Bluegrass contest boasts greater participation than previous years (The Rogersville Review)
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ROGERSVILLE – The 7th Annual East Tennessee Young Musicians Bluegrass Contest was held on Saturday with rousing success, according to organizer Randy Ball.
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Bluegrass contest boasts greater participation than previous years (The Rogersville Review)
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Bluegrass at Denison University video
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We’ve posted twice recently about Ohio’s Denison University , and their new academic focus on bluegrass within their music program. Beginning with the Fall ‘10 semester, students can complete their BA in music with a concentration in bluegrass. Bluegrass isn’t new to Denison. They have offered bluegrass ensembles for several years, and hold a festival on campus each year, but the official announcement of the bluegrass concentration was made this February . Andy Carlson, who directs the bluegrass side of the music program with Casey Cook, is especially proud of what they are doing, and crows that this move makes Denison one of only three post-secondary schools in the US offering a degree with a serious bluegrass focus. The school has created an informational video where Carlson, and several students, express their positive view of bluegrass at Denison. You can get more details about Denison on their web site .
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Nedski & Mojo on Music City Roots
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Among the guests on last night’s (3/3) edition of Music City Roots were Nedski & Mojo (Ned Luberecki and Stephen Mougin). Both are familiar faces (and voices) in the bluegrass world, but typically in supporting roles. The Nedski & Mojo Show is their joint venture into the spotlight, as a side project when they are free from other commitments. Ned is a regular DJ on Sirius-XM satellite radio’s Bluegrass Junction, and the banjo player with Chris Jones & The Night Drivers . Stephen plays guitar with Sam Bush, and operates a recording studio ( Dark Shadow Recording ) near Nashville. Their appearance on Music City Roots, a weekly live radio program on WSM, was captured on video, so without further ado…
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Nedski & Mojo on Music City Roots
Bluegrass: A La Carte (3/2)
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Cinnamon Rolls With a Side of Bluegrass Gospel Roadfood Digest highlights a truckstop in Loveland, CO, recommending the Gospel Jam and the cinnamon rolls, in that order. “We’d suggest you attack a Johnson’s Corner cinnamon roll after the session, however, so as not to gum up your fingering” Jam in the Key of A The Southern Wisconsin Bluegrass Music Association holds a monthly jam session for beginners and this month all the songs will be in the key of A. Sounds like a few jams I’ve been in, though maybe in the key of B! Bluegrass in Hawai`i Bluegrass in Hawai`i? Why not?!! On April 23-25, 2010 , Bluegrass Hawai`i Traditional & Bluegrass Music Society will host a weekend of jamming, workshops, and fun, and the public is welcome to attend. The three-day event will take place at Ho`omaluhia Botanical Garden in Kaneohe on the island of O`ahu. Attendance is FREE, though donations are welcome.
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Bluegrass: A La Carte (3/2)
Curling and bluegrass music?
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Curling and bluegrass music?
Did you think that bluegrass music would somehow escape curling-mania? Chris Jones , Sirius-XM radio host and fearless leader of Chris Jones & The Night Drivers, contacted us with the news that his latest CD, Cloud of Dust , is now available on iTunes . He also shared that while he is busy preparing for the band’s busiest festival season ever, they have all been glued to the Winter Olympics on television, especially the curling. They feel a personal connection to the US curling teams because they performed last year at the Olympic curling trials in Colorado, where they saw both the US teams qualify. Chris opened the event singing the Star Spangled Banner . Chris and his wife Sally (who was a featured performer at the trials as well) are also known to participate in the sport themselves. There is a nice “Curling For Dummies” overview on Chris’ web site for those a bit foggy on the rules, and he explained how he became a proponent of the stone and the broom. “Sally is from northern Alberta, where curling is very popular, and it runs in the family. Her sister Marcy is a past Canadian champion in the sport and two of her brothers are competitive curlers who have both played against the current Canadian Olympic team at different times. I took up the sport about 5 years ago. All I can say is it’s way harder than it looks. Learning to play in Alberta for me is a little like taking up the banjo in your 40s and trying to keep up on Dear Old Dixie with a bunch of people who have been playing their whole lives!” You can find the Chris Jones & The Night Drivers’ tour schedule online . The band features Ned Luberecki on banjo, Jon Weisberger on bass, and Jones on guitar and lead vocals. When you catch them live, be sure to get Chris to tell you how he injured himself on the ice. Hint: it wasn’t a curling-related accident.
