Will you miss me when I'm gone?

The editorial chair will be vacant during the holiday period, for reasons explained at this link. Thanks to Patrick Simpson of the Simpsons Bluegrass Band for making it necessary for your editor to go on the run. We hope to resume normal service on New Year's Eve, by which time either exoneration or expiation (or, perhaps, extermination) will have taken place.

Meanwhile - every good wish for Christmas and the New Year from the Bluegrass Ireland Blog to our readers all over the world!

Your band - at IBMA's World of Bluegrass?

How does your band get on to the programme at IBMA's World of Bluegrass, other than by winning the title of #1 European Bluegrass Band at the European World of Bluegrass Festival?

The procedures for becoming part of IBMA's World of Bluegrass - whether on one of the nineteen official showcases or one of the innumerable private 'after hours' showcases throughout World of Bluegrass week - are set out in a detailed report for the use of international bands, drawn up by Hannah Johnson, lead singer and mandolinist of the Toy Hearts (UK). The advice it contains includes the IBMA's own instructions on applying for official showcases and on hunting for 'after hours' spots, with a list of the 'after hours' hosts who presented in 2008.

Most importantly, the report's advice is based on the Toy Hearts' own personal experience in going through these procedures. To quote Hannah's introduction:

Performing at IBMA really was an amazing experience and provided a truly unique opportunity for networking and making contacts. For any international bluegrass band considering applying... DO! You may not get much sleep, but you will have the time of your life! It is never too early to start thinking about applications...

The last point deserves stressing: the deadline for applications for official showcases is 15 January 2009. The full text of Hannah's report can be read here.

Gary Ferguson: fifth tour of Ireland, July 2009: update

Colin Henry (left) and Gary Ferguson on the 2007 tour

As announced on the BIB on 25 Sept. 2008, award-winning singer/songwriter Gary Ferguson (USA) will be in Ireland in July 2009 for his fifth annual Ireland tour. Dates have been added since our last notice, and Gary reports:

Colin Henry will be my music partner; Janet Holmes will be joining us on select dates. We will also be teaming up with well known Irish songwriter and performer Charlie McGettigan for some 'Songwriters in the Round' shows. We still have open dates for any interested promoters. Confirmed and open dates below [open dates shown in bold]:

Wed. 1st: Depart Dulles (arrive Dublin Thurs. 2nd)
Fri. 3rd, Sat. 4th, Sun. 5th: Ulster American Folk Park, Omagh, Co. Tyrone: Independence Day weekend
Mon. 6th:
Tues. 7th:
Wed. 8th:
Thurs. 9th:
Fri. 10th, Sat. 11th: Athy Bluegrass Fesival, Athy, Co. Kildare
Sun. 12th:
Mon. 13th: Kilworth Arts Centre, Kilworth, Co. Cork
Tues. 14th:
Wed. 15th:
Thurs. 16th: Phoenix Folk Club, Ballyfermot, Dublin
Fri. 17th: Seamus Ennis Centre, Naul, Co. Dublin, w/Charlie McGettigan
Sat. 18th: McGrory's, Culdaff, Co. Donegal
Sun. 19th: 2nd Ardara Bluegrass Festival, Ardara, Co. Donegal
Mon. 20th:
Tues. 21st:
Wed. 22nd: Depart Dublin

Contact Gary by e-mail.

Christmas greetings from Woodbine

After our most successful year, Woodbine would like to wish everyone a very happy Christmas and bright new year. Looking forward to meeting you all along the bluegrass trail in 2009,

From Nicola, Richard, Liam, & Tony

Davy Graham, 1940-2008

David Michael Gordon ('Davy') Graham, one of the most influential acoustic guitarists of the last fifty years, died on 15 December 2008, just over three weeks after his 68th birthday. With a grounding in classical guitar study, he set a high standard for fingerpicking and (among other accomplishments) invented the DADGAD guitar tuning. Obituaries include those on his website and the Daily Telegraph, from which the above photo is taken.

Lester Flatt-style rhythm guitar on YouTube

Chris Sharp

Guitarists in old-time, bluegrass, and traditional country music who want to be able to play rhythm guitar in the thumb-and-fingerpicks style used by the great Lester Flatt (before, during, and after his epoch-making partnership with Earl Scruggs) can now learn from Chris Sharp on YouTube, where his Studio 607 Productions has a series of instructional videos, each of about seven or eight minutes.

