Report from the front line

Thanks to Niall Toner for this news from Nashville, where his new Pinecastle CD Onwards and upwards has been launched during IBMA's World of Bluegrass week:

Our CD launch went well at Jack's Barbecue, and I'm (once again) indebted to Martino Coppo for his dedication and talent, and also to Konrad Liddy from I Draw Slow for his work on upright bass [the photo above, from Pinecastle's Facebook page, shows Niall, Martino, and Konrad in action]. I did a fifteen-minute interview with Jim Lauderdale on his WSM Radio Show on Wednesday afternoon, and he played a couple of tracks from Onwards and upwards. We had a huge reaction from his listeners to 'The pride and joy of Shelby' and 'Million dollar bill', and Jim's show is available as a podcast.

I also played Ernest Tubb's Record Store on Wednesday night with Junior Sisk and Michael Cleveland. It felt a bit like walking in the shoes of country music history. I am performing live today (Friday) on WAMU with Chris Teskey at 2.00 p.m. Nashville time. My band today is Martino Coppo on mandolin, Holly Tashian on bass, and Barry Tashian on guitar. Tonight I'll be with Bryan Sutton, Keith Sewell, and others at the Bourgeois Guitars showcase.

I Draw Slow at their stand in the IBMA trade fair (credit: Pinecastle Facebook page)