Blackberry Winter for Europe - this year or next?

 

Blackberry Winter (above), from the Missouri Ozarks, are interested in touring the UK and Ireland, possibly Europe, this year or next. Their music, which fits in the Americana/bluegrass/old-time categories, with especially powerful and sensitive vocals, can be heard on the soundtrack of the critically acclaimed film Winter’s bone (2010), which was nominated for four Oscars.

They can be seen in performance, or heard from the film soundtrack, on YouTube, here, here, here, and here. The band, who are also on Facebook, can be contacted through their road manager Sarah Denton of Juneapple Records, by e-mail.

Ferguson and Barwick in Ireland, 7-16 July 2013

Thanks to Gary Ferguson (USA) for details of his forthcoming ninth consecutive annual tour in Ireland, partnered this time by multi-instrumentalist and singer Kathy Barwick (USA):

Here are confirmed July tour dates so far for Ferguson and Barwick (we're also on Facebook). Our first date is at the Red Room in Cookstown and our last date is 16 July in Dublin (to be confirmed). If anyone wants to help us fill the gaps, please message me. Thanks!... and hope to see you!

Sun. 7th: Red Room, Cookstown, Co. Tyrone
Mon. 8th: Ballymore Acoustic Gigs, Ballymore Eustace, Co. Kildare
Tues. 9th: Crane Lane Theatre, Cork city
Wed. 10th: De Barra's Folk Club, Clonakilty, Co. Cork
Fri. 12th: St John’s Theatre, Listowel, Co. Kerry
Sat. 13th: Copper Café, Allihies, Co. Cork
Sun. 14th: Valentia Island, Co. Kerry, *TBD
Tues. 16th: Dublin, *TBC

News digest #5

Thanks to Tom Connor for this poster image for the forthcoming visit in May-June 2013 by Roni Stoneman, 'First Lady of Banjo' (see the BIB for 23 Nov. 2012). The poster (click to enlarge) shows the dates when Roni will be in different parts of Ireland and events for which she is already booked. Anyone who can offer Roni a show or a picking party should contact the BIB editor emeritus, or John Nyhan by e-mail.

The updated schedule of events up to 9 Mar. 2013 at the Seamus Ennis Cultural Centre at Naul, Co. Dublin, can be read here.

Thanks to Sharon Loughrin for the news that Rose's Pawn Shop (USA) will begin their tour next week a day earlier than previously announced, with a date on Tuesday 5 March at the Weigh Inn, Omagh, Co. Tyrone. The rest of their schedule (up to Sunday 10 March) is on the BIB calendar.

Bluegrass Daily published this link to archives in the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina, and specifically to Collection no. 20061, the Jack Bernhardt Papers. The 300+ items in this archive include cassette recordings of interviews with many major figures of bluegrass, old-time, and contemporary country music, including Bill Monroe and Jesse McReynolds, Tommy Jarrell and Henry Reed, and Tammy & Jerry Sullivan. Professor Bernhardt has presented the McAuley Lectures at the annual Appalachian & Bluegrass Music Festival at Omagh from their inception up to 2011.

Late extra: Homespun's 20% 'Love the blues' sale on instructional DVDs for instruments including mandolin, fiddle, flatpicking guitar, and lap-style slide guitar, will continue till midnight (US time) tomorrow - Wednesday 27 February. Full details here.

News digest #4

The series 'Stripped-down news' continues under this new title.

Events in the next seven days (taken from the BIB calendar)

Tues. 26th: Dublin Bluegrass: first of a new series of weekly bluegrass circle jams, Siné Bar, Ormond Quay, Dublin, 8.00 p.m.*

Thurs. 28th: The Cabin Sessions, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Dundrum, Dublin 14: the McGrane Family, Con Butler, Gerry Fitzpatrick, with Christian Volkmann; special guests the Hot Dots (mandolin/ukulele), Angie McLaughlin (ukulele swing), Alan Begley & Friends (Americana);  9.30-11.30 p.m., adm. free

Fri. 1st Mar.: Red Hat Acoustic Music Club, Harbour View Hotel, Naas, Co. Kildare: Anna & Orla Greaves, Ray McGee, Mick Dunne, Paul McEvoy, guests; musicians and listeners welcome; €3 donation

*These extracts from the calendar have not so far carried information on sessions that take place every week. Until further notice, please check the 'weekly sessions' section of the BIB calendar.

