BCM celebrates 1927 Bristol Sessions, July-Aug. 2017

The Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol, TN/VA, announces a programme of events celebrating ninety years since the holding of the 1927 Bristol Sessions, the 'Big Bang' that laid the foundations for the country music industry.

The programme begins on 15 July with a symposium on the technology, impact, and legacy of the sessions; continues two weeks later with a 'Friends of 1927' concert; and includes screenings of the new documentary film Born in Bristol on the weekend 4-6 Aug. Full details can be found here. A special commemorative Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion festival will be held on 15-17 Sept.

Rodney McElrea, 1938-2017

This morning the BIB received from Jim MacArdle of the Watery Hill Boys the very sad news that Thomas James Rodney MacElrea of Omagh, Co. Tyrone, one of the world's foremost collectors of recordings and other material relating to country music, had died on the night of 24/5 June. Rodney had a stroke during the winter from which he never fully recovered, but Jim wrote:

Although incapacitated physically, his mind was as alert as ever. I last visited him about two weeks ago and we had made a tentative arrangement to watch 'The winding stream' video on my next visit, but unfortunately this was not to be.

Jim, who spent much time with Rodney in recent years, now sends this account of his life.

I first came across the late Rodney McElrea’s name in the late sixties on the cover of an LP titled Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, volume 2 on Dave Freeman’s County label. On the back of the album cover was a photo of Charlie’s gravestone with the inscription at the bottom stating ‘Erected and dedicated by Rodney McElrea, North Ireland, and readers of Country News and Views’.*

Rodney was first smitten by country music in 1952 when he bought his first Hank Williams 78. For over sixty years he has been an avid collector of 78s, LPs, books, letters, photos, and all kinds of memorabilia and ephemera. Rodney subscribed to country music periodicals and magazines and corresponded with like-minded enthusiasts and collectors for most of his life.

In 1962, together with his friend and fellow-editor Charlie Newman, he produced the first volume of Country News and Views, a quarterly publication consisting of articles and record reviews by both editors and guest writers, including American collector Dave Freeman.

In pursuit of his hobby, Rodney made his first trip to America in the early 1960s and visited the RCA building in New York, where he was given access to their files and commenced work on his discography of the Carter Family.

Dave Freeman, founder of County Records and a well established collector, took Rodney under his wing, and in 1965 they travelled together to North Carolina to research the life of Charlie Poole and met guitarist Norman Woodlief, Charlie's wife Lou Emma, and Cliff Rorrer, a nephew of the Ramblers’ fiddler Posey Rorrer. Seeing that Charlie’s grave had no marker, Rodney set about collecting donations from the readers of CN&V.

Rodney made numerous subsequent trips to the States, meeting Sara and Maybelle Carter, Hank Snow, and many more of his heroes over the years.

In recent years Rodney was an important part of the Bluegrass Festival at Omagh, where he gave the McAuley Lecture every year on such subjects as ‘More travels and tales’, ‘The Crooked Road’, 'Women in bluegrass’ etc.

Despite suffering from failing health in recent years, Rodney remained as enthusiastic as ever about his hobby right to the very end. He passed away peacefully last Saturday and was buried in the picturesque Droit graveyard on Tuesday, not far from his old home in Newtownstewart. He is survived by his loving wife Ruth, his sons Richard and Peter, and his daugher Lindsey.

May he Rest in Peace.

Jim MacArdle

**********

Rodney's death notice states that he died peacefully at Altnagelvin Hospital, Derry; the funeral service was held in Omagh Gospel Hall at 2.00 p.m. yesterday (Tuesday 27 June). Links for messages of condolence and donations to 'Building Bridges, Changing Hearts' are on the same web page. The BIB editor writes:

Rodney McElrea was unquestionably a national treasure, and this should be more widely known. No one else in this island, in my opinion, has made a remotely comparable contribution to the cause of old-time and traditional country music (including bluegrass); and we can be thankful that the Ulster American Folk Park made the MacAuley Lectures available as a vehicle for his encyclopedic knowledge, which never failed to entertain as well as enlighten.

