Click on the Episode #2 link in the player.

Letterman has dubbed this week as Country Music Week on The Late Show, with musical performances each night from prominent Nashville entertainers. Stanley will close out this theme week talking about his very personal book, written with Eddie Dean. It covers Ralph’s life from early childhood with his brother, Carter, through their time together as The Stanley Brothers, and his own musical career after Carter’s passing in 1966.

We’ll have more to say about this deeply moving autobiography soon.

The Late Show airs on CBS television at 11:35 p.m. (ET/PT).

UPDATE 10:30 a.m. – We just got an update from Norma Morris, of Morris Public Relations, who handles publicity for Ralph Stanley:

“Letterman will mention the book, open it up and make some comments, but Ralph will not have the opportunity to sit down and discuss it. So he will perform one song, Room at the Top of the Stairs. The Letterman people have been just great.”

Not only do the sisters sing together in close three part harmony – eerily reminiscent of the Andrews Sisters – they complement their vocals with equally precise triple fiddles. Accompanied only by sock-rhythm guitar and an upright bass, their music is compelling, and to serious fans of this vintage slice of American music, a pure delight.

The Quebe Sisters Band have been performing together since 2000 with Drew Phelps on bass and Joey McKenzie on guitar. The Quebes met Joey through his music school (McKenzies’ Music and Instructional Studio) in Mansfield, TX, where they studied fiddle as very young girls. A spot on the 2008 Smithsonian Folklife Festival brought the Quebes to a national audience, which led to guest spots on The Marty Stuart Show, The Grand Ole Opry and the Ernest Tubb Midnite Jamboree.

We spoke recently with Sherry McKenzie, who manages the studio with her husband, and also handles publicity for the band. They were extremely well-received at IBMA, but I was curious whether the positive reaction was converting to new opportunities for the band.

“We have received inquires and have been following up on these as well as getting in touch with contacts made during the week. It looks like the band will have the opportunity play a few states in 2010 that they have never been to before, as a direct result of IBMA.

As far as expanding our fan base, we gave away many CDs for radio airplay, and have had orders trickling in each week from folks who are hearing the QSB on their local bluegrass & Americana radio programs. We have had interest as well from people who didn’t attend IBMA, but have discovered the group by the official showcase videos that have made their way to YouTube.”

As we have asked a number of the official IBMA showcase acts, Sherry was asked whether the trip to Nashville was worth the trouble and expense.

“I definitely feel the benefits were worth the expense. And worth the lack of sleep too!! The crash course for new artists, mentor sessions, gig fair and seminars were invaluable and we all came home with useful information to apply to our business. We tried to map out our week ahead of time and plan what sessions to attend each day, in addition to setting up meetings. Although it was a fun week with jam sessions, attending showcases, meeting new friends and connecting with old friends, we tried to keep a balance of both entertainment and business.

Everyone enjoyed spending time in the exhibit hall visiting the booths. The week could have been much, much more expensive than it was, as Joey prowled around the exhibit hall all week long looking for just the right mandolin!

I would encourage other artists to attend IBMA at least one time to see if it is a good fit for them. Although the QSB is new on the scene, the bluegrass community was very welcoming and encouraging. From a business standpoint, it was extremely educational with information we can use all year long. Musically speaking, it was very inspiring!

We don’t have the opportunity to hear much bluegrass at live shows or festivals where we live in Texas, so it was great to finally meet and hear many of the people we admire but have only heard on recordings or the radio. We heard so many great bands and musicians, we were all very impressed and inspired. We were excited to be part of such a first-class event.”

The Quebe Sisters Band will be back in Nashville in Decmber, with appearances at The Station Inn, Music City Roots and The Opry. They will also tape another set for The Marty Stuart Show, and visit with Eddie Stubbs at WSM. A new album is also in the works.

Is there room for classic Texas Swing in the world of country, bluegrass and Americana music? If so, The Quebe Sisters Band have a bright future indeed.

That suggestion was surely knocked down early on when choosing a title for the new Jerry Douglas Christmas album, recently released by E1 Music (formerly Koch Records). The actual title is Jerry Christmas, and the CD contains a dozen Christmas favorites, both traditional and modern, recorded with his touring band.

This is his first holiday album, featuring Luke Bulla on fiddle, Guthrie Trapp on mandolin and guitar, Todd Parks on bass and Doug Belote on drums. Jerry plays a variety of resonator and slide guitars, and Maura O’Connell guests on vocals.

