Happy end of the beginning for bluegrass film

We learn with great pleasure that the new documentary film on bluegrass, The Porchlight Sessions, directed by Anna Schwaber, has hit its target of raising $60,000 before the 1 May deadline.Though the campaign for the funding to complete the project is now successfully over, visit the film's Kickstarter page for some very atmospheric photos - including one real stunner, presumably taken in a Nashville dressing room in the early 1970s, and featuring some of the most historic figures in bluegrass music. The Porchlight Sessions can also be followed on Facebook and Twitter.

PS: The 'stunner' of a photo can also be seen here. 

PPS (1 May): We spoke too soon about the campaign being 'over'; it continued right up to the deadline, and the project has reached $10,000 over and above the target.

ArtistWorks Academy of Bluegrass newsletter

The ArtistWorks Academy of Bluegrass, with its roster of A-list instructors on all bluegrass instruments, has just issued its latest e-newsletter, which appears to be packed with info on new lessons, new interviews, messages from teachers, and other news - for instance, links to video of jamming by staff instructors Bryan Sutton (guitar) and Mike Marshall (mandolin) on 'Watson's blues' (two versions), 'Ragtime Annie', 'Jerusalem Ridge', 'Cherokee shuffle', and 'Tennessee waltz'. Read the whole bulletin here.

Recent EBMA publications

Nearly two months ago (3 Mar. 2012) the European Bluegrass Music Association (EBMA) published its first European Bluegrass Festival Directory, listing over 100 festivals throughout Europe, as part of the service provided by the EBMA's European Festival Network (EFN).

The EFN at present comprises twenty major events (including our own Omagh and Johnny Keenan festivals), and each of these has a two-page feature in the Directory; however, full contact details are given for all the festivals on the list, whether EFN members or not. As is almost inevitable with a print publication, some festivals are missing from the list. Nonetheless, this is a basic reference source for anyone interested in the European scene, especially bands from abroad looking for bookings.

The Directory was posted out to all EBMA members and other subscribers with the latest issue (#83, Apr.-June 2012) of the EBMA's official magazine, Bluegrass Europe. Although - as explained in the magazine itself and on the EBMA website - its appearance was delayed by 'life issues' facing individual members of the editorial team, #83 reached subscribers in the second half of April. As with the previous four issues since BE was relaunched a year ago as a separate, all-English-language journal, it is pretty impressive in the range and substance of its content. The 'life issues' mentioned above left their mark on a few pages in the form of editorial and design errors; but overall BE began its relaunch at a high point, and continues to improve.

Where's Jan?

Jan Michielsen of Hoogstraten in north Belgium will, of course, be in Ireland in July as guitar player with 4 Wheel Drive (NL/D/B), a favourite band with Irish audiences since 1999, and headliners at this year's Athy Bluegrass Festival (13-15 July).

When not on the road with 4WD or directing films for Cheap Aldi Camera Productions and his own YouTube channel, he leads a further life as mandolinist for Blue Maxx (above), who will be among the bluegrass bands taking part in the 2012 Hamawe Roots Festival (26-7 May) in south-east Belgium.

The programme has a strong backbone of Cajun music, headed by the redoubtable Savoy Family Band (USA) and several French Cajun bands, with plenty of Cajun food available. Also present will be the Rockridge Brothers old-time band from Sweden, who played at the Open House Festival in Belfast several years ago.

BBMA Online

An additional source of information on bluegrass events in the neighbouring island: since the end of last year the British Bluegrass Music Association has had its own blog, BBMA Online. The BIB sends it fraternal greetings, and a link to BBMA Online has been added after the main BBMA link in our right-hand column.

Desert Aces at Kilkenny during the Festival, 4-6 May 2012

Thanks to the Aces for this news:

Desert Aces will be playing at the Kilkenny Roots Festival this May Bank Holiday weekend, featuring their new line up that includes Graham Nolan, Sarah Baldwin, and Hugh McCabe. With a few new instrumental tunes in the set and some beautiful old-time harmonies haunting those lonesome desert hills, the Aces are still going strong since their debut appearance in the Festival in 2007.

Fri. 4th: Breathnachs, John St., Kilkenny city
Sat. 5th: Bollards, Kieran St., Killkenny city
Sun. 6th: Leydens, John St., Kilkenny city

Desert Aces
Bluegrass/ Rhythm n' Roots/ Country/ Trad/String Band
website; MySpace; Facebook

Tim O'Brien, Kevin Burke, and Ron Kane at Roscrea, 17 May 2012

Thanks to Tom Stapleton, who reports:

Hello Folks,

We have a special song-and-fiddle night with Tim O'Brien (The crossing etc.) and Kevin Burke (Bothy Band etc.). Leap Castle, Roscrea, Co. Tipperary, Thurs. 17 May, 9.00 p.m. Special guests Ron Kane (fiddle/vocals) with Bill Whelan (banjo), Ben Keogh (guitar).

Mark Knopfler described Tim O’Brien as 'a master of American folk music, Irish music, Scottish music – it doesn't matter; a fine songwriter and one of my favorite singers'.

'Lyric, fluid, and precisely as tricky as he needs to be, Burke is probably the greatest Irish fiddler living.' - The Village Voice

Ron Kane (Deseret String Band) is a renowned old-timey fiddle player and singer of old cowboy songs.