Chris Sharp's teaching is based on close observation of the Lester Flatt style at first hand. Learn how Lester did his famous G runs, the rhythm patterns he used on different songs, and much more! The videos can also be seen on Chris's MySpace site. Thanks to the original Bluegrass Blog for this information.

Enrol in Sore Fingers Old Time classes!

John Herrmann (picture from Old Time Herald magazine)

The organisers of Sore Fingers Summer Schools have appealed to Old Time players to rally and book for Sore Fingers Week 2009 (13-17 Apr. 2009):

We have Joe Newberry teaching banjo and John Herrmann teaching fiddle, but only three students booked across both courses.

We know it’s got nothing to do with the recession since the bluegrass courses are booking at just below the normal rate. A little slower, but that was to be expected this year with all that's been going on.

Our cutoff is early January, when we book flights and totally commit to bringing a tutor over to teach. At this point, we will make a huge loss on these two courses unless we can attract at least thirteen students for each class. If it was always your intention to book, please let us know at the earliest opportunity.

This appeal has been necessary every year. We are seriously reviewing the viability of the Old Time classes and whether we should run them under a totally new format which didn’t involve flying a tutor in from the US. Sore Fingers will always have Old Time represented in some form or other and we have had some very loyal support over the past years which we feel we are indebted to. So there would be an alternative, but not in the current format.

If anyone out there has any suggestions or ideas about this, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us [e-mail]; we run these things for you, not us!

Joe Newberry and John Herrmann will both be familiar to attenders of the Omagh festivals, where Joe has appeared with the Original Red Clay Ramblers and Big Medicine, and John with Ralph Blizard.

Mary Blake to leave Ulster American Folk Park

Carol singers in the Ship section of the Ulster American Folk Park

Mary Blake of the Ulster American Folk Park reports:

Just a note to wish you a very happy Christmas and a successful and happy New Year. I would also like to take this opportunity to let you know that I will be leaving National Museums Northern Ireland in January. I am moving to Derry city council, where I am taking up an exciting new position in Tourism Development. Very best wishes.

We wish Mary all the best in her new position, which should keep her in touch with bluegrass through Frank Galligan's 'Bluegrass on the Walls' in August.

Czech dobro player in Tralee

Miroslav 'Mike' Mato, a Czech dobro-player who has been living and working in Ireland for four years, loves bluegrass music and dobro, and would like to join a bluegrass band or meet other players in sessions.

Mike is based in the Tralee area. From our experience of Czech dobro players (remember, the instrument was invented by Slovaks), any pickers within reach should make a high priority of contacting him. He can be reached by mobile (087-2626072) or e-mail.

Roots Freeway guitar competition winner

Niall Toner reports:

Tim Casey from Cork city was the winner of the Gibson Les Paul guitar on 'Roots Freeway' on Tuesday evening last, 16 December. We will be presenting him with his prize early in the new year. The Gibson Company are delighted with the response - we had 200 correct answers - and are keen to do a repeat. Next time I may be able to persuade them to provide a suitable acoustic instrument from the range?

The results are up on the RTE website, including the correct answers.

Ry Cooder to play three shows in Dublin, June 2009

Thanks to Bill Whelan for the news that multi-instrumentalist and pioneer of 'world music' Ry Cooder will be in Dublin to play three consecutive shows in 2009. The Irish Times reports that Ry Cooder, his son Joachim (drums), accordion wizard Flaco Jimenez, and Nick Lowe will be at the Olympia Theatre on 10, 11, and 12 June 2009. Tickets go on sale on Friday 19 December, at prices ranging from €96.25 to €131.25 (the Irish Times says this, so it must be true).

Bill is now playing a CEB-5 Gold Tone cello banjo with 14-inch pot, which he used at first with nylon strings tuned an octave below a normal 5-string; he is now, however, using regular strings at standard pitch. Bill obtained it through Paul Doyle at Monastery Music, in the old cinema in the main street of Clondalkin, Dublin 22 - a shop which Bill recommends for its assortment of interesting and unusual instruments.

Bluegrass Christmas party at Delaney's, 18 Dec.