For those who knew Rodney, he will be sorely missed because there is literally no one to take his place. For those who did not, the best available guide to this man and his unique achievements may be a scholarly thesis, 'Rodney’s archive: an ethnographic encounter with a private music collection and its collector', presented by Eve Olney in 2012 for a Ph.D at the Dublin Institute of Technology. As an 'ethnographic encounter' it is not directly concerned with the music, but there's a great deal about Rodney as a person, his career as a collector, and his relationship with what he collected, together with many photographs and an associated DVD. It can be read online.

I consider myself fortunate to have met Rodney, and all my sympathies go out to Ruth.

*Rodney's part in providing Charlie Poole's gravestone was mentioned in Ireland's Own magazine, in Pauline Murphy's article of 31 May 2016.

Jaywalkers on video in Coventry

The Jaywalkers (GB), who opened the Saturday night concert at the Westport festival earlier this month and were on the bill at Omagh a few years ago, can now be seen also on Bluegrass Today, which features their appearance at the Big Comfy Bookshop in Coventry. They are interviewed on video (also on YouTube), being interviewed by bookshop owner Michael McEntee, and playing an original song from their 2015 album Weave.

Moving on Music's Roots Music Week, 6-9 Sept. 2017

Moving on Music announce that the third BEATROOT, a four-day series of roots music concerts, will be held from Wednesday 6 September to Saturday 9 September in Belfast. Friday's show will be at the Black Box, and the three other evenings at the Crescent Arts Centre. Tickets for Wednesday's concert are £10 (£8 conc.); all others are £13 (£10 conc.) each, and a full ticket admitting to all four shows is £30.

Cup O'Joe (photo) will be taking part in BEATROOT on Thursday 7 Sept., when they will be in the Crescent Arts Centre, 2-4 University Rd, Belfast, supporting Dublin-born folksinger and bouzouki player Daoirí Farrell. The show (like all those in BEATROOT) starts at 8.00 p.m. More details, together with performance videos and online booking link, are on the event web page.

James Joyce meets bluegrass

On 8 June the BIB mentioned the overpowering performance by North Carolina's Balsam Range at the Bühl Bluegrass Festival in Germany. The band have now come a little closer to Ireland: as reported on Bluegrass Today by John Lawless, they have recorded a track on the new album Goldenhair.

Goldenhair consists of music by Brian Byrne, award-winning Irish composer, arranger, and conductor now living in Los Angeles, who has set twenty-one poems from James Joyce's Chamber music (1907) in different modern musical styles. Balsam Range, together with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, contributed the five-minute track 'Cool is the valley', which can be heard on iTunes. The Bluegrass Today feature includes a video (also on YouTube) in which band members show their appreciation of being part of the project.

Memories from Dunfanaghy

BIB editor's note: The excellent Oxford American online magazine published earlier this month the article 'That winsome moan' by Ian S. Port, which investigates the possible origin of southern slide guitar in Hawaiian guitar playing. I sent the link to Belfast dobro maestro Colin Henry, and this is Colin's reply (with links added), published with his consent:

I have to say I have always been somewhat sceptical about the story that the lap-style slide guitar was 'discovered' by Joseph Kekuku when his knife (or comb) fell on his guitar sitting on his lap and made a slidey sound! If he had less hair or had eaten a sandwich we might never have heard of the Dopyera Brothers or the mighty Jerry Douglas!

As an aside I had a great gig with Niall Toner on Saturday night at the first Dunfanaghy BAND Festival. I was standing in on Dobro for the mighty Johnny Gleeson, Niall's regular Dobro player. It was a good night, well attended. Niall was in top form and graciously called my son James up to play some tunes on banjo. I informed Niall that he now had hooked father and son on bluegrass music. I told him that the first live bluegrass band I heard was the Sackville String Band and of course the first live 5-string I heard then was your good self. I was hooked on bluegrass from there on in. Roll on a 'few' years and my son gets his start on stage with none other than Niall!

