Pre-orders for I Am A Stranger can be placed from The Infamous Stringdusters’ web site, and downloads will be available from iTunes and Amazon on April 14. Jeremy will have copies of the CD at his shows, but primary distribution will be digital.

This video follows the boys on the last two dates on their CO tour, and a final show in Santa Fe before heading home to Nashville. Along the way, we encounter them on stage, on the road, in an oxygen bar and disrespecting the king of the singing cowboys.

…and a good time was had by all.

There are also some previews of music from upcoming solo projects to be released by band members Chris Pandolfi, Jeremy Garrett and Andy Hall.

The 15 tracks were all recorded and broadcast live during episodes of Goin’ Across The Mountain, which airs on WNCW every Saturday from 11:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m.

The station’s Studio B is a first class recording facility and the audio quality of these live cuts is superb. The show attracts the very best performers in bluegrass and old time music, and the acts featured on this CD reflect the quality and diversity of music Goin’ Across The Mountain presents.

1. Balsam Range – Julie’s Train
2. Seth Taylor and Danielle Bishop – Washington County
3. The Infamous Stringdusters – You Can’t Handle The Truth
4. Laura Boosinger and Josh Goforth – Single Girl
5. Mountain Heart – You’d Better Run
6. Danny Paisley & The Southern Gras – The Room Over Mine
7. The Farewell Drifters – Somewhere Down The Road
8. Grasstowne – Here Comes That Feelin’ Again
9. Wayne and Kristin Benson – Spindale
10. Last Road Bluegrass Band – One Foot In The Mill
11. Cody Shuler and Pine Mountain Railroad – My Eyes Shall Be On Canaan’s Land
12. Steep Canyon Rangers – Call The Captain
13. Songs From The Road Band – Taxman
14. The Snyder Family Band – Daniel Prayed
15. Walkin’ Home – Salt Creek

To get a copy of this CD, contact WNCW and make a donation to support their top notch broadcasting – which is also streamed live online. In the pre-drive period (until March 28) a donation of $50 will get you this album as a premium; after that it will be $60.

We can each decide for ourselves whether a station that broadcasts 8 hours of bluegrass and traditional music on Saturdays (with more on Sundays) is worthy of our financial support. I’ll just say that Goin’ Across The Mountain Live – Volume 3 is a fine inducement.

To get a copy now, contact the station by phone (Diane Dezio – 828-287-8000).

There are clips of the band on stage, as well as snippets of performances from Crooked Still and Jerry Douglas. The big draw is the ski footage, which captures our heroes on the slopes, photographed Wide World Of Sports style – complete with a couple of classic wipeouts.

Leading the two shows on the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium on February 28 are Opry members Ricky Skaggs and Del McCoury, together the winners of a total of 14 Grammy and 30 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) awards.

The show will also feature multiple IBMA award-winners The Infamous Stringdusters.

The Charlie Haden Family & Friends 2008 Grammy-nominated release and roots music-orientated Rambling Boy features appearances by Skaggs as well as a number of other great musicians, including Haden’s son-in-law, Golden Globe-nominated actor Jack Black.

Among others who both appear on Rambling Boy and are set to be part of the Haden Family Opry shows are renowned musicians Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Mark Fain, Rob Ickes, Jim Mills and Bryan Sutton.

"Together, the exemplary artists confirmed for this show have amassed more than 30 Grammy awards and an amazing 50 plus awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association," said Opry Vice President and General Manager Pete Fisher. "We are looking forward to seeing these masters of their various instruments together on the Opry stage."

Del McCoury, Jesse McReynolds & The Virginia Boys and Bobby Osborne & Rocky Top X-Press will also perform on tonight’s Friday Opry show.

The Grand Ole Opry is broadcast live on WSM AM 650, on XM channel 11 (XM Nashville), and simulcast worldwide via online streaming at wsmonline.com.

The Tuesday Night Opry resumes on March 3.