Dangem Get-Together tomorrow (1 Dec. 2012)

Thanks to Dangem Bluegrass of Craigavon, Co. Armagh, for this reminder:

Tomorrow Saturday 1st Dec. we will have our Saturday get together. So bring them banjos, guitars, mandolins & fiddles & join in & play some Bluegrass.

9.30-10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon
Normal time and agenda
Civic Centre, Lagan Valley Island, Lisburn BT27 4RL
028 9250 9292

View the original message here.

'Folk Club' monthly events from Open House

More good news from the Open House team in Belfast: their new 'Folk Club' series will be held on the last Sunday of each month. The first two (30 Dec., 27 Jan.) will take place at the John Hewitt.

The series is essentially a showcase for Irish traditional music; we note, however, that Dermy Diamond (shown left with Tara Bingham, who will be with him on 27 Jan.) is also a fine player of old-time music. Read the new Open House release here.

Roots Freeway back on RTE Radio 1, 1 Dec. 2012

The RTE website announces that Niall Toner's Roots Freeway radio show returns to RTE Radio One this coming Saturday, 1 December, at 11.00 p.m., with an eclectic mix of folk music, bluegrass, blues, and roots music, gathered during Niall's travels (which have been especially extensive this year), as well as the best of local homegrown singer/songwriters and musicians.

Open House Festival: back to midsummer in 2013

Thanks to Kieran Gilmore and the Open House Festival team in Belfast for the news that following its 'festival lineup all year long' format in 2012, the Open House Festival will be back to a five-day midsummer format next year, when the dates will be 19-23 June. Kieran and the team announce:

Despite a very tough year for Open House Festival and for everyone in Belfast associated with the arts, we have bounced back with an exciting and innovative programme of music for June 2013. We can't announce details just yet but if you love music, and in particular folk, Americana, Irish traditional, or bluegrass, from North America or North Down, then you'll not be disappointed. Keep an eye on our website for details.

Rosa Solinas, head of music at the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (the festival's main funder) adds:

This unique festival, now in its fifteenth year, continues to delight audiences in Belfast. It showcases both established and unknown talent in folk, bluegrass, and Irish traditional music, adding to the rich cultural tapestry of this city.

Read the full Open House e-newsletter.

A partial remedy for missing a great band

The BIB editor reports:

Last night Rainer Zellner and his Music Contact team launched the 4th Bluegrass Jamboree! on an nineteen-day tour around Germany (with one show in Prague). It follows Rainer's successful pattern of a package of three notable US bands. Full details are on the Jamboree! website.

I hate to be missing the shows, especially as the band at the head of the bill is Audie Blaylock & Redline. However, there's at least a partial remedy: this YouTube link leads to a fifty-four minute video of AB&R playing six months ago in Poughkeepsie, NY. This is Essence of Bluegrass, super-strength and undiluted; you need to see as well as hear it, and this is a great way to do so, as the camera is closer to the band than an audience member would get, the sound is excellent, and AB&R are on cracking form even by their standards.

Two of the band have already appeared in Ireland: the award-winning Jesse Brock on mandolin at Omagh, and Patrick McAvinue on fiddle at Athy with Tom Mindte's Patuxent Partners. However long it's going to be till we see the full band here is too long; but while we're waiting, there is this video.

Cabin Sessions, Dundrum, Dublin, 29 Nov.

Gerry Fitzpatrick sends a brief reminder of the monthly Cabin Sessions evening at Uncle Tom's Cabin in Dundrum, Dublin, tomorrow night (29 Nov.); details are as published on the BIB on 17 Nov..

Gerry also sends word that the special Cabin Sessions T-shirts, designed by Kevin Cray and introduced last month, will be on sale at €12 each, or two for a tenner each! All proceeds go to Crumlin Childrens Hospital Cancer Research.

Balla Bluegrass Festival 2013: dates announced

A brief note to pass on the good news from Chris Mannion, whose premises in Main St., Balla, Co. Mayo, are the focal point of the annual Balla Bluegrass Festival: the dates for the fifth festival will be the four days 25-28 October 2013, as usual over the bank holiday weekend. These dates are already on the BIB calendar; further details will be posted as they become available.

Recording King banjos in Galway: an update

The BIB has just stumbled across the news that Kieran Moloney Music in Galway city is offering special deals on Recording King banjos. The photo (left) shows an RK-35 model Mastertone-type 5-string.

The original Recording King banjos were made by Gibson in the 1930s for sale through the Montgomery Ward mail-order business. The brand has been recently revived to make quality instruments available at a budget price - designed by Greg Rich and made in China.

Kieran Moloney Music are the agents in Ireland, and can be found at 17 High St., Old Malt Arcade, Galway city; 'phone +353 (0)91 566488; e-mail. Check out the current offers here. And if you're visiting the Galway area, don't miss the chance to call in on Tom Cussen's Clareen Banjos as well.

Update 27 Nov.: Thanks to Enda Donnelly of Fair City Grass, who writes:

It's ironic you that you mentioned Recording King Banjos on the BIB yesterday; right now I have a top-of-the-line model in my workshop, getting fitted with 5th-string capo spikes for a new student of bluegrass banjo!

The model is RK-Elite-75. Richard, this one is a 'beast'. Terrific value for money, as good sounding as some costing two or three times more. It can be purchased online from Thomann Cyberstore for €769 incl. vat/shipping. That is how this customer got this one. 

Out of the box with little or no setting-up, it's a cracker. On YouTube you can see great players such as Kenny Ingram, Jim Pankey (who toured Ireland this year) playing on this model. Nice Christmas present! wouldn't you think?

