Bluegrass cruises: UPDATE (2)

The bluegrass cruise is rapidly developing, combining the delights of travel with the delights of sustained contact with bluegrass music and musicians. At least three major events of this type have already taken place this year. The title of first in the field belongs to the annual ETA Bluegrass Cruise. Next year's trip on the Costa Magica (18-25 February 2007) from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, will be the ninth, featuring Cherryholmes, the Mark Newton Band, Michael Cleveland, Audie Blaylock & Redline, Wildfire, Tim Graves & Cherokee, Carolina Road, the Lovell Sisters, and Chasin' Steel.

Rhonda Vincent & the Rage now head the programme on a set of cruises to the Mexican Riviera, the Bahamas, and Alaska; see this link.

The 3rd Annual Bell Buckle Music Cruise, featuring the 2005 Athy Festival headliners Valerie Smith and Liberty Pike and nine other bands, sailed to Coco Cay and Nassau, Bahamas, from 30 January to 3 February, on the Royal Caribbean Sovereign of the Seas. Next year's Bell Buckle cruise will be on 5-9 February.

The July 2006 Alaska Bluegrass Cruise sails on the Norwegian Star from Seattle to the dramatic scenery of Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, Glacier Bay, and Victoria. Dates are 9-16 July; the featured artists are the Claire Lynch Band (Claire+David Harvey, Missy Raines, and Jim Hurst), John Reischman and the Jaybirds, and Lost Highway; and the programme includes concerts, workshops on all instruments, vocal harmony, and songwriting, and jam sessions.

Buck Owens, 1929-2006

Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr, was born on 12 August 1929 near Sherman, in Grayson county, Texas, and died on 25 March 2006 in Bakersfield, California, his home since 1951. From 1965 he was a centre of opposition within country music to the advance of bland pop-country. He adopted the name 'Buck' while a small child, after a mule on the family farm. His life and work interacted with bluegrass: the Joe Maphis song 'Dim lights, thick smoke' (recorded by Flatt & Scruggs) is said to have been inspired by Buck's honky-tonk work; his 'My heart skips a beat' has been recorded by the Lynn Morris Band; he himself recorded 'Ruby' and 'Roll in my sweet baby's arms'; and he was a longtime regular of the TV series 'Hee Haw', whose staff musicians included the late Bobby Thompson on banjo.

A brief biography is at this link. Thanks to Dan 'BanjerDan' Mazer for reminding us of the last words: 'There’s gonna be those that liked me and those that didn’t like me. I’d like just to be remembered as a guy that came along and did his music, did his best and showed up on time, clean and ready to do the job, wrote a few songs, and had a hell of a time.'

Carmel Sheerin & the Ravens in full-page ad in Banjo NewsLetter

Tom Hanway reports that the above photo of Carmel Sheerin & the Ravens will appear in a full-page ad for Stelling Banjos on the back cover of the April 2006 issue of Banjo NewsLetter, which will mention their forthcoming appearance as #1 European Bluegrass Band at IBMA's World of Bluegrass in September 2006.

Tom adds: 'After I had toured Ireland and Northern Ireland in 1997, I approached Geoff Stelling with design ideas for a new manufactured line of banjo, which he used to create the original Tom Hanway SwallowTail Deluxe, built in '98. BNL has a loyal worldwide readership (bluegrass and old-time musicians) and is found in all fine music shops globally, even in Ireland. By the way, actor Steve Martin (currently starring in The Pink Panther) bought a Stelling SwallowTail last week from Geoff. He is playing my banjo and called Geoff Stelling to report that he loves everything about it! Imagine that! Martin once wrote about his high school days learning to play to play the banjo, that "Obsession is a great substitute for talent." This is the third ad Geoff has done on me, but it's the first ad for Carmel Sheerin & the Ravens in an American-published, international bluegrass zine, and it will get noticed by pickers and the folks at Bluegrass Unlimited and Bluegrass Now.'


Tom and his Stelling SwallowTail at Dunmore East, Co. Waterford, during the 2004 International Guinness Bluegrass Festival

Tom Hanway will play live and give an interview to Charlie McGettigan on his Shannonside/Northern Sound broadcast on 8 April, 10.00 a.m.

