This will be the third solo CD for this young artist, who at 29 has already logged lengthy stints with Special Consensus and Rhonda Vincent. His debut album, Now That You’re Gone, was released in 2001, featuring contributions from a who’s who of bluegrass superpickers, as did his 2004 follow-up, Lonesome Highway.

On Down Home, Josh pays tribute to the artists who inspired him, and the acts who gave him a start in the business. He reunites most of the personnel from Special C during his tenure (Greg Cahill and Tim Dishman), and has his guitar idol Tony Rice with him for a version of Blue Railroad Train. Tracking for this project started while Josh was still a member of The Rage, and Rhonda joins on a couple of songs along with fellow then-Ragers Kenny Ingram and Mickey Harris.

Also helping out are Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent, Stewart Duncan, Jason Carter, Carl Jackson, Randy Kohrs, Tina Adair, and Aaron McDaris.

We heard Josh perform a couple of tracks from the CD during his IBMA showcase. His version of Jimmy Martin’s The Last Song was brilliant, and I am eager to hear the recorded version when the album hits. There is an inescapable joy in Williams’ music, and it is infectious, whether live or on disc.

Greg Cahill rivals Doyle Lawson in the bluegrass talent development department. Over the nearly 35 years he has managed Special Consensus, he has seen a number of young artists develop into fine musicians, and he is a big Josh Williams backer.

“I cannot speak highly enough about the musical accomplishments of Josh Williams, my good friend and consummate musician. He came to The Special Consensus right out of high school (actually while in his last few months of school) and immediately played mandolin and sang like a seasoned professional. Over the years since that time, he has grown to become a major voice in the world of bluegrass music and an award-winning guitar player as well. He is a great writer, singer and instrumentalist and it is a true joy to see him begin to receive the recognition his extraordinary talent deserves. Go Josh!!!”

Rhonda Vincent also spoke highly of Williams…

“Josh is a very talented guy. So glad to hear his CD is finally coming out.”

Pre-order details for Down Home can be found on the official Josh Williams web site.

He will continue to play banjo on the Mountain Heart with Tony Rice shows, and will also be on banjo for shows with Mashville Brigade when they tour starting next year.

Bauc told us that he really enjoyed working with Dale Ann, whom he considers to be a great friend.

“It was a nice variation for me working up her material, and it was a great creative time, but I really wanted to get back to playing more hard driving stuff. That’s more my style.”

Baucom mentioned that he hoped to be able to be available for more banjo clinics and workshops, such as the North Carolina Banjo Clinic where he will be teaching in November.

Mashville Brigade started as a Tuesday night gig at Nashville’s Station Inn with a rotating group of Music City sidemen. Jim Van Cleve is on fiddle, Darrell Webb on guitar, Ashby Frank on mandolin, Aaron McDaris on banjo and Randall Barnes on bass. Each works with a national touring band, and the Tuesday shows became a fun way to pick together on bluegrass chestnuts they all knew and loved.

After the release of a Rural Rhythm CD, Bluegrass Smash Hits Volume 1, and the resulting radio play, the guys have decided to take the show on the road, and will be available for limited live appearances during the 2010 season. Given his busy schedule with Rhonda Vincent, McDaris was unable to commit to any Mashville shows, and as no one can mash down on traditional bluegrass like Terry Baucom, he was an obvious choice.

Booking for the Mashville Brigade shows is being handled by Ashby Frank, who can be reached by phone (615-290-5533) or email for further details.

The Mountain Heart with Tony Rice shows are managed by Mountain Heart and Keith Case & Associates.

A book about Tony Rice is scheduled to be released soon, before the end of the year, hopefully. The title is Still Inside: The Tony Rice Story and the publisher is Word of Mouth Press. The authors in this instance are Tim Stafford, of Blue Highway, and Caroline Wright, one time Editor of the now-defunct Bluegrass Now.

Dick Spottswood’s, book Banjo On the Mountain: Wade Mainer’s First Hundred Years, is scheduled for publication next spring by the University Press of Mississippi. Spottswood is is an author, historian, musicologist, discographer and radio personality, who has devoted his life to documenting American music of the early twentieth century.