Holding the fort at Ellie May's, 24 Nov. 2012: correction

Apologies to both Kate Crawford and Katie Loughrin for not distinguishing properly between them in our Sunday post about Saturday's session at Ellie May's (left), Dunadry, Co. Antrim. Kate C. sets us right; it was she who reported:

Bluegrass at Ellie Mays went ahead today [Sat.], as some of the guys (including the 'handsome one') did not go to Scotland. Playing today were Brian, John Savage, Colin Allen, Colin Henry, Noel Campbell, and making her appearance, Katie Loughrin, the daughter of Arnie and Sharon of Red Room, Cookstown fame.

It was to all accounts a very good session, and was finished off when some of the guys had gone home, by Noel treating the patrons of Ellie May's to some good old Neil Diamond. I have to hold my hands up here and admit I always pester Noel to to do some Neil Diamond...

And Kate adds: 'Oh and by the way John Savage did a very nice version of Van the Man's 'Brown eyed girl'.

International Bluegrass Music Appreciation Day, 12 Dec. 2012

Thanks to the Prescription Bluegrass Blog in the USA for news of an initiative open to all lovers of bluegrass music and everyone involved with it, all round the world. Lee Marcus (USA) has set up a Facebook page for International Bluegrass Music Appreciation Day (IBMAD), planned to be an annual event, with the first being held on 12 December 2012 (12/12/12).

Read more on the Prescription Bluegrass Blog. The PBB is now marking IBMAD by offering free advertising on that day for any bluegrass business (band, record company, festival, etc.); details are here. If you're on Facebook, drop in on the IBMAD Facebook page.

Gifts from the Country Music Hall of Fame

The latest e-newsletter from the Country Music Hall Of Fame® and Museum in Nashville, TN, begins:

Check out our new line of Vinylux jewelry, made from recycled vinyl records! Choose from bracelet cuffs, 45 RPM adapter necklaces, banjo earrings [our emphasis], and bird necklaces. Finish your holiday shopping early this year with these unique products for the music lover in your life!  

Read the full details here.

US uker coming to Ireland, May/June 2013

Clare Innes writes from the USA:

Howdy! I am an amateur ukulele player (with a bluegrass habit) from the US and am coming to explore Ireland 23 May-2 June 2013. I would love to include as many visits to uke clubs, bluegrass picking sessions, events, etc. as possible. Got any recommendations? We're making plans now, so no limits yet on locations.

Many thanks in advance for your help!

We've pointed Clare in the direction of Uke Ireland. Any individual uke players, or anyone who knows of something that will be on in late May and early June next year, can contact her by e-mail.

First Lady of Banjo to visit Ireland, May/June 2013

The BIB is proud to report that early next summer Ireland can expect a friendly visit from Roni Stoneman, the 'First Lady of Banjo', and a daughter of legendary Country Music Hall Of Fame inductee Ernest V. 'Pop' Stoneman (1893-1968), whose 1925 recording of 'The Titanic' was a best-seller on the Okeh label. It was a pivotal feature in Rodney McElrea's McAuley lecture on Titanic songs at the 2012 Omagh bluegrass festival.

'Pop' Stoneman continued to perform, record, and entertain through music for decades, playing with friends and neighbours, and increasingly with members of his family. Veronica Loretta 'Roni' Stoneman grew up playing banjo with the Stoneman Family, later known as the 'Blue Grass Champs', and later still with her brothers and sisters in 'The Stonemans'. While still in her teens, she became the first recorded woman bluegrass banjo-player, on what is recognised as the first bluegrass LP: the Folkways album American banjo tunes and songs in Scruggs style. After the long-running 'Hee Haw' TV series began in 1969, Roni became a popular member of the cast. She was inducted into the Old Time Country Music Hall of Fame in 1979.

Roni and her husband Tom live in Nashville, TN, and will be visiting the UK and Ireland in May/June 2013, arriving on 18 May and returning home a month later. Roni has never been to Ireland, is excited at the prospect, and will, as always, have a banjo with her. She would love nothing more than to meet, talk to, entertain, and pick with or for people who appreciate the music.This will be a unique opportunity for lovers of bluegrass music over here to hear, and meet, someone who is both a historic musician and entertainer in her own right, and has a family background that sets her only one generation away from the beginnings of recorded country music.

Roni's own story, Pressing on, published by the superb University of Illinois Press in 2007, is available from Amazon. She will also feature in Murphy Henry's Pretty good for a girl: Women in bluegrass, which the UIP will publish next year. Plenty of footage of her in performance is on YouTube; and as this video (shot in June this year) shows, she is a dynamic performer. Roni can be contacted through her website.

Moniaive 2012 photo album on line

Thanks to C. Paul Lyttle for the news that he has just uploaded pictures of this year's Moniaive Michaelmas Bluegrass Festival, held back in September. To reach them, you can go to the 'Photos' menu on the Festival website and scroll down to '2012 Gallery' - or take the short cut via this link. The album includes photos of the Knotty Pine String Band (such as that above) and the Down and Out Bluegrass Band. Paul adds:

 I hope you enjoy them... and if you were not at the festival you can see what you missed!

Hanway & Harper take to The Highway

Tom Hanway and Dave Harper (photo: Maura McCabe)

The Island Music Club presents Hanway & Harper (Tom Hanway & Dave Harper), Saturday 24 November at The Highway, Crusheen, Co. Clare. Doors open at 9:15 p.m. Admission €12; bookings 086-859-9957

The year 2012 sees a new collaboration between Dave Harper and his old friend Tom Hanway (Hanway & Harper) to produce a futuristic blend of traditional 5-string banjo and tenor banjo music. Dave and Tom also take turns backing each other on guitar and love to sing country duets that reach back to old-time, blues, Appalachian, and bluegrass gospel songs.