Songs include:

Several audio samples can be found on Jerry’s web site, with snippets of all 12 tracks in iTunes.

Douglas will do a limited tour in December performing the material from Jerry Christmas with his band (Bulla, Trapp, Parks, Belote), and his good friends (and singers) O’Connell and John Oates (of Hall & Oates fame). You can see the tour details online.

His guest this week on The Grand Old Time Machine is none other than Ricky Skaggs himself. The entire hour long show is a conversation with Ricky concerning his latest CD, Songs My Dad Loved.

This interview is unlike any other you’ve heard Wichita do. In fact, it’s unlike any you’ve heard Ricky do! Over the course of an hour you’ll get to hear all 13 of the tracks from the CD, and you’ll hear Ricky talk about the tunes, his childhood, growing up in rural Kentucky and learning to play bluegrass. He really opens up and shares his heart in this interview.

It’s a riveting discussion that gives you a picture into Ricky’s past, and his thinking about the music. I’m sure the story will resonate with many who grew up in similar circumstances.

Here’s a short clip to give you a taste of what the interview is like throughout.

If you want to hear the whole thing, you’ll have to tune in to SiriusXM radio channel 14(XM), channel 65(Sirius). Below are the show times.

Friday the 6th – 9 pm eastern
Saturday night the 7th – 12 midnight
Tuesday the 10th – 3 pm eastern

Blue Highway played their first show on New Year’s Eve in 1994 with Tim Stafford on guitar, Shawn Lane on mandolin, Wayne Taylor on bass, Jason Burleson on banjo and Rob Ickes on resonator guitar. With that 15th anniversary drawing nigh, the band consists of these same 5 musicians, a testament both to the five of them as individuals, and to the way they run the group.

True, Burleson did take about a year off in the late ’90s (with Tom Adams filling the void), but he returned in short order and has never looked back.

Blue Highway has always been run as a true democratic entity, with all band decisions being made by equal votes among the members. No one is the leader, though they may each take the lead in certain tasks a band must perform. These guys obviously understand the value of the whole, and have kept egos from destroying something this unique and fine for 15 years – no small feat, that.

When the band got started, their intention was for it to be a part time venture. Tim Stafford had recently left Alison Krauss & Union Station, and Rob Ickes had left Lynn Morris, and neither wanted to be back on the road full time. After their first two Rebel releases, demand was such that a return to the highway was indicated, and that was the direction they took.

The band has a page on their web site dedicated to this anniversary year, with an extensive array of photos from over the years collected and sent in by fans. Rounder is set to release an anniversary CD, and a special anniversary concert is scheduled for December 18.

The CD, Some Day: Fifteenth Anniversary Collection (1/19/10), will include 13 tracks. 9 are culled from the band’s 4 previous Rounder albums, 1 comes from an Ickes solo project, 2 are fresh songs, newly recorded, and 1 is a re-recording of the title track, an enduring staple of their live show.

The full track listing follows (new tracks *):

The concert on 12/18 was as close as they could get to New Year’s Eve. It will be held in Roanoke, VA at the historic Jefferson Center at 7:30 p.m. Scheduled to be a festive affair, the band is eager to celebrate their anniversary with fans and friends before closing their touring for 2009 and heading off to spend the Christmas season with loved ones.

They expect to have copies of the new CD at the Anniversary Show, and concertgoers who purchase the VIP ticket will receive an autographed copy at the show, along with an invitation to attend the post-show reception.

Hats off to Blue Highway – here’s to 15 more!

Soon after, Haden was performing on the Grand Ole Opry. On November 17, 2009 he’s going to be putting on a very special concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in L.A. Presented by the LA Philharmonic, Haden will be performing with his family, including son-in-law funny man Jack Black, and some powerhouse bluegrass guests.

Dan Tyminski, Sam Bush, and Jerry Douglas will be joining the Haden clan for this show. It sound like a fun show.

Visit the LA Phil website for more information and ticketing info.

If you’ve ever wanted to be a music video producer, now’s your chance. Steve wants a music video for his tune Wally on the Run, so he’s holding a contest. You can create your own video to his song and enter to win $1000.

Since the song was written about Steve’s dog Wally, the video must contain one, or more, dogs. You can visit the contest page at DailyMotion.com for more details, and to watch some of the current entries. You’ll also find a link there to a page on Steve’s site where the track Wally on the Run may be downloaded for free during the contest timeframe.

The contest ends December 1, 2009, when Steve will choose the winner. 1st place will receive a cash prize of $1000, and presumably some promotion as the winner. 2nd place will receive $0.99.