Pretty Good For A Girl: Women in Bluegrass is the working title for Murphy Henry’s book to be published by University of Illinois Press. The publication date is unknown at the moment.  Ms. Henry is a proprietor of the Murphy Method learning aids and a regular contributor to Bluegrass Unlimited.

We’ll be sure to note each of these books as they are published.

UPDATE 8/18: The publication date for the Tony Rice biography is still on the tentative side. Tim tells us that the book is complete, but that we should steer clear of suggesting a date until all of the legal niceties have been wrapped up as well.

Josh snuck up on Tony while he was playing the extended intro to Manzanita, and shot through the whole tune with the band.

The video quality isn’t superb, but the vantage point is one we don’t often get to see – and Rice absolutely kills on this song.

The album is tentatively titled Down Home, for a Carl Jackson song Josh sings on the CD, with a release date anticipated later this summer. Other writers whose songs will be featured include Steve Spurgeon, Tom T. and Dixie Hall, Jimmy Martin and Homer Joy.

Josh has had a busy year so far. In addition to getting this new record completed, he was a featured artist on the Pick One All-Star tour, and has been working shows with his group and as a member of The Tony Rice Unit.

Now that work on this project is complete, Josh says that he is mighty pleased with what they have recorded.

“I am exceedingly proud to say this is a self produced project, and features some of the best guest artists in the business. I was able to re-record an old Delmore Brothers tune that became a Tony Rice classic. It is done much like the original Rice version, and has become one of the tunes we do when the Tony Rice Unit plays at festivals and shows. That tune is Blue Railroad Train, and features Tony Rice on guitar, Randy Kohrs on dobro, and Mickey Harris on bass, with me playing mandolin and singing the lead vocal.

Other guest artists on this new project include Tina Adair, Tim Dishman, Stuart Duncan, Jason Carter, Jamie Dailey, Darren Vincent, Rhonda Vincent, Tony Creasman and Doug Jernigan.”

Josh tells us that he is now picking out material for the first studio recording with his own group, The Josh Williams Band, and that they hope to be in the studio tracking that project in the next few weeks.

Fred tells us that he just stumbled across the slides after decades sitting in a box, and says that he is delighted to be able to share them with the bluegrass community.

If you enjoyed the Bluegrass Country Soul DVD released in 2006, you are sure to appreciate Fred’s photos, which were taken a year after the festival documented in that DVD. New bluegrass fans will get a kick out of seeing some of today’s premier artists when they were younger, and folks who were following bluegrass in the 1970s will have some powerful memories rekindled.

There are shots of The Country Gentlemen, The Kentucky Gentlemen, Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys, James Monroe, Bluegrass 45, The McLain Family, Mac Wiseman, IInd Generation and the original Newgrass Revival.

Here are a few images Fred agreed to let us post, but you really need to see them all, put together in a very nice slide show online.

               

Fred also has a great many audio and video recordings from bluegrass events posted where they can be seen and heard online.

Now, we’re pleased to bring you the news that the Haney has received a $7,250 grant from the North Carolina Arts Council, for the purpose of recording a CD to preserve the contributions Eric Ellis has made to bluegrass music.

The university’s new service is reporting:

In addition to Ellis’ banjo playing and baritone vocal harmony, participating musicians on the CD will include David Johnson (fiddle), David Haney (guitar), Nick Chandler (mandolin), Billy Gee (bass), Bobby Hicks (fiddle), and possibly Tony Rice (guitar).

This sounds like a project we’ll want to hear!

The Bluegrass Blog has posted a few times about this project to commemorate The Bluegrass Hotel, a rooming house that accommodated young musicians in Louisville during the 1970s, and helped turn this part of the bluegrass region into a breeding ground for newgrass music as much as thoroughbred horses.

You can catch up on the story in our earlier postings:

• Bluegrass Hotel – Newgrass turns 40
• Concerning the Bluegrass Hotel concert
• Bush and The Bluegrass Hotel redux

A cascading series of booked acts for the March 20 concert, scheduled to both kick off a year-long tribute to The Bluegrass Hotel, and raise funds for the American Cancer Society, have announced that they will not appear on the show. Sam Bush was the first to drop, followed almost immediately by John Cowan and Tony Rice.