The Dunfanaghy Festival was overall a great festival. Very well organised by Lisa and Garry McGrath. The performances all seemed well attended and the town was buzzing.

*

Thanks also to Alec Somerville for his own recollections from the BAND Festival, including this priceless photo:

I am playing a banjo made entirely of MATCHSTICKS, while Geordie MacAdam plays a fiddle made of LOLLIPOP STICKS! Both made by Geordie, and both sound great... Wilson Davies on guitar strives to keep a balance of sanity between Geordie and me... this was just a spontaneous jam when Geordie showed me the banjo (I was the first to play it). The Festival was great, no doubt you will be hearing.

More photos are on the BAND Festival Facebook.

2nd Woodbine Bluegrass Jamboree, 7-8 July 2017

Thanks to Tony O'Brien for this news and his reflections on the scene:

2nd Woodbine Bluegrass Jamboree is just over a week away, 7th & 8th July in Athy GAA Centre. We have an all-Irish lineup this year, as we felt there is a need to get back to supporting the home-grown acts in order to promote bluegrass in Ireland.

I have noticed over the past few years new bands coming on the scene and fading away again after a short while. Maybe if more venues would give these bands a chance, the music would grow in the country. We have Evan & Amy Lyons (Tipperary), Colonel Bullshot Rides Again (Mayo), the Watery Hill Boys (Louth), Clem O'Brien (Laois), and host band Woodbine (Kildare) over the two nights. Full details on www.wbine.com/jamboree.html and www.facebook.com/woodbinebluegrassjamboree.

Dave Evans

The BIB learns with deep regret from John Lawless on Bluegrass Today of the death of Dave Evans at the age of 65. One of the most intense, powerful, and soulful singers in traditional bluegrass, he was in that sense the hardest of hard-core - with, at the same time, an original and distinctive personal style both as singer and as instrumentalist.

Dave Evans was one of the few singers in bluegrass who could bring screams of enthusiasm from an audience, and had a banjo style that owed little (if anything) to 'progressive' playing but was always inventive and stimulating. Fortunately for us there is a good deal of his work still available on CD and on YouTube, where (for instance) there are several good clips of him singing the classic 'Ninety-nine years is almost for life', but this solo performance is a fine example of his banjo work; and 'Mansions for me' shows his equally personal touch on guitar.

Further bio details are here, and a magnificent article by Lee Johnson is here. More can be expected to appear on Bluegrass Today.

Westport 2017 - videos and photos!

Uri Kohen, head of the Folk and Bluegrass Festival organising team at Westport, Co. Mayo, sends good news for anyone wanting to refresh their memories of the Festival or get a taste of gigs they didn't manage to catch:

Ger Kenny of Pervege Free Films has been filming every gig, concert, and session at the Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival since the first one in 2007. Over the years, many of his videos made their way to the festival's YouTube channel.

The channel is being updated regularly, and at the moment there are some classic moments from this year's festival as well as many videos from previous ones. Please visit the channel and feel free to share the clips you like on social media. Enjoy!

There are also plenty of photos (and enthusiastic comments by people who were there) on the Festival's Facebook, including the one below showing Westport's own Rocky Top String Band.

Rackhouse Pilfer at Glastonbury 2017

The BIB warmly congratulates Sligo's Rackhouse Pilfer on their appearance at this year's Glastonbury Festival (on the weekend just past). Photos and more details can be found on their Facebook.

FOAOTMAD old-time fiddle and banjo workshops in England, 24-6 Nov. 2017

The FOAOTMAD news blog announces that application forms will be available early this week for its next old-time fiddle and banjo workshop weekend, which will be on 24-6 Nov. 2017 in the pastoral setting of the Wye Valley Youth Hostel at Goodrich, near Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, England.

The teachers will be Jane Rothfield (USA) and Gabrielle Macrae (USA). Anyone who has seen and heard the Horsenecks on their recent tour in Ireland knows Gabrielle's powerhouse fiddling and apparently inexhaustible repertoire, and she is also known for her clawhammer banjo work.