The Tin Box Company are hosting a pre-Christmas bluegrass get-together this Thursday (18 December) from 9.00 p.m., as part of their regular weekly gig at Delaney's Knocklyon Inn, Firhouse Road, Dublin 16. All pickers, singers, and lovers of bluegrass will be welcome to this special edition of the only weekly bluegrass session in Dublin.

See the earlier BIB post on the session for more details, location, and a map link.

Special C. back again in four weeks' time!

David Thomas (bass), Ashby Frank (mandolin), Greg Cahill (banjo), Justin Carbone (guitar)

A reminder (as if it were needed) that the bluegrass new year in Ireland begins with a bang as Greg Cahill brings the Special Consensus back for their ninth time in Ireland since 1995. They'll be playing in all four provinces, beginning at Barry's, Grange, Co. Sligo, on 14 January, and with an interval of seven dates in Britain (21-7 Jan.), before their final show on 3 February. Events which they'll be headlining include the Sixmilebridge Winter Music Weekend in Co. Clare, the annual Americana show at Colfer's, Co. Wexford, and a two-day mini-festival at Kilworth, Co. Cork, which rounds off the tour. The full schedule for Ireland is on the BIB calendar.

As anyone will confirm who saw them at the 2008 Athy festival, the present configuration of the Special C. is a very hot one! The band now has a MySpace site, with Niall Toner's song 'Josie's reel' as one of the songs that can be heard on it.

Arlo Guthrie at Roscrea, 23 Jan. 2009

Tom Stapleton of the Music Store, Roscrea, Co. Tipperary, who has been a major promoter of bluegrass and other acoustic music in Ireland for many years, announces that Arlo Guthrie, son of Woody, and a legend in his own right, will be playing in concert at Grant's Hotel, Roscrea, on Friday 23 January. Doors open 8.30 p.m.; tickets €30. Further info from Tom: tel. +353 (0)505 23481; e-mail.

The show forms part of a tour by Arlo Guthrie in these islands, beginning in Ireland on 17 January and continuing in Britain from 28 January till 6 February. Together with other dates shown on Arlo's website, the full Irish schedule so far is:

Sat. 17th Jan. 2009: Cyprus Avenue, Cork
Sun. 18th: Whelan's, Dublin 2
Tues. 20th: Roisin Dubh, Galway city
Fri. 23rd: Grant's Hotel, Roscrea, Co. Tipperary
Sat. 24th: TF Theatre, Castlebar, Co. Mayo
Sun. 25th: McGrory's, Culdaff, Co. Donegal
Mon. 26th: The Managerie, Belfast

A historic instrument for sale

The 'Foggy' banjo; eagle inlay on resonator, and 'flying eagle' fingerboard inlay, which Ibanez seem to have normally used on their 589-5 mahogany model

Thanks to Tony Curran, who writes:

With the Christmas season upon us, I wish to:

1st - Wish all our Irish bluegrass colleagues a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2nd - Offer the 'Foggy Lyttle' banjo for sale. (A banjo with provenance!)

This banjo is an original 1976/7 Ibanez 590-5 Deluxe 5-string maple 'Flying Eagle' model (which in 1977 cost about $430). The instrument has a beautiful, true tone - all the way up the fingerboard.

I understand that Foggy originally bought the banjo when, after being asked by the BBC if he played banjo, he (falsely) claimed he did! He had been asked to play for the Morecambe & Wise Christmas Show in 1976 – the one where Angela Rippon kicked back the 'newsdesk' and danced around the studio floor. Foggy was playing this very banjo for that particular programme – and appeared in the final Christmas production.

Anybody who wants to buy this banjo - which comes with its original hard case - need only beat the current offer of STG£1,000 or € equivalent – Best offer secures!

Contact me at my usual number - (028) 9443 3273 if dialling from the UK; 048 9443 3273 if dialling from the Republic of Ireland - or e-mail.


David 'Foggy' Lyttle, guitarist on 'Days like this' and other classics

14th UK old-time festival, 13-15 Feb. 2009

Thanks to FOAOTMAD, the UK organisation for old-time music, for details of their 14th old-time music festival in Trent Valley Academy, the Avenue, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England, on 13-15 February 2009. At previous Gainsborough festivals, Ireland's own Rough Deal String Band have been welcome and respected guests.