Below is a short video from Steve explaining the contest.

It’s called The Banjo Guru, and is a group blog written by a trio of experts: Mark Bramlett, John Drummond and Greg Earnest. Bramlett is the general manager of Banjo.com’s retail operation, Earnest is an Atlanta-based picker and banjo teacher with a knowledge of pre war banjos, and Drummond is the owner on Banjo.com, and a fine picker himself.

All three share their thoughts and experience in the banjo world with regular postings online at www.thebanjoguru.com.

Brown has never limited herself to a single type of music. As banjo player with Alison Krauss & Union Station in the late 1980s, she showed that she had a distinctive voice on her instrument, and much of her music since has focused on melodic, jazz and jazz-inflected original compositions.

The band includes her husband Garry West on bass, John Burr on piano, and Larry Atamanuik on drums.

Their complete 27 minute set can be streamed online.

This particular video features Doug McKelway interviewing John McEueun, who was instrumental in the production of Steve Martin’s newest CD, The Crow.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that Steve Martin will co-host this year’s (82nd) Academy Awards (otherwise known as the Oscars).

Martin has been getting a lot of press recently for his banjo playing. He was involved with the 2009 IBMA Awards Show in Nashville, performing with the Steep Canyon Rangers. He has also performed on the most prominent of TV’s late night talk shows.

It is unclear at this point if Steve will break out his banjo at the Academy Awards, but his co-host Alec Baldwin is certainly feeling the pressure.

“I don’t play the banjo but I’m thrilled to be hosting the Oscars – it’s the opportunity of a lifetime,” said Baldwin.

The announcement on the Academy’s website includes the following in their brief bio about Steve.

He is currently touring with the bluegrass band Steep Canyon Rangers in support of his latest album “The Crow:  New Songs for the Five String Banjo.”

Perhaps Steve should receive an official appointment as a bluegrass ambassador?

If you live within WSM’s very wide broadcast footprint, you can hear the show on 650-AM. If not, it will also be streamed live online from 7:00-9:00 p.m. The format brings four bands to the stage, emceed by Jim Lauderdale and Eddie Stubbs, with artist interviews conducted live by Craig Havighurst.

The Grascals have been enjoying their richly-deserved time in the spotlight this past few years. With a trio of critically-acclaimed albums and multiple IBMA awards, these guys (and gal) have been burning up the highway, keeping a very busy tour schedule.

Less well known (for now) is The Josh Williams Band. Regular readers of The Bluegrass Blog have seen our occasional mentions of Williams, a very talented, young artist who, at the age of 29, has already had the eye of the IBMA on him for 16 years. At age 13, he was singled out to be included in a group of Youth All Stars at the IBMA show, along with Chris Thile, Michael Cleveland, Cody Kilby and Brady Stogdill. Here he is in that illustrious company – on banjo – which foretold much of what we have seen from these fine pickers since that day.

Josh had memorable stints with Special Consensus and Rhonda Vincent in his late teens and early twenties, and has now struck out on his own. His third solo project will be released by Pinecastle in February, and The Josh Williams Band will soon begin recording their debut CD.

They had a very strong showing at IBMA 2009, and we spoke with Jim Roe of Roe Entertainment, who books Josh, about the impact of their high profile during World Of Bluegrass.

“Their main stage showcase went really, really well. They played a number of late night showcases in 2008, and I heard from several people that the band sounded much more mature this year, and that Josh looked really confident fronting his band.”

When we caught them at IBMA, the band consisted of Josh on guitar and lead vocals, Jason McKendree on banjo, Randy Barnes on bass and Scott Napier on mandolin. Greg Blaylock is often seen with them on resonator guitar, though not a regular member of the group. I also saw them in 2008, and can agree that this past year has seen Josh develop into a future star in bluegrass music.

Roe related another story about this very subject…

“A festival promoter that had the band for a show early in 2009 called me after the festival, and shared with me how much he enjoyed their performance, but pointed out a few areas where he thought they could improve. After seeing them at IBMA last month, he has decided to have them back next year.

With a full year as a front man under his belt, Josh is a lot more comfortable in his new role.”

Josh is excited about playing Music City Roots tonight. In addition to Josh and The Grascals, the show will also include music from James Intveld and Shawn Byrne.

