We’ve commented in the past about the ongoing outrage that Blue Highway guitarist - and highly influential flatpicking stylist - Tim Stafford has never received IBMA’s Guitar Player Of The Year Award.

Well, there is one organization who recognizes Tim’s stature in the acoustic guitar world. CA Guitars (Composite Acoustics) of Lafayette, LA is set to introduce a Tim Stafford signature guitar model at the Summer NAMM show in Nashville next month.

Tim has been using a CA guitar on the road with Blue Highway for a number of years, and in the studio as well. The guitars are made from a carbon fiber composite material and Tim has praised his for its constancy with regard to temperature and humidity extremes - common concerns for road musicians.

“I have the second prototype here, and it has a new bracing pattern, an enlarged soundhole and beautiful rosette design by Bobby Starnes. My name is inlaid at the 12th fret tastefully in the same blue shell that cosmetically offsets the black carbon fiber well. They aren’t finished with it–still some modifications to be done, including a soundport. The thing sounds wonderful–every new guitar I hear from CA gets better acoustically, and they were already great recording guitars. They also play like a dream right out of the factory.”

The soundport Tim mentioned is an opening in the upper bout of the guitar’s side, which he says makes the guitar project more forcefully forward - generating more volume. The Stafford model will also come with a custom Fishman Aura pickup system installed, which uses onboard software (tweaked for this guitar’s properties) in what Fishman describes as a new breakthrough in acoustic image modeling to accurately replicate the way different classic microphones would capture the tone and response.

CA was hesitant to comment much on the Tim Stafford model, saying that it is still a work in progress, but they are very excited about their association with Tim, and looking forward to debuting the guitar at Summer NAMM in June.

We’ll have more details as the actual launch draws near.

Those with an interest in American music history will already be familiar with Bristol, TN/VA. It was in the Bristol area that the Carter Family got its start, along with Jimmy Rogers. That start came in 1927 with the historic Bristol Sessions. From the 1930’s through the 1950’s, local radio broadcasts featured performances by bluegrass legends Flatt and Scruggs, the Stanley Brothers, Jim and Jesse McReynolds, Mac Wiseman, Jimmy Martin and countless others. The musical heritage of the Bristol area is quite a story.

The Birthplace of Country Music Alliance (BCMA) is an organization dedicated to preserving and telling that story.

One new way of telling the story is a planned Cultural Heritage Center in downtown Bristol. In 2004 the BCMA came into possession of a 24,000 square foot historic structure at 520 Cumberland Street. Since that time, plans have been moving forward for restoration and renovation of the building.

The new facility will include temporary and permanent exhibits that trace the history, cultural influences, and development of country music through a sequence of audio-visual experiences which will allow visitors the opportunity to listen to the melodies and encounter the rich musical tradition first hand. The facility will also include space for educational initiatives through educational programming for all ages, live musical performances, lecture and film series, and other outreach activities.

Desiring to get area musicians more involved in the center, the BCMA has put together an Artistic Council comprised of artists and industry persons, for the purpose of supporting the center and its events, as well as serving in an advisory capacity.

Among the musicians involved are Tim Stafford and Ralph Stanley. I had a chance to visit briefly with Tim regarding the Artistic Council. (more…)

The Bluegrass Guide will launch their 2008 Songwriter Chat season tomorrow night (1/15) with noted songsmith Tim Stafford as their guest. This year’s host for Songwriter Chat will be Eric Gibson, half of the bluegrass singing/songwriting duo, The Gibson Brothers.

You can join Eric and Tim at 8:00 p.m. (EST) on Tuesday evening by logging into the chat room on The Bluegrass Guide web site. Chat participants can pose their own questions to Tim, or simply read along.

To participate, visit the Songwriter Chat page and log in. No registration is required.

Transcripts from previous sessions with Larry Cordle, Brink Brinkman, Chris Stuart and others can be found on the site as well (scroll to the bottom of the page).

Rounder Records has set February 12, 2008 as the release date for Through the Window of a Train, the next CD from Blue Highway.

Blessed with three notable singers and songwriters, Blue Highway is rarely in need of material, and this new project is made up entirely of songs written within the band - their second CD with this distinction.

One of them, Tim Stafford, who I would put forward as perhaps the most thoughtful and insightful songwriter in and around bluegrass, shared a few words about the title track from the new CD.

“Through The Window Of A Train is one that I wrote with Steve Gulley. It was a title I had laying around and we thought it would make a strong song idea. The concept was a fellow—prompted by the anonymity of modern interstate travel—remembering his youth and what it was like to travel on that train with his Dad, the wonder of watching the world go by…

It may be an old theme in bluegrass, but it turned out to be upbeat and poignant at the same time, which is usually a good combination. I was certain we had ripped off some other melody at first!