The bad news is that only FOAOTMAD members can attend, but we assume that anyone keen enough to go will already be in FOAOTMAD. Full details on the poster image, which is also on the FOAOTMAD blog.

Outlaw Country Show in Strabane, 8 July 2017

Bluegrass people have often felt like outlaws when it comes to getting airplay on country music radio, so thanks to Barry Johnston for news of the Outlaw Country Show, featuring the songs of Steve Earle, Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Willie Nelson, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Waylon Jennings, Jerry Jeff Walker, and John Prine.

It has attracted sell-out crowds for Culture Ireland Night in the Duke of York, Belfast; the Out to Lunch Festival in the Black Box, Belfast; the Hotspot, Greystones, Co. Wicklow; and Bangor Chamber of Commerce. The next show will be in the Alley Theatre, Strabane, on Saturday 8 July. Doors 8.00 p.m.

The performing artists are Barry Johnston (acoustic guitar), front man with Illegal Smile; Rod Patterson (double bass), touring musician and musical director; and Ivan Gilliland (guitar, mandolin), who has worked with Van Morrison, James Galway, and many others.

Full details of them and the songs likely to be heard are on the Alley Theatre website. Sample numbers on YouTube include Barry's rendition of Guy Clark's 'LA freeway' and this excerpt from the Black Box show. Barry can be contacted at +447840 622731.

Major interview with Alan Munde

The BIB editor writes:

Back in April the BIB noted that a major interview with Tom Mindte by Katy Daley had appeared on Bluegrass Today, and that it was worth reading for any bluegrass enthusiast. On Thursday Bluegrass Today published Katy Daley's very substantial interview with Alan Munde (photo), one of the most respected bluegrass musicians alive.

It's indispensable reading as a high-profile professional's account of how music entered and developed in his life from childhood on, his banjos, his mentors, his heroes, his two years with Jimmy Martin at $35 a show, his teaching career, and much, much more. Any instrumentalist should read the passage on how to make a note 'quick', even if you read nothing else. But you should read it all.

Almost at the end, there's a brief passage on Alan's long association with Stelling banjos - he was (I believe) the first prominent player to become identified with playing a Stelling.

Mala & Fyrmoon (CH) back in Ireland, 28 Sept.-8 Oct. 2017

(L-r) Vincent Zurkinden, Mala, Stefan Behler

Our Swiss friends Mala & Fyrmoon (also on Facebook) will be back in Ireland this autumn, and Mala (lead vocals, fiddle, guitar, mandolin) writes:

Dear fans and friends from the green island,

Our third tour to Ireland is getting closer, and we are so excited about it!

Now we still have some open dates to fill. I thought I'll reach out to you, asking for advice, suggestions. For example listening rooms, folk clubs?

Or maybe you (or some friends of yours) are even interested in hosting a private house concert for us? To do so, you would need a room where at least 15-20 people could sit or stand, and invite over all your friends and family. Generally, you would ask them for a suggested donation as our pay. We've done that before, and it's definitely a very special, intimate moment for hosts, guests, and musicians...

If you are interested, let me know, or give me your phone number, so I can call you for further information.

The dates to fill are all in the first week of October:
Tues. 3rd (region or between Cork and Listowel)
Thurs. 5th (between Listowel and Sligo)
Sat. 7th (between Sligo and Dublin; Sunday 8th we'll take the flight home to Switzerland)

Thanks for any help and hope to see you in the fall!
Mala

Mala can be e-mailed at malamusic@gmx.ch. The band can be heard and seen on YouTube in these samples: 'Green light of May', 'On the run', and 'Still falling'.

Bluegrass on the Walls, Derry city, 5-6 Aug. 2017

Thanks to Frank Galligan - writer, radio and TV presenter, doyen of bluegrass MCs, and 'Bluegrass on the Walls' organiser - for the news that the 'Bluegrass on the Walls' section of this year's Maiden City Festival in Derry city will have the following lineup of bands, all of them from Ulster:

• Erdini
• Cup O'Joe (photo)
• Knotty Pine String Band
• Tennessee Hennessees
• Cool Hand String Band

More details will follow in the next couple of weeks.