Booking essential: 087 2238040
Tom Stapleton
Mountheaton
Roscrea
Co. Tipperary
Mobile + 353 (0)87 2238040
Land line +353 (0)505 21647
Skype. tomstapleton

A free weekend at Tramore (1-4 June 2012)

Thanks to the organising team of the 1st International Bluegrass Festival in Tramore, Co. Waterford, for this message:

IT'S FRIDAY!!! Like and share for your chance to win our FREE weekend in the Grand Hotel at the 1st International Bluegrass Festival in Tramore. A weekend of top-class bluegrass music, craic, good food, and great atmosphere. Visit Tramore.

The lineup at present includes Southern Welfare (Waterford), Down and Out Bluegrass Band (Belfast), Bending the Strings (Mullingar), Well Enough Alone (Dublin), Watery Hill Boys (Drogheda), Kentucky Cow Tippers (UK), and Jonathan Maness (USA). Contact the Festival team by e-mail.

New Rope String Band available for dates in Ireland, Mar. 2013

Thanks to the Brookfield Knights agency in Britain for the news that the New Rope String Band (UK) will be available for dates in Scotland and Ireland between 8 and 17 March 2013. Three years ago the BIB wrote (and we see no reason to change this judgment):

The New Rope String Band (also on MySpace) continue the tradition of the Old Rope String Band, who played at the Cork Folk Festival some years ago and are probably the funniest band your editor has seen on any stage. The NRSB should be considered by any event organiser over here - after their show, some of the audience will certainly say: 'That's not bluegrass!' The rest will be laughing too much to say anything.

The agency can be contacted through their website.

Compass Records: 40% off banjo CDs

Compass Records continue their 'Deal of the Day' series of sales with offers of 40% off forty-four CDs from their catalogue that feature the banjo.

As Compass produce many albums of Celtic music, some of these feature tenor banjo; but the list of CDs with 5-string on them include those by Compass owner Alison Brown herself, Bruce Molsky, Special Consensus, and more. Read the full details here.

Bending the Strings: dates in the next few days

Thanks to Vinny Baker for this news:

The bluegrass gigs are getting under way for Bending the Strings from this week, and if you would like to catch the band, you will see them at the following gigs this week.

This Wednesday (April 25th): The band take the stage at the Motor Neuron Support concert at Leopardstown Pavilion in the company of Foster & Allen, Ray Lynam, Trionagh Moore Allen, and John Murray, plus many more. Bending the Strings will perform halfway through the first half of the show and are doing a twenty-minute set.

Friday next (27th): Bending the Strings play Byrne's, Edenderry, 10.00 p.m.

Saturday next (28th): The band play the Mullingar Park Hotel, 10.30-12.30.

Sunday next (29th): The American Car Show, Kilbeggan, Co. Westmeath.

Vinny, Moyra, Martin. & Gerry would love to see you at one (or indeed all) of the above gigs this week, and we look forward to meeting all our friends from the bluegrass community at one of the many festivals we play this year.

We have a brand new album which was recorded live at four different venues last year. We have spent the last few months editing it and the mix process is almost complete, so we will be launching it in advance of the festival season this year.

We look forward to the coming season and wish all our fellow bluegrass musicians a very successful 2012.

Punch Brothers in Dublin, 17 July 2012

Thanks to UKBluegrass.com for the news that the Punch Brothers (USA) will be back in Europe in July 2012. The dates at present on their tour schedule begin with the Roskilde Festival in Denmark on 6 July and end with Whelan's in Dublin on 17 July.

Tickets are now on sale for the Whelan's show. More dates are likely to be added to the list. Further details, including venue website links, location maps, and online ticket purchase facilities, are on the band's tour page.

Wookalily in Kilcar, 5 May

Thanks to Seán Ó Beirne for this news:

Wookalily play their first date in south-west Donegal when they appear in concert in Áislann Chill Chartha, Kilcar, on Saturday 5 May. Doors open 8.00 p.m., concert 8.30 p.m.; admission (including refreshments) €10 (adults) and €5 (children).

Following their successful appearance in the Áislann last October, Woodbine return by popular demand for a concert on Saturday 9 June. Doors open 8.00 p.m.

Dangem Bluegrass Get-Together, 28 Apr. 2012; Belfast Bluegrass, 1 May

Thanks to Dangem Bluegrass for a reminder of two regular monthly bluegrass events in east Ulster:

the Bluegrass Get-Together (including beginners' class and jam session) from 9.30/10.00 a.m. to noon on Sat. 28 Apr. at Lagan Valley Island, Island Civic Centre, Lisburn, Co. Antrim BT27 4RL;

and the Belfast Bluegrass sessions from 8.30 p.m. onward on Tues. 1 May at the Errigle Inn, 312-320 Ormeau Rd, Belfast BT7 2GE.

Full details are on the latest Dangem e-newsletter.

Ivor Ottley - West Tennessee fiddle champ

Everyone who liked and admired the fine fiddling of Ivor Ottley while he was resident in the west of Ireland will be glad to hear that Ivor, at present in the USA, has just won the title of West Tennessee's overall champion fiddler at the 56th Old Time Bluegrass and Fiddlers' Jamboree in Holladay, TN (20-21 Apr.). The BIB sends congratulations to Ivor, who writes:

It was funny, because I had only prepared two tunes for the contest, thinking that would be all I would need. I am staying with the wonderful fiddle player Megan Lynch and her guitar-playing fiancé, Adam Chowning, while I am out here. He is a great player, and accompanied me during my rounds. Since this was my first contest, Megan gave me some good advice about how to approach things. Mainly this meant keeping the tunes very stylistic, clean, and a little straighter than I may normally play them, as well as playing the waltzes a little faster.