Melody and feel-wise, I had the Country Gentlemen of the 1970s in mind - one of the most influential bands for me.”

You can read some of Tim’s other comments about the new CD in an interview we ran earlier this year.

One truly remarkable thing about Blue Highway is the fact that, entering their 14th year as a professional touring act, they still perform and record with the same membership with which they began. Though banjo player Jason Burleson briefly stepped aside in 1999 only to return shortly thereafter, there has been no turnover in personnel.

In addition to Stafford on guitar and Burleson on banjo, the band is made up of Rob Ickes on resonator guitar, Shawn Lane on mandolin/fiddle and Wayne Taylor on bass.

Tim also mentioned that 2008 is shaping up to be a very busy year for the band, with new dates still being added to their schedule.

Rural Rhythm Records has just released the first single from their upcoming Tim Hensley project, Long Monday. Bluegrass radio hosts and stations should be receiving their copy today (11/15), Tim’s rendition of the Rodney Crowell song, Ridin’ Out The Storm.

Tim has spent time with Ricky Skaggs, as well as country artists Patty Loveless and Kenny Chesney, and has put together a bluegrass-tinged acoustic album with songs drawn from some of today’s top writers. In addition to the Crowell song, there are songs from Tim Stafford, Ronnie Bowman, Carl Jackson and Larry Cordle.

Joining Tim in the studio were super-pickers Rob Ickes, Aubrey Haynie, Wyatt Rice, Tim Stafford, Adam Steffey and David Talbot, with vocal assistance from Ronnie Bowman, Melonie Cannon, Vince Gill, Sonya Isaacs and Patty Loveless.

The Hensley CD is due on January 29, 2008. More details and a clip from Ridin’ Out The Storm can be found online.

We caught up recently with Tim Stafford of Blue Highway, and got a few more details about their upcoming Rounder CD.

Tim says that the project is expected to be titled Through The Window of a Train, and he speaks with pride of the material - all written by band members. He rates the songs as some of their very best to date, and this CD will be the band’s second all-original project.

A February 2008 release date is still projected.

Read more about this next Blue Highway CD in our earlier discussion with Tim.

We received two fine CDs recently, from artists whose music may not be familiar to a wide listening audience. Both projects have their roots in the rich, fertile “bluegrass crescent” that encircles eastern Kentucky and Tennessee along with western Virginia and North Carolina.

Tim Carter, along with his brother Danny, has been performing as The Carter Brothers since 2001. These Carters claim a distant relation to the legendary Carter Family, and bring their traditional music roots to their more eclectic, blues/rock/bluegrass show. Brother Tim now has his own solo releases, and he steps forward as the bluegrass part of the band’s equation. Ten songs, all but on written or co-written by Carter, feature Tim as a fine instrumentalist and a vocalist as well. Guests include Tim Stafford, both on guitar and as co-writer on several tracks, plus Rob Ickes on dobro, Casey Driessen on fiddle and Alison Brown on second banjo on a tune she and Tim wrote together.

Tim’s compositions for banjo tend towards the progressive realm, but his songs have a very traditional feel to them. The mix provides the artistic tension for Bang Bang, and makes for a very enjoyable listen.

Audio samples can be found on Tim’s MySpace page, and ordering is enabled on The Carter Brothers site and on CD Baby.

Tommy Webb’s new CD is entitled Eastern Kentucky, and he has called on some of the heavy hitters from that region of the country to assist him. Banjo legend JD Crowe supplies some words of praise on the back cover, and while his touring band of Chris Goble (banjo), Tadd Huff (bass) and Kenny O’Quinn (mandolin) supports him on a few cuts, the bulk of the recording features one of my very favorite bluegrass bands - Ron Stewart and Harold Nixon.

Ron supplies banjo, mandolin and fiddle on most of the tracks, and adds his guitar and resonator guitar to a few others. His New South bandmate Nixon provides bass on these same tracks, and the effect is quite powerful. I’ve suggested here in the past that Stewart is the most accomplished bluegrass musician of his generation, and those abilities are clearly on display here. He also produced and recorded this project, which has his sparkle all over it.

But Ron’s wizardry is not the main focus here, it’s Webb’s hardcore bluegrass singing and songwriting. A highlight is his grassified reworking of Clinton Gregory’s country hit, (If It Weren’t For Country Music) I’d Go Crazy, which reemerges as If It Weren’t For Bluegrass Music I’d Go Crazy. If you are familiar with the original, the clever retooling of the lyrics will be especially enjoyable.

Audio for Eastern Kentucky is also available on both MySpace and CD Baby.

We see two great bluegrass offerings available via streaming online audio for Friday, May 4.

First up at noon (EDT) is a live performance by James Reams & The Barnstormers on WDVX’s Blue Plate Special. The show airs in Knoxville, TN at 89.9 FM, and listeners worldwide can catch the show via live streaming from the WDVX web site.