Tom Hanway is an American 5-string banjoist, guitarist, composer and author. He wears many musical hats and does studio session work in many different genres including bluegrass, rock, country, and folk. He is a musical shape-shifter, a veteran of many styles of music who feels blessed to be working in life with other like-minded artists at something that he loves. Tom tours, teaches and plays constantly. He travels back and forth between Ireland and the United States playing tunes and collecting traditional music from across a wide spectrum.

Since the publication of his seminal work in 1998, Complete book of Irish & Celtic 5-string banjo (Mel Bay), Hanway has pioneered Celtic fingerstyle banjo. Bluegrass Unlimited wrote in January 1999: 'What Earl Scruggs’ book did for bluegrass banjo, Hanway’s book may well do for the 5-string in Irish and Celtic music, and will certainly become regarded as "the bible" for any 5-string player with an interest in this joyous music.' This has become a Mel Bay best-seller and has won Tom converts around the world. In 2012 Tom followed up with Easy Irish & Celtic session tunes for 5-string banjo: best-loved jigs and reels (Mel Bay), which is finding distribution and an audience worldwide.

Tom Hanway ('Badbelly') also sings country blues and gospel songs, picking guitar and 5-string banjo. Tom’s friend Vassar Clements (1928-2005) joins him on his tour de force blues-guitar project, The Badbelly project: Hesitation Blues (Joyous Gard). Vassar plays on all of Hanway’s recordings.

In 1997 Hanway teamed up with 5-string banjo manufacturer Geoff Stelling to co-design the Stelling SwallowTail banjo, a production model instrument. The SwallowTail has become a popular model for Stelling, with actor Steve Martin purchasing one true to Tom's original model.

Dave Harper, who lives in the picturesque and wild Burren national park in Co. Clare, is a much sought-after traditional musician and folk singer with an extensive musical history and background. Known at home as one of the foremost exponents of the Irish tenor banjo, Dave also plays and teaches concert flute, tin whistle, guitar, mandola, and bodhrán. For the last ten years he has been regularly touring Denmark three or four times a year with fiddle player Lars Kristensen.

Dave has taught workshops at home and abroad including the Feakle International Music Festival in 2008 and 2009. He has toured extensively throughout Europe with different ensembles and also in New York with fiddler Tony De Marco.

In 2009 Dave took part in the much publicised 'Pure Irish Drops' European tour in its 21st year with piper Micheal 'Blackie' O'Connell and accordionist Conor Keane of Four Men and a Dog and Gilles Servat fame, to great acclaim. Dave still plays regularly with Conor and recently released an album of Conor’s original music, entitled The trip to Cannes.

Photo of Tom Hanway at mike taken by Vernon Webb

Taggart & Denby in Sean Mac D's TONIGHT

Following last Friday's performance by Hugh Taggart (guitar) and Martin McWhorter (mandolin) from Well Enough Alone - tonight (Friday 23 Nov.) Hugh and his good friend John Denby (mandolin) of the Down and Out Bluegrass Band will be playing a set in the same venue: Sean Mac D's pub in Harold's Cross, Dublin, starting at 9.30. Hugh adds:

It'll be an evening of traditional bluegrass songs and instrumentals, with a few original and country songs for good measure.

'The day the music died'

Thanks to Des and Pat Butler of Co. Meath for this message, and for photos from their collection:

It's with great sadness that we learn of the demise of the Athy Bluegrass Festival; it will be a great loss to bluegrass music in Ireland.

It may not have been the biggest bluegrass festival in the country but it was certainly the best, made so by Tony's organisation and dedication with ample help from Joan and the girls.

It was always greatly looked forward to by us, being one of the highlights of our year. We have some great memories of the festival down through the years, all photographed and stored on computer in chronological order.

We made many friends over the years at the festival. We got to hear and see some of the great bands and performers of bluegrass from Ireland and around the world at Athy. It certainly is the end of an era.

No doubt we will meet somewhere on the Bluegrass Trail around the country.

The two photos above were both taken at the 2005 Athy festival, held in the premises of Athy Rugby Club. The heading photo shows John Hunter (guitar) and Noreen Hunter (bass) backed by Liam Wright, Sean McKerr, and Richard Hawkins. The lower photo shows Tom Mindte of Patuxent Music on mandolin leading his band Potomac Crossing, with Dede Wyland (centre) singing lead. The photo below, from the 2010 festival in the Carlton Arms Hotel, shows Tony on stage with High Plains Tradition.

Pat and Ricky Kelleher: All mixed up

Thanks again to Pat Kelleher of Long Neck Music in Cork, whose news of the projected tour by Ken Perlman next spring appears below. Pat - who has long and wide experience as a performer and devotee of folk music and a session musician, and is also a collector of fine banjos - took part with his son Ricky as a duo in the Kilworth Bluegrass Weekend a month ago (see the BIB of 7 Oct. 2012). Pat now writes, on their new CD:

Myself and my son released a multiple-genre CD this year with a strong emphasis on bluegrass. The CD can be purchased direct from www.longneckmusic.com, where samples of all tracks are available for listening. It got reviewed on Irish Music Magazine and Folkworld EU.

The CD can be bought through the Long Neck Music website; you do not need to have an existing PayPal account. We recommend giving Pat's websites and other contacts (see below) a thorough look-over.

Websites: patkelleher.net; Long Neck Music; MySpace; Facebook; Youtube channel

Ken Perlman in Ireland, 5-21 April 2013

Thanks to Pat Kelleher in Cork for the news that Ken Perlman, maestro of 'melodic clawhammer' banjo and also a superb fingerstyle guitarist, is coming to Ireland in April 2013 for a tour, the working dates being from 5 April to 21 April.