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Changing of the guard at Bluegrass Ulimited
Sharon McGraw, who has served as editor at Bluegrass Unlimited for many years has stepped down to pursue other adventures. She has worked at BU in various capacities for the past 28 years, and will be succeeded by Linda Shaw, who began at the magazine at the same time as McGraw. Sharon is the daughter of BU founder Pete Kuykendall, who still keeps a hand in the business nearly 45 years after the magazine launched in 1966. The February issue was the last with McGraw at the helm, and Linda tells us that things will be chugging along just as before with her at the editor’s desk. “We are not planning any changes to the magazine at this time. The subscribers will receive the same quality magazine they have received in the past.” A tip of the hat from The Bluegrass Blog to Sharon McGraw, a real bluegrass trooper!
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Changing of the guard at Bluegrass Ulimited
Bluegrass Art from David Emory
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It’s no secret that The Bluegrass Blog celebrates the intersection of musical art with other forms such as painting and drawing. So we’re pleased to bring to your attention, another fine artist with an interest in bluegrass music. David Emory works with acrylic paint on watercolor paper. Most of his work to this point has been capturing the beauty of nature and wildlife, but after attending the Galax Fiddlers Convention in 2008, his childhood memories were stirred and he was inspired to capture the excitement of a jam session with paint and paper. The “Scrub One Off” painting was inspired by a weekend spent at the Galax Fiddlers Convention a couple years ago. I took some pictures while I roamed from campsite to campsite, and found myself listening to the songs but watching the hands and fingers of the players. I think that is one of the greatest things about bluegrass, the musicians are great pickers and work so well together blending into the mix. You can record a good bluegrass group with one microphone and it still sounds great. That pure feeling of those acoustic instruments that is what I tried to capture in the painting. The painting is 14″ tall by 29″ wide. The original is still available for purchase, but you may also buy a print or even a license plate of the painting. Visit DavidEmoryArt.com to see a full listing of available paintings, prints, and other items. We caught up with David via email and asked him a few questions about his involvement with bluegrass and painting. He was gracious enough to reply to all our questions. We felt his comments were interesting enough that we’re including them with little or no editing. Noting on his website that David mentioned listening to bluegrass albums with his father growing up, we asked him about his childhood memories of bluegrass music, and how it influenced him. I did grow up listening to my Father’s bluegrass albums, Osborne Brothers, The Country Gentlemen, Flatt and Scruggs, J.D.Crowe, Jimmy Martin, etc. We used to listen on an old console stereo in the front room, (the room that children weren’t allowed to go in unless you had your parents permission, the one with the white shag carpet, lol.) My Dad loved bluegrass, country, and blues music. I later learned to play guitar as a teenager, but played rock and roll and later morphed into blues, jazz, and country. Bluegrass was always there, as well as many other styles. I made my living in the music business in one form or another up until the early 90’s. I have wide roaming tastes in music, but am not too much on the current rock and rap styles that the kids listen to. I listen to bluegrass quite a bit, as well as the Texas songwriters that I love, Robert Earl Keen, Lyle Lovett, Jack Ingram, etc. I also listen to country music some, but some of that is a bit overproduced for my tastes. Give me the live music, thats when the real players and artists rise to the top. Do you still play? If so, what instruments? I still play guitar and am trying to learn the fiddle, seeing if an old dog can learn some new tricks, haha. How did you get started as an artist? In the early 90’s I started a screen printing business doing t shirts and other garment wear and am still doing that. I originally had a partner who did all of the art while I did the labor. After about a year and and half my partner just couldn’t make the leap to leave a full time secure income and I ended up purchasing his share of the business. That left me to do the art as well. We still drew everything by hand back then, (no computers) and my skills progressed pretty quickly. An artist friend of mine, Jerry Bean, from Goldsboro, NC saw the rapid improvement