Other news

Ray O'Brien of Waterford city has set up a new Facebook page, 'Bluegrass in Ireland' (see separate post). Ray has plans for developing the site further, with added features including an event calendar.

Weekly bluegrass circle jam begins in Dublin, 26 Feb. 2013

 Thanks to Aran Sheehan of Dublin Bluegrass for this news and the poster image:

We are commencing the first of our weekly bluegrass circle jams at 8.00 p.m., this Tuesday 26 February 2013, in Siné Bar, Ormond Quay, Dublin...

The news also appeared earlier today as a comment on the BIB post of 15 Feb.

Bluegrass in Ireland on Facebook

This news is special enough to warrant a post all to itself. Ray O'Brien of Waterford has set up a new Facebook page, 'Bluegrass in Ireland'. Launched just this morning, it's already off to a vigorous start with messages from the bluegrass community, links, video material, and the promise of more to come - including a calendar. Ray says:

If you would like me to add an event to the calendar email me and I will be happy to create an event for you on the page. I will need the below info from you.

Venue
Band details
Where
Tickets - prices and where they can be bought
When

The BIB extends the warmest possible welcome to 'Bluegrass in Ireland' and encourages everyone with an interest in bluegrass in Ireland to make full use of it. Thanks, Ray!

Update 5 Oct. 2016: After Ray had run 'Bluegrass in Ireland' for a year in very close cooperation with the BIB, pressure of other commitments obliged him to withdraw from it in 2014. It was then taken over by Wendy Connolly from the USA, living in Co. Wexford, and now ploughs a separate furrow.

Stripped-down news #3

Events in the next seven days (taken from the BIB calendar)

Wed. 20th-Sun. 24th: 9th Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival and Song Writing Convention, Belfast

Fri. 22nd: I Draw Slow, Whelan's, Dublin 2; €10; doors 8.00 p.m.
Dangem Bluegrass present banjo lessons for beginners, Spectrum Centre, 331 Shankill Rd, Belfast, 7.00–9.00 p.m.

Sat. 23rd: Dangem Bluegrass monthly Bluegrass Get-Together, Lagan Valley Island, Lisburn, Co. Antrim, 10.00 a.m.-noon

Thurs. 28th: The Cabin Sessions, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Dundrum, south Dublin: the McGrane Family, Con Butler, Gerry Fitzpatrick, Christian Volkmann; special guests Hot Dots (mandolin/ukulele), Angie McLaughlin (ukulele swing), Alan Begley & Friends (Americana); 9.30-11.30 p.m., adm. free

Other news

Thanks to Adele Ingram-Magee of Wookalily (the link is to the band's Facebook) for a SoundCloud link for 'To a dove', the Dixie Hall composition which Wookalily recorded for the 4-CD Daughters of Bluegrass project Pickin' like a girl, released in the US on 30 Jan. (see the BIB for 29 Jan.).

Gerry Fitzpatrick announces the next in the Cabin Sessions series in Uncle Tom's Cabin, Dundrum, south Dublin, at 9.30-11.30 p.m. on Thurs. 28 Feb., admission free. The McGrane Family, Con Butler (bass), and Gerry Fitzpatrick (dobro), with Christian Volkmann (harmonica), present special guests the Hot Dots (mandolin/ukulele), Angie McLaughlin (ukulele swing), and Alan Begley & Friends (Americana).

Stripped-down news #2

The UK's Eagle Music Shop had a welcome presence at the last two Johnny Keenan Banjo Festivals. The Prescription Bluegrass Blog published yesterday the news that Eagle are now the #1 banjo dealership in the world. Congratulations to Steve Noon!

Ireland's own leading banjo dealer, Dangem Bluegrass, present banjo lessons for beginners at the Spectrum Centre, Belfast, on Friday 22 Feb.; and their monthly morning Bluegrass Get-Together at the Lagan Valley Island Civic Centre, Lisburn, Co. Antrim, on Sat. 23 Feb. Full details are here.