Many will remember Ken from the very first Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival in 2002, where he played in a powerful duo with Alan Jabbour (the fiddler/musicologist most responsible for the influence of Henry Reed on the repertoire of old-time musicians since the 1970s). He has an impressive list of publications and instructional material for both banjo and guitar, not to mention the magisterial The fiddle music of Prince Edward Island: Celtic & Acadian tunes in living tradition.

Any interested event organisers or venue owners can contact Pat himself (e-mail; 086 6062504) or John Nyhan (e-mail; 087 7921771). Pat writes that Ken will be covering the south (Munster area for the first seven to ten days); but the BIB thinks that should not prevent anyone in the north who may be interested from making contact.

Dangem alert!

Derek Lockhart of Dangem Bluegrass sends a reminder that he will be touring with Jed (left; see the BIB for 29 Oct. for more details) on the last Saturday in November, so the next Dangem Bluegrass Get-Together will be on the morning of Saturday 1 December.

The location remains the Lagan Valley Island Civic Centre in Lisburn, Co. Antrim, and all other details are as usual. Refresh your memory at the Dangem website and come along!

Bluegrass and Americana Night at the Cobblestone, Dublin, 24 Nov. 2012

Thanks to Mark Flynn for this reminder of a powerful evening this coming Saturday (24 Nov.) at one of Dublin's best-known music venues:

A night of bluegrass and Americana at the Cobblestone with the Down and Out Bluegrass Band + Well Enough Alone + the Blood Red Mountain Band.

Belfast-based Down and Out Bluegrass Band brings powerful harmonies and fierce picking in this traditional bluegrass lineup. Well Enough Alone are Dublin favorites, known for playing traditional standards and contemporary original bluegrass. The Blood Red Mountain Band have been named Best Musical Group by the Association of Irish Festival Events.

This is an unmissable lineup of some of the top Americana and bluegrass performers in the country. €7 adm. Doors are at 9.00 p.m. and the Blood Red Mountain Band are on at 9.15 p.m. sharp.

The Cobblestone, 77 Nth King St., Smithfield, D7

See the BIB for 4 Nov. 2012 for more details and links to band websites.

Tin Box Company: new audio on the website

Thanks to Derek Duff (with banjo in above photo) for the latest news from the TBC:

The Tin Box Company have recently updated their website. It now includes audio content from the band's CD, recorded in studio earlier this year. It will give a great idea of what can be expected from any Tin Box Company gig. The website is here.

A big 'thank you' also to all who have supported the band this year, especially the crew in Delaneys, Knocklyon, Dublin 16, at the regular Thursday night gig.

Gary Ferguson on WAMU's Bluegrass Country tomorrow

Thanks to Gary Ferguson (photo at bottom), who writes:

 I will be on the Lee Michael Demsey show [on WAMU's 'Bluegrass Country', the granddaddy of US public service bluegrass radio] tomorrow (20 Nov.) with singer/songwriter David Norris [no, not David Norris] and his picking partner, Jim Frazier. We'll be on 11.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon our time.

We'll be talking about the new website, artists that have recorded Gunny Sack Songs, the art of songwriting, Ireland tours, etc. David and Jim will also be playing a few tunes live. Here's a link to listen live. You can tune in on the Bluegrass Country website. If you are in the Washington DC area you can tune in on the radio: WAMU 88.5fm channel 2 HD or on 105.5fm. If you are in the Frederick, MD, or Hagerstown, MD, area you can tune in to 93.5fm.

Dobroists back and forth across the Atlantic

We learn from Bluegrass Today that among the 100 resophonic guitar players at ResoSummit 2012 a week ago in Nashville, TN, were pickers from Denmark, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, and Ireland. Comments from anyone who was there are welcome.
ResoSummit's all-star teaching faculty includes the founder, Rob Ickes, who played in Ireland in September as a member of Blue Highway at the Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival (he is on the right in the photo, with Johnny Gleeson of Carlow).

Registration for this year's ResoSummit opened on 31 Jan. 2012 and was sold out within an hour and a quarter, so would-be attenders for next year are advised to get their names on a waiting list.

The Cabin Sessions: Dundrum, Dublin, 29 Nov. 2012

Latest news of the Cabin Sessions, 'Acoustic Music at its Finest', at Uncle Tom's Cabin (not far from Dundrum Luas station in the city direction); Gerry Fitzpatrick announces:

Thursday 29 November is the date of the next of the Cabin Sessions with the McGrane Family, Cathy McEvoy (fiddle), Con Butler (bass), and Gerry Fitzpatrick (dobro).

Special guests: Gerry Campbell & Michael McIver (soul), Lynda Lucas & the Natural Born Heathens (country), Spats Davenport (ragtime blues). 9.30-11.30 p.m. Admission FREE.

If you or someone you know would like to perform at the Cabin Sessions, let me know [e-mail]. We are particularly interested in featuring local musicians and singers.

Christmas gifts and $5 CDs in Compass sale

Alison Brown's Compass Records label announces its Pre-Black-Friday Sale, with select CDs available at $5.00. Categories include Americana and bluegrass, Celtic, jazz and world music, folk, and 'adult alternative'.

Read the Compass e-newsletter here, check what is on offer in the sale here, and look up Compass's suggestions for Christmas gifts here.

Gone to Grass with Ivor Ottley - December gigs

Thanks to Pete Lamb in Co. Galway for news of the series of shows that Galway-based band Gone to Grass will be playing a month from now, marking the return of former member and master fiddler Ivor Ottley (current West Tennessee Fiddle Champion), who will also be giving fiddle workshops in association with the tour.