Wookalily prepare their second album

Wookalily announce that they are recording their long-awaited second album with producer Julie McLarnon at Analogue Catalogue Recording Studios. Ten or twelve songs are ready to go: 'they have the Wookalily stamp of course, but we've crossed a little further over to the shady side of the street.'

The band are largely financing the album themselves, but need the support of their fans to reach the target (£4,000, with a deadline 28 days away). This can be given by pre-ordering the album or pledging support through a Kickstarter campaign. All money pledged will be used for the expenses of recording, producing, distributing, and marketing the album.

The band also have the following dates in the next two months:

Fri. 7th July: Portico, Portaferry, Co. Down
Fri. 14th: Supporting Martha Wainwright in the Soma Festival, Castlewellan, Co. Down
Sat. 15-Sun. 16th: Dalriada Fest, Glenarm Castle, Co. Antrim
Sun. 16th: The Tap Room, Newcastle, Co. Down

Sat. 5th Aug.: Bennigans, Derry city
Sun. 27th: The Tap Room, Newcastle, Co. Down

Bluestack Mountain Boys at Lissan House, Cookstown, 1 July 2017

Bluestack Mountain Boys: (l-r) Patrick Simpson, T.J. Screen, Luke
Coffey, Aran Sheehan, Niall Hughes

Thanks to Sharon Loughrin of the Red Room, Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, for this news of hard-core bluegrass presented in concert in a new venue nearby:

The Red Room are delighted to have been able to work with Lissan House, Cookstown, to present the Bluestack Mountain Boys on Saturday 1 July.

Lissan is a fabulous 17th-century country house on the edge of Cookstown; some may remember it coming runner-up in the finals of the BBC Restoration programme a few years ago.

The concert will be held in the ballroom at Lissan, seated with refreshments in the interval or BYOB. It's a rare opportunity to hear first-class bluegrass in such a unique setting, with a chance to explore the grounds and wander through the main hall during the interval.

Start time is 8.00, tickets cost £15 and can be booked through Lissan, tel. 028 867 63312, online at this link ('Lissan House Music Room and the Bluestack Mountain Boys'), or get in touch with the Red Room, Cookstown, via Facebook, e-mail, or text/ tel. 077 36837779.

Payment at the door should also be possible, but best to check before travelling as seats are limited.

Lissan House

The event link includes a location map for Lissan House, and a writeup on the Bluestack Mountain Boys by Simon Humphries of Bluegrass Camp Ireland.

John's Bumper Bluegrass Package in Ireland, 4-16 July 2017

The Petersens

Yesterday we hoped to be able to give dates in Ireland for the wealth of US talent that will be here in the first half of July - so thanks once again to John Nyhan, who has organised the tours for three of the four US acts, for this news. John writes:

With such young bluegrass talent performing in Ireland between the 4th and 16th of July, you could nearly call it 'The Future of Bluegrass Tour'. Or something similar. Yes, there will be some older pickers in Jeff Scroggins, Al White, and Jon and Karen Petersen, but there will be nine musicians under the age of 30.

• The four Petersen children, with the youngest, Juliana, just 16 years old; Matthew Petersen 23; and Ellen and Katie still in their twenties.
• Tristan Scroggins is only 22 and playing mandolin as good as the best in the business.
• The four students in the Berea College Ensemble are all around 20.

What a treat it will be, not alone for lovers of bluegrass but for anyone who has even the slightest interest in music. I guarantee they will be in for a real treat.

The Petersen Family Bluegrass Band from Branson, Missouri, are making their second visit to Ireland. On their previous visit they enthralled audiences with their superb sibling harmonies. They are also fine instrumentalists on banjo, fiddle, guitar, mandolin, and bass. They cover classic bluegrass, contemporary, gospel, country, and swing. Add to that twin fiddling, yodelling, and great stage presence, and you can be guaranteed that the future of bluegrass is in safe hands.