I played 'Wheel hoss', a Bill Monroe tune I think, and then 'Ashokan farewell' by Jay Ungar. It was all a rush of activity after that, as I was told I had won my age division and had to play off against the Senior Champion in the next few minutes. I chose to play 'Fischer's hornpipe', as I had been jamming that tune a week before with Bob Hamilton (a Canadian mandolin-playing friend whom I met when his band, Hungry Hill, toured Ireland and needed a fiddle player). Finally I played the waltz 'Midnight on the water'. I decided that since I had not prepared them, I would just have to take a chance, so I played them in my usual way. I was amazed when they read out the result.

... The main thing that struck me was the warmth and support of the audience, and especially the other competitors. There really is a supportive and nurturing attitude to the music here which is inspiring - and, of course, some fantastic players.

Thanks to Megan Lynch for the above photo of Ivor and Adam in the contest. Ivor is currently a regular member of the Downhill Bluegrass Band in Sweden, and more details are on the European Bluegrass Blog.

Update 24 Apr.: Thanks to Steve Holladay, webmaster for the Jamboree, who has now posted the 2012 winners on its website, and sends a link to a few videos of Ivor playing in the contest.

More on Earl

Thanks to IBMA member Ira Gitlin for drawing attention to the latest issue of the online magazine Bluegrass Special, of which an important part consists of memories of Earl Scruggs by Tim O'Brien, Rhonda Vincent, and Peter Rowan, and major features on Earl's achievements by Bill C. Malone and by Ira himself. You can read Ira's article, with illuminating comparisons between Earl, Homer, and Isaac Newton, here. Check, also, the contents of the entire issue.

Coming SOON at the Red Room

Ten days ago the band Woody Pines (above), based in Asheville, North Carolina, began a month-long tour in these islands. The five dates they will be playing in Ireland are already on the BIB (22 Mar.) and in our calendar, and the very first date on their Ireland schedule will be this coming Tuesday, 24 Apr., at the Red Room, Cookstown, Co. Tyrone - Ireland's premier house-concert venue, run by Arnie & Sharon Loughrin.

The delights of the Red Room are already well known among regular attenders as well as musicians, and as further inducement Sharon sends this YouTube link showing Woody Pines in action. They're highly regarded by reviewers, and country artist Billy Joe Shaver, following them on stage at a festival, is reported as saying: 'They’re the best damn band I’ve ever heard!'

A week later, on 1 May, the Red Room will be the first stop in Ireland for another highly regarded US band, the Foghorn Stringband from Portland, OR. It seems that visiting bands know how to get their tours off to a good start...

Southern Tenant Folk Union in Ireland, 10-19 May 2012

The Edinburgh-based Southern Tenant Folk Union make a welcome return for another tour in this island, with their 2011 album Pencaitland. Their tour schedule (with further details) has them playing the following ten shows in the middle of May:

Thurs. 10th: The Courtyard Theatre, Newtownabbey, Co. Antrim
Fri. 11th: Bronte Music Club, Rathfriland, Co. Down
Sat. 12th: Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge, Co. Kildare
Sun. 13th: Balor Arts Centre, Ballybofey, Co. Donegal
Mon. 14th: Hawk's Well Theatre, Sligo town
Tues. 15th: Flowerfield Arts Centre, Portstewart, Co. Londonderry
Wed. 16th: Linen Hall Arts Centre, Castlebar, Co. Mayo
Thurs. 17th: Friars Gate Theatre, Kilmallock, Co. Limerick
Fri. 18th: Mullingar Arts Centre, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath
Sat. 19th: Seamus Ennis Cultural Centre, Naul, Co. Dublin

Bayou Seco in Ireland, 23 Apr.-7 May 2012

Thanks to Bill Whelan for the news that Bayou Seco (l-r: Jeanie McLerie, Ken Keppler, Tomás Wentz) will be playing the music of the south-west USA - New Mexico music, Cajun, and cowboy tunes and songs - in the Stag's Head, Dame Lane, Dublin 2, on Tuesday 1 May at 9.00 p.m. Admission is €8 (€6 concession). Support from Bill Whelan & Friends.

The band were playing in England yesterday (20 Apr.) and will be in Scotland over the weekend before coming to Ireland as part of a tour in these islands. Their schedule here, before returning to Britain for a further two weeks, is as follows:

Mon. 23-Wed. 25 Apr. Belfast, visiting friends
Wed. 25th: No Alibis Bookstore, 83 Botanic Ave., Belfast BT7 1JL; e-mail; +44 02890-319601

May 2012
Tues. 1st: The Stag's Head, Dame Court, Dublin 2, 9:00 p.m. +353 (0)1 67 93 687
Thurs. 3rd: St John's Theatre and Arts Centre, the Square, Listowel, Co. Kerry; +353 (0)68 22566
Fri. 4th: The Hill Bar, Kylbrach, Loughrea, Co. Galway
Sat. 5th: Tom Malone's, Milton Malbay, Co. Clare
Sun. 6th: Moran's Bar, 7 Parnell St., Clonmel, Co. Tipperary
Mon. 7th: Crane Lane Theatre, Phoenix St./ Pembroke St., Cork city; +353 21 427 8487

Further details are on the band's online tour schedule, and on the Access All Areas website, from which the above photo is taken.