The photo shows (l-r) Ivor Ottley (fiddle), Pete Lamb (guitar), and Tom Portman (resophonic guitar). A full Gone to Grass promo sheet, including Paddy Jordan (bass), who will be playing on two of the gigs shown below, can be seen here. Gone to Grass are presently recording a debut release.

Details of fiddle workshops are in preparation. Shows confirmed at the moment are:

Thurs. 13 Dec.: Gallery Cafe, Gort, 8.00 p.m. (with Paul Johnson, bass)

Fri. 14th: Crane Bar, Galway city (workshop followed by show) (with Paddy Jordan, bass)

Sun. 16th: Blackrock GAA Club, Church Rd, Blackrock, Cork (Christmas party for all friends and supporters of the Club), 9.00 p.m., no cover charge (trio Ivor/Pete/Tom)

Tues. 18th: Mill Bar, Sixmilebridge, Co. Clare (with Paddy Jordan, bass)

Pudsey - and beyond!

Thanks to Tony Curran for this good news on the future of bluegrass sessions at Ellie May's (left), Dunadry, Co. Antrim:

I have had several enquiries about the status of the Ellie May sessions, and, with the BBC Children In Need 2012 appeal being broadcast tonight, whether or not these sessions will continue.

Rest assured that the sessions in Ellie May's will continue each Saturday (from 3.00 p.m.) for the foreseeable future, with the exception of Saturday 24 November 2012, when the Dunadry Bluegrass Militia will be on manoeuvres in Scotland. Normal cacophony will resume on 1 December!

Since tomorrow will be the last Children In Need benefit session, I would like to call on all bluegrass musicians who might have an hour or two to spare, to come along and support the session by either playing, listening, singing, or 'foot-stompin'' - and don't forget the wallet/purse!

I Draw Slow at The Lodge, Mallow, 7 Dec. 2012

I Draw Slow, showcasing at IBMA's World of Bluegrass in Nashville this September

Thanks to Liam Foley for this news of

... a series of gigs we are hoping to run at The Lodge, Mallow, Co. Cork, beginning on Friday 7 December next with I Draw Slow, kickoff 9.00 p.m. Hopefully this will become a regular concert series in 2013, with a heavily influenced Americana edge to it.

Paul McKenna Band on YouTube - update

Thanks to Alan Chapman, whose YouTube videos of the Southern Tenant Folk Union were linked to the BIB about the time of the STFU tour here in May this year. Alan now writes about musicians from a different musical tradition:

I am just in the middle of a similar exercise but this time with the Scottish folk band, the Paul McKenna Band. While I realise that this isn't bluegrass, I hoped you might be interested to see the videos. There will eventually be seventeen (all of the tunes from the band's performance at the Davy Lamp Folk Club). The following link should take you to an 'apachidesigns' playlist entitled 'The Paul McKenna Band'.

BIB editor's updated note: We first published this post with the wrong link which led to the band's own YouTube channel instead of to the playlist. Thanks to Alan for supplying the proper link.

Taggart & McWhorter in Harold's Cross, 16 Nov. 2012

Thanks to Hugh Taggart, who writes:

Just want to let people know that this Friday (16 November) myself and Martin McWhorter from Well Enough Alone will be playing a set of bluegrass music in Sean Mac D's pub in Harold's Cross, Dublin. We start at 9.30 and will play an hour-and-a-half set with a short break in the middle. There's no cover charge. All welcome, and we hope to see some bluegrass fans there.

A premier clawhammer banjo

Good to hear from Tim Rogers, leader of the Clew Bay Critters old-time band in Co. Mayo, who thoroughly recommends the Greasy Coat String Band (see the BIB of 9 November for details of their session every Friday in Hannan's of James's St., Dublin).

Tim also remarks that he is contemplating selling his Dave Stacey 'Sodbuster' banjo, shown on the left, with its traditional dowel stick visible through the banjo head. All Stacey banjos are first-class workmanship, and the Sodbuster model is designed and built for a plunky old-time sound, with a deep, thin-walled pot. Anyone interested should contact Tim by e-mail.

The photo shown when this news was first published can be seen on Dave Stacey's Banjo Hangout page.

Larry Sparks - on disc and in person

Thanks to Enda Donnelly of Fair City Grass, who writes, a propos of yesterday's 'Quotes of the month':

Loved the article on the life of Larry Sparks (Bluegrass Unlimited) It was most informative and extremely pertinent in this day and age, of the rapidly changing bluegrass scene.

Reading about the above brought back great memories, as Geraldine and myself met Larry Sparks for a 'shake n' howdy' at Jerusalem Ridge Bluegrass Festival in Kentucky last year (see photo above).

As referred to in the above article, I'm delighted to have a copy of Ramblin' bluegrass by Larry Sparks & the Lonesome Ramblers, one of my early collections, which I will always treasure (see photo below).

Prospective Aoife O'Donovan tour in Ireland, early Feb. 2013

Thanks to James O'Brien for the news that Aoife O'Donovan (above) of the American string band Crooked Still will be coming to Ireland to do a solo tour after her performance at the Celtic Connections festival (Glasgow, Scotland, 17 Jan.-3 Feb. 2013) as part of the Transatlantic Sessions. The siz dates (1-7 Feb.) currently arranged for Transatlantic Sessions can be seen on Aoife's news page. Her tour in Ireland is planned to start on 8 Feb. James adds:

She is hoping to air some of the new original songs from her forthcoming album; also she will be including versions of old and new American and Celtic folk songs. I'm trying to get as many suitable venues as I can together. She is likely to come either solo or with minimal backing, so getting cosy listening rooms are what I am after.