The updated schedule of events up to 3 Mar. 2013 at the Seamus Ennis Cultural Centre in Naul, Co. Dublin, can be seen here.

Anyone who was turned on to classic bluegrass by the Bluegrass Album Band should enjoy this well-illustrated article by John Goad on Bluegrass Today. Several members of the BAB have been to Ireland - including one new member who first arrived as a skinny teenage mandolinist with Special Consensus.

Stripped-down news #1

Tom Stapleton announces that Skip Gorman and Ron Kane (USA), alumni of the Deseret String Band and ace practitioners of old-time cowboy music, will be performing in Ireland from 19 Apr. to 11 May 2013. Dates confirmed so far are on the BIB calendar.

Niall Toner's Pinecastle album Onwards & upwards stands at #23 among the Top 100 Roots Country Albums of 2012, according to Roots Music Report (USA).

Late Extra: Aran Sheehan has added a comment to the 'Shape of things to come' post (15 Feb.) which will be good news for bluegrass fans in Dublin.

The shape of things to come

The BIB editor writes:

My official retirement from bluegrass blogging begins today. What first needs to be said, after that, is that my heartfelt thanks go to the many friends who have expressed their appreciation of the BIB and its past work. Their tributes have been moving and eloquent, have for the most part been written to be made public, and have fully deserved to be made public. My not publishing them is not because of any false modesty, still less lack of gratitude; but I do owe the BIB's friends an apology. I may not be completely gone yet.

Part of this message should have appeared a week ago, to give BIB readers some idea of what to expect. On 18 January I was contemplating retaining the BIB, with additions and changes, as a relatively static reference source, with a role similar to Kevin Gill's pioneering 'Bluegrass in Ireland' website. However, from what BIB readers have said to me, it seems clear that the BIB's most useful function is letting people know what's on.

Posting news on the BIB, in the way it has been done, takes more work and time than I would wish for myself or anyone else. While the BIB served as the shop window showing the scene here to the world, then perhaps that much work was necessary. But I think we're past that stage now. What I can do is keep the BIB calendar active, while putting on the front page - perhaps twice a week - a post showing the calendar items for the next seven days and listing, very briefly and without pictures, news that has come in. The result would resemble the weekly posts on the FOAOTMAD news blog. And this would have the great advantage that anyone else could obviously take this up and run it if for any reason I couldn't do so.

This proposed plan should not stand in the way of anyone who wants to (a) carry on the BIB in the way it has been done, or (b) set up, say, a Facebook page where people can post their own news and photos in full. Anyone ready to take either of these courses has my blessing. While we're all thinking about this for a few days, enjoy the splendid photo shown below.

The glorious past

 

Thanks once again to Eamonn Quigley for this magnificent shot of the Sackville String Band in 1981 (l-r: Niall Toner, Jimmy Kelly, Bill Whelan, Colin Beggan) rehearsing in Bill's living room in preparation for performing at the Doc Watson concert in Dublin. Note Colin's recently bought Mossman guitar.

Hearing Bill Stepp

Thanks to the Smithsonian Institution for this news:

On Sunday 10 February 2013 Stephen Wade appeared on NPR’s 'Weekend Edition' to discuss the induction of Bill Stepp’s 'Bonaparte’s retreat' into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame. During the interview, Wade detailed the relationship between Stepp’s song and Aaron Copland’s musical theme for the ballet 'Rodeo'. Of the recording, Wade said: 'When you're hearing forty concert violins and a xylophone and a wood block all playing together, really [you're] hearing fiddler Bill Stepp.'

Stepp and other musicians were the inspiration for his most recent book, The beautiful music all around us: field recordings and the American experience (University of Illinois Press), and the GRAMMY-nominated album, Banjo diary: lessons from tradition (Smithsonian Folkways).

Northern Ireland represented in the BBMA

BIB readers who are members of the British Bluegrass Music Association (BBMA) or otherwise take an interest in its affairs will have noticed that for some years the BBMA has lacked an area representative for Northern Ireland. That gap has now been filled.