Then at 1:30 p.m., Blue Highway guitarist Tim Stafford will join Gracie Muldoon on WorldWideBluegrass.com for an interview. Tim is also an adept songwriter and studio producer, so he and Gracie will have plenty to discuss - including a new Blue Highway CD currently being recorded.

You can access WWB’s 24/7 bluegrass feed online

Great news for Blue Highway fans - their next CD project should be out later this year. They have resigned with Rounder Records and this will be their 4th Rounder CD, and 8th album release as a band.

Blue Highway has seen their popularity in bluegrass grow steadily over more than ten years in the business, while managing to keep the membership almost wholly intact over that time. For what started out to be an occasional, part-time venture, having the same personnel with which they started is remarkable in and of itself. Despite original banjo player Jason Burleson having left the group for a time (replaced by ace banjo man Tom Adams for one CD), the band has been remarkably stable in a business where such stability is increasingly rare.

Guitarist Tim Stafford shared some thoughts about this upcoming project, as yet untitled. He said that this time out, they will be recording at Maggard Studio in Big Stone Gap, VA where so many legendary Ralph Stanley recordings were made.

“We just wanted something a little closer to home - for four of us anyway. We recorded all seven of our previous albums in Nashville, which always meant a lot of lodging expenses. This time, it’s only Rob who has to get a room, although Jason sometimes will too–he’s about 3 hours away from Big Stone. There was also the thought of trying something a little different, and saving some money! But we aren’t sacrificing quality–Jim Price, our engineer, is top-notch and everybody loves the feel of Maggard’s.”

Tim mentioned that they have 8 songs finished, all of them originals written within the band, and I wondered if that was their intention for this project.

“I don’t think anyone has written material just for this record–in fact, we’ve always just come to the table and pitched what the writers have been working on. One thing we used to do and I wish we did more of now is write together–seems like we’re too tired to do it when we’re on the road, and when we’re off it’s time to decompress. (more…)

This new DVD from Flatpicking Guitar features Blue Highway guitarist Tim Stafford is a comprehensive overview of critical techniques for acoustic, steel string guitar. The DVD release is a re-edited and remastered version of the original VHS release, which was largely overlooked in that now nearly obsolete format.

Acoustic Guitar Fundamentals is a video presentation of Tim’s treatise on the Five T’s - Tuning, Timing, Tone, Technique, and Taste. These are the elements that separate the best from the rest, and allow even a novice or amateur player to develop a sense of authority over the instrument and the music they play.

Each of the “T’s” is covered in detail, with Tim explaining the concepts and then offering practical examples of how to incorporate a study of them into your practice routine. The material is very well organized and explained clearly with topic reviews after each section.

Tim’s mastery of the guitar and the flatpicking style is unchallenged - both as a soloist and a member of the rhythm section. His advice for other pickers is as valuable as his contributions to the music as a performer.

Find more details and order online from Flatpicking Guitar’s Mercantile.

Jorma Kaukonen may never be a fixture on the bluegrass circuit, but the eclectic guitarist has been involved in a variety of roots music endeavors since his early days with The Jefferson Airplane in San Francisco’s heady 1960s music scene. His first post-Airplane outing, Hot Tuna, with fellow Airplane alum Jack Casady, has endured since 1970, and has always had an acoustic blues-based focus.

Hot Tuna now includes noted mandolinist Barry Mitterhoff, whose background includes decades of work in bluegrass and traditional music. Kaukonen’s 2002 release, Blue Country Heart, received a Grammy nomination and is self-described as a tribute to American roots music. He makes his home on the fringes of the Appalachian mountains in southeastern Ohio, where he operates Fur Peace Ranch, hosting guitar camps and running a concert venue.

Kaukonen recently signed with Red House Records, and the first project for the new label, Stars In My Crown, was recorded this past October in Nashville. It was produced by Byron House, and recorded at 17 Grand Studios with Gary Paczosa engineering, and a host of familiar acoustic and bluegrass guest artists, including Sam Bush and Blue Highway.

Tim Stafford recalls the experience, and working with Jorma, fondly.

“We came in at the end of the session, which had been going on for several days with other musicians. I recorded three or four tunes with Jorma, Sally Van Meter, Barry Mitterhoff and Byron the first day, mostly country blues-based numbers. Jorma is a big fan of Rev. Gary Davis, and we did a couple of his tunes as I recall, and one of Byron’s originals, a spooky gospel song.

Jorma said he liked the sound of the flatpicked guitar with his fingerstyle. What a great guy! We met him through playing a show at his Fur Peace Ranch in Pomeroy, OH earlier this year and he took a liking to the band. Jason, Shawn and Rob came in the next day (Wayne decided not to come since he wouldn’t be playing bass and we didn’t need harmony vocals) and we recorded Johnny Cash’s apocalyptic ‘The Man Comes Around’ with Byron and Jorma. Very cool! Everyone loved the way that one turned out.