Not to be outdone by NewFound Road and the folks on the American Revival Tour, Josh sent along a few Halloween photos of his own, taken at their Saturday show at The Station Inn. Josh’s dad, Tony Williams, also provided a play-by-play…

The Halloween Hoot from the world famous Station Inn, in Nashville, Tennessee, night before last(October 31, 2009 proved to be a blast, as expected!

The evening’s edition of the Josh Williams Band included from stage left to stage right: Resophonic guitar genius, Willie P. Richardson, (aka Greg Blaylock, the pride of Dickson, TN.) former President, and banjoist extraordinaire, Abraham Lincoln (aka Jason “Jaymack” McKendree), one of history’s finest guitar players and lead singers, Wyatt Earp (aka Josh Williams), the always bloodthirsty, King of blood-suckers, and the acoustic upright bass, “The Count” Vlad Randolph Barnes (aka Randy Barnes), and with guest mandolinist, and traveler of the high seas, Long John Frank, (aka Ashby Frank).

The house was packed with guests from Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Florida, and no doubt more, to hear this good-looking and picturesque Rogue’s gallery, who kept the crowd entertained through two excellent sets of the finest quality Bluegrass and Americana music for a little over two and one half hours. Excellent audio engineer and legendary Lonesome River Band producer and engineer, Tim Austin, did an outstanding job on the sound board, keeping the incredible band well heard, and noise free for the entire length of the show.

In the audience, along with many people in street attire, one could observe, Raggedy Andy, several vampires, zombies, and a trio of folks with horns protruding from the heads. The staff at the Inn included beautiful Swiss misses Emily and Jess. Two separate groups of young ladies added international presence, good friends of First Lady, Amelia Aerheart-Lincoln (Carolyn Klassen McKendree) attending as part of a visit with their friend, all from the Canadian province of Manitoba, in and around the town of Winkler, Carolyn’s home-town. Another group of lovely young Japanese ladies were attending, and seemed to thoroughly enjoy all the band members, and their very entertaining show.

All in all, I’d say this was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen at the Station Inn, in the twenty-odd years I’ve been attending performances there.

Casey Henry has agreed to send us occasional updates from The American Revival Tour, where she is performing with Dixie Bee-Liners. Also on the tour are Sierra Hull & Highway 111 and headliners Uncle Earl.

Here is Casey’s report.

The arrival of November saw The Dixie Bee-Liners, Uncle Earl, and Sierra Hull and Highway 111 burning up the roads of the southeast in the first week of our much anticipated tour – American Revival: Celebrating the New Stars of American Roots Music.

When three bands of young-ish people get to travel together for four weeks, hi jinx will ensue. We have a long-running tour game involving sausage, but I’ll leave that for another time. Our most fun show, by far, was Halloween at the American Theater in Hampton, VA. Buddy Woodward, Bee-Liner mandolin player, is great at zombie makeup and we took full advantage of his talents. He also helped out Sierra’s band, giving fiddler Christian Ward a slash across the face, bassist Jacob Eller a bullet hole in the head, and transforming guitarist Clay Hess into a very convincing wolf-man. Ron Block went as Ron Howard—no makeup needed! Uncle Earl was four bad witches and one good witch.

Punch Brothers Chris “Critter” Eldridge and Noam Pikelny came for the night’s show. Critter dressed as a Christmas party guest, complete with battery-powered lights. Noam borrowed a spare witch hat and grey wig from Uncle Earl. They joined the Earl girls on stage to sing Happy Birthday to their fiddler, Stephanie “Pumpkin” Coleman, who turned 24.

Our post-show Halloween celebration took place at a little martini bar down the street—Six—where we had tapas and cocktails and played with the motorized witch hat KC Groves had found at the grocery store. It played Ding, Dong, The Witch Is Dead, and wagged its bell-adorned, pointed tip merrily back and forth.

Monday night we played at the Birchmere in Alexandria, a legendary bluegrass venue. For most of the Bee-Liners it was the first time we’d played there and we were honored to get to take the stage where the Seldom Scene ruled for so long. I actually had my fifteenth birthday party at the Birchmere. My parents took me and a group of my friends to see the Johnson Mountain Boys play. My friend Nancy Peterson, who came to the show last night, was at that party. She said it was like coming full circle, getting to see me play on that same stage.

Today is a travel day—more than 500 miles down to South Carolina. The Bee-Liners are stopping by WAMU this morning to play a little in-studio music and then hitting the road.

For more pictures and anecdotes, see Sierra Hull’s blog. I feel this must be the most-blogged-about bluegrass tour ever!