Tom is leading the movement in 'Celtic fingerstyle' banjo, and in the 1990s did extensive field recording, innovated playing techniques and authored the Complete book of Irish & Celtic 5-string banjo (Mel Bay Publications, 1998), which has given a Celtic repertoire to legions of banjoists and is a popular seller worldwide. With over 100 tunes from all six Celtic nations and the diaspora, it is the first work of its kind for 5-string banjo. In January 1999, Bluegrass Unlimited wrote: 'What Earl Scruggs' book did for bluegrass banjo Tom Hanway’s book may well do for the 5-string in Irish and Celtic music... [This work] will certainly become regarded as "the bible" for any 5-string player with an interest in this joyous music'.

Prison Love on TV, 30 March

Press release

Prison Love will play live on 'The Café', 7.00-7.30 p.m. RTÉ2, this Thursday, 30 March. Described as 'the show that puts the control in YOUR hands', this weekly programme is aimed at teens and twenties, so it's a great opportunity to bring Prison Love to our nation's youth and inspire them to explore and enjoy live music. Previous performers include Gemma Hayes, The Marshals, Leanne Harte, Turn, and George Murphy. Keep doin' time with us...

BIB editor's note: Visit Prison Love's website, which has recently been completely redesigned. You can contact them at this link.

Honky-tonk at the Crane, Galway: 30 March

Not bluegrass or old-time, but a further burst of energy from the ebullient Galway scene: Pete Lamb sends us the following press release for the show the Snakes will be playing at the Crane Bar, Galway, on Thursday 30 March:

The Snakes are a newly formed 4-piece country-rock band, playing a mix of low-down, sneaky, honky-tonk classics along with original material in a similar vein. The two front men Peter Lamb and Darren Roberts are blow-ins from the U.K. Pete has been living in Galway for almost two years now, and has gigged around town with various line-ups as well as solo. Normally known as an acoustic songwriter and performer, the Snakes have given him a chance to blow the cobwebs off his Stratocaster! Darren Roberts is a songwriter who moved to Ireland six months ago and has been steadily making a name for himself gigging around Kinvara and Grot. Rob Stein is a Nashville-quality pedal-steel and lead guitarist from the U.S. who has been a Kinvara resident for a number of years and brings the touch of professional class to any project he is involved in. Cormac Dunne, from Galway, is likewise the professional drummer of choice, providing the backbeat for the likes of the Ruth Dillon Band, the Mammeen Cajun Band, and Roesy amongst others. If you like your country played with a bit of venom, the Snakes will be doing their best to make you feel like you've wandered into a low-down honky-tonk bar in Nashville!

Josh Graves in critical condition

Paolo Dettwiler, chairman of the European Bluegrass Music Association, sends this news from the IBMA members' internet forum:

Josh Graves's daughter, Linda, said her dad is in Baptist Hospital critically ill. Please let folks know he is extremely sick, and prayers and good thoughts going out for him, I am sure, would be appreciated. He has had to endure further surgery and may have to have even more surgery. Sorry to relay such sad news but the Graves family needs all of the positive thoughts available for them at this time.

Burkett ('Buck' or 'Uncle Josh') Graves, father of bluegrass dobro playing, was inducted into the IBMA Hall of Honor in 1997.

Niall Toner Band in Germany (and Midleton): PLUS...

Niall Toner reports:

We had a great trip to Germany last week. Due to heavy work commitments, Dick Gladney was unable to travel, so Clem and I played as a duo, and the reaction to our music was just wonderful. We played Herbert Schildhammer's Club in Vohringen in Bavaria on the Friday night to a very enthusiastic audience of about 120. The atmosphere was just great, and CD sales were superb. On the Saturday we played a concert with the John Shreve Band at the Lindenhalle in Ehingen. This was a fine venue, with an audience of about three hundred, and once again, the reception was very warm and enthusiastic, and we sold out of CDs! Apart from the music, the town of Ulm was just amazing, with one of the finest cathedrals in the world, and very many other beautiful buildings. The town is built on the Danube, which is brown, and not blue!