Woodbine withdraw from two June festivals

Tony O'Brien reports:

It is with great regret that Woodbine have had to pull out of playing the Tramore Bluegrass Festival and the Westport Folk & Bluegrass Festival due to the unavailability of Liam for Tramore and Nicola for Westport. We wish Joe and Uri every success with their festivals and hope we can play them both in the future.

Porchlight Sessions: deadline approaches

For anyone intending to give financial support to The Porchlight Sessions, the documentary film on bluegrass music and the 'bluegrass culture' which has already been described on the BIB: please note while the time is getting short, the prospective rewards for donors are many.

Full details are on the film's page on the Kickstarter fundraising project website. The BIB editor can confirm that making a donation is extremely easy, especially for anyone with an Amazon account.

Cork and Italy in Germany

Colm Murphy from Cork is the fiddler with Bluegrass Stuff, the oldest bluegrass band in Italy (founded 1977) and one of the oldest in Europe. The band has been recently taking in new members and the present lineup is shown above: Ruben Minuto (vocals, guitar), Colm (fiddle), Icaro Gatti (bass), Massimo Gatti (vocals, mandolin), and (on the far right) Matteo Ringressi (vocals, banjo). Second from the right is Swiss lead singer Tabea Anderfuhren (vocals, guitar), who usually leads her own trio, and will be joining Bluegrass Stuff when the band takes the stage at the 10th International Bühl Bluegrass Festival in the 'Bluegrass Metropolis' of Bühl, Germany, just over two weeks from now (4-5 May 2012). More details are on the European Bluegrass Blog.

Levon Helm, 1940-2012

Thanks again to Uri Kohen for drawing attention to the death yesterday afternoon of Mark Lavon 'Levon' Helm, an enormously influential musician whose long, varied, and productive career did much to create what is now considered the 'Americana' genre. Uri points out that Tim Rogers has put it on record that Levon Helm is the reason for his playing the mandolin.

Uri also sends this link to a news item on USA Today, out of many similar items on the internet. Here, for instance, is the Daily Telegraph obituary. There is, as one would expect, large coverage by Rolling Stone, including a gallery of photos, among which photos 5, 9, and 10 show Levon Helm with mandolins.

Update 20 Apr.: John Lawless's 'Levon Helm, friend of bluegrass, passes' is on Bluegrass Today. It includes video of a jam with the Steep Canyon Rangers.

More international acts at Westport Festival

Uri Kohen reports some great news from Westport, Co. Mayo:

Westport Folk & Bluegrass Festival are proud to announce the latest addition to their lineup. Viper Central [above] from Canada will play in the Atlantic Coast Hotel on Friday 29 June; it will be the band's main gig on the southern side of the border as part of their Irish tour. It will also be the first time the hotel will host a gig in the festival, and we are delighted that we can have such a great international act to mark the event.

I See Hawks in L.A. (USA) [left] will play the Clew Bay Hotel on Sunday 1 July at 12.30 p.m. The band will bring their acoustic country sound to the well established gig, which will kick off things on the last day of the festival and will give the 'musical fix' for those who are still buzzing from the night before.

Both hotels are now offering special weekend packages for visitors to the festival. We see this announcement as a big boost to our already fine lineup, and we are hoping to see all bluegrass fans making their way to Westport for a weekend of great music.

Sarah McQuaid at Arklow, 26 Apr. 2012

Thanks to Brendan O'Regan, organiser of roots concerts in Arklow, Co. Wicklow, for the news that on Thursday 26 April at 9.00 p.m., singer/songwriter/folk singer Sarah McQuaid (photo above by Mark Francis from her website) will be playing at 'Roots Fifty-Six', the Fifty Six Bar, Main St., Arklow. Support is local singer Jennifer Lee. Brendan adds:

Sarah, who has written a manual on open tunings [The Irish DADGAD guitar book], will also give a workshop on the Thursday afternoon to the budding guitar pickers at the local CBS Secondary School. Sarah's new album The plum tree and the rose is out now.

Sarah McQuaid is now on tour in Ireland up to 29 April, and her full schedule - including DADGAD workshops in Dublin and Monaghan - can be seen here. Brendan hopes to be able to present visiting bluegrass acts at 'Roots Fifty-Six' in the coming year.

Bluegrass birthday at Dunadry, Co. Antrim, 15 Apr. 2012

Thanks to Sharon Loughrin for this news of a worthy event in the Ulster bluegrass community last Sunday:

We were lucky enough to be invited to Brian Crawford's birthday session yesterday and spent a lovely afternoon listening to some of our finest bluegrass musicians. My Facebook page has a few photos from the session; you'll recognise the faces, but this video is of the legends that are Jimmy Quinn and Geordie McAdam! [shown below, with Tony Curran (banjo)] It was a nice informal get-together, plenty of craic and good food, friends, and music - perfect way to end the weekend.

Brian himself - Ulster's own 'Truck driving man' - appears second from right in the top photo, with guitar. More photos, showing more participants, are on Sharon's Facebook page.

The Titanic commemorated in music

As BIB readers will be aware, the sinking of RMS Titanic a hundred years ago is currently being commemorated. The disaster almost immediately inspired songs, and over the following twenty years many of them came from writers and singers in rural American musical genres. Fretboard Journal has risen to the occasion with a substantial feature on its website, 'Songs paying tribute to the Titanic', including links to recordings of the songs on YouTube.