in my illustration and composition skills and asked me if I had ever painted, to which the answer was no. Jerry took me into his studio and showed me works that he had finished as well as pieces in progress. He gave me a lot of inspiration and from there I went out and bought some beginners paints. From looking at your website, there appears to be a lot of wildlife featured in your art. Is that your main focus? Not knowing what subject matter I wanted to paint, I stumbled a couple months later across a coffee table book featuring Robert Bateman. It was an epiphany looking through those pages and I still have that book and gaze at it all the time, as well as a lot of other books and prints of his and many other artists. I didn’t realize it at the time but he is one of the most prolific and sought after wildlife artists in the world, so I started studying at the top and set my bar very high. I worked primarily on wildlife and some agricultural stuff in the first few years, but have of late been drawn to the way we live life, our passions, hobbies, and recreation. Do you have any plans for more bluegrass focused art? I do plan to do some other bluegrass pieces and am working on something with an upright bass as a main focal point since I chose to use an old washtub bass in “Scrub One Off”. I may even do a series with individual instruments, but am still tossing some ideas around right now. What format do you work in, and why? I work in acrylic mostly because it travels so well and is durable. My wife and I travel to the mountains most weekends to some property we purchased on the New River and spend our time kayaking, and enjoying the good friends we have made there. I spend my early mornings (usually up around 5:00 am) either painting or rambling through the mountains by car or on foot. Thank goodness for GPS or I would be hopelessly lost. I take my camera and just drive for a couple hours in no predictable direction, thats the best way to find unique places and experiences, then turn the GPS on and let it get me back for breakfast. It’s amazing how many times I end up only 10 to 20 minutes from home after driving for 2 hours. What can you tell us about the prints and other items available on your site? The giclee prints we offer on the website ( www.davidemoryart.com ) are a bit more expensive than the open edition prints, but the color reproduction is absolutely amazing, so close that it can barely be discerned from the original, and are done with museum quality substrate and inks that are 100 year archival. We have also sold right many of the license plates as well as the open editions. I guarantee satisfaction for my customers and if they are unhappy with anything they can return it for a full refund. I haven’t had any returns to date. I am also glad to personalize the products for them. I have had people buy prints for presents with personal notes written in the margins. Requests of that sort are no problem. We thank David for taking the time to answer our questions, and we look forward to seeing his future work, especially the bluegrass related art. If you are interested in his artwork, be sure to visit DavidEmoryArt.com and take a look at what he has available.
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Bluegrass Art from David Emory
Bluegrass connection on American Idol?
This is from Bluegrass Music:
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OK… We don’t expect to hear him singing and Flatt & Scruggs on the program, but Aaron Kelly , one of the 24 finalists on American Idol has some bluegrass in his background. The 16 year old from Pennsylvania is among the youngest ever to make it to the finals, and his family have been strong supporters of the efforts to maintain a bluegrass presence each year at Nashville’s Fan Fair extravaganza. Dave Burley, who has managed a Bluegrass Booth during Fan Fair each summer for the past 10 years, says that Aaron’s family has provided financial assistance that has been crucial in keeping this project alive. The booth offers a spot for bluegrass artists to meet fans and sign autographs in the Nashville Convention Center alongside the big country stars, and Kelly and his parents have helped staff the booth this past few years. Burley speaks highly of this talented young man. “Aaron is a pop country singer and is friends with all of the bluegrass artists that have appeared in the booth. He loves the music and does sing it. He performed at the Bluegrass Inn every year for the past five years during Fan Fair, and was instrumental in helping us promote bluegrass during Fan Fair.” Shhhh…. don’t tell the AI producers. We don’t want to jinx his chances!
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Bluegrass connection on American Idol?