These artists claim that necessary assurances and contract requirements for them to take part in the concert were never received, while the event promoter insists that these performers have reneged on prior agreements. The tone has turned ugly, with the following headline posted on the official Bluegrass Hotel website: Bluegrass Stars Jilt Major Charity.

The Bluegrass Hotel Project has been attempting to negotiate agreements with Sam Bush and Tony Rice since Jan. 2008 to appear in the film, but paying those artists a fee to perform at a benefit concert for the American Cancer Society was not included in the terms. Part of the process has been negotiating a broadcast of the film on PBS Television, which was recently completed.  Therefore it came as a surprise to receive notification from Bush and Rice informing the charity that unless they were paid fees of $10,000 and $3000 respectively, they would not perform at the benefit concert on March 20 at the Galt House Hotel.

For their part, both Bush and Rice deny this charge vehemently, insisting that no demand for these payments was ever issued.

Bush has posted the following on his web site:

I apologize to all you.  I cannot perform in Louisville on March 20.  I promise you I will work fervently to restore my reputation and earn your trust that Bill Millet has stolen from me.

To say this situation is out of control is a major understatement.  The duplicity with which self-titled executive producer Bill Millet has and continues to conduct himself towards you the fans, the performers, vendors and participants of the Bluegrass Hotel Project has undermined the foundation, principal and loyalty of those involved.

For those that ask how this could happen……   so do I.  I couldn’t stop him from using my name before and I can’t stop him now.  What he continues to do to me and others through the anonymity of the internet makes him, among many nasty things, a cyber stalker.  He has hurled so many lies at all of us.  Only some have been addressed in the Cease and Desist letter to Bill Millet from my attorney; that you can read on this site.

What Bill Millet continues to do to you, me, my friends and my family is ethically immoral and morally reprehensible.  Not to mention expensive.  In my 40 years in the music business, I have never been placed in a more despicable situation than this.

I apologize to all of you,

Sam

It seems fair to conclude that we haven’t heard the last of this dispute.

It seems that the very promising series of projects announced last fall to commemorate The Bluegrass Hotel in Louisville, KY is falling victim to poor communication and inattention to detail.

After discussions with Bill Millet, one of the chief coordinators of the concert and other related projects, we posted at length about them on The Bluegrass Blog. There is to be a benefit concert in Louisville, with proceeds going to support the American Cancer Society, plus an audio CD, a coffee table book and a concert DVD.

In that report, we indicated (per Bill Millet) that Sam Bush was to be a co-producer of the audio CD, which would include new music recorded by him, Tony Rice, Dan Crary, JD Crowe, Curtis Burch and John Cowan, all scheduled to perform on the 3/20 concert.

We posted yesterday that Sam Bush would not, in fact, be involved, and that a statement from his attorney would be forthcoming. It is reproduced below.

Sam Bush announced last week that he will not be participating in the Bluegrass Hotel Project and will not be performing at the festival in Louisville, KY on March 20, 2009.  There has been considerable misinformation and falsehoods disseminated regarding Sam’s decision, and it is time to set the record straight.

First, Sam will not be performing at the festival.  For many weeks, the Producer of the Project has used Sam’s name and likeness without his permission.  Despite being advised of Sam’s decision on March  5th, the Bluegrass Hotel website continues to list Sam as one of the featured performers.  The website’s information is not correct.

Further, Sam’s decision not to perform had absolutely nothing to do with money.  Contrary to statements posted on the internet by the Project’s Producer, Sam has never requested to be paid anything, including what is being fraudulently reported as requiring a $10,000.00 fee as an executive producer.  Any statements to the contrary are false.

For several weeks, now months, Sam had been unsuccessful in his attempts to obtain information relating to the Project’s financial and legal structure and unable to substantiate that all necessary agreements, clearances, and approvals had been obtained for completion of the Project.  Accordingly, after extensive consultation with legal council, Sam reluctantly decided he could not go forth in such a manner of chaos and liability.

The statement from the Bluegrass Hotel referenced above begins with a ominous lead, and proceeds to the charge denied above.

Sam Bush is a cancer survivor and his father recently passed away from the diseases. New Grass Revival founder Courtney Johnson also died from cancer.