Stephen plays guitar and sings with Sam Bush. He knows his way around bluegrass harmony, and he’s come up with a learning tool that is top notch.

His recording studio, Dark Shadow Recording, has produced two CDs designed to help you learn to sing harmony naturally.

Bluegrass Tenor Singing (featuring Russell Moore)
Bluegrass Baritone Singing (featuring Ronnie Bowman)

What Stephen has done is to take five traditional bluegrass songs, and produce a great quality recording of each one. The songs are:

• Little Cabin Home On The Hill
• Mr. Engineer
• Blue Ridge Cabin Home
• My Little Georgia Rose
• How Mountain Girls Can Love

I spent some time with the tenor CD and it’s great. The recordings are well done and these are quality arrangements worth learning. The band consists of Adam Steffey (mandolin), Megan Lynch (fiddle), Ned Luberecki (banjo), Daniel Hardin (bass), and Stephen Mougin (guitar). The vocals, the focus of the project, are sung by Stephen (lead vocal), Russell Moore (tenor), and Ronnie Bowman (baritone).

The first track for each song presents you with the full mix of the tune so you can get a feel for what the finished product should sound like. We all like to sing along with recordings, so go ahead do so, but be sure to spend some time just listening as well. Listen to the blend of the three vocals.

The second track for each tune consists of just the choruses of the song, cut together back to back, with only the band and the lead vocal. This track is important. It will help you learn the melody, as well as the phrasing and dynamics. I worked with Little Cabin Home On The Hill, and noticed that the final chorus is a bit different than the others. It’s got a minor little frill that sets it apart. This is common in bluegrass, and I’m glad they included it in the arrangement.

Once you’re comfortable with the melody, phrasing, and dynamics of the song, you can move on to the third track. This track is identical to the second, back to back choruses, with the tenor (or baritone, depending on which CD you’re working with) vocal, and no others. This allows you to hear the part you’re trying to learn. Still in the context of the band, you’ll hear where the harmony part lies within the chords. You can repeat this track until you’re confident that you know the part, then move on.

The fourth, and final, track for each tune is the same as the first, but with the harmony part removed. On the tenor CD, you’ll hear the full mix of the song, solos and verses included. On the choruses however, you’ll hear only the lead and baritone vocals. It’s up to you to provide the tenor part. This provides you with a sort of “jam along” track, where you can try out your new skills.

This is a great way to learn these parts, and I think you’ll learn more than just the five songs included on the disc. You’ll learn to hear where the parts are, and should be able to take your new skills and figure out the harmony to other songs as well.

The Bluegrass Harmony Training Series CDs are sold individually for $15 + S/H or you can purchase both the tenor and baritone CDs as a package for $25 + S/H.

Here’s a video introduction to the series.

They played their entire October 31 show in Tompkinsville, KY in full KISS makeup and wigs, and Tim said that they had a blast! Barry Scott & Second Wind was also on the bill, but they didn’t have a chance.

Tim explains how their alter-ego evolved…

“I was always a KISS fan growing up, and one of the guys at our new management company used to work with KISS, and it just seemed like it would be fun.

Me and Joe did our own makeup, and and Joe’s wife Rachel did Josh and Jamey’s.”

I think this may be a first… a bluegrass band, done up as KISS, playing Little Maggie.

On a more serious note, Shelton said that things were really coming together for NewFound Road right now, and all the guys are excited about 2010. They have a new booking agency (The Roots Agency) and the aforementioned management (Entertainment Services), not to mention a new CD and music video.

“Entertainment Services is run by two guys, Larry Mazer and Harvey Leeds, who have many, many years of experience in the music business. We are their first bluegrass clients. Larry used to manage KISS, and Harvey worked at Epic and Sony during the Michael Jackson hey day.

When we signed with The Roots Agency, they started sending our CD around to stir up a buzz, and I got a text from them one night saying that a couple of major players in the entertainment industry were pretty excited about the new album. The text said that they would call me in the morning to talk about it, and I was like ‘No way…  I want to know about this now!’

Tim said that he knew who Larry Mazer was from reading KISS books during his fan days, and after Googling Harvey Leeds, he was sure that these two could really help the band take it to the next level.

“They have gotten us signed with a huge agency in Europe for international dates, and are working with an artist from way outside of bluegrass who will be doing a traditional, rootsy album with hints of grass. We will be getting together with them next year to write some and hope that it will turn into something.”

I suggested that they may have started a trend with the KISS makeup…

“This might become an annual thing – each year would be better and better!”