The Berea College Bluegrass Ensemble

The Berea College Bluegrass Ensemble from Kentucky are making their sixth visit to Ireland. With their teacher Al White at the helm and four students, you can be sure that they will be as formidable an outfit as they have been on previous visits. They will cover bluegrass, gospel, and old-time, playing mandolin, guitar, fiddle, and bass. They are first touring Denmark before they come to Ireland.

What can be said about Jeff and Tristan Scroggins? Two of the finest musicians playing bluegrass today. Jeff is US National Banjo Champion, and Tristan is an award-winning mandolin and guitar player. They are spending a few days in Ireland before they embark on a UK and European tour with their full band Jeff Scroggins and Colorado.

What a treat it is to have all these musicians in Ireland in the first two weeks of July. Here are the dates I have organised. As you will see, the Petersens are taking a few days sightseeing.

Tues. 4th July: The Petersens, Merry's Bar and Restaurant, Lower Main St., Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, 9.00 p.m. Tel. 087 064 0542

Thurs. 6th: The Petersens, McGregor's Bar and Restaurant, Sixmilebridge, Co. Clare, 8.30 p.m. Tel. 086 8464509

Fri. 7th: The Petersens, Muintir na Tire Hall, Buttevant, Co. Cork, 8.00 p.m., with support act Aroundo (Irish trad.) Tel. 087 691 3980

Sat. 8th: The Petersens, St Patrick's Gateway, Patrick's Hill, Waterford city, 8.00 p.m. Tel. 051 843 589

Sun. 9th: The Petersens and the Berea College Bluegrass Ensemble. Church of Ireland, Bruff, Co. Limerick, 8.00 p.m. Tel. 086 302 7976

Mon. 10th: The Petersens and the Berea College Bluegrass Ensemble, Village Arts Centre, Kilworth, Co. Cork, 8.15 p.m. Tel. 087 792 1771

Tues. 11th: The Berea College Bluegrass Ensemble. Chez Le Fab Restaurant, Arthur's Quay, Limerick city, 8.00 p.m. Tel. 087 962 1769

Wed. 12th: The Berea College Bluegrass Ensemble, Jeff and Tristan Scroggins, and Carrigcove (Irish trad), The Old Schoolhouse, Clashmore, Co. Waterford, 8.00 p.m. Tel. 086 045 4458

Thurs. 13th: The Berea College Bluegrass Ensemble, St John's Theatre, Listowel, Co. Kerry, 8.00 p,m. Tel. 068 22566

Fri. 14th-Sun. 16th: The Ardara Bluegrass Festival, Ardara, Co. Donegal: The Petersens, The Berea College Bluegrass Ensemble, and Jeff and Tristan Scroggins (various times). Also appearing will be Lorraine Jordan and Carolina Road, Woodbine, and Colin Henry and Janet Holmes. This should be a superb festival with loads of picking. Tel. 087 690 0714

As John says, it should be an incredible couple of weeks of bluegrass!

Ardara 2017 - a wealth of US talent

This year's Ardara Bluegrass Festival in Co. Donegal looks like being one of 2017's best-kept secrets. Ardara events websites keep mum, but this item about it appears on the website of Harvey's Point, at Lough Eske on the other side of the county:

Informal and irresistibly folksy Bluegrass festival. This year’s headline act is Lorraine Jordan and Carolina Road, who will be travelling all the way from Raleigh, North Carolina. They will be joined by festival regulars, Colin Henry and Janet, Tony O’Brien and Woodbine and a host of Bluegrass musicians. Be sure to stay around for the after gig jams.

This certainly grabs the attention: Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road (photo above) are a high-profile US band, often featured on Bluegrass Today. However, the dates are shown as 18-20 August - over a month later than the usual time for an Ardara festival. So what's happening?