The Bluegrass Hotel has been attempting to negotiate an agreement with Sam Bush since Jan. 2008, but paying him a fee to perform at a benefit concert for the American Cancer Society was not included in the terms. Therefore it came as a surprise to receive notification from Sam Bush’s manager at the 11th hour informing The Bluegrass Hotel Project that unless Sam was paid a $10,000 fee to perform at the benefit concert for the American Cancer Society on March 20 at the Galt House, Sam would be pulled from the concert.

After having discussed this situation with a number of the principals involved, it seems clear that the dispute between Bush and the Bluegrass Hotel Project could have been avoided. Sam Bush has existing contractual obligations which he is legally bound to uphold, and his management’s contention that requisite assurances were not provided – and that they have been requesting them for months – strikes me as dispositive.

As to the conflicting claims about the demand of a hefty fee, I suppose we will each have to choose who to believe.

The Bluegrass Hotel’s online postings indicate that the show will go as scheduled in Bush’s absence, and that all additional projects are still a go – including filming of the show for the DVD and an airing on PBS this fall.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that other performers have pulled out as well, but that is not reflected in any official statements. John Cowan’s web site shows this March 20 concert on his tour schedule, but it is not listed on the Tony Rice or JD Crowe sites. We had not checked prior to this morning, so it is possible that they had never been listed in the first place.

We will update with any other information we can obtain.

UPDATE 12:17 p.m. John Cowan’s MySpace page carries this announcement:

It is with regret we announce that John will NOT be participating in the Bluegrass Hotel concert at the Galt House in Louisville, KY on 3/20/09.  We apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to seeing all of you at one of the many shows he has scheduled this year.

UPDATE 1:05 p.m.  We have just received notice from Keith Case and Associates that Tony Rice will not be appearing at the Bluegrass Hotel concert either.

This is an official notification that Tony Rice will not be part of the “Bluegrass Hotel” presentation in Louisville next week end March 20, 2009.

Neither Tony nor I, on his behalf, have ever committed to his being part of this presentation.

UPDATE 9:15 p.m.  Class Act Entertainment has confirmed that J.D. Crowe will be parrticipating in the March 20 event.

UPDATE 3/14  Cellist Ben Sollee has also issued a staement regarding the Bluegrass Hotel project.

In January of this year musician and producer Bill Millet invited me to be a part of the The Bluegrass Hotel festival and concert. Even though I was an unusual choice it was an honor to be included in an event that was to feature some of my musical heroes. Unfortunately, in light of those musical heroes withdrawing from the show and certain personal reasons I’ve decided NOT to participate. I have spoken with the musicians involved and it’s important for the audience to know that none of them tried to influence my decision. I apologize to the folks who’ve purchased tickets with the expectation of seeing me perform. I’ll make it up to you in some way at future shows.

In fact there is much more than just a concert in store for the Ruby celebrations. A documentary DVD, audio CD/LP and a coffee table book are all scheduled for a fall ‘09 release centered around The Bluegrass Hotel, an informal bluegrass rooming house for L’ville grassers in the 1970s.

The Hotel is a large Victorian-era home in the Cherokee Park neighborhood, not far from downtown Louisville. The house is and was then owned by Harry Bickel, who offered rooms at attractive rates to bluegrass musicians in the area.

One of those who stayed there in the ’70s was Bill Millet, former banjo picker with The Bluegrass Alliance who works now as a music producer. In addition to touring widely, this group served as an internship for young, progressive bluegrass pickers at that time. Other members during that period include Sam Bush, Tony Rice, Dan Crary, Vince Gill, Curtis Burch and Courtney Johnson.

In fact, Newgrass Revival got its start when the four original members (Bush, Johnson, Burch and Ebo Walker) left Bluegrass Alliance to launch the Revival after a simmering feud developed between the four of them and band leader Lonnie Peerce.

Millet grew up in Texas, but found himself living in Louisville when he took the Alliance gig.

“I was the first resident of The Bluegrass Hotel in 1975, and Vince Gill was it’s 4th in the same year when he took my invitation to join The Bluegrass Alliance, replacing the outgoing Glenn Lawson (going to J.D. Crowe).