Casey Henry has agreed to send us occasional updates from The American Revival Tour, where she is performing with Dixie Bee-Liners. Also on the tour are Sierra Hull & Highway 111 and headliners Uncle Earl.

Here is Casey’s first report.

I’m composing this email while backstage at the Birchmere, waiting for our sound check. Week 2 of the American Revival Tour is about to commence, starting with gigs in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia – and I’d just like to point out that some of them are not that far from Charlotte and Waxhaw (hint, hint).

• Wed. Nov. 4th – Newberry, SC – Newberry Opera House – 7:30 p.m.
• Thurs. Nov. 5th – Morganton, NC – Municipal Auditorium (CoMMA) – 7:30 p.m.
• Fri. Nov. 6th – Greensboro, NC – Carolina Theater – 8:00 p.m.
• Sun. Nov. 8th – Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel – 8:00 p.m.
• Mon. Nov 9th – Atlanta, GA – Red Light Cafe – 7:30 p.m. —NOTE—This show was originally supposed to be at the Variety Playhouse and has been MOVED!! If you’ve already bought tickets, they’re still good!!!!! (Though the Red Light Cafe website hasn’t been updated yet.)

Our complete tour schedule can be found on The Dixie Bee-Liners website.

If you want to see how the tour is going so far, I’ve been blogging every day over on The Murphy Method blog. And I must say, we had some pretty awesome halloween costumes.

Hope to see some of y’all at the shows!

On September 21, 1995 in Rosine, Kentucky, the US Navy’s Country Current bluegrass group performed for the birthday celebration and plaque dedication ceremony for Bill Monroe, the Father of Bluegrass Music. At that ceremony, as the leader of Country Current, I had a conversation with John Sheldon, the Secretary of the Scottish Bluegrass Association from Penicuik Scotland. As we were talking, John inquired about the possibility of Country Current performing in the United Kingdom but, at that time, the possibility of a performance would not come to fruition.

John spoke face to face with the Father of Bluegrass Music on that day and made a vow that he would do all he could to promote bluegrass music in the United Kingdom. Bill boasted with pride that his music would continue to grow around the globe. Since that ceremony in 1995, John has worked feverishly to fulfill his promise by hosting tours for over 100 USA, Canadian, and European bluegrass bands in the UK.

Upon my retirement from Country Current, I contacted John Sheldon to get the wheels rolling toward getting my new group, Wayne Taylor and Appaloosa to the UK. John arranged a thirteen-day tour, a series of performances ranging from state of the art theaters in Newcastle, England to Moniaive’s first annual bluegrass festival in the south of Scotland. We also did a pair of Music in the Schools performances for 500+ children in grades Kindergarten through 6th grade, which was funded by the International Bluegrass Music Association and the Scottish Bluegrass Association. Our schedule also included group and individual workshops.

Throughout the 13-day tour WT and Appaloosa traveled many miles, performing 18 shows for hundreds of bluegrass enthusiasts as ambassadors of bluegrass music and as US citizens. The tour was highly successful. John continues to fulfill his promise to Bill Monroe with other groups lined up for next year.

I would highly recommend this adventure for any bluegrass group who would like to experience the trip of a life time to see some of the most amazing scenery, landscapes, castles and meet some of the friendliest people anywhere.

Here are a few photos from our trip.

To see more photos and information regarding the tour, visit our web site, or to contact John Sheldon visit www.scottishbluegrass.com.

Mazer describes it as follows:

“Description: Deering 5-string banjo, GDL model, walnut neck and resonator. The word “Mazertone” is inlaid at the 21st fret.

The banjo is in a worn Deering case with some stickers on it. The case handle has been replaced with bungee cords.

Reward offered for safe return – no questions asked! Please call Dan Mazer at 202-489-3028.”

Well she isn’t hiring, but her two talented daughters are. Tensel and Sally Sandker are both studying in the bluegrass music program at East Tennesse State University, and perform as Next Best Thing.

Tensel plays bass, Sally mandolin/guitar, and as you might expect, both of them sing. They have another talented young lady, Haley Stiltner, on banjo and are looking for one more to complete the group.

Rhonda posted this on her Facebook profile this morning:

“If you’re a guitar/mandolin picker, who sings beautiful baritone…..my girls are auditioning musicians. Give them a call 615-390-4610. They’re in search of the perfect person to join NEXT BEST THING. They’ll be working lots of shows with us next year. And, they’re going in the studio very soon.”

You can hear a couple of songs from Next Best Thing on their MySpace page.