I would also have to say that the hospitality was just first-rate, and we had the good fortune to stay with Eberhard Finke and his wife, Monika, in what's known as 'Bluegrass Heaven'. Eberhard has the largest collection of bluegrass and old-time country music that I have ever seen, and he's a walking encyclopedia on the subject! Our thanks also must go to Friedrich Hog and to Herman Strobel, aka 'Mandy', for the loan of his guitar, and to all the local German bluegrass community. We also got to sign the guest book at Eberhard's 'Bluegrass B+B', which reads like a Who's Who in Bluegrass. Everyone from Bill Keith and Tony Trischa to Larry Sparks and Del McCoury, with Missy Raines and Butch Baldassari, etc., etc.... Illustrious company indeed. There was also a wonderful poster on the wall of 'Bluegrass Heaven', advertising a concert in Germany in the late 'seventies featuring the Stanley Brothers and Roscoe Holcomb! Wow! Thanks also to Friedrich Hog and his friends for presenting me with a raft of photos taken by them during their visit to Barry and Holly Tashian's house in Nashville during IBMA in September 2005.

On returning home from Germany we collected Dick in Carlow, and headed straight for Midleton in County Cork. This is one of our most favourite places in the world to play, and full credit must be give to Tony Moore for building up a remarkable listening club in this east Cork town. Since the middle 'seventies, Tony has been running live music, for the most part at his own pub, which included the famous Rory Gallagher Room, and latterly at McDaid's Bar on the main street. It's a beautiful old building, and the music club is up on the first floor. We set up at around 7.30 p.m., and on returning at 9.00 we were pleasantly surprised to find a full house! These folks are mad for live music, and this is one of the best audiences I have played for, ever, anywhere! Three encores, and buckets of CDs sold! This is how it should be, everywhere!

BIB editor's note: All the NTB's currently booked dates for the rest of 2006 are now entered on the BIB calendar, below; or see the new, improved NTB website for more details. Please note: if you had earlier information on the Lismore show in April, the date has been changed to 15 April, Easter Saturday, as shown on our calendar.

Also: the long-awaited Niall Toner Band Songbook will have the lyrics to over 100 songs written by NT and friends, as well as lots of other material. Niall hopes to have it available by midsummer; it will probably retail for €10 at live shows, by mail order, and (maybe) also online through the band's website.

Janet Holmes & Co. on 'The Blackstaff sessions'

Colin Henry reports:

Janet, along with myself and Steven McClintock, should be performing one song on a special one-hour edition of 'The Blackstaff sessions' being broadcast on BBC2, St Patrick's night. Mary Black heads the line-up.

Europe on exhibition at International Bluegrass Music Museum

The International Bluegrass Music Museum (IBMM) at Owensboro, KY, will be showing an exclusive first-time exhibit, 'The history of bluegrass in Europe and Japan', for one year beginning on 22 June, in conjunction with the IBMM's River Of Music Party (ROMP) on 22-5 June, a four-day, three-stage, forty-four-band festival (the lineup includes the Special Consensus, the James King Band, and Cherryholmes) at Yellow Creek Park, Owensboro.

The IBMM will welcome any material items or historical accounts relating to bluegrass in any part of Europe, with a view to making this exhibit as complete and valuable as possible. Anyone wanting to be a part of this significant initiative in international bluegrass history should contact Justin Holt at the IBMM.

Fair City Grass: new lineup

Enda Donnelly reports that Fair City Grass, Dublin's only regularly performing bluegrass band, now has a new lineup, shown above: (l-r) Paddy Kiernan, five-string banjo; Enda Donnelly, mandolin, guitar, vocals; Eddie Walsh, guitar, vocals; Martin Hamm, double bass.

Fair City Grass play every other Wednesday at Mother Reilly's, Uppercross House Hotel, Rathmines, Dublin (see the calendar for dates; next night is 15 March), where they have held down a residency for over five years now. For further information and bookings, contact Enda at this link.