Harry Bickel bought a huge house and initially needed boarders to offset expenses. They were mostly comprised of members of The Bluegrass Alliance and other related pickers that Harry knew and trusted. Harry Sparks had an instrument repair shop set up in the basement which attracted Sam Bush, J.D. Crowe and others, because Sparky was their luthier/repairman of choice.”

Bill recalls paying $45 each month, plus a share of utilities for his room. Other notable pickers who stayed during the 70s include Tony Rice, Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, J.D. Crowe, Doyle Lawson, Tony Williamson, and Jack Lawrence.

The home is now a private residence, as Harry’s wife Ann chased off all the pickers when they married in 1981.

When the 40th anniversary of newgrass drew near in 2008, Millet and others started the preparations to mark the milestone. Footage was shot during IBMA 2008 of the various Bluegrass Hotel alumni recalling stories of their time in Louisville, plus some impromptu jamming and plans were laid for the March 2009 concert at The Galt House – the former home of the annual IBMA convention on “the banks of the Ohio.”

This concert will also be filmed for the DVD, co-produced with Kentucky Educational Television (KET).

The March 20 concert is open to the public, and will be centered on an all-star band performance featuring Sam Bush, Curtis Burch, John Cowan, J.D. Crowe, Tony Rice and Dan Crary. A great many former members of Newgrass Revival and The Bluegrass Alliance will also make appearances on the show, including Danny Jones, Buddy Spurlock, Tony Williamson, Jack Lawrence, Al White, Harry Bickel, Steve Cooley, Glenn Lawson, Marshall Billingsley, Chuck Nation, Bob Briedenbach, Thayne Bradford, Danny Wiley, Keith and Darrell Sanson, Bill Millet, John Jump, Robert Pool, Marty Townsend, Dennis White, and others.

All proceeds from the concert will go to benefit the American Cancer Society. Special package rates are available through February 20 for tickets and accommodations at The Galt House.

Following the concert, Millet and fellow former Alliance member and Bluegrass Hotel resident John Jump will produce an audio CD with the all-star hotel pickers. Details are scant at this time, but Bill says that it will consist of new songs written by John Cowan, Dan Crary, J.D. Crowe, Sam Bush and Curtis Burch.

Jump is also a successful record producer and former exec at MCA. Sam Bush will also be a co-producer. The recording will be released on a Universal Music Group imprint.

Both the finished CD/LP and the concert DVD are expected to hit during this year’s IBMA World Of Bluegrass convention in Nashville (9/28-10/4). As will a coffee table book written by Harry Bickel, who has also compiled photos from the years he ran his rooming house.

Bickel was interviewed in December by Elizabeth Kramer of WFPL, Lousiville’s NPR station:

 "When I bought the house in 1975 and guys from the Bluegrass Alliance started living here, then this became the center of the whole thing," says Harry Bickel, a Bluegrass fan and banjo player.

He owns the house, and "the thing" he’s talking about is a time when something called "New Grass" music was taking root. The Bluegrass Hotel was an informal boarding house for musicians, including members of the Bluegrass Alliance, a band that helped launch the careers of Vince Gill and mandolin player Sam Bush. They’d jam in the cavernous rooms on the first-floor and in the smaller bedrooms upstairs.

"This is where guys would practice their music," he says in an upstairs room. "And there was a big sideboard over there, and we had all the stereo equipment there, and headphones and all that kind of stuff. So guys would sit here all day long practicing sometimes with tapes. And we’d jam up here some."

Bickel says there were always musicians coming and going. Many paid upward of $35 a month — plus utilities. Others came with bands on tour and would crash for a few nights. There was a lot of beer flowing in those days and several eating contests involving White Castle hamburgers. Bickel says some mornings he woke up to find a dozen musicians sleeping on his living room floor.

Sam Bush says he remembers playing at the house day and night.

"To this day I don’t know if I’ve ever seen any healthier or, you know, more outgoing music scene than Louisville used to have," Bush says.

You can hear the entire interview at WFPL.org.

The Bluegrass Hotel Project will donate all the royalties from the sales of the book, DVD, CD and LP to the IBMA Bluegrass Trust Fund, and to establish a permanent Newgrass-era collection and exhibit.