We're happy to announce that the new BBMA regional rep. for Northern Ireland is Sharon Loughrin of the Red Room (Ireland's premier house concert venue) in Cookstown, Co. Tyrone. The duties involve reporting to the BBMA, primarily for its excellent quarterly magazine British Bluegrass News, e-mailing details of bluegrass-related gigs, festivals, etc., in the North. Sharon says:

I'll get in touch with those I know who are involved in organising events, but anyone out there is welcome to e-mail me details of anything bluegrass going on in Northern Ireland (or phone 07747120659 after 5.30 p.m.), and I'll pass it on to the BBMA.

On a personal note, Sharon adds:

We had a great night with Southern Tenant Folk Union last night in the Barn - haven't got the photos loaded on Facebook yet, but we had a nice wee session afterwards which even included a bit of ukelele playing - great craic.

22nd Annual Appalachian & Bluegrass Music Festival, Omagh: Fri. 30 Aug.-Sun. 1 Sept. 2013

Thanks to Richard Hurst of the Ulster American Folk Park, Omagh, Co. Tyrone, who announces:

I am absolutely delighted to inform readers of the Bluegrass Ireland Blog that we have just secured the Lonesome River Band [above] as our headline act for this year’s Festival. They have just celebrated their thirtieth anniversary in style, adding to their multitude of industry awards by recently winning the 2012 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Award for Instrumental Recorded Event of the Year for their song 'Angeline the Baker' from their Chronology Vol. 1 album, and on top of that Sammy Shelor also received his fifth win as the 2012 IBMA Banjo Performer of the Year. I know our followers will be stunned by what these lads bring to the Festival, and we are once again over the moon to exclusively present such another multi-award winning act in our twenty-second year.

Also on the bill and direct from the US will be 2010 Festival favourites Cedar Hill who will make a welcome return with their unique brand of bluegrass music from the Ozark Mountains. It’s now time for the Sperrin Mountains to ring out to the high lonesome sound which Frank Ray and his merry band of pickers is sure to bring at the end of the summer. We will also present the multi-talented Lynda Dawson & Pattie Hopkins of Kickin' Grass fame who will impress our audiences with their heart-warming harmonies, high-quality musicianship, and originality.

From the Continent it’s finally time for Omagh to play host to one of the longest established bluegrass lineups in Europe. Six-piece Rawhide, based in Belgium, will bring a smile to everyone’s face with their fun-loving and high-quality stage performances. They are renowned for stretching the boundaries of bluegrass towards other styles and genres such as barbershop, classical, swing, and pop. Their live shows combine a variety of tasteful instrumental and vocal music with lots of humour thrown in for good measure.

From England we welcome the Jaywalkers, a youthful trio of highly talented musicians who create a unique sound based on their collective and individual musical backgrounds. Influenced by folk, bluegrass, country, and western swing music in the form of virtuosic instrumentals, three-part harmony, and occasional slap bass, these folks will prove why they won third place in the category of European Bluegrass Band of 2012 at EWOB and were BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award Finalists in 2009.

From north of the border we welcome back Southern Tenant Folk Union who are at present on a tour of Ireland. This acclaimed and award-winning Edinburgh-based roots collective are fast establishing a reputation for exciting and engaging live shows. In their hands bluegrass can effortlessly be blended with other genres – folk, roots, and Americana – to make a potent, timeless sound.

We never forget the importance of supporting and showcasing the ever-increasing number of artists at home who continue to bring us the finest of old-time and bluegrass music throughout the entire year. We are delighted to welcome back old friends like Woodbine, the Broken String Band, and Northern Exposure, whilst for the first time we will host Tupelo, Well Enough Alone, and the Down and Out Bluegrass Band. They all promise to deliver memorable performances throughout the weekend.

One or two other acts will be added to the bill between now and the end of the summer, but for now I recommend you put the dates in your diary and join us for Festival #22 from 30 August to 1 September, when you can stroll through the museum for the afternoon sessions with six stages of great music to enjoy or book tickets to experience the high-octane atmosphere of an evening concert in the park. Find out more and check in regularly at www.nmni.com/uafp and of course on the Bluegrass Ireland Blog!