Boxcar Preachers on BBC2 Radio, 18 March

Bruce L. Gardner of the Boxcar Preachers reports:

Greetings from Austin, Texas! Boxcar Preachers will be performing live on the air on BBC Radio 2, 18 March (Saturday). Mark Lamarr will be hosting and interviewing the Preachers, a 30-minute exclusive presentation from the South by Southwest music festival here in Austin. Consult the BBC Radio 2 website for further information.

Boxcar Preachers in Ireland! Boxcar Preachers have been officially confirmed to perform at the Guinness International Bluegrass Festival at Dunmore East, Co. Waterford, on 26 August 2006. We will be setting up other shows in the week after that - stay tuned.

New lower prices for Boxcar Preachers CDs online!: As of 13 March (Monday), we have lowered the prices on our website as follows: Auto-body experience (brand new CD): $17.00 USD (includes shipping); Spindletop strike! (1st CD, contains 'Please see me'): $15.00 USD (includes shipping)

Thank you so very much for your continued support!!

Prison Love at Airfield & the Sugar Club, 10-11 March

Prison Love report:

After last month's sell-out show in Whelans, Prison Love will be plying their unique brand of bluegrass, Cajun, old-time music; Saturday 11 March, Sugar Club, Leeson St., Dublin 2. Doors 8 p.m., €10, show starts 8.30. Vocal delights of Choral Sex will support. See you there!

We are also playing in Airfield House, Dundrum, tomorrow night Friday 10 March. Cover is €12/€9, show starts 8 p.m. Directions: take the Luas Green Line from Stephen's Green to Balally, exit the station, turn right and it's 150 yards ahead.

BIB editor's note: Friday is also bluegrass jam session night at Rosie O'Grady's in Harold's Cross Road. If you want to grin, go to Airfield; if you want to pick 'n' grin, go to Rosie's.

Carmel Sheerin & the Ravens on 'Nationwide': RESCHEDULED

Press release

RTÉ One has rescheduled the broadcast of Carmel Sheerin & the Ravens, joined by her parents and songwriter Charlie McGettigan. The broadcast is now set for Wednesday 15 March on RTE's Nationwide, 7.00 pm. Carmel and her parents, Dan and Mary, were interviewed on 17 February by Ciaran Mullooly, first in Ballymahon, then at the Sheerin family home in Tang. For the programme Carmel sang at Shed Studio, Garrycastle, and gave a rousing concert later that night at Tour Ard Theatre, Moate, Co. Westmeath.

Their fans back home already know that it's the breathtaking singing that gives Carmel Sheerin & the Ravens their unmistakable sound, with clean harmonies rooted in American country and bluegrass music, going back to their early days as a family group.

Dan and Mary Sheerin sang together professionally and instilled in their children a love for classic country songs, picking and singing. The Sheerins come from Westmeath, in the heart of the midlands, and rank among the finest contemporary country and bluegrass singers in the whole of Ireland. Out of eleven children, eight of the Sheerins still play music.

In only their first appearance at the European World of Bluegrass (EWOB) Festival in Holland, Carmel Sheerin & the Ravens were voted the #1 European Bluegrass Band (2005-6) at the prestigious competition. Over thirty top bands from across Europe were selected to compete at the EWOB Festival, held at Voorthuizen, Holland. The EWOB Festival is the hub of 30 days of bluegrass music events across Europe, organized by the European Bluegrass Music Association (EBMA).

The band's phenomenal win means that they will go to America to represent Europe (and Ireland) at the International Bluegrass Music Association's World of Bluegrass in Nashville, Tennessee (2006), selected by the EBMA. The band will showcase on several stages during the week-long convention. Their friend and producer, Bil VornDick, will help to coordinate their many appearances.

In Holland, Carmel Sheerin & the Ravens showcased original material from their debut CD, Runaway. They played two encores to standing ovations from the international crowd, a musically savvy audience. Since being named #1 European Bluegrass Band, the Ravens are booking shows and festivals in Europe and the USA, recently being chosen to headline the 18th Annual North Wales Bluegrass Festival (UK) in July 2006, a first for a bluegrass band from Ireland.