The first image in the article shows the cover of sheet music for The band played 'Nearer my God to Thee' as the ship went down; and the point is made that what was played aboard Titanic would have been different from the familiar American setting of the hymn. Read the whole feature and sample the music here.

Tweeting your way to success

For bands and others with a business interest in bluegrass music, the IBMA is presenting a webinar, led by Andrea Compton, on 'Tweeting your way to success: how to effectively use Twitter to promote your band, bluegrass event, or business'. If you already have Facebook, learn what an additional and different contribution Twitter can make to your PR strategy. The webinar, to be held on 17 April 2012, will cost $20 to IBMA members and $40 to non-members. Full details can be seen here.

The BIB editor takes this opportunity to apologise for not replying to all who have invited him to join them on Facebook, LinkedIn, and similar media. If your request has not been answered, don't take this as personal; the editor simply does not use any of these networks.

The Sacred Harp available in Dublin

The Sacred Harp Singers of Dublin report:

Dear all,

Dara from Cork Sacred Harp will soon be ordering some copies of the Sacred Harp, 1991 Denson edition, which should work out at around €18 each (very cheap compared to Amazon!). This book is the basis for all our singing and is really useful to have, so if anyone's interested in purchasing one, please contact us [e-mail] in the next week or so.

We'll be back in Exchange this Friday (20 Apr.) at 7.00 p.m. - it would be great to see you there!

Viper Central to play at Omagh on Canada Day, 1 July 2012

Viper Central from Canada, who toured Ireland in early summer 2011, will be back just a little later this year as part of a tour in these islands during July and August. The band have made several tours in Britain, Ireland, and continental Europe as well as North America; this year they are releasing their third album, Thump & howl.

Thanks to Richard Hurst of the Ulster American Folk Park at Omagh, Co. Tyrone, for the news that Viper Central are scheduled to play at the Park on Canada Day - Sunday 1 July. Details of further dates by the band in this island have not yet been announced.

The Park will stage its annual Appalachian & Bluegrass Music Festival - the second oldest annual bluegrass event in this island, and the largest paying-in bluegrass event in Europe - on 31 Aug.-2 Sept. this year; details of the 2012 lineup will be announced soon. Richard and Geordie McAdam of the Broken String Band appear in the photo above left.

Two Time Polka: new CD launched

As announced on the BIB on 29 Mar., the launch of a new CD, Fourth time round, by Two Time Polka took place at Counihan's Bar, Pembroke St., Cork, on Thursday 5 April.

Thanks to Roger Ryan of the Country Music Association of Ireland, who sends the above photo of TTP on stage at the launch party, and reports: 'The house was packed for the event and the band put on a really great show.'

Historic tributes to Earl online - for a time

Kevin Lynch reports on the European Bluegrass Blog that two historic radio events paying tribute to the late Earl Scruggs can be heard on the WSM online sound archive, for a limited period only. They comprise the two-hour 'celebration of life' service in the Ryman Auditorium on 1 Apr. and the two-and-a-half-hour special tribute programme by Eddie Stubbs, broadcast on 4 April. Read the full details in Kevin's EBB report, which has a link to the WSM archive.

Michael Miles: spring news

We're glad to get the latest e-newsletter from Michael Miles (USA), one of the most remarkable banjoists now playing and (as the newsletter amply demonstrates), composer, teacher, and much else besides. For those who need convincing: plenty of performance video and audio material is on his website.

Michael made an unavoidably brief visit to Ireland a year ago, playing in the hospitable and appreciative Séamus Ennis Cultural Centre at Naul. We hope a full tour can be arranged in the near future.

Porchlight Sessions: new benefits

Thanks to Compass Records for a new e-newsletter in support of The Porchlight Sessions, the documentary film described on the BIB a few days ago. The Compass message gives further details of the rewards for donors to the film's Kickstarter fundraising project, including autographed Deering banjos.

The Kickstarter page is well worth visiting for much extra banjo information and goodies such as video footage of Earl Scruggs, the Del McCoury Band, Abigail Washburn, and others.

Compass Records are also holding a spring-cleaning sale, in which overstocked CDs are available for $5.00 - check out the offers here.

Foghorn Stringband in Kerry - and elsewhere, May 2012

Caleb Klauder (mandolin), Reeb Willms (guitar), Nadine Landry (bass), Stephen 'Sammy' Lind (fiddle)

Thanks to musician Bernie Pháid (left), who writes:

Just to let you know that the Foghorn Stringband will be playing at Féile na Bealtaine, Dingle, Co. Kerry, on 6 May 2012. This is a great little festival with a wide range of music, poetry and art! This year will also feature Bernie Pháid with Virginian fiddler Cleek Schrey for a night of old-time and Irish music.

The Foghorns will indeed be playing another festival and six further dates in Ireland as the start of a tour in Europe that will take them most of May 2012. Their full schedule here is:

Tues. 1st: The Red Room, Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, 8.00 p.m.
Wed. 2nd: McCann's Bar, Omagh, Co. Tyrone
Thurs. 3rd: Glens Centre, Manorhamilton Co. Leitrim, 7.30 p.m.
Fri. 4th: Grand Social, Dublin, with I Draw Slow, 8.00 p.m.
Sat. 5th: Crane Bar, 2 Sea Road, Galway city, with I Draw Slow, 7.00 p.m.
Mon. 7th: Féile Na Bealtaine, Dingle, Co. Kerry, 8.00 p.m.
Wed. 9th: Village Arts Centre, Kilworth, Co. Cork, 8.00 p.m.
Thurs. 10th-Sun. 13th: Fiddle Fair, Baltimore, Co. Cork, 8.00 p.m.