The 2009 headliners are the New Ballard's Branch Bogtrotters from the Galax, VA, area, supported by the Foundlings, Old Yeller Dog, and the Coffin Dodgers. The programme also includes concerts, open stage, beginners' slow jam, square dancing, clogging, and a wide range of workshops, including one in shape-note singing.

Weekend tickets FOAOTMAD members £30, non-members £40
Saturday: all day £25
Friday or Saturday evening concerts: £15 each

For more info, contact Keith Johnson by 'phone (+44 (0)1427 613643) or e-mail. The festival poster, complete with booking form, can be downloaded from the FOAOTMAD website.

Tom Hanway joins Hazard Hollow with two upcoming shows in Galway

Ruth Dillon

Tom Hanway is proud to announce that he has teamed up with songwriter Ruth Dillon and Bernie O’Mahony in Hazard Hollow, an original and contemporary bluegrass/country outfit.

Hazard Hollow has two shows this weekend at the Crane Bar in Galway: on Friday the 12th and Saturday the 13th of December, 9.30 p.m.

-###-


Tom Hanway, Sharon Shannon, and Winnie Horan (photo: Denise Hanway)

Major digital download stores - Amazon, iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody, Lala, eMusic, Nokia, Liquid, MEdia Net, PassAlong, Puretracks, SNOCAP, SpiralFrog - are now doing Tom Hanway music downloads as MP3s.

Most recently, iTunes uploaded Tom’s three albums as MP3s - search on iTunes under 'Tom Hanway', 'Tom Hanway & Blue Horizon' or 'Tom Hanway & Vassar Clements'. Tom's website has the album covers, liner notes, and quick MP3 downloads.

Tom Hanway: Bucket of bees (13 tracks), Tom Hanway & Blue Horizon (15 tracks) and Tom Hanway & Vassar Clements: the Badbelly project: Hesitation blues (14 tracks) are now available as digital downloads in the following formats: (1) as entire albums, (2) a la carte (all 42 songs), and (3) as ringtones. Tom adds:

On Bucket of bees I had just gotten into composing tunes in a Celtic style, e.g. 'Morgaine's Hornpipe', but this was a traditional and contemporary bluegrass/newgrass record. Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas were in their Telluride Sessions period, so this recording, especially 'Bucket of bees', has that vibe. It was an exciting time to be recording in Nashville and New York - and this album features the top bluegrass session men from both towns. Bil VornDick, the legendary Nashville engineer and producer, helped me organise the pickers for the Nashville session - he made that session happen. He also made me produce, but I kept asking Jerry, Sam, and Stuart Duncan for advice, and I took it!

'Elephant hop' from that CD made it onto Prime Cuts of Bluegrass, vol. 1, and in a national bluegrass survey was voted the #1 track by bluegrass deejays, narrowly edging out Earl Scruggs's and John McEuen's recording of 'Carolina traveler' - ensuring me airplay and distribution with County Sales (Record Depot) at the time.

Prison Love Christmas breakout, 20 Dec. 2008

Mark O'Mahony of Prison Love reports:

Ho Ho Howdy, Friends,

Looks like Santa and his little buddies are keeping up their boycott of federal penitentiaries again this year so there's only one thing for it... the Prison Love Christmas Breakout... A high-octane evening of acoustic dance music will be the only in your Christmas stocking come the 20th of December.

This year's venue is Crawdaddy, Harcourt St., Dublin 2. The music kicks off at 8.00 p.m. with four young bucks from the school of hard knocks where country rocks, the Hot Sprockets. Prison Love will hit the stage at 9.30 sharp and make way for a late night DJ at 11.00 p.m. - all welcome to stay afterwards for the late bar...

See y'all there...

Mark

Tickets €15 on the door or from Ticketmaster.

Coming along

The Bluegrass Ireland Blog has now been operating for just over three years. After the first year, we began to get curious about how many people actually saw the BIB, and on 1 April 2007 a site meter ('hit counter') was installed. By 1 April 2008 it had recorded 19,500 visits. Some time today, the total reached 39,000; so in just over eight months the BIB has had as many visits as in the previous twelve.