The Sheerins' gift for tasteful, evocative vocals is matched by their immaculate, steady playing. Joined internationally by banjo virtuouso Tom Hanway from the United States, a veteran of the bluegrass festival circuit, Carmel Sheerin & the Ravens released their debut CD in August 2005, recorded at Shed Studio, Dessie Sheerin's state-of-the-art facility in Athlone. Engineered by multi-Grammy-producer Bill VornDick from Nashville, Tennessee, the album will include six pop-bluegrass originals, traditional and contemporary numbers, featuring the band's tight harmonies and tasty, solid musicianship. This is bluegrass for the ages.

Carmel Sheerin & the Ravens are captivating audiences everywhere with their new and original material. Singles penned by the band include Dessie and Danny Sheerin’s 'Without you', 'The light of love, and 'Now and then'. Audiences get quiet when they hear Carmel work her vocal magic on 'Streets of Heaven', 'Both sides now', 'Runaway, 'Jolene', and 'Sing my memory'.

The band, from the heart of Ireland (Westmeath/Longford), comprises Carmel Sheerin (vocals) and her three brothers, Danny (guitar/vocals), Dessie (bass/vocals) and Tom (mandolin/vocals), joined by American Tom Hanway (banjo/vocals), originally from New York City. This is a contemporary family group that writes its own material and blends as only a family band can.

Contact: Tom Hanway, 0 43 46340

Dirk Powell tour, 23-8 March

Christy Leahy announces five concerts by the great old-timey fiddle- and banjo-player and singer, Dirk Powell at the end of this month:

Thurs. 23 March: Colfer's, Carrig-on-Bannow, Co. Wexford
Fri. 24 March: The Glebe Gallery, Baltimore, Co. Cork
Sat. 25 March: The Corner House, Coburg Street, Cork city (6.00 p.m.)
Mon. 27 March: The Village Arts Centre, Kilworth, Co. Cork
Tues. 28 March: Dolan's, Limerick city

He will be accompanied by Jock Tyledsley on fiddle and Vera Van Heeringen on guitar. Christ adds: 'Dirk's music was featured on the hit film Cold Mountain and he is one of America's best old-timey players (as I'm sure all your readers know well!)'

Dirk performed with the Tim O'Brien Band at the 2002 Omagh festival. He currently has three CDs out under his own name and three with the great Cajun band with whom he plays, Balfa Toujours.

Rosie O'Grady's, 3 March: report

The weekly jam session at Rosie O'Grady's Pub in Harold's Cross, Dublin, on Friday 3 March, was one of the better evenings (musically) of the past twelve months. The evening owed a lot to the celebratory banjo-shaped cake provided - together with paper plates and forks - by Maeve Toner to mark the end of the session's first year. Thanks to Joey Honan for these photos of the cake, taken on the night, which also show Maeve herself, Con Butler (bass), and (we think) Danny McCarthy (guitar) in light blue shirt.

Please note that there will be no session on St Patrick's night, Friday 17 March.

Galway news: update

A reminder that Clive Barnes is playing the Crane Bar in Galway city on Wednesday 8 March, with a solo support spot by Pete Lamb. Doors 9 p.m. €10.

Pete reports: 'Mick Crehan at the Crane is interested in putting on more roots music there. It is already famous as a trad Irish venue, and most of the summer will be taken up with that, but from September he is interested in putting on more bluegrass, old-timey, cajun, folk, and Americana in general... So any "Americana roots" bands that are interested in getting a gig can either contact me on this e-mail address or Mick Crehan at 087-2245637.'

Pete also draws attention to the alternative Galway Arts Festival running this year, Project '06, which aims to give a larger role to the vibrant local grassroots arts scene - assisting and augmenting the corporate-sponsorship, internationally famous festival which Galway Arts Festival has become, and of which everyone remains justifiably proud. Project '06 will run concurrently with the official festival (18-29 July).

Plans for a program of Americana for Project '06 are still at discussion stage, but any bands interested in taking part should contact Pete via the above link.

Gibson Earl Scruggs banjo

Thanks to Chris Keenan for the news that the Gibson Earl Scruggs Standard banjo, specially autographed by Earl Scruggs during his first ever performance in Ireland at the Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival in Longford in September 2004, is up for auction. See details on eBay at this link.