The Foghorns will subsequently play six dates in Britain, four in Switzerland, and one in France. Details can be seen on the band's tour schedule. Thanks to Nadine Landry for supplementing and correcting this list.

Moniaive 2012 festival poster

Thanks to C. Paul Lyttle of the Moniaive Michaelmas Bluegrass Festival in Moniaive, Scotland, for this copy of the poster for the 2012 Festival, the lineup for which includes two Ulster bands. Full details can be seen on the poster if you click on the image to enlarge it, and they are also of course on the Festival website.

Paul also presents the radio show 'Criffel Creek' playlist on Alive Community Radio (107.3 FM), Dumfries, Scotland, broadcast from 10.00 a.m. to 12 noon on alternate Sundays. The playlist for the next programme, this coming Sunday (15 Apr.), can be seen on the European Bluegrass Blog.

Sacred Harp in Dublin: update

The Sacred Harp Singers of Dublin, who met last night (Easter Monday) at 8.00 p.m. in the Franciscan Friary, 4 Merchant's Quay, D8, announce that next week the meeting will be on Friday 20 April in Exchange, Exchange St. Upper, from 7.00 to 9.00 (not on Monday 16 April, as announced two days ago owing to a mixup in dates).

From 20 April the normal schedule resumes of meeting every Friday 7.00-9.00 in Exchange.

Black Mountain Opry launches in Belfast, 26 Apr. 2012

For news of the latest developments on the busy Belfast scene, thanks to Adele Ingram of One-A-Chord Music Promotions, who reports:

I'm excited to announce the launch of the Black Mountain Opry and I'm even more excited to have Cup O' Joe kick it off. A young family band of virtuoso multi-instrumentalists and a singer with the sweetest voice you'll ever hear. Expect similar sounds to Nickel Creek and Alison Krauss and you won't be disappointed.

As seen on the poster image, the Black Mountain Opry will be launched at 8.00 p.m. on Thursday 26 April in the Green Room Cafe at the Black Box, Belfast, venue for the monthly Belfast Pickin' Parlour (where a special tribute concert for Earl Scruggs will be held on Sun. 29 Apr.). Admission is free, musicians are welcome, and there will be an open session from 10.00 p.m.

Old-time music at the Abbey, 9 Apr. 2012

Tomorrow evening (Monday 9 April) from 7.30 p.m. old-time music will be heard on the stage of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, when Bill Whelan (banjo) and Dermy Diamond (fiddle), with Tony Shanahan (piano), accompany Sam Shepard (playwright, actor, writer, television and film director, folk singer) and Patti Smith ('Godmother of Punk'), who present an evening of music and readings in support of the Abbey Theatre’s New Playwrights Programme. Read more and book online here.

The Porchlight Sessions needs your help

What looks like being not only an entertaining but an important documentary film on bluegrass is in an advanced stage of completion but needs the support of bluegrass enthusiasts everywhere. The film, The Porchlight Sessions, aims at showing (in the words of its makers) 'the evolution of the bluegrass sound told through the voices of the community... We are trying to make this film the most beautiful and best sounding representation of bluegrass culture to date'. In addition, it sets out to change mistaken perceptions both of the culture of bluegrass music and of the wider culture from which it springs.

For more info, there's not just the project's own website; it's the subject of the latest e-bulletin from Compass Records, and John Lawless publishes a major feature today on Bluegrass Today, including a long interview with director Anna Schwaber on the background and making of the film. Lawless says:

Using stunning visuals, compelling content, and the sort of quick cuts and multiple images on screen that will be familiar to younger viewers and followers of independent film, this project is poised to penetrate the consciousness of potential bluegrass lovers who might not have discovered it otherwise.

The project is now at a critical stage of funding to bring it to completion, and donations are sought through the Kickstarter channel. You can see a trailer on the internet sites mentioned above, and on the Porchlight Sessions Kickstarter page, where donations can be pledged. The project can also be followed on Facebook and Twitter.

A once-in-a-lifetime occasion

Bluegrass Today reports that the celebrations last September at the International Bluegrass Music Museum (IBMM) in Owensboro, KY, to mark the centenary of Bill Monroe's birth, will be recalled in a special two-hour online live radio broadcast tomorrow evening.

The programme will be in Bob Mitchell's 'Best of Bluegrass' series on Radio Bluegrass International, which can be accessed on the IBMM website. The time appears as 4.00-6.00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (USA), which we gather corresponds to 9.00-11.00 p.m. Irish time. The IBMM celebrations really were a once-in-a-lifetime event, and anyone who missed them should take this opportunity of catching up as far as possible.

Update 9 Apr.: 'William Smith Monroe', the commemorative song by our own Niall Toner, was among the music heard on the programme.

John McGann

We have to report the sad news of the death of multi-instrumentalist John McGann (USA), who as a member of the teaching staff of Berklee College of Music in Boston, took part in a Berklee 'mission' to Dublin to make young Irish musicians aware of the college's unique programmes for improvisational music. The BIB editor had the honour of being present at a class that John led on his mandolin, and in which, incidentally, he discussed the different improvisational approaches of old-time and traditional music, bluegrass, and jazz. Read more on Bluegrass Today.

Not bluegrass; but...