If you can offer, or know of, a suitable venue and date in the period beginning 8 Feb. 2013, contact James by e-mail.

Athy: updates

Finale of the 2012 Athy festival (photo: Niall Toner)

I'm sure there will be a huge response to this news, and I'd like to add my 'tuppence' by saying thanks to Tony for the past fifteen years. It must have been tough at times, but Tony has always managed to show great good humour, and always made people feel welcome in Athy. He and the annual festival will be missed. On behalf of Clem, Dick, and myself - thanks, Tony.

Niall Toner

************
I remember a long time ago when I started playing, and asking what was the best bluegrass festival in Ireland to go to. Everyone I asked said the same thing - Athy. Well, I've been there, I've played there, and they were right. The music was always first, but the people who attended or played were never second.

This festival will be sorely missed. I think the Irish bluegrass community owe a large debt to Tony O'Brien; I for one certainly do. Ferguson, Holmes, & Henry grew from the seed of a few tunes in a back room in the Carlton Hotel at the Festival in 2007. Thanks, Tony.

Colin Henry

************
The Athy festival was my first introduction to the Irish BG scene, over 10 years ago now, and memories of the warm and friendly welcome I encountered there endure... Fair play to you, Tony!

Twanger

************
I would like to add to the compliments and 'Thank Yous' to Tony O'Brien. Tony put my first tour together back in 2005 with Gail Wade. Then in 2007 he hired 'Gary Ferguson & David Miner' and again in 2009 with 'Ferguson, Holmes and Henry'. I have been coming back each year since. I am forever grateful!

Also, on the compliment side, I love Tony's singing. He has an 'Ancient Appalachian Tone' in his voice. I would love for him to come visit sometime and we'll take a drive down into Virginia and do some picking and singing with Mike Auldridge and Bill Emerson. :-)

Thanks for all you've done, Tony! It has not gone unnoticed.

Gary Ferguson

************
It was with great, great sadness that I read the news of the end of Athy Bluegrass Festival - very sad but totally understandable, because even though Tony O'Brien ran the festival so very well, it's a sign of the times we live in.

It has been an honour to have been associated with the Athy Bluegrass Festival and with Tony O'Brien. Athy is going to be sorely missed; and may I just take this opportunity to wish Tony O'Brien every success in the future, and I look forward to meeting him at some bluegrass gathering somewhere soon.

Vinny Baker

Niall Toner: new album at #1 on AirPlay Direct

Onwards & upwards, the new Pinecastle Records album by Niall Toner, is at the #1 position on the AirPlay Direct (APD) all-genres Top Fifty radio download chart today (12 Nov. 2012). It is also at #23 in the all-genres APD all-time Top Fifty Albums chart, and at #22 in today's APD Bluegrass/Folk Album Radio Downloads chart.

The album is now available in all formats. Signed copies can be ordered through the NTB website; tracks and/or the full recording are available from iTunes, and CDs from Pinecastle Records. Niall and the NTB are exclusively represented worldwide through the Make Welcome music agency.

Quotes of the month

You’ve got to find it [a personal style]. And when you find it, you’ve got to work it and take care of it. It’s hard to find. When I step out on stage, I’ll look different and the boys will look different. I am the leader. I am the one who found the way.

I had to tone the guitar [the one he has used since 1966] to make it sound the way I wanted. You play tone into them. You put that sound into the tone that you want. It was really different.

Larry Sparks, quoted in a major article by Tom Netherland in the Nov. 2012 issue of Bluegrass Unlimited - just some of the many good things in the article, which can be read in full here.

Athy Bluegrass Festival: the end of an era

Left: Tony O'Brien, organiser since 1997 of the Athy Bluegrass Festival in Athy, Co. Kildare, Ireland's oldest annual bluegrass event (photo: from an original by Carl Mark O'Neill). 
Tony sends this statement:

After a lot of consideration since the 22nd Athy Festival in July, I have decided to discontinue the festival. It's been a big part of my life for over two decades, and I have been the organiser for fifteen very enjoyable years. I have made a lot of great friends and will miss the buzz of seeing the festival come together each year.

I wish to thank very sincerely all the loyal fans who supported the festival over its twenty-two years, and I hope we will meet somewhere on the bluegrass trail during 2013. I have a lot of fond memories of great bands and sessions, and Athy was always for the love of bluegrass music and its fans.

Thanks to everyone for the memories,

Tony O'Brien

Though the BIB publishes this news with great regret, there is not the slightest doubt that if anyone has deserved the gratitude of the bluegrass community in Ireland and earned the right to take a rest, it is Tony.

Thunderbridge Bluegrass Boys to take a break

Uri Kohen, organiser of the annual Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival in Co. Mayo, sends the sad news that the Thunderbridge Bluegrass Boys (GB) - who, as well as being one of the leading bands in England, topped the bill at this year's Westport festival - have announced that for the time being, at least, they are to cease playing together. The statement published today on their blog includes these words:

The decision comes as the band finishes their seventh year playing their own brand of UK bluegrass. Many miles have been travelled, many gigs have been played; they still are, and will remain, great friends who have achieved a great deal together. With other commitments increasingly hindering valuable band time, it has been decided that the band needs a break.

... The band wish to pass on their thanks to all the friends and followers they have throughout the UK, and beyond, and for all the support they have been given since their first concert together in 2005.

The band's website will continue, and Thunderbridge Promotions will continue to support bluegrass in their part of the West Country. Their final show together will be on 8 December; full details are on the Thunderbridge blog. Sixty photographs taken during the Westport 2012 festival are on the 'Gallery' section of their website.

New website for Gary Ferguson

Thanks to singer/songwriter Gary Ferguson (USA) for the news that he now has a new website, Gunny Sack Music.