This still puts it a long way behind such excellent sites as UKBluegrass.com, not to mention the one and only original Bluegrass Blog (which won the IBMA Print Media Award 2007). But the scene here is not doing badly, and we're glad to be a part of it. Thanks to everyone who has helped the BIB get this far!

BBN is in the mail

Lichfield, Staffordshire, UK
10 December 2008

The Winter 2008/9 edition of British Bluegrass News (BBN) is due to be mailed in the next few days.

The bumper-sized 32-page edition has exciting new features including ‘Favourites’ (as chosen by Rick Townend) and ‘The story behind the song’, a guest contribution from Tim O’Brien, a cover story about top UK band the Toy Hearts, a feature about Gold Heart, the US band who will be touring the UK this coming spring, area reports, and much more.

This is the first edition of BBN to be published that combines the efforts of the four-man team recently established to edit and produce BBN. That team consists of Dave Bresnen (editor-in-chief), Richard Partridge (sub-editor), Richard F. Thompson (features editor) and Pat Francis (production manager).

British Bluegrass News is published by the British Bluegrass Music Association (BBMA). Besides BBN, the most visible asset that the BBMA has is its website. This is being made more user-friendly and kept up to date. Work on this task is in progress and is expected to be completed before Christmas.

BBMA was founded in November 1990 and currently there are about 300 members. For further information about the BBMA and this press release contact Richard F. Thompson, Press Relations, 14 Lime Grove, Lichfield, Staffordshire, England, WS13 6ER; ‘phone +44 (0)1543 252683; e-mail.

Those interested in joining the BBMA can do so by contacting Trish Hockley, Membership Secretary, Freepost, BBMA: ‘phone +44 (0)7889 607612; e-mail.

Roots Freeway tonight!

Niall Toner reports that his guests in the RTE 1 Radio studio on 'Roots Freeway' this evening will be Rhiannon Giddens of the Carolina Chocolate Drops and Skip Shirey of the Luminescent Orchestrii, the 'gypsy tango klezmer punk' band from new York. Niall says: 'They will be playing a couple of songs/tunes, and talking about string-band music from the black tradition, the sucess of the Chocolate Drops, etc....'

Bluegrass Patriots tour in Ireland, July 2009

Thanks to Tony O'Brien of the Athy Bluegrass Music Association, the Bluegrass Patriots from Colorado, USA, favourites with Irish audiences since 1995, will be playing a series of dates around the country after their appearance as headliners at the 19th Athy Bluegrass Festival, Athy, Co. Kildare (9-12 July). The schedule is:

Mon. 13th: Kilworth Arts Centre, Kilworth, Co. Cork
Tues. 14th: St John's Arts Centre, Listowel, Co. Kerry
Wed. 15th: Malone's Bar, Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare
Thurs. 16th: The Crane Bar, Galway city
Fri. 17th: Barry's Bar, Grange, Co. Sligo (TBC)
Sat. 18th-Sun. 19th: 2nd Ardara Bluegrass Festival, Ardara, Co. Donegal

Record launch in Blue Light Pub TONIGHT!

Thanks to singer/songwriter Gabby Brady, a mainstay of the weekly old-time/ folk/ bluegrass session at the Old Punchbowl, Booterstown, Co. Dublin, for the news that his song 'Peace for now (Natalis Jesu)' is being released at 8.45 p.m. tonight (Monday 8 December) at the Blue Light Pub in the Dublin mountains.

The song will be sung by Aidan Coleman, and other music will be provided by the McGrane Family (founders and core members of the Booterstown session). All proceeds from sales of the record will go to the Alzheimer Society of Ireland.

To reach the Blue Light, take the Blackglen Road (R113) to Lamb Doyle's, turn south there on to Woodside Road and keep straight on up the Barnaculla Road for about two miles. A map link is here.

2009 Bluegrass Calendar

The Copper Creek 2009 Bluegrass Calendar, featuring twenty years of Pinecastle artists, is now available from the Copper Creek website, from the catalog page at the Pinecastle website, or from here (price $9.95).

In 28 pages it covers not only the history of Pinecastle Records but major dates in bluegrass history. Artists featured include Chubby Wise, Charlie Waller, Beth Stevens, Ernie Thacker & Route 23, Larry Stephenson, David Parmley, the Churchmen, the Village Singers, the Osborne Brothers, Nothin’ Fancy, Jim & Jesse, the Dixie Bee-Liners, Jack Cooke, Josh Williams, Grasstowne, and of course the Special Consensus, who will be on tour in Ireland from mid-January 2009.