We’ll have more about these various Bluegrass Hotel projects as the release date draws near. Details will also be posted on The Bluegrass Hotel web site.

Tony won’t be able to make the radio show (Blue Plate Special), but guitar monster David Bromberg is also on the bill, and a Mountain Heart/Bromberg jam is expected towards the end of the program.

Blue Plate Special airs live, in-studio performances at noon on weekdays, and on Fridays moves to The Square Room, with a capacity to seat 400 people. Tickets are free to the public, so if you are near Knoxville, check it out.

If not, the show airs at 102.9 FM, and can also be heard worldwide via live streaming online.

Mountain Heart has been doing shows with Rice since last summer, and have performances set up throughout 2009 including major festivals like Merlefest. Of course, with Tony unable to sing, MH vocalists Josh Shilling and Barry Abernathy handle the vocal chores on the classic Rice repertoire.

Here’s an amateur video shot at the 2008 IBMA Fan Fest of Tony and Mountain Heart doing Free Born Man.

Tim tells us that the working title for the book is Still Inside: The Tony Rice Story. It will be the second release from Word of Mouth Press, a new progressive imprint based in Kingsport, TN. Stafford founded the company along with with Bobby Starnes and Johnny Burton to publish biographies of important roots musicians. Their first book was a children’s Christmas book on the Santa Train, a Thanksgiving tradition in East Tennessee of more than 60 years.

Still Inside covers Rice on two tracks, examining Tony’s personal life and his impact as a musician, with Tim tackling the guitar side and Caroline, Rice the individual.

Stafford says that it will run to over 400 pages with plenty to interest the most devoted Rice-head.

“We’re very excited about this book. It will features scads of great photos as well as Tony’s entire life in his own words along with testimony from over a hundred key eyewitnesses, all laid out in an innovative new design.”

More details about the book’s release should be forthcoming shortly, including information about book signings and other public events. We’ll be sure to pass them along as we get them.

Tony Rice is offering his personal, 2007 Santa Cruz Tony Rice model guitar for sale. This is a custom instrument, built specifically to Tony’s specs, and which he used on the road through much of 2007 and 2008.

The guitar is being sold through Steve Swan Guitars, which has a detailed description of the guitar online, along with a number of close up photos.

CUSTOM FEATURES include: Nickel Waverly round metal button tuners, Exra dense flame figure Honduras Mahogany neck, Long fixed position bone bridge saddle, Varnish finish on top, Hide glue, and a special 25 1/8″ string scale.

STANDARD FEATURES include: Brazilian Rosewood (in this case dark tight grain reddish-orange fully vertical grain sides and nearly fully vertical grain back), Beautiful even grain Master Grade European Spruce top, 4 9/16″ string spread, Bound Brazilian Rosewood headstock overlay, Bone nut, 1 11/16″ nut width, Bound ebony fingerboard with small “SCGC” logo at the 15th fret, Ivoroid binding with side purfling, Herringbone top purfling and rosette, Ebony bridge with 2 3/16″ string spread, Dalmation pattern pickguard, Ivoroid heelcap, Zipper backstrip and endstrip, Gurian Ebony endpin and bridge pins. Snuffy Smith did the final low action setup on the guitar and installed the strap button in the center of the neck heel.

This guitar can be yours for a mere $25,000. Will some lucky flatpicker find this under the tree on Christmas morning?

It is entitled Letter Of thanks To Veterans Everywhere from Tony Rice, and begins with a simple statement:

I want to take a moment and try to express my heart felt gratitude to the veterans of this great land..

I know that it is not possible for me to email, or call you up individually to thank each and every one of you,..

And so, I hope that this letter will in some small way service, to let you outstanding men and women know, my family and I, are in your debt.

Tony also shares some thoughts about how freedom affects musicians, even in the bluegrass world.

I have met so many musicians from communist countries, who risked the odds of death, to come here to the U.S.

To them, possible death by risking escape was a far better alternative, than to be denied the freedoms our veterans insure us.

Other musicians like myself, who felt they had something of value to offer, to the world threw their music..