‘The voice of bluegrass’ lives on in 25th Joe Val festival (The Milford Daily News)
Here’s an interesting post from Bluegrass Music:
Learning guitar back in the 1980s, Joe Singleton was torn between rock gods like Aerosmith and the Rolling Stones and a skinny Italian bluegrass picker and singer called Joe Val.
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‘The voice of bluegrass’ lives on in 25th Joe Val festival (The Milford Daily News)
Why you should listen to bluegrass radio
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Why you should listen to bluegrass radio
Years ago, before the advent of the iPod, I used to listen to bluegrass radio quite a bit. Once I began using iTunes, my radio listening began to decline. Most of the music I consumed came from my existing music collection, via iTunes, or a CD when in the truck. I still did listen to the radio when in the vehicle though. Once I acquired an ipod and went mobile with my music collection, it completely changed the way I listened to music. I went for several years without really listening to radio. I found all my music online or by word of mouth. When Pandora internet radio launched a couple years ago, I experimented with it and really enjoyed it, but it didn’t last long. However, just a few weeks ago, I tuned in to The Katy Daley Show on BluegrassCountry.org and I learned something. Listening to bluegrass radio is a good idea. First, a professional DJ like Katy Daley, Cindy Baucom, Terry Herd, or any of the guys on satellite radio, will have access to a library of music larger than most of us will own. I noticed that Katy played things that I don’t own, both old and new. I didn’t necessarily want to own everything she played which I hadn’t heard, but it was a great way to discover new music. I heard cuts from at least one CD I don’t own, but now want. The second reason you should listen to bluegrass radio is that the DJ will play stuff you do own, but it’s so back catalog, to you at least, that you wouldn’t have thought to pull it out. I’ve got stuff I really like, but don’t have on my hard drive, or iPod, because of space issues. Katy played some old stuff that made me grin and say to myself, “Wow! I remember that, but I haven’t listened to in years.” As far as these playlists go, Pandora is an interesting concept, it plays music similar to the music you tell it you like. The problem with that is, there may be some music you would like that isn’t that similar to the music you already like and you’ll never find it with that kind of automated playlist. A real live person will make choices a logarithm never would. I spoke to Katy on the phone yesterday afternoon and we discussed this very issue. One interesting aspect of her show, is that it’s live not prerecorded. Listeners can call or email their requests. She told me that sometimes that takes a show down a path she never would have taken it. Listeners will request stuff I hadn’t thought of playing. Then someone will hear something and it jogs their memory of another tune and they request it, which prompts someone else to request another, and so on. Before you know it the show has gone a completely different, and delightful, direction than I had intended at the start. One more good reason to listen to bluegrass radio has nothing to do with listening to music. The artist interviews! How much fun are these? And you won’t get them on a CD. Yesterday katy had the guys from Darren Beachly and Legends of the Potomac . Bassist Tom Gray told a number of stories relating to DC area bluegrass musicians, specifically John Duffey. These stories themselves were worth the time it took to listen to the show. You can’t get content like that anywhere else. Katy told me she has intentions of interviewing a number of legendary DC area musicians, allowing them to tell their own story in their own words. She’s already recorded one interview with Dudley Connell which is set to air soon. She tells me Dudley talked for a full three hours about the Johnson Mountain Boys. I can’t wait to hear that! These three reasons should serve to get you started thinking about the benefits of listening to bluegrass radio. I’m sure if you spend some time listening, you’ll come up with other reasons of your own. I will mention one last thing. WAMU, the station on which Katy Daley broadcasts, is listener supported and is currently holding their winter membership campaign . There are only two days left and I’m sure they would appreciate whatever support you might be able to offer for this free service they provide. Running a station like that, and streaming online every day, is a very expensive enterprise. Speaking of prizes, as part of their membership campaign, the station is giving away a Gibson Acoustic J-185 guitar. They ask that you make a donation, but one is not necessary to enter the drawing .
