The Bluegrass Blog

Happy Independence Day!

John — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:19:37 +0000

The Bluegrass Blog would like to wish a happy Independence Day to all our US readers - with a hearty “no hard feelings” to our friends in England. To help put everyone in a festive mood, here’s a video of Ross Nickerson performing a medley of patriotic songs on the five string banjo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpPB-5szmdM banjo, Bluegrass At Large

IBMA discounts end Wednesday

John — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:18:00 +0000

Just a quick reminder for anyone planning to attend the IBMA World of Bluegrass convention and Fan Fest this fall, but hasn’t yet registered (like me), that the $100 discount off the full registration fee ends on Tuesday (7/7) at midnight. You can register online 24/7, or call the office in Nashville during business hours (888-438-4262). See [...]

Ask Doyle, part 6

John — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:30:31 +0000

Learn the name of Doyle Lawson’s bus in this sixth episdoe of the Ask Doyle web series. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHU0R9b233M Doyle Lawson

Dixie Bee-Liners do Folk Alley

John — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:29:06 +0000

Dixie Bee-Liners were a guest on Tuesday’s edition of Folk Alley on NPR. Both audio and video from the show can be found on the Folk Alley page at NPR.org. The full 25 minute audio from their visit can be heard, which includes an interview with the band and a number of live performances of songs [...]

Thailand Country & Bluegrass festival 2009

John — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:46:37 +0000

The Thailand Country & Bluegrass festival that debuted last year is set for a repeat engagement in 2009. The event has been a labor of love for festival organizer Thanit Tanitapanee, who has worked hard to see this come to light. He tells us that a growing segment of the Thai people are interested in country [...]

Two new Sam Bush videos

John — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:03:06 +0000

Sam Bush has two new videos on YouTube, sharing what has been consuming much of his time this year so far. First up is a sneak peek at the recording of his upcoming Sugar Hill CD, which he has told us will be much more of an acoustic project than his last few albums. He won’t [...]

Brandon Rickman - Young Man, Old Soul

John — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:36:11 +0000

2009 has been kind to Lonesome River Band so far. Their latest CD, No Turning Back, has been lighting up the bluegrass charts, holding the current #1 spot on both the album and singles spots in the Bluegrass Unlimited July Bluegrass Survey. Seeing the value of their partnership with Rural Rhythm Records, LRB lead singer and [...]

New IBMA Board members announced

John — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:23:00 +0000

The seating of five newly-elected members of the Board of Directors for the International Bluegrass Music Association has just been announced. Three incumbent board members return to their seats along with two new members to fill the Board’s full complement of 17 members. From IBMA’s press release… Alison Brown, an executive with Compass Records and an award [...]

Grascals 2009 video report

John — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:25:38 +0000

The Grascals have put together an informal video to keep their fans up to date with all their comings and goings this year. Jamie Johnson, Terry Eldridge and Danny Roberts take turns interviewing each other as they talk about visiting the White House, recording with Hank Williams Jr., and performing for actor Steven Segal’s birthday [...]

Hillbilly Goddess winner announced

John — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:31:10 +0000

Alecia Nugent has announced the winner in her online Hillbilly Goddess contest where fans were invited to submit essays promoting the cause of their own better halves as the one, true Hillbilly Goddess. The contest was born of the lyrics to the title track to Alecia’s latest CD, a clever and quite funny song she wrote [...]

Dale Ann video on CMT.com

John — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:31:49 +0000

The video for Don’t Turn Your Back, the title track from Dale Ann Bradley’s new CD on Compass, is making waves at CMT Pure. She beat out country heavyweights Taylor Swift, Keith Urban and Alan Jackson polling #2 in last week’s voting. Online viewers are invited to pick their favorite videos from a much longer list, [...]

Green on the Vyne

John — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:16:41 +0000

The Bluegrass Blog always pays special attention where young pickers are concerned. The education and nurturing of our next generation of bluegrass artists is a matter of great concern to many formerly young people such as myself who care deeply about the future of this music. So it is always a treat to find out about [...]

A pilgrimage to Kalamazoo

John — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:11:03 +0000

Serious students of the mandolin have long revered the name of Lloyd Loar, the Gibson luthier from the 1920s whose design innovations during his brief 5 year tenure are widely credited with revolutionizing their fretted instruments. Gibson’s most prized mandolins are still built to his specs, and vintage F-5s signed by Lloyd Loar command astronomical [...]

Sarah Jarosz sings on TV

John — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:42:12 +0000

Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sarah Jarosz, whose debut CD Song Up In Her Head is just out on Sugar Hill, performed live on KXAN television in Austin, TX about two weeks ago. Her solo version of the title track shows the degree of poise and professionalism that has brought this talented young woman to such prominence [...]

Marty Raybon on Track-By-Track

John — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:39:47 +0000

Marty Raybon is next up on the Bluegrass Junction Track-By-Track show on Sirius-XM, starting this morning (7/1) at 11:00 a.m. (EDT). He and host Kyle Cantrell will play through all 14 tracks of Marty’s new CD, This, That & The Other, with his band, Full Circle. The show will air three times over the next few days [...]

Abrams Brothers on CMT

John — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:25:30 +0000

Just yesterday we mentioned that The Abrams Brothers would have a live CD out this year, and we now see that they have a major studio project in the works as well. This Canadian teen bluegrass trio has hooked up with a New York management company, Invasion Group, and the guys have a new look and [...]

Bill Harrell - A Look Back

Richard Thompson — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:45:00 +0000

As reported earlier veteran singer/multi-instrumentalist Bill Harrell passed away on June 24 at his home in Davidsonville, Maryland. He had suffered a stroke on June 12 and was hospitalized for a week. His health was further complicated by advanced prostate cancer, an enlarged heart and fluid on his lungs. Born in Marion, Virginia, on September 14, [...]

Bill Harrell remembered

John — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:44:31 +0000

In addition to Richard Thompson’s overview of Bill Harrell’s long career in bluegrass, we spoke to a number of artists who had worked with Bill, and wanted to share their thoughts on his passing. First up is Ronnie Reno, who performed with Bill as a member of Reno & Harrell. “Bill Harrell goes deep into being a [...]

Nothin’ Fancy riding high - and yellow

John — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:26:32 +0000

If you follow Nothin’ Fancy’s newsletter, you will have noted the sad story they told in the March ‘09 issue. It was a tale of vehicular woe, in which a wheel from their long-suffering van came rolling off and passed them on the highway. Mandolinist Mike Andes relayed the events that transpired on February 22… Within 20 [...]

Katy Daley at ROMP

John — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:31:47 +0000

Our good buddy, Katy Daley from WAMU’s Bluegrass Country, spent much of last week at the River Of Music Party, more commonly known as ROMP, in Owensboro, KY. It’s a 4 day festival put on by the International Bluegrass Museum which always makes recognition of the pioneers of our music a part of their stage [...]