Merlefest gets underway today. It’s one of the biggest festivals in the country and many, if not most, of your favorite bluegrass acts will be performing at some point during the week.

If you’re not there, but you’d like to know what’s going on. Or, if you are there, but you’d like to know what’s going on backstage, here’s your chance.

Our pal Wichita Rutherford is there all week and hanging out back stage with Doc and the other stars. He’s going to give us all a window into what’s happening, by Twittering his experiences. He tells me he plans to let us know who’s backstage and what they’re doing, what they’re eating, and who they’re talking to. Apparently there will be no privacy this year at Merlefest! Wichita will also be catching a few parking lot jams and letting us know what’s happening there.

Wichita tells me there may even be a friendly slap fight match or two. He’s challenged Tim Stafford, Terry Eldrige and Jerry Douglas among others. Of course, if Chris Thile shows up…

If Chris Thile shows there will be an all out slap fight brawl; a loser leaves MerleFest cage match, if you will.

I’m sure Wichita will let us know all the details if it happens. Be careful buddy!

In addition to just Tweeting the events as they happen, Wichita will also be posting photos on his Twitter page.

If you want to follow Wichita’s Tweets, then just go to Twitter.com, you’ll need an account, and search for WichitaR or Wichita Rutherford, and enjoy!

Same Old Place, the second Rounder release from NewFound Road, is due to hit a week from today, on April 28.

We had commented a number of times about this album as it was progressing from concept to reality, and have been anticipating its release since last summer. The sound is fuller to my ear than their last, and the song choices show a depth and variety well-suited to the band’s style.

Jim Van Cleve served as co-producer along with the band, and says that they took more time tracking, and tried some new approaches to the material this time out.

Here are a couple of quick samples from the CD, along with some thoughts from bandleader, guitarist and lead vocalist Tim Shelton.

Try To Be -  Listen now:   

Jim VanCleve sent me this song when we started gathering material and arranging songs for the record, it was written by Sonya Isaacs. I love a good intense, bluesy sounding bluegrass song and this one turned into that.  It’s going over very well at the shows, and it opens the CD as the first track.

Same Old Place -  Listen now:   

Tim Stafford wrote this song and I love it.  It’s got such a sad feeling to it, which I love, and it’s definitely the biggest sounding song that NewFound Road has ever cut.  We posted this on the band’s MySpace page and within a week the song had over 1000 plays and continues to average that, so evidently, folks are loving the song as well.

Audio samples for all 12 tracks can be found on the band’s web site, where you can also place a pre-order for the CD, shipped to arrive next week when it is officially released.

After many months of prototyping, Composite Acoustics is set to officially unveil their Tim Stafford signature model guitar on May 3. This has been Tim’s primary guitar on the road with Blue Highway for the past year or so, and he has used it in the studio on several projects as well.

Stafford has worked closely with the folks at CA Guitars to create a dreadnaught body instrument, made from their durable, carbon fiber composite material, which could offer the sort of tone, response and playability that bluegrass pickers demand from their guitars. Tim was also concerned that his signature model have on board electronics that would convey a warm, natural acoustic sound to the sound system.

Specifications for the Tim Stafford model include:

• light blue shell flame rosette
• four leaf clover headstock inlay
• enlarged 4.5" diameter soundhole
• upper bout sound port
• Gotoh 510 open back gears
• CA Performance Tuned bracing
• a specially voiced Fishman Aura pick-up system
• high gloss Carbon Burst paint finish

It will carry a $2968 price tag.

As you might expect, Tim is very pleased with the guitar…

"I believe the signature model is the best new CA I’ve played. It plays like a dream, and the sound port gives it more punch and volume out front, as well as adding something like ’self-monitoring’ to the instrument–you can hear the guitar more clearly as you play it, from your vantage point behind the instrument. This is a bonus for singers; it sounds like a superior new guitar, straight out of the box. I was talking with someone after I had gotten the first prototype of the signature model which I played at Merlefest last year; they gave me a 4-leaf clover as luck for the new model. I put the clover against the black carbon top and it was just brilliant; that’s when I began to think this would be a nice cosmetic touch for the model. Mostly though, I hope it brings luck to whoever buys one!"

There is no information up yet on the CA web site, but look for it to appear soon after the official launch event at Artisan Guitars in Franklin, TN on May 3. Tim will be on hand to demo the guitar and talk with customers and the press.

           

The Pick One concert tour we told you about in December has largely come and gone, taking a star-studded bluegrass package show to Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Georgia in early January.

Instead of presenting bands that perform together normally, artists as varied as Ronnie Bowman, Mike Bub, Missy Raines, Terry Baucom, Rob McCoury, Alan Bibey, Mike Compton, Phil Leadbetter, Rob Ickes, Kenny Smith, Tim Stafford, Jason Carter, Steve Gulley, Kim Fox, Dale Ann Bradley, Amanda Smith and Josh Williams were assembled into different groups throughout each show.

Tour organizer Larry Gorley shared a number of photos from shows in Bristol, VA and Kurtztown, PA. They offer a nice flavor of the way these many pickers and singers were staged in various groupings for these concerts, as well as the giant throng on stage for the finales.

Gorley says that the tour has gone well…

“It has been one of the most fun things that I’ve ever been involved in. The crowds have been extremely appreciative of what we’ve done and all the musicians have enjoyed their response and the chance to play with their own. Some great stories have been shared and hopefully new ones will be told after these dates.

We have one more date to do in Stillwater, OK and the tour has been going well. We’ve had 21 musicans on it so far and will likely finish with 25 musicians by tour’s end. Interest has been shown for maybe more of these shows, and hopefully that will happen.

We want to thank all the venues for having us and to all that have come out to see the show, it is much appreciated.”

Perhaps we’ll see an even bigger all-star tour in ‘10.