bluegrass and folk news

Twilight Music presents an evening of bluegrass and Americana music with the award-winning Claire Lynch Band and Vermont acoustic all-stars Amos, Stockwell and Buchwald, at The United Church of Putney, 15 Kimball Hill, on Thursday, March 25, at 7:30 p.m. By any measure, The Claire Lynch Band is high on the bluegrass world's A-List, with musicians ...

Announcement : Ralph Stanley II Coming to PEI for 25th Annual Bluegrass Festival BMNN wrote: on Mar.

Next weekend will be a big one for Tom Gray. Not only will the original Seldom Scene bass player be teaching at his first all-day workshop on March 27, he has a CD release concert with his new band that evening.

Tom is one of three instructors at the DC Bass Strummit, along with Jason Moore and Mike Conner, which is being held in conjunction with the first-ever DC Bluegrass Festival in McLean, VA from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Then, he’ll hop over to Lucketts where he’ll perform with Darren Beachley & Legends of the Potomac as they celebrate the release of Takeoff, the band’s debut album on the Patuxent Music label.

When we spoke with Tom yesterday, he expressed some mild regret that both events were being held on the same day.

“I hate that our concert is competing with the festival. I really wish I could have been part of the festival, but that will have to wait for another year.

I’ve done a lot of bass workshops over the years, but never an all day event like this. If we get a bunch of people signed up, it could be really interesting.

I’m always a little apprehensive when I teach – I don’t think of myself as much of a teacher, but it has always worked out. We’ll talk about musical theory… runs between chords… timing… what you have to keep in mind in a band…

Plus I’ll write out some tablature for handouts.”

You can find all the details about the DC Bass Strummit online.

Tom and The Legends will be on the radio Tuesday morning (3/23) with Katy Daley on WAMU’s Bluegrass Country. Katy will play through all the tracks on Takeoff and chat with the guys about the songs. Catch it Tuesday at 9:00 a.m. at www.bluegrasscountry.org.

As if he didn’t have enough already…

Del McCoury will be among the 2010 Pennsylvania Governor’s Arts Awards Honorees when they are presented on April 8. He will accept the Artist of the Year award, also known as the Hazlett Memorial Award, in tribute to Theodore L. Hazlett Jr., the first chairman of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

The Council describes this award as recognizing “an individual artist for their creations and contributions to the excellence of the arts in Pennsylvania.”

These awards have been distributed each year since 1980 (with a one year interruption in 1987), and the ceremony is moved each year so that the various communities in the state have a chance to participate. It was lucky for Del that the rotation puts this year’s ceremony in his hometown of York, PA.

Congratulations to Del McCoury. May he long continue to reap the rewards of a life-long dedication to bluegrass music!

The Devil Makes Three returns to Ashland March 24 to present its mix of punk, hillbilly, bluegrass, blues, ragtime, country and gospel.

Here is another set of reflections on Leadership Bluegrass 2010, this time from Carol Beaugard, host of Lonesome Pine RFD, heard on both WFDU-FM in the New York City metro market and on WAMU’s Bluegrass Country online. Her show airs from 6:00-9:00 a.m. each Thursday, and from 9:00 a.m. ’till noon on Fridays (listen online).

Carol blogged about her time in Nashville on the Bluegrass Country site, and also sent along this report for The Bluegrass Blog – plus a set of photos from Leadership Bluegrass.

“It’s taken me almost a full week to begin to process the extraordinary experience of going through the Leadership Bluegrass class. For me it truly was a life-changing experience.  The IBMA has created a program that offers an intensely in-depth education on key facets of the music industry. The presenters educated us on topics ranging from music publishing and licensing to artist representation to new modes of broadcasting music and information and more.

Keynote speakers included Doyle Lawson, who spoke on Artist Leadership and shared an in-depth study of his career beginning with his early days with Jimmy Martin through his work with JD Crowe and the Country Gentlemen and onto his years leading his band, Quicksilver. Rob Ickes also stopped by during the conference’s focus on bluegrass youth and adult education to discuss his work leading his Nashville-based resophonic guitar camp. At the conclusion of his talk he entertained us with a solo rendition of The Old Rugged Cross.

The scope of achievement represented by the conference presenters was formidable but the variety and depth of talent among my classmates was amazing. We got to meet 25 colleagues who all dedicate their lives to bluegrass. Some were festival promoters, others marketing specialists, managers, agents, broadcast personalities and musical artists. We assembled from different parts of the country and the world and we started the conference as strangers and ended the program as friends.  The program was so intense and concentrated – we all developed a bond because we all realized that we were experiencing an educational process that is truly unique, with long-term transformative impact.

I’ll repeat what I’ve shared since my return. I encourage everyone and anyone working in any facet of bluegrass music to apply and attend Leadership Bluegrass. If you’ve applied in years past but weren’t selected – apply again and don’t be disheartened. IBMA can only accept 25 applicants each year and you should try to attend. You will learn so much and you’ll come away with friendships that you’ll treasure forever. It’s the gift of a lifetime and the greatest wish I can share with each of you is the hope that you can be part of a future class someday.

One thing’s for sure – and this I’m certain we can all understand and relate to – we all share such a deep and abiding love for bluegrass. It shapes us, it motivates us, it inspires us and it guides us to do all we can to preserve and better the music. I love being a part of this music and a part of this community. It’s “Our Town.”

Just for the record – it wasn’t all hard work.  I arrived in Nashville early and went out to the Station Inn to see The Time Jumpers perform C&W/swing music at its best. I ran into Sammy Shelor who was in the audience enjoying the music. On Wednesday night I gathered a few of my classmates to go back out with me to the Station Inn and that night we saw David Peterson with his country band, featuring Bryan Sutton on guitar, Shad Cobb on fiddle and Dennis Crouch on bass.  Mike Bub and Richard Bailey (The Steeldrivers) were in the audience hanging out and I would up sitting next to Lee Ann Womack.  It was fun, fun, fun!!!”

Here are a few more of Carol’s photos from Leadership Bluegrass.

Kindred Records has just signed Ronnie King to the label and will release his new CD, Free of Guilt, on May 1.

Ronnie performed with New River Line from 2001-2006, where he played mandolin, sang and contributed original material to the band’s first two albums. He left in ‘07 to focus on songwriting, and that same year his song My Brother Paul was a runner-up in the Merlefest Chris Austin songwriting contest.

Free Of Guilt showcases King’s songwriting and singing in bluegrass, folk, Americana and folk/rock genres. He is assisted by CJ Cain on guitar, Matt De Spain on resonator, Will Parsons on banjo, James Overbee on harmonica, Daniel Carwile on fiddle, Scott Lambert on drums, and Owen Reynolds on bass.

A single from the CD, I’d Like To See You, which also features fellow-Kentuckian Dale Ann Bradley, will be released via AirPlayDirect by April 1.

I’d Like To See You:      

More audio samples are available on the Kindred web site.