The website includes news, lyrics of Gary's songs, a store (with the Ferguson, Holmes, & Henry CD), photos from Ryan Ferguson Photography, a roster of writers, and a page on Gary's new musical partnership with multi-instrumentalist Kathy Barwick (photo above), with whom he will be touring Ireland next year - his ninth consecutive year of touring over here.

Further details of the tour (as they stand at present) are on the BIB for 13 August 2012.

Doc's 'Ol' Hoss' for auction, 27 Nov. 2012

On Tuesday this week the European Bluegrass Blog carried the news that a historic collection of resophonic instruments made by the Dopyera Brothers will be auctioned at Christie's in New York on 27 November 2012.

Thanks to Kevin Lynch for publishing today on the EBB the news that lot #20 in the same auction will be the late Doc Watson's 1968 Gallagher G-50 guitar #68001 'Ol' Hoss', in guaranteed perfect condition, with case, pick, original leather strap bearing Doc's name, and a copy of the LP Ballads from Deep Gap. On Christie's e-catalogue you can also listen to four audio tracks from the album. The dealer's estimate for the instrument (which has already done time in the Country Music Hall of Fame) is $6,000-$8,000, which seems modest.

Our only misgiving comes from Kevin's describing the guitar as 'infamous'. Was this Doc's opinion of it? What does a guitar have to do to deserve being called 'infamous' - repeatedly break strings, refuse to stay in tune, inflict disfiguring and expensive scratches and dents on other people's instruments, or emit disturbing organic noises during gospel songs?

Greasy Coats resident in James's St., Dublin

Thanks to Derek Copley (with banjo in above photo) of the Greasy Coat Stringband, who writes:

I am hoping you could oblige us by posting our weekly old-time session on the blog. It is held every Friday night in Ryan's/Hannan's Bar on St James' St., Dublin, from 10.00 p.m. This Friday (9 November), Liam Kennedy will be joining us, along with musicians from Dublin and Sligo. Musicians most welcome!

The session has been running for two months now and we want to keep it going. It began as an old-time session, with some trad and ballads to satisfy the odd call for 'a Christy Moore one!', but we are trying to 'purify' it to strictly old-time, and thus need like-minded musicians and listeners to come along. We can be found on Facebook here and Hannan's Bar can be found here.

Book soon for Sore Fingers 2013

John & Moira Wirtz, organisers of the Sore Fingers Summer School, send news of the teaching faculty at next year's edition of the premier European instructional camp for bluegrass/old-time skills, to be held 1-5 April 2013 at Kingham Hill School, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England:

We have a pretty high-profile lineup of tutors, from the legendary Fletcher Bright, who put the Sore Fingers Fiddle course on the map back in 2001, to the incredible singing talent of Mollie O’Brien and her partner Rich Moore. Add a few amazing characters like Noam Pikelny, Chris Eldridge, and Dirk Powell to the mix and we’ve probably got one of the best lineups of musicians to teach you next Easter.

But, don’t take our word for it, just take a look on our website and get reading the tutor biogs and prepare yourself to be impressed! Sore Fingers Week is surely the best camp this side of the Atlantic. But you knew that anyway! Here’s the full list:

Autoharp Karen Mueller
Autoharp Beginners Heather Farrell-Roberts
Bass Eric Thorin  
Banjo Bill Evans  
Banjo Noam Pikelny  
Dobro [tutor not yet confirmed but will definitely run]
Fiddle Fletcher Bright  
Guitar Tyler Grant
Guitar Chris Eldridge  
Mandolin Jesse Cobb
Old Time Fiddle Dirk Powell
Old Time Banjo Chris Coole  
Singing Mollie O’Brien/Rich Moore  
Banjo Beginner John Breese  
Fiddle Beginner Laura Carrivick
Guitar Beginner Gary Payne  
Mandolin Beginners Charlotte Carrivick

There’s no need to contact us to check for availability. Please download the form and send it in with deposit. Forms available from this link. More information here.

FOAOTMAD news in a new format

Britain's vigorous old-time association, the Friends Of American Old Time Music And Dance (FOAOTMAD), are replacing their weekly e-mail newsletter - the news will come henceforward in a blog format. The FOAOTMAD secretary announces:

 The new format mailout is now available, thanks to sterling work from Su Mo who took time off from her fiddle and banjo to delve into the depths of Wordpress blogs. You can find the mailout at its new home. Set that as a favourite/bookmark and check it every week (or more often) to suit yourselves. 

In the meantime I will continue to send out an e-mail with a summary of new contents, but this may eventually tail off as we all get used to it!

Winter Music Weekend 2013 in Co. Clare

Thanks to Sixmilebridge Folk Club, based in Sixmilebridge, Co. Clare, for details of their 2013 Shannonside Winter Music Weekend (17-20 Jan. 2013). They have produced an attractive 32-page brochure-cum-programme, which can also be downloaded from the website as a pdf-format document.

The multi-genre programme, with seventy music events at fifteen venues, includes something for most tastes and is especially rewarding for bluegrass enthusiasts. First, Sixmilebridge figures largely in the January tour schedule of the splendid Special Consensus (USA), on their nth visit to Ireland, who are scheduled to play two 45-minute sets in the Bunratty Folk Park on Saturday afternoon, the main festival concert on Saturday night, and a tribute to Doc Watson and Earl Scruggs on Sunday afternoon.

And also taking part in the Weekend will be Lilly of the West from Bulgaria, who have been the main force behind bluegrass music in eastern Europe; Bending the Strings from Mullingar, and the Banjaxed Bluegrass Band from the Limerick/Clare area. And much more. The brochure includes details of accommodation in the area, and of other services such as a shuttle bus to Bunratty and the railway station.