The Red Hat Club - a new time of the month in April

Thanks to Paul McEvoy for news of the Red Hat Acoustic Music Club, which got off to a rousing start in its new venue - the Harbour View Hotel, Naas, Co. Kildare - on Friday 1 February. The Club's next meeting will be on Friday 1 March; after that, the dates will move from the firs to the second Friday each month. Thus the April meeting will be on Friday 12 April, starting at 8.30 p.m.; all musicians and listeners are welcome.

The hotel is easily located, especially for anyone who remembers driving through Naas town centre on the way to Newbridge and beyond before the M7 was built. Follow R445 down South Main St. and turn right at the Murtagh's Corner traffic lights on to New Row. This is still on the R445, and the hotel is easily seen about 200 yards down on the right, on the far side of an intersection. There is plenty of parking space. The sign visible as you approach from the town centre says 'Harbour Hotel' (which is also the name on the website); but over the front door the full name 'Harbour View Hotel' appears.

David Hope at Kenny's of Lahinch, 15 Feb. 2013

Folk/roots singer David Hope, a frequent performer at Westport, whether at the Folk & Bluegrass Festival or at Electric Cave Production gigs, will be launching his new album Scarecrow at Kenny's Bar, Lahinch, Co. Clare, this coming Friday (15 Feb.). He will be joined by Galway singer/songwriter Miriam Donohue, who will also be launching a record that night. More details are in the latest Kenny's e-newsletter.

Bluegrass Horse Feed Seminar TONIGHT in Tullamore!

Thanks to our Midland Correspondent (Louis O'Dwyer) for the news that Flynn's of Church Road, Tullamore, Co. Offaly, will hold a Bluegrass Horse Feed Seminar at the Bridge House Hotel, Tullamore, tonight (Wed. 13 Feb. 2013), beginning at 7.30 p.m. A copy of the announcement in the Midland Tribune states:

Don't forget admission is free & everyone will be entered into a free draw for 10 bags of feed!! Lots of goodies also to be won [...]

Louis adds:

Is this intended to be for the benefit of of our burger consumers or our four-legged friends?

We look forward to hearing from anyone who attends this unique (as far as we know) bluegrass event.

Doyle Lawson - a video tribute

A treat for admirers of one of the giants of bluegrass today, and especially for those who have seen him perform in Ireland: there's a video tribute to Doyle Lawson on YouTube, made to commemorate his induction in 2012 into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.

Since this was made, he has become Mandolin Player of the Year at the recent SPBGMA Awards, and is celebrating fifty years as a professional musician. The video, which is on the Mountain Home Music YouTube channel, shows still photos and brief film clips from throughout his career. We could wish to see and hear more from his time with Jimmy Martin, and more of his recent reunions with Paul Williams and J.D. Crowe; but you can't have everything in just under fourteen minutes.

Update 13 Feb.: as a special treat for St Valentine's day, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver have put a version of 'Love me tender' on their website; 'Elvis would love it!', they say.

A tribute to the Athy festival

Thanks to Vinny Baker of the VeeBee Recording Studio and Bending the Strings, who writes:

It was with tremendous joy that I read of the return of the Athy Bluegrass Festival. This festival has been one of the most important in the calendar of Irish bluegrass events, and its loss to the bluegrass musicians of Ireland would have been immeasurable. In these days of recession everywhere, festivals could not and did not escape, and the cold hard facts are that money is not freely available for entertainment such as festivals.

In my opinion, Athy festival stood above many other 'Bluegrass Festivals' in the country. I used the inverted commas because my opinion is that at a lot of the other festivals the bluegrass music was just a sound in the background... but not Athy. Tony O'Brien and his committee gave the music centre stage, and of course this made it all the more difficult to get sponsorship; but Tony stuck to his morals, and his sincere, deep love and respect for the music. Tony O'Brien should be applauded for that.

Finally, may I ask, through this post, every bluegrass musician and band in the country to weigh in heavily behind Tony O' Brien and his committee to help make sure that this festival continues. I don't have to spell it out how you can help - you know that yourselves. Well done, everyone involved in the organising of the Athy bluegrass festival; may it continue to grow.