You would never know from Jorma’s demeanor that he’s one of the founders of Jefferson Airplane and a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – he’s incredibly down-to-earth and nice. And very funny!

It was a great experience all the way around and I was thrilled to be involved.”

Look for the new CD to be released on March 13, 2007. Red House plans to put audio samples online as the street date nears.

A reader posted a question a few weeks back on The B, asking about the publication date for the Tony Rice biography currently being compiled by Tim Stafford and Caroline Wright.

Our readers surely know Tim as a member of Blue Highway, and as the writer of some of the most artful and intelligent songs to be recorded in bluegrass music this past few years. Fewer may know Caroline, who is a writer living in Hawaii, and also the founder and president of Bluegrass Hawai`i, an organization dedicated to popularizing bluegrass music in the islands community.

Tim and Caroline are tag-teaming this effort, with Tim covering the musical side of Tony’s life, and Caroline the personal. The book grew from a lengthy article Wright wrote about Tony for Listener magazine (now defunct). The article, A Day In The Life Of The World’s Best Guitarist, followed Tony for a 24 hour period, and offered a mix of narrative and interview along with quotes from his friends and peers. The new book is expected to follow a similar format.

When I caught up with Tim recently, he had this to say about their progress on the book:

“Caroline and I are hoping to have all the interviews together, and Tony’s narrative edited together, for him to review at Merlefest next spring. That’s the goal anyway. I just did a three-day long interview with him down here in Bristol, and have been working on transcribing it. There is still a lot of work ahead, but we’re shooting for an ‘07 release.”

Tim is forming his own imprint to publish the Tony Rice book, along with Bobby Starnes and Johnny Burton, and they have plans for a series of music biographies after this one is completed.

The popular and acclaimed NashCamp has announced their Music Camps for 2006, with three, week-long events during the summer, and a weekend banjo retreat in the fall.

First up is two weeks of bluegrass instruction, aptly named Bluegrass Weeks. Each of the two, one-week sessions feature well-known bluegrass performers as instructors, with a mix of small group instruction and band labs as the focus. Elective workshops are also offered in less technical, but equally crucial elements of learning and performing in the bluegrass genre.

The faculty for Bluegrass Weeks includes Ron Stewart, Missy Raines, Roland White, Fletcher Bright, David Harvey, Jim Hurst, Tim Scheerhorn and Greg Cahill.

Next comes Songwriting Week (July 30-August 4), with such heralded instructors as Carl Jackson, Tim Stafford and Claire Lynch among a faculty of ten successful country and bluegrass songwriters. Students will rotate through the various instructors for instruction and critique on the various aspects of the craft. Guest speakers will include reps from music publishing companies and songwriter rights organizations.

Lastly, they offer the Fall Banjo Retreat (October 20-22), an intensive 3 day weekend event with instructors Sonny Osborne, Ron Block, Alan Munde and Bill Evans.

All NashCamp workshops are open to players at any skill level. More details (costs, complete faculty lists, registration info, lodging and directions) can be found on the NashCamp site.

This post is a contribution from Tim Stafford, founding member of bluegrass supergroup Blue Highway, and a celebrated and sought-after songwriter and producer outside of the band. He was also a member of Alison Krauss & Union Station before the advent of Blue Highway.

Thanks to Brance Gillihan for asking me to say a few words here. I thought I”d shed a little light on a song I often get asked about, Some Day. This song appeared on Blue Highway”s Midnight Storm CD on Rebel Records in 1998 and has become our most-requested song. I”ve had countless folks tell me that they”ve either played the song or had it played at funerals; it”s even in wills for that purpose. It”s also been recorded a couple dozen times by other groups since then. The song makes a visceral impact on people, and the reason is simple: the heartfelt lyrics from a country woman who wanted to write her own eulogy.

My wife Trish showed me her Aunt Olive”s eulogy years ago. Olive Stockton was born in Ohio and married Jim Stockton from Flag Pond, TN. (Incidentally, Jim was the subject of another song of mine, Clay and Ottie while his brother Fred inspired Uncle Fred) They moved to Limestone, TN in Washington County, sang in a gospel quartet and she played piano in church. Trish says Olive was a voracious reader who always kept books for the kids to borrow. She often sent poems to the Johnson City Press-Chronicle, which was happy to publish them. Olive was a small, petite woman who was very soft-spoken and admired by everyone who knew her. I never met her, but everyone who did still smiles and speaks in glowing terms about her generosity and gentle spirit. At the time she wrote Some Day, she had four children and several grandchildren; she didn”t want people to grieve over her when she passed because her faith was strong. This is why the song”?even though it”s about death–is still very hopeful. (more…)