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A La Carte Bluegrass (2/16)
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Ah, Love (Statler Brothers Included) When the New York Times compiled their Valentine’s Day playlist, attempting to avoid “love’s dark side” proved almost impossible, until they included a track from the new Statler Brothers cover album by “the frisky bluegrass duo Dailey & Vincent.” This may be the first time the word “frisky” has been used of a bluegrass band in major media, and I think it was a compliment! How do you dance to bluegrass music at a wedding? Speaking of love, if you ever wondered how you should dance at a wedding when the band is playing bluegrass, then this blog post at WeddingDanceCrazy.com is for you. They offer several suggestions for fast, moderate, and slow dance type songs. Backcountry, Bluegrass, Beer and . . . wood? The winter weather may have some people experiencing cabin fever, but others are taking advantage and organizing ski retreats. This one is the 10th annual Wooden Ski Rendezvous and includes a retro ski outfit contest, and a “Groovin’ Good Time” provided by the bluegrass band, Ragweed . Bluegrass Food Security Summit I originally thought this was a discussion of guarding of the backstage buffet at bluegrass festivals, then I clicked over and found out it was a meet up to discuss Kentucky agriculture. I still thought the headline was funny enough to include.
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A La Carte Bluegrass (2/16)
European Bluegrass Summit, round 2
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Richard Hawkins, proprietor of the Bluegrass Ireland Blog – and a regular contributor to the European Bluegrass Blog – has a new piece about the second European Bluegrass Summit at Bühl, Germany, held February 5-7, 2010. Richard contributed an overview of the inaugural event here on The Bluegrass Blog last year. This annual event was launched to give leaders of the European bluegrass community an opportunity to meet, discuss and network together in a central location. As in 2009, Bühl/Baden, in southern Germany, was the location. Bühl city council, which hosts the annual Bühl International Bluegrass Festival, placed first-rate facilities in Bühl Civic Centre at the disposal of the Summit, free of charge. Twenty-nine people from twelve countries – including Rienk Janssen, IBMA board member, and John Wirtz, chair of the IBMA international committee – came at their own expense to take active part in the Summit, and were welcomed to Bühl by the mayor, Herr Hans Striebel. In two days of intense discussion, participants identified the following subjects as matters of priority, and examined them in working groups: Associations and membership, including the future structure of the EBMA and its relationship with national associations; The future form of a European bluegrass magazine and website; The involvement of young people in bluegrass; Festivals (including sponsorship and legal issues) and the promotion in the US of bluegrass from Europe and other non-US regions. You can read Richard’s full post at the European Bluegrass Blog .
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European Bluegrass Summit, round 2
Bluegrass Festival Guide
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http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.info?_id=EBZ50rl33RG_cTgXQBJ3AQ
Find a bluegrass festival in your area. Search for festivals by state or area. Support your favorite bluegrass band. Discover new bluegrass and roots music.
More here: Bluegrass Festival Guide
Bluegrass Festival Guide
Find a bluegrass festival in your area. Search for festivals by state or area. Support your favorite bluegrass band. Discover new bluegrass and roots music.
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Bluegrass Festival Guide
Prime Cuts Of Bluegrass – status uncertain
We have received a number of inquiries from readers asking about Prime Cuts Of Bluegrass , and when the next compilation from their long-running bluegrass radio service would be produced. Kirk and Becky Brandenberger have managed this service since 1992, allowing bluegrass artists to get their music to radio hosts and programmers efficiently, and at a much lower cost than sending complete promos. We published a statement from the Brandenbergers last September where they announced that they would be retiring after the release of their 100th volume, and that a new owner was in the process of assuming control of the company. The next CD was expected to be released in January of 2010, and when it did not arrive, the questions started rolling in. We heard from Becky recently with an explanation. “At this time, Prime Cuts of Bluegrass is for sale. Earlier negotiations have fallen through. This is disappointing but we are hopeful that there will soon be a new owner so that the service can move forward.” We hope that we can announce the resumption of this valuable service soon. Interested parties can reach Kirk and Becky online .
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Prime Cuts Of Bluegrass – status uncertain