Nigel Martyn of Belfast has done a great deal for bluegrass and other acoustic music in Ireland (especially by presenting ace guitarists), so a mention of two forthcoming non-bluegrass acts presented by Nigel is appropriate here.

Gráinne Duffy from Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan, guitarist and singer in Chicago blues style, will be appearing at 8.00 p.m. on Thurs. 26 April with her band (Paul Sherry, guitar; Davy Watson, bass; Gerry Morgan, drums) at Whelan's, Dublin 2. Adm. €14.50; Lo-Call 1890 200 078.

Dan Baird & Homemade Sin, rock band based in Atlanta, GA, will be playing at Whelan's on 2 May, at Letterkenny Regional Cultural Centre on 3 May, and in the Kilkenny Rhythm & Roots Festival on 5 and 6 May. Full details are on Nigel's Old Flattop website.

The Kilkenny Festival, by the way, advises booking early for concerts, as at least one has already sold out. Read their latest e-newsletter.

Jack of Diamonds Rhythm & Roots Festival in Dublin, 17-19 Aug. 2012

Thanks to Christina Quill for news of the first Jack of Diamonds Rhythm & Roots Festival, scheduled to be held in eight closely spaced venues in central Dublin on the weekend 17-19 August 2012 - Sweeney's Bar, the Grand Social, the Mercantile, the Stag's Head, the Button Factory, the Odessa, the Dame Tavern, and the Workman's Club. A location map is on the venues page of the Festival website.

The lineup is practically a Who's Who of Irish bands in the Americana and related fields - among those more familiar to BIB readers are Prison Love, I Draw Slow, the Cujo Family, N.C. Lawlor, Well Enough Alone, the Larkfield Four, Gypsy Rebel Rabble, the Blood Red Mountain Band, Slim Pickins, the Annulments, and Hanway, Taggart, & Sheehan. There will also be a busking trail, where all money collected will go to the Musical Youth Foundation.

A notable feature of the Festival is the ample programme of instrumental and vocal workshops, for all of which the admission is €5 per person. At present the workshop schedule includes Sacred Harp singing, bluegrass banjo (Tom Hanway), old-time banjo (Bill Whelan), finger-picking guitar (Stefan Galt), blues harmonica (Christian Volkmann), bluegrass mandolin (Aran Sheehan), country harmony (Aoife Ruth), and rockabilly bass (Tim Fernley).

A schedule of events will be posted closer to the Festival dates; meanwhile, this event seems bound to be a very welcome addition to the 2012 calendar.

Bluegrass at the Kilbeggan American Car Show, 29 Apr. 2012

Thanks to Vinny Baker of Bending the Strings for this news:

The organisers of the Kilbeggan American Car Show are holding their annual event in Kilbeggan opposite the racecourse on the Kilbeggan-Mullingar road (N52) on Sunday 29 April at 3.00 p.m.

They are featuring a Bluegrass Tent in the show, supplied for bluegrass jams. There is not going to be a resident band, but we hope that we get bluegrass musicians to turn up and play. The organisers are giving free admission to the show to the bluegrass musicians who come, and they will get something to eat as well.

We will have a small PA system there, and we hope to have the making of a band. I will be there, as will mandolinist Joe Meehan; Moyra Fraser says she will be there, possibly Martin Cooney as well, and any other bluegrass players who intend coming on the day could e-mail me to let me know so I can let the organisers know.

As this is an American car show, a bluegrass session will add to the 'All Things American' feel and will help promote the music in this part of the country. So I hope to hear from lots of bluegrass players. Looking forward to hearing from you all...

Thanks, Vinny; it seems an ideal opportunity for playing numbers such as 'Lee Highway Blues', 'Heavy traffic ahead', 'Vincent Black Lightning', and 'Truck driving man'. Be sensitive to audience mood before doing 'Widow maker' or 'Wreck on the highway', though...

Niall Toner on Barney McKenna

The BIB benefits from a computer malfunction which has temporarily prevented Niall Toner from publishing these memories on his own blog. We're glad to present them here, with his permission.

The passing of Barney McKenna today affected me on so many levels, it's hard to know where to begin. I had the good fortune to have known him since about 1962/3, when I used to travel with Peggy Jordan to the Abbey Tavern in Howth to hear the Ronnie Drew Folk Group, as the Dubliners were known then. On one such occasion, Barney played a particularly soft and tender tune, 'Roisin Dubh', if memory serves, during which a member of the audience continued a conversation with the person in the next seat. After the applause died down, Barney made it clear to the two people concerned that silence would be enforced even at the cost of his banjo and their heads. He got the result he deserved, and I have proudly followed his example ever since.

I also had a much more recent experience in Barney's life when I was asked by Nashville banjoist and producer Tim Carter to write a lyric for a song that Barney wanted to record about the connection - as he saw it - between bluegrass and Irish music. This I did, and I'm thrilled to know that Barney recorded the song in Nashville, and that it will be released, posthumously, soon; it's called 'When the bluegrass meets the greengrass'.

Incidentally, although I don't think he ever did record anything in this style, Barney was such a great innovator on the banjo, he could play what he called 'imitation 5-string in Scruggs style' on his tenor banjo. For banjo fans who never saw him do this, it involved fretting one string on the fifth fret to give him the 'ring' of the 5th string, and a cross-picking pattern with a flat pick that had more in common with George Shuffler or Jesse McReynolds.