Events at the Séamus Ennis Centre, Naul, Feb.-Mar. 2013

Joost van Es of 4 Wheel Drive with the statue of Séamus Ennis outside the Centre (photo: Jan Michielsen)

The Séamus Ennis Cultural Centre, Naul, Co. Dublin, 'Ireland's biggest little venue' and a good friend to bluegrass and related music in the Dublin area, continues its rich programme of music, film, spoken word, crafts, and other skilled activity. The Centre's updated schedule between now and 3 Mar. 2013 can be seen here.

More info, including news of events on later dates, is on the Centre's website, and its online e-newsletter can be read here.

All performances are presented at the Centre, with doors open at 7.30 p.m. and the performance at 8.30 p.m. unless otherwise stated. Full details, including ticket prices, are on the Centre's website. For more information, photos etc., contact the Centre by phone (+353 (0)1 8020898), fax (+353 (0)1 802 0931), or e-mail.

Critical acclaim for Onwards & upwards

Niall Toner's new Pinecastle album Onwards & upwards has been receiving some extremely favourable reviews. Thanks to Niall for the scanned image (left) of the reviews by Alan Cackett in the UK's Maverick magazine and by Greg McAteer in Hot Press. Click on the image till you reach a readable size of print.

For those who can't wait - Alan Cackett calls the album 'an almost perfect blend of bluegrass and country, highlighted by quality songwriting', considers 'William Smith Monroe' 'the finest song I've heard in regard to Bill Monroe', and ends:

This is without doubt an outstanding album and further proof, if proof was needed, that European country-bluegrass-old time singers do not need to sound like pseudo Americans to produce authentic, honest, and creditable country music with great authority.

Niall adds that the Maverick review has caused a sharp rise of interest in his work, especially since it came out in the USA last week, and may be responsible for his having also just hit the #1 spot on the AirPlay Direct all-time, Bluegrass/Folk charts - 105 downloads above the Bill Monroe tribute album.

Boogiemen top the bill at Westport 2013

Thanks to festival organiser Uri Kohen, who announces:

The 2012 Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival was the best one to date. Unforeseen circumstances forced us to change our dates and the 2013 festival will take place on 14-16 June in Westport, Co. Mayo.

As it was in previous years, the 7th Westport Folk & Bluegrass Festival will showcase the best of local, national, and international folk and bluegrass acts. The committee spent the last few months in creating a top-class lineup which will hold strong against any festival of the genre.

The festival will see the return of regular acts such as Tim Rogers, the Rocky Top String Band (AKA the MacEvillys), and the Molly Hicks which are now household names at the festival.

The festival will welcome back Woodbine for the first time since their main stage appearance in 2008. There will be first-time appearance of some great acts such as Derry singer/songwriter Eilidh Patterson, Dublin-based bluegrass band the Tin Box Company, and superb Anglo-Irish band Jukebox Gypsy.

American old-time/bluegrass act Tumbling Bones will end their month-long Irish tour with two shows at the festival, and the First Lady of Banjo, Roni Stoneman (right), will play her first Irish show during the festival. Roni is also very much looking forward to playing along with Irish musicians.

The festival headline show, which will cost only €15, is one of the year's greatest treats for bluegrass fans - the show will start with Wildflowers, an Irish trio which is gaining a huge world reputation and providing a very unique take on old-time ballads and more. The night then will 'kick off' with the fantastic Kidnap Alice (photo above) from London: this band is a real party band and the festival is their biggest Irish show to date. The night will end with the mighty Blue Grass Boogiemen (NL); it will be a huge treat for the band's Irish fans and they promise to bring back some sweet memories from their headline show at the 2009 festival.

The committee are working on a few more surprises in what is gearing up to be one of the finest folk & bluegrass events of 2013. More details and updates will be on the festival Facebook page.

See you in Westport, 14-16 June 2013!

Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival

From the organisers of the Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival:

It is with a heavy heart that we make this announcement.

Due to circumstances beyond our control, there will be no Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival in 2013. We thank the town of Longford for sustaining the festival from 2002 to 2011.

The BIB editor notes: In a week that has seen the return of the Athy festival (Ireland's oldest annual bluegrass event) to life, we must hope for a future for the Banjo Festival. It has been of immense symbolic importance; has brought great musicians together and to Irish audiences; and has seen the birth of many musical friendships.