Thanks to Tony O'Brien and John Nyhan for confirming that the Ardara Bluegrass Festival will be on the weekend 14-16 July, with Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road at the head of the bill, AND the Petersens (USA); AND the Berea College Bluegrass Ensemble (USA), following a tour of Denmark; AND Jeff and Tristan Scroggins (USA), before a tour of Britain and Europe. Woodbine and Colin and Janet will also be there, so the jams should be awe-inspiring.

The BIB hopes to be able before long to give details of any other appearances in Ireland by the visiting artists.

Update 24 June: Tour details for three of the four US acts appeared on the BIB earlier this week, and the full official lineup is shown in the poster image, from Woodbine's Facebook.

Bluegrass a sport?

The BIB editor writes:

BIB readers will have been following with intense interest the case of the English Bridge Union (EBU) in the European Court of Justice, claiming that bridge should be recognised as a sport. The court's advocate general, Maciej Szpunar, has been reported as defining sport as an activity that requires 'a certain effort to overcome a challenge or an obstacle' and 'trains a certain physical or mental skill'. The physical element is not even necessary: 'It is sufficient that the activity has a significant mental element which is material to its outcome.'

Bridge is already recognised as a sport by several countries and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the case is being closely followed by the English Chess Federation. The issue is primarily financial: recognition would bring tax exemptions and possible government funding.

Well, of course financial considerations are completely irrelevant in the bluegrass world; but otherwise, the BIB thinks the IBMA would have a strong case for claiming sports status for our favourite music. 'Trains a certain physical or mental skill' - yes; and if the physical element is deemed important, this would count in favour of old-school single-mic bands whose coordinated movement is a big part of what they do. They already have the 'significant mental element' in their passion and intensity. A claim to Olympic status would be based on the IOC's use of the term 'discipline' - bands in the Jimmy Martin tradition would find this requirement no problem. So go ahead and put our case, IBMA - before the other genres of music get in on the act.

Dunfanaghy BAND Festival next weekend - and something for banjo enthusiasts

A reminder that the 1st BAND (Bluegrass And Nashville Dunfanaghy) Festival begins a week from today and runs throughout the weekend (23-5 June 2017) in Dunfanaghy, Co. Donegal.

The lineup has changed and expanded considerably since the first release about the festival. As recently announced on the BIB, Woodbine have been obliged to withdraw; and even more regrettably, the Down and Out Bluegrass Band have decided to retire after years as the most active, hard-core, go-anywhere band on the Irish scene.

On the plus side, bands added to the lineup include the Dirty Beggars from Scotland, who will appear later this year at Omagh; the Hillbilly Rednecks from Co. Donegal; Mules 'n' Men, announced on the festival website as 'the new name for the old New Breadwinners'; Geordie MacAdam and Friends; and the website says many more are to be announced.

*

Also taking part in BAND will be Alec Somerville with old-time songs and clawhammer banjo. Not resting on the laurels of contributing to Canadian military history, Alec continues to look out for interesting old banjos, and he reports his latest find:

... a fine fretless I had bought at an auction over there [UK], got it for 50 quid plus charges... it is by J. Clamp, Newcastle, who died in 1907. Very much like a J. Dallas I once owned, but some subtle differences. One thing is that the rim is WHITE OAK, which Deering have now discovered; and the skin sits on raw wood, no tone ring. There is no 'spun over' metal sheathing on the outside, either - it is covered with cross-banded rosewood, highly lacquered. Bone tailpiece was split, so I applied a spare and strung it, and whoopee...

The BIB has added links from the Vintage Banjo Maker website, which shows a Clamp banjo of visibly high quality. White oak, as noted earlier on the BIB, has Dwight Diller's highest approval as a wood for banjos.

EBMA e-newsletter, June 2017

The European Bluegrass Music Association (EBMA) has issued the third of its new monthly e-newsletters.

The lead feature is the recent hospitalisation of Bill Clifton (86) for intestinal surgery, from which he is now recovering.* Bill, who calls himself 'just a person who sings traditional country music', was inducted into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame in 2008, and the biography of him by Bill C. Malone, Bill Clifton: America's bluegrass ambassador to the world, was published in October last year. The title is specially apt as regards his influence on bluegrass in Europe.