This memory is particularly poignant when you realise that the world's other great banjo innovator, Earl Scruggs, died on Thursday last. Two banjo legends gone in one week. Hey, it just occurred to me that there may well be an amazing meeting of styles in a session on high. Also, although I have no intention of joining them for a long, long time - and I'm not sure if I'd pass the audition anyway - I am the proud owner of a wonderful John Alvey Turner 5-string, which you can admire in this photo [above], taken by Fiaz Farrelly in Myshall graveyard, and it will feature, soon.

Niall's friend and fellow songwriter Keith Sewell, who is producing his forthcoming album on the Pinecastle label, was one of the pallbearers at Earl Scruggs's memorial service at the Ryman Auditorium on Sunday last, where he was also honoured to be part of the 'banjo salute' on that occasion, described by Bill Evans on Bluegrass Today.

Barney McKenna: Tim Carter on Bluegrass Today

A week after the death of Earl Scruggs, who transformed the position of the 5-string banjo in American music since the 1940s, Barney McKenna has died - unexpectedly but apparently peacefully, at the age of 72 - this morning in his home at Howth, Co. Dublin, having similarly transformed the position of the tenor banjo in Irish music since the 1960s.

News items so far published in the Irish media include those from the Irish Independent, the Irish Times, and RTE news. As reported on the BIB on 7 Feb. 2012, he had recently taken part in recording an album with the Carter Brothers (USA) and other distinguished musicians. Tim Carter of the Carter Brothers has contributed a brief appreciation of Barney to Bluegrass Today, which can be read here.

Update 7 Apr.: the Daily Telegraph obituary, published today, can be read online here.

More Earl Scruggs tributes and video footage

Jason Verlinde, publisher of the delectable Fretboard Journal print magazine, has marked the passing of Earl Scruggs with a tribute entitled 'RIP: Banjo God Earl Scruggs' on the magazine's website. The feature also includes videos of Earl Scruggs in action, including footage from David Hoffman's 1972 documentary film The complete Earl Scruggs story, which was released on DVD in 2008 and is available through Amazon.

NB: For those who may balk at the phrase 'Banjo God Earl Scruggs' - make allowances for the US convention of capitalising all the words in a title. Ursula Le Guin's novel The word for world is forest is set among a people for whom the term 'a god' can be applied to a human being who becomes a channel through which the world is somehow changed. It is no more than appropriate to apply the term, in that sense, to Earl Scruggs.

Earl Scruggs: tributes continue

Tributes to the Father of Bluegrass Banjo (who died last week) continue to appear, most notably on Bluegrass Today. Three of the latest items are specially notable.

Here is the news that WSM Radio has put online the audio recording of the funeral service and Celebration of Life, conducted by Eddie Stubbs and held in the Ryman Auditorium on Sunday - just a constant succession of high points.

Bill Evans contributes a moving account of the service, especially the carrying of Earl's coffin through the auditorium.

The latest in Daniel Mullins's 'Album of the Week' series is devoted to the classic Foggy Mountain Banjo album and what it has meant, not just to banjo players. Expect more good things on Bluegrass Today.

Little Ass Birds album launch in Dublin, 5 Apr. 2012

Conor of the Little Ass Birds sends this message:

Howdy All,

The moment has finally arrived: the release of the Little Ass Birds' debut album Up in the air. To celebrate we are having a launch gig in the Mercantile Music Venue on Dame Street, Dublin 2, this Thursday, 5 April (night before Good Friday). Doors 8.00 p.m.; support from Ken Bolton.

Friend us on MySpace or like us on Facebook and receive Complementary VIP entry to the gig.

Sacred Harp workshop with Tim Eriksen, 3 Apr.

Just a little reminder that Tim Eriksen will be giving a workshop in Sacred Harp singing tomorrow [Tuesday] evening, 7.00-9.00, in the Franciscan Friary on 4 Merchant's Quay, Dublin 8. €5.00 suggested donation. All welcome and no experience necessary! We hope to head down to Hughes' pub behind the Four Courts afterwards, so feel free to join us there even if you can't make the workshop.

Hope to see you there,

Sacred Harp Singers of Dublin

For further info on Tim Eriksen and his other two appearances in Ireland, see the BIB posts of 23 and 25 March.

Earl Scruggs tribute concert at the Parlour, 29 Apr. 2012

Thanks to Adele Ingram of One-A-Chord Music Promotions and the Bluegrass Pickin' Parlour in Belfast, for the news that a special tribute concert in honour of Earl Scruggs will be held at the Parlour (in the Green Room, the Black Box), on the afternoon of Sunday 29 April. The proceedings will open at 2.00 p.m. with an open mic. session, followed by the Down & Out Bluegrass Band at 3.00, and an open jam from 4.00.

This schedule - open mic., guest band, and jam - is standard for the Parlour, which is open on the last Sunday of every month. This is of course a special occasion, as the poster's exhortation ('Bring banjos... Bring more banjos') makes clear. The Parlour's Facebook page announces that Mel Corry and ten other named bluegrass stalwarts will be there, and we hope that every other picker and enthusiast who can reach the Parlour for this event will do so too.

I Draw Slow sign with Pinecastle Records

The BIB sends its warmest congratulations to Dublin neo-old-time maestri I Draw Slow on the news that the band has just signed with the prominent US bluegrass label Pinecastle Records - the second Irish act to do so, following the lead of Niall Toner.

I Draw Slow state on their Twitter page: 'We are very very excited!', and no wonder.