Deering - doing the right thing

Thanks to Professor Jack Bernhardt of North Carolina - who has presented the McAuley Lectures at the Omagh festival up till last year - for this link to an article by Ronald D. White in the Los Angeles Times, republished online in the News Observer.

The article should please anyone who owns a Deering banjo, sells Deering banjos, or has an interest in the company: it points out that despite the recession and imported instruments, Deering are having their best year ever, and that artists who play Deerings have received thirteen Grammy nominations this year.

Read the whole article here. Your editor has never met a Deering banjo he doesn't like; though his Mastertone resents being carried around in a Deering gig-bag...

Specially for fiddlers

Thanks to Megan B. Lynch Chowning (USA) - who toured here too briefly with Bill Evans (USA) and last year coached Ivor Ottley for his victory in the West Tennessee Fiddle Championship - for her latest e-newsletter. It includes practice tips for fiddle and guitar and the news that her FiddleStar website has been thoroughly refurbished and streamlined, with new features.

Old-time music fans should note that the new features include a seventeen-and-a-half-minute video documentary on the unique Tommy Jarrell, which can also be seen on YouTube.

Old Hannah in action - on YouTube

Thanks to Anthony Mannion, who writes:

Slim Pickins are undergoing a facelift! Check out this little treat, filmed by our Glen Sessions friends in Sligo, and please like us at our new home. Introducing... Old Hannah!

The evocative YouTube video, shot on a cold, crisp January afternoon, shows Old Hannah (Luke Mercer, Lucie Crichlow, Anthony Mannion, Leo Morris, with guitar, dobro, and 5-string) tuning up and performing.

The band is based in Sligo/ Dublin. The Glen Sessions notes say: 'They are most certainly ones to watch.' Contact Old Hannah here.

Orpheus Supertones in these islands in mid Sept. 2013

Following on the BIB post of a couple of weeks ago about the Highwoods Stringband, thanks to the FOAOTMAD weekly e-newsletter for the news that the Orpheus Supertones (USA; above), featuring Walt Koken (seated, right), one of the original Highwoods,

are in negotiations to appear at the Cornish Bluegrass Festival. To make it financially practical they need a number of reasonably paid fee-supporting gigs either side of September 13th-15th. Although it is more practical for these to be in the south/southwest there is a ‘good money, will travel’ option.

Any takers for Irish dates for the Supertones around that time?

Forthcoming shows from Musiclee.ie

Thanks to Paul Lee of Musiclee.ie for a reminder that Aoife O'Donovan (USA) will be performing in Whelan's Main Stage, Wexford St., Dublin 2, this coming Sunday (10 Feb.); 8.30 start; tickets €15 (€13 if booked in advance). She will be joined by bass player Jake Silver, and opening the show will be Jeffrey Foucault and Ry Cavanaugh.

Two-and-a-half months from now (Friday 26 Apr.) Cahalen Morrison and Eli West will be playing in Whelan's, with an 8.30 start; €16 (€14 if booked in advance). Full details of these and other shows are on the Musiclee.ie website.

Traffic builds up in Memory Lane

Thanks again to Eamonn Quigley, who forwards this evocative photo from Bill Whelan, doyen of old-time clawhammer banjo in this island. The photo shows Bill during the first lockout of the National College of Art in 1969, holding a Temlett banjo. Bill is quoted as saying that he 'picked up a banjo in 1969 and hasn't put it down since'.

Athy 2013 WILL take place!

Tony O'Brien (left; photo from an original by Carl Mark O'Neill) sends this statement, the most pleasant surprise so far in 2013:

The Athy Festival is back on after an interjection and injection from the Athy town council. At a meeting today with the council chairman and town clerk, they have agreed to put some money into the festival to keep it alive.

So the 2013 23rd Athy Bluegrass Festival is on for the weekend 12-14 July in the Athy GAA Centre. The lineup will be on the festival website shortly. We hope all our fans have not made alternative arrangements and will be with us again.

19th year for Dunmore Bluegrass!

Thanks to Karen Cheevers of B2B Communications for this welcome news:

The Guinness International Bluegrass Festival returns to Dunmore East, Co. Waterford, for its nineteenth year. The festival will take place in the picturesque fishing village from 22 August to 25 August 2013.

