We heard recently from Larry Barnwell, a regional sales manager with C.F. Martin, and a long-time bluegrass musician.

Larry was born in North Carolina and toured extensively as a member of the bluegrass band Monroe Doctrine in the 1970s, during which time he became well acquainted with a good many other performers who were, or would become bluegrass celebrities. Before coming onboard at Martin, he worked for Gibson where he worked with Bill Monroe on the Gibson Monroe model mandolin.

Though Larry’s current duties at Martin do not specifically involve marketing or artist relations, he has become their go-to guy when it comes to bluegrass, and was directly involved in the creation of the Martin Del McCoury model (D-28DM) in 2002. He tells us that he was both delighted and proud to have been able to offer such an honor to Del, and pleased that Martin saw the honor as well deserved.

“Bluegrass people are among our strongest supporters, but the truth is that they make up no more than 20% of the C.F. Martin customer base. Seeing the company recognize Del with a signature guitar was very gratifying.”

The McCoury model has sold through (limited to 100 guitars), and Larry had contacted us with news about the new Martin 00-18 Tim O’Brien signature guitar which was debuted at the recent NAMM convention in Nashville. He and Tim worked together to design a model that would suit his needs and represent many of the things he loves about Martins. Each one is numbered and signed personally by Tim.

You can find more details about the O’Brien model, which carries a retail price of $5499.00, on Martin’s site. Larry said that about 30 of the 100 guitars that will be made have already been ordered by dealers, so this one should sell through quickly as well.

Larry also agreed to allow us to share the article he wrote about Tim and his signature Martin for Sounding Board, the official Martin owners newsletter, which is posted just below.

A Brother’s Gift – by Larry Barnwell

"I’m not sure whether I was over there to see her or to play the Martin." Tim O’Brien recalled, with a chuckle, one of his earliest exposures to Bluegrass music and to Martin guitars. The father of his 8^th grade girlfriend was into old instruments such as banjos, mandolins and guitars. He had a D18 and that was the first Martin Tim really had an opportunity to play for any period of time. But Tim’s interest in music began several years earlier in his Wheeling, West Virginia boyhood home. Tim’s parents, Frank & Amy, were supportive of whatever their children wanted to pursue whether it be sports, academics or music. They bought the kids season tickets to the Wheeling Symphony and the Summer Concert Series at Oglebay Municipal Park. As a young teen Tim watched great artists such as Van Cliburn, Itzhak Perlman, Ray Charles and Duke Ellington perform. Tim’s sister Mollie got into the music before he did, then in 1966 he began playing the guitar and together they learned the music of the Beatles, Peter, Paul & Mary and other popular music of the time. (more…)

Tim O’Brien is hitting the radio tour this week, promoting his new CD, Chameleon, just out on the Proper American label.

He appeared this past Monday on The Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour (video available online) and will be the guest on today’s (3/29) edition of Blue Plate Special on WDVX-FM in Knoxville, TN.

The new CD has Tim on his own in the studio, accompanying himself on a variety of stringed instruments (banjo, bouzouki, fiddle, guitar, mandolin) on 16 of his new compositions. Audio samples are available on Tim’s web site.

If you would like to catch Tim’s show on WDVX later today, tune in to 89.9 FM in and around Knoxville, or listen live online at WDVX.com at 1:00 p.m. (EDT).

Our UK correspondent, Richard F. Thompson, put together this report on an important event we missed last fall.

In November the legendary folk/bluegrass singer, songwriter and activist Hazel Dickens was honored as one of the inaugural inductees into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony at The Cultural Center in Charleston, West Virginia.

Belatedly, I submit this tribute and report of the evening’s activities ‚Ķ‚Ķ‚Ķ.

Considered one of the most influential and powerful artists, male or female, in the world of Americana music, Ms. Dickens was presented with her award by her longtime admirer, Alison Krauss.

Born in the coal-mining region of West Virginia (Mercer County), Ms. Dickens moved to the Baltimore area while in her late teens. There she found friendship and musical compatibility with local area musicians like Mike Seeger and Alice Gerrard. Dickens, Gerrard and Seeger along with Tracy Schwarz and Lamar Grier recorded an album released an LP under the name of the Strange Creek Singers. Later, Hazel and Alice worked together as a duo. They recorded four ground-breaking albums before they went their separate ways in 1976.

Subsequently, Ms. Dickens has released several solo albums that have presented what has been described as “her uniquely personal amalgam of old-time string band sounds, bluegrass, protest songs, and classic country.”

Her music is renowned for the way in which she has spoken up for the impoverished, like the coalminers of her own and nearby states. Songs such as Working Girl Blues, Black Lung, and Don’t Put Her Down, You Helped Put Her There speak typically of her feelings for the cause of those who have suffered or are suffering hardship in their lives, like many of the Dickens’ family members themselves.

Her music was featured in the Oscar-winning documentary Harlan County, U.S.A., which depicted the tensions surrounding a coal miners’ strike in rural Kentucky. Her poignant songs, such as Mama’s Hand, Few Old Memories, West Virginia, My Home and You’ll Get No More Of Me, have been widely recorded by other artists.

In 1993 Ms. Dickens was presented with the International Bluegrass Music Association [IBMA] Award of Merit. Three years later she won the IBMA Song Of The Year award after Lynn Morris recorded a superb version of Mama’s Hand.

In 2001 Hazel Dickens was awarded a Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts, the highest official honor bestowed on traditional musicians by the U.S. Government. (more…)

BBC Four will be airing a new series of the Transatlantic Sessions beginning this month. The show brings together musicians from both sides of the Atlantic, from the US, Ireland and Scotland. The various musicians will perform both solo and in various combinations.

The first episode is set to air on Friday, September 21 and features Jerry Douglas, Eddi Reader with Tim O’Brien, and Julie Fowlis with Donal Lunny.

The series is broadcast with stereo sound in a widescreen format.

For more information, and the broadcast schedule, you can visit the BBC Four website.