'Lonely souls and broken hearts' on ABC-TV, 7 Nov. 2012

Following Niall Toner's news posted on the BIB on Sunday, the Make Welcome Entertainment agency has issued an e-newsletter announcing that Niall's song 'Lonely souls and broken hearts' will be featured on the 'Nashville' ABC-TV series on Wednesday 7 Nov. at 10.00 p.m. ET - almost exactly fifteen years after it was first written. Full details are here.

Another treat for banjo players

The BIB editor reports:

Last week, thanks to Mel Corry, the BIB featured a YouTube video in which Sammy Shelor gave his explanation of 'drive', how to achieve it, and how this is done in the Lonesome River Band.

Looking at it again today, I decided to look at another video from the right-hand column, showing Jim Mills playing the hymn 'How great thou art'. This can be strongly recommended as an example of how to play a powerful banjo solo on a slow song; as an example of use of tone and dynamics, both as they come out of the banjo and as they come through the microphone; and, above all, as simple enjoyment - I can't recall when I last laughed as much from the sheer pleasure of listening to banjo playing. Back to the woodshed!

I also recommend this video, in which Jim Mills and friends play 'Sally Gooden' (sic), and have a good time doing it. A minor point of interest is that Dick Bowden (playing rhythm guitar on both videos) uses a flat pick on 'How great thou art', and thumb-and-finger style on 'Sally Gooden'.

Banjo history from Bill Evans

Thanks to Cathal Cusack for sending this link to a video on the Fretboard Journal website, made by Bill Evans (USA). The 15-minute video is based on Bill's full-length 'The banjo in America' presentation, which shows the development of the instrument from gourd-and-stick to electric, and its playing styles from West African prototypes to present-day post-bluegrass.

The video was also published on Bluegrass Today on 1 November, from which the above photo is taken. It shows (l-r) Bill Keith, Alan Munde, and Bill Evans, all of them looking good for a further fifty years or more.

Bill Evans has played in Ireland (too briefly) with master fiddler Megan Lynch. After the success of Michael Miles's show on banjo history at this year's Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival, it would be good to see Bill's show over here as well.

Helen Highwater (USA) is operational

Thanks to Maria E. Nadauld of Above the Bay Booking in the USA for news of the formation of a new string band from seasoned components. No explicit prospects yet of the band coming to Ireland, but enthusiasts here will be aware of the members, some of whom have already been over here. Maria's release says it all best:

Nashville, TN (1 November 2012) – It was just another night in Nashville: four friends — revered acoustic musicians — got together in a living room. The music bounced, danced, gathered strength, and lifted them in a way that only happens with the right players.

So, they formed a band and named it Helen Highwater — the tough, whimsical goddess of string band music. It’s David Grier on guitar, Missy Raines on bass, Mike Compton on mandolin, Shad Cobb on fiddle, and power vocals from all four, now available for booking.

These are musicians who have performed for decades. Their music is rooted but not frozen, recognisable but not predictable, comfy but not smug. It’s also a steel-railed groove of steam-powered drive — Gid Tanner and Bill Monroe stoking the coal car and one band barrelling ahead, eyes around the curve.  

David Grier was named an Artist of the Decade in 2000 by Guitar Player magazine, has received the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Guitar Player of the Year award three times, and has played on four Grammy award-winning albums.  

Missy Raines is a seven-time IBMA Bass Player of the Year and a former member of the Claire Lynch and Eddie & Martha Adcock bands. She played as a duo with Jim Hurst and now fronts her own ensemble, The New Hip.

 Mike Compton is known as the Monroe-style mandolin player and has played with John Hartford and the Nashville Bluegrass Band. Mike received Grammy awards for his work on O Brother Where Art Thou and played on projects for Dr Ralph Stanley and Elvis Costello.

 Shad Cobb is a powerful and nuanced fiddler who draws from deep traditions and has played for the Osborne Brothers, Willie Nelson, Steve Earle, Marty Raybon, Mike Snyder, and the John Cowan Band.

For more information and bookings contact Maria E. Nadauld, Above the Bay Booking, +1 510-828-6961; e-mail.

BIB editor's note: at least one band by the same name (but in a different genre) already exists; but we like the idea of the Helen who is 'the tough, whimsical goddess of string band music'.  

Update 6 Nov.: Maria sends the above composite image. We omitted this info from her original message - 'Helen Highwater will debut with a special appearance at the Fiddle House in East Nashville on Sunday 2 December. Demo CD will be ready for release mid-December.'

Down and Outs at the Red Room, 9 Nov. 2012

Thanks to Sharon Loughrin in Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, for

... news already of another upcoming Red Room house concert! Hot on the heels of a very busy few nights with Random Canyon Growlers, we're now looking forward to hosting some of the best local bluegrass talent. The Down and Out Bluegrass Band [shown above at the Cornish Bluegrass Festival in Sept. 2012] play here this coming Friday (9 Nov.), and anyone who has heard them play around the festivals in Ireland and Scotland this year will know that it'll be a great night. Start time is 8.30, as usual, newcomers are very welcome; just get in touch by e-mail/phone/Facebook page for further details.

Also of possible interest is the release of a new CD by Iris DeMent, her first in sixteen years, called Sing the Delta. If I remember right, my first ever contact with the BIB was to post news of an Iris DeMent concert in the Spring and Airbrake in Belfast several years ago. On that night she sang a beautiful song called 'The night I learned how not to pray'. I couldn't find this recorded anywhere and I'm happy to see it on this new recording. There's a good Guardian review of the CD.

The review, by Robin Denselow, appeared in the Guardian on 1 Nov. and can be read online.