As with previous years the local hostelries - the Strand Inn, the Haven Hotel, the Spinnaker, Powers Bar, and Azzurro - will play host to dozens of free gigs throughout the weekend, with local, national, and international bluegrass names playing a variety of traditional and contemporary bluegrass music.

Full details of bands and artists performing at the 19th Guinness International Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival in Co. Waterford will be announced soon on www.discoverdunmore.com.

And if you are a touring bluegrass band and fancy a Dunmore gig, get in touch with Mick Daly, Festival Organiser, by e-mailing.

Petunia & the Vipers on Pat Kenny Show, 7 Feb. 2013

A special e-news bulletin from the Seamus Ennis Cultural Centre in Naul, Co. Dublin.

Doc Watson Family Milestones

Thanks to Maeve Toner, one of the featured artists taking part in Doc Watson's Dublin concert in 1981, for the news that in this coming April Open Records will release a multi-disc collection of over ninety never-before-heard recordings from the Watson family archive, compiled and organised by Doc's daughter Nancy. Among other rarities, the project will include early recordings of Doc's electric guitar work. A Kickstarter campaign has been launched to finance the project. Read more on the Kickstarter site and on Cybergrass.

More from Memory Lane

Following on from the BIB posts in May and June last year, with historic photos taken during Doc Watson's concert in Dublin in 1981, we thank Eamonn Quigley for this photo which was used in promoting the concert, a poster for which is visible in the upper right-hand corner.

The photo shows the artists supporting Doc, his son Merle, and T. Michael Coleman at the concert: at rear, Maeve Toner, and in front the Sackville String Band (Mk V?) - left to right, Colin Beggan, Jimmy Kelly, Bill Whelan, Niall Toner.

We took this opportunity to check on the outcome of a related event mentioned on the BIB last autumn: the sale, by auction at Christie's of New York in November, of Doc's Gallagher guitar 'Ol' Hoss'. The estimate of what it would fetch was set in advance at $6,000-$8,000. This seemed at the time unduly cautious, and so it turned out; 'Ol' Hoss' sold for $40,000. The report is here.

Familiar faces at the SPBGMA convention

The Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America (SPBGMA) opened its 39th Bluegrass Music Awards and 30th National Convention in Nashville last night (31 Jan.). Thanks to Compass Records for the news that artists on their roster are nominated for a total of twelve SPBGMA awards. Read the full Compass release here.

The list includes several artists who have performed in Ireland: Claire Lynch and Dale Ann Bradley are both nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year (Traditional), and the Gibson Brothers are nominated for Bluegrass Songwriters of the Year, Gospel Group of the Year (Contemporary), and Vocal Group of the Year. Also performing at SPBGMA tomorrow will be the Special Consensus, who were still in Ireland on Tuesday last, and since then have been briefly at home before playing at a festival in Florida.

A little further down Memory Lane

The BIB editor reports:

Thanks to educator, author, and journalist Brian Trench for this publicity photo for the House of David Jug Band, of which we were both members in 1965-6. The band took its name from 'House of David blues' (recorded in 1957 by the McGee Brothers and Arthur Smith, released in 1964 on Folkways FW 2379, and now available on CD from Smithsonian Folkways); its appearances included the 'Late late show' and concerts at Liberty Hall, Dublin, and the Whitla Hall, Belfast.

The photo, taken outside 28 Waterloo Road, Dublin, where Brian had the basement flat, shows (l-r) Jake Harries (vocals, long-neck 5-string, autoharp), Brian Trench (vocals, washboard - an inspired performer), Trevor Crozier (vocals, guitar, harmonica, kazoo), Patricia ('Montana') Bryson (vocals, whistles), and your editor (Jedson 6006 'Symphonic' 5-string, and headstands). Apologies to our colleague in the foreground playing the jug, who has to remain unidentified for the present.

All of us were interested in different forms of music; the jug band was where our circles overlapped. Trevor (d. 1995) went on to become one of the leading songwriters in Scrumpy & Western Music and recorded with various groups in this genre, in medieval music, and in English, Breton, and other traditions.