However unless they could obtain freedom by escaping to come here, they had no vehicle of expression for their music,… it was dead.. useless.

I have been privileged to sit in total amazement, while listening to their stories of how they escaped. The most amazing from Communist Eastern Europe.

Did you know Bluegrass is banned in certain areas of the world? I surely didn’t, until they told me.

You veterans both in the “here and now” as well as those walking the “spirit world” are amazing heroes to them, as well as to myself.

Former and current members of the US military, especially those who are followers of Tony Rice’s music, will want to read the whole piece on Tony’s web site.

The DVD is the home edition of a television special from GAC, itself envisioned as a live recreation of several songs from Alison’s A Hundred Miles Or More: A Collection CD from 2007. It reunites her with recent duet partners James Taylor (How’s The World Treating You), Brad Paisley (Whiskey Lullaby), and John Waite (Lay Down Beside Me) and two songs with Tony Rice (Sawing On The Strings, Shadows).

All the performances were filmed live at The Tracking Room in Nashville, and both the audio and video quality are exceptional. Interviews with most of the participants are also featured, including lengthy comments from Krauss and Rice.

Alison is joined in the video by her Union Station cohorts (Ron Block, Dan Tyminski, Barry Bales, Jerry Douglas) plus Sam Bush, Steve Cox, Stuart Duncan, John Hobbs, Abraham Laboriel Sr., Greg Morrow, and Gordon Mote.

The video sample at Amazon is from the Gordon Lightfoot song Shadows, famously brought into the bluegrass/new acoustic world by Tony Rice, who is featured in the clip along with Union Station.

When we spoke with Wyatt recently, he mentioned that a few spots are still open for the three day workshop, and that the facility and the grounds were ideally suited for an event like this. Like last year, there will be both morning and afternoon sessions, with enrollment limited to 10 students for maximum interaction with Wyatt.

Full workshop details and tuition information can be found online.

Wyatt also spoke about the latest version of The Tony Rice Unit,where he has performed with his brother for a good many years. The current lineup contains Tony and Wyatt on guitar, Rickie Simpkins on fiddle, Bryn Davies on bass, and the newest member, Josh Williams on mandolin and lead vocals.

“It’s working out great with Josh in the band. He is singing a bunch of Tony’s songs, and he sounds great.”

They also did a main stage show during Fan Fest, and fiddler Jim Van Cleve sent along a report with some photos.

“Fan Fest was just incredible!

We had done a short set earlier in the week, and it had gone very well, but it was in a conference room suite, and they just couldn’t fit any more than a few hundred people in there. It was really packed that night.

At Fan Fest, on the other hand, they could fit a LOT of people in there for the show, and though I couldn’t see them from the stage because of the lights, I could still HEAR them! It was a GREAT audience, and the show got an insane response! Tony was really playing like the legend he is, too…wow.

There were even people crowding up in the aisles up front, taking pictures and such. It was a lot of fun, and I’ve already seen a lot of pictures from friends, fans, and even family, from the show that night. Tony is smiling in almost all of them!

That means a lot to us, to see that he’s enjoying playing with Mountain Heart…since we certainly are enjoying playing with him!”

The Fan Fest show was scheduled as the closing act on Friday’s (10/3) bill, and Mountain Heart also had a slot on The Grand Ole Opry that same night. Jim describes how an impulsive, last minute notion brought Tony to the Opry stage as well.

“Over the last few years, Mountain Heart has had the honor and privilege to sort of reach the ‘regulars’ status at the Grand Ole Opry. We’re very grateful to them for this, as they will often call when they see openings in our itinerary. Of course, it’s always a huge honor to play there and represent bluegrass music on such an important stage, so we really do cherish the opportunities when they come about. I must admit, this one was even more special than usual, though!

This particular time, we had been asked about a week or two in advance if we could play there, as they’d seen on our itinerary that we were going to be in town. So, we checked our schedule at IBMA Fan Fest (where we were already scheduled to play with Tony) and saw that it was probably possible to be in both places that night.

Barry, just on a whim, mentioned to the folks at the Opry that we were playing later that night with Tony, and asked if they would be interested in having us come together to perform, just as we were doing later that night. They were very receptive to the idea and we called Tony and Keith Case to get everybody’s thoughts.