Tin Box Company: weekly session at Firhouse, Dublin

The Tin Box Company return to the Knocklyon Inn (Delaney's), Firhouse Road (R114), Dublin 16, where they will be hosting a bluegrass session every Thursday night from 9.00 p.m. All pickers, singers, and lovers of bluegrass are welcome.

Earlier this year the TBC were playing alternate Thursdays in this location, and it's good to see a weekly bluegrass session in south Co. Dublin again. A map link is here. Note: the Knocklyon Inn is just on the west side of the M50 motorway: the red circle on the map is on the east side.

Vincent Cross: news

Vincent Cross reports from New York:

I have good and bad news for you. The good news is that my first full length album, Home away from home, is now available at CD Baby.

The bad news is that the legendary Odetta passed away Tuesday December 2nd. As you probably know, I was very fortunate to have met her and to have performed for her at her tribute night. She was a wonderful person, and completely supportive of all styles of music.

A link to the New York Daily News obituary of Odetta is here, and the New York Times obituary, with a video feature, is here. Vincent's MySpace site mentions Odetta as one of his influences, and she is quoted as saying: 'In the East Village 2008, I heard a crystal clear voice that took me back to when I was being introduced to mountain music groups and families of Appalachia. It was a pleasure to hear such beauty coming out of Vincent Cross.'

All the songs on Home away from home can be sampled on CD Baby, and three of them can be heard in full on Vincent's MySpace site.

Bluegrass weekend in Leitrim, 6-7 Dec. 2008

Dublin's Tin Box Company will be returning this weekend (Saturday 6 Dec., Sunday 7 Dec.) to the Leitrim Marina Hotel, right on the marina in Leitrim Village, near Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim, where they have already played several successful weekends earlier this year.

The TBC will be in operation from about 9.00 p.m. on Saturday, and from 3.00 to 6.00 p.m. on Sunday. All pickers, singers, and lovers of bluegrass are welcome!

KAM Christmas Benefit show, 6 Dec. 2008

Thanks to Pete Lamb for the news that KAM is holding a Christmas Benefit concert for M.E. & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome this coming Saturday, 6 December 2008, at the Kinvara Community Centre, Kinvara, Co. Galway, with its new modular stage. Doors open at 8.00 p.m., and the show starts at 8.30. Admission (donation) €15/10.

This benefit is hosted by Finola Ó Siochrú with KAM's support,
celebrating the Christmas/solstice season with songs and music from many traditions, styles, languages, and cultures. All proceeds for Bio-medical research into M.E., through the Irish M.E./C.F.S. Support Group.

Thanks to Pete also for other news: he has entered a wedding song to the International Songwriting Contest in Nashville. It can be heard here.

European Bluegrass Summit: deadline next week

Preparations for the European Summit meeting, to be held in Bühl/Baden in south-west Germany on 7-8 February 2009, are well advanced, and applications are being received. This will be the most significant development in the organisation of bluegrass in Europe since 2001. The deadline for applications to take part in the Summit is Wednesday 10 December - one week from now.

Full details of the Summit, including an application form, are given on the European Bluegrass Blog for 12 November. Anyone wishing to take part, either as an individual or representing a group or association, should send in their completed application by 10 December.

News from up North

The Special Consensus: here in the new year

Thanks to Sharon Loughrin, who reports:

Things are quiet on the bluegrass front up here, though going by the blog you have plenty of entertainment in Dublin; you'll have to send some of it up North to us!

Just in this morning was the programme for the Market Place Theatre in Armagh - some of your readers might be interested to know that Special Consensus are playing a Ragin' Cajun night on Sat. 31 Jan. (as usual the food is optional but is a nice treat).

Perhaps this would be a good idea for a Christmas pressie for a bluegrass fan?

Arnie and I went to see Chatham County Line last Saturday night in Belfast - an absolutely brilliant performance and they had a specially-released-for-the UK-tour CD: it includes one of the best renditions of the old Bill and Charlie Monroe hit 'What would you give in exchange for your soul'.