All the stars must have lined up just right, because we got yeses all around”

I wondered whether the audience at The Opry recognized what a special treat they were witnessing when Tony came out with Mountain Heart…

“I wouldn’t think that each person in the audience was completely aware of what was going on and who Tony was, but Eddie Stubbs did a really nice job of prefacing the whole thing before we started. A lot of times, at the Opry you have a touristy-type of crowd, and sometimes you get the impression that the only music they’re aware of is either classic Country artists that have been there in residence for a long time, or the current radio stars. On those nights, you strive to make them never forget you, if at all possible. Either way, It was a really special night for us.

We played two straight-up, hardcore bluegrass songs on the Grand Ole Opry that night with Tony: Blue Ridge Mountain Home and Freeborn Man, and when we finished, we received a standing ovation from the Opry crowd. That’s always a great feeling, but it was really a memorable experience to do it with Tony there with us!

The pictures we got from that night are going to find their way to a frame somewhere in my house, I think.”

There are a few YouTube videos posted which captured the Tony Rice/Mountain Heart set at fan Fest. The footage is a bit shaky (hand held camera), but you clearly see how jazzed both the performers and the concert goers were by the show.

“I got to see some video that was taken of a few of the songs that night, and I got goose bumps all over again. I’ll never forget what I was thinking while on stage: I am up here, at IBMA (and earlier that night, the Grand Ole Opry), playing the songs I grew up listening to, with probably the biggest musical influence of my life, in the flesh! Somebody pinch me.”

Mountain Heart is scheduling shows with Tony for 2009 and beyond, and a number of shows together remain during the rest of ‘08. You can find the dates (and new ones as they are added) on either the Mountain Heart or Tony Rice web sites.

Jim also dangled a tease about a tour with Tony in the works…

“We have some very cool news coming up very soon. We’re really excited about it all and can’t wait to make some of these announcements!

It’s been an awesome summer and an especially huge last month or so for Mountain Heart. We’ve had shows all over the country, have done the Grand Ole Opry twice, and played with Diamond Rio, Confederate Railroad, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Tony Rice, all in the span of about four or five weeks!!”

Photos/video courtesy of Aleah Dillon.

I snapped a couple photos, but I wasn’t able to get to close to the stage. The crowd was packed into that room. The Dan Tyminski Band, Sierra Hull, Mountain Heart with Tony Rice…I guess I can understand why the crowd!

Unfortunately, I didn’t make it in the room until the Tyminski band was finished, so I don’t have any pictures of them. But here’s a picture of Sierra with her band, and couple of Mountain Heart, one by themselves, and a couple after Tony Rice joined them on stage.

This presentation was aired on GAC television last year when Alison’s A Hundred Miles Or More: A Collection CD was released. It was a live, in-studio recreation of several tracks from the CD, including guest appearances from some of her duet partners – James Taylor, Brad Paisley and John Waite.

Her own band, Union Station was also featured throughout (Jerry Douglas, Dan Tyminski, Ron Block, Barry Bales) along with Tony Rice, Sam Bush and Stuart Duncan.

The CD was part compilation – putting together songs on which Alison had performed, but which had not appeared on any of her CDs – and part new material, including four tracks recorded for this release. Many of these were high-profile hits, such as her duet with Paisley on Whiskey Lullaby and with Taylor on How’s The World Treating You, both re-sung for this project.

The DVD is scheduled for release on November 11, and also includes interview segments with Krauss where she discusses her storied musical career.

Since the 1960s, he delighted audiences with his music and humor, eventually crossing over as a movie actor in the 1970s. His recordings with Chet Atkins are required listening for serious guitarists and several of his pieces are considered standards among finger style players.

His influence has been felt among bluegrass guitarists as well. Multiple IBMA Guitar Player of The Year Jim Hurst has claimed Reed as a major influence, and the godfather of flatpick guitar, Tony Rice, had a poignant message this morning on his web site.

"Jerry was the most amazing guitar player I have ever heard and an inspiration to my music over the years and I am greatly saddened by the loss.”

Here’s a wonderful video clip of Jerry with Mac Magaha on The Porter Wagoner Show in the late 1960s.