The second and final part of the interview with mandolin maestro Mike Marshall (USA) deals - among many other things - with his love of Brazilian choro music. He is seen below in the centre of a jam in Europe; Eugene O'Brien, Dublin-born chairman of the EBMA, is on banjo on the left of the picture.

The interview mentions the adoption of bluegrass instruments into the syllabus of Boston's Berklee College, and a Berklee campus at Barcelona is now offering programmes.

The newsletter continues with illustrated reports on the 20th and final European World of Bluegrass Festival at Voorthuizen, NL, and on Roberto Dalla Vecchia's 13th Acoustic Guitar Workshop in Italy (both in May), gig lists and event calendars for EBMA-affiliated artists and festivals, and reviews of CDs - including the latest album from the Original Five (SE), who completed a tour in Ireland earlier this week.

*Update 3 July: Thanks to Richard Thompson, who reports that Bill Clifton has been in and out of hospital since the surgery early last month, with complications including heart-rate fluctuation, pneumonia, and reaction to antibiotics. Pending confirmation, Bill is believed to be now convalescing at home and eating normal food.

A north wind in north Co. Dublin

The Seamus Ennis Arts Centre in Naul, Co. Dublin, announces that Le Vent du Nord (CAN), a multi-award-winning ensemble from Québec, will be performing at the Centre this coming Saturday (17 June) at 8.30 p.m. Full details and a performance video are here. The Centre's blurb says:

The group never fail to delight crowds with their glorious mix of fiddle and foot-tapping, guitar, accordion, piano, bass, hurdy-gurdy and wonderful four-part harmonies. [They deliver] catchy songs and tunes, inspired and influenced by Québec traditional folk styles, and their well-polished musical arrangements simply enhance this uplifting repertoire.

The music of Le Vent du Nord bears little obvious relation to Cajun music, let alone the traditions of the south-eastern US. Nevertheless, the other date in Ireland on their tour schedule is the Doolin Festival in Co. Clare on Sunday 18 June, where the Horsenecks (GB/USA) will also be playing. For anyone who enjoyed the Horsenecks last weekend at Westport, it's not hard to imagine the two groups finding common ground.

Fleck and Washburn to host IBMA awards show 2017

Thanks to Kelly Kessler of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) for the news that this year's IBMA awards show on Thurs. 28 Sept. in Raleigh, NC, will be hosted by Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn.

The couple, who performed together in Dublin eighteen months ago (see the BIB for 7 Dec. 2015), are shown above with their son Juno, who has not yet joined the act but has his own 5-string. A video interview on their partnership in music and life can be seen on the IBMA's e-newsletter, together with information about the awards show and online booking facilities.

Béla Fleck is scheduled to return to Dublin next month (Mon. 10 July) for a concert at the National Concert Hall with legendary jazz pianist Chick Corea. Full details are on the NCH website, and more on the NCH's summer programme can be seen here.

Tony Williams

Josh Williams with his parents Terri and Tony (photo from Bluegrass Today)

Admirers of Josh Williams - including those who remember him as a lanky teenage mandolin player with the Special Consensus on tour in Ireland earlier this century - will hear with deep regret of the death of his father Tony, who among a lifetime of active support for bluegrass music gave the young Josh every possible encouragement. Full details are on Bluegrass Today.

Mountain music in the Low Countries

For anyone about to go to the Low Countries - two bluegrass festivals will take place there before the end of this month.

Bluegrass in Belgium sends news of the Low Country Bluegrass Festival this coming weekend (16-18 June). This is at present the only bluegrass festival in Belgium since the suspension of the much-missed Picnic Festival at Namur. It is held in Oelegem, about 15 km east of Antwerp. The lineup over three days includes four Belgian bands (including the unique Rawhide), two from the Netherlands, and one each from Slovakia, Germany, and Britain (the Kentucky Cow Tippers, concert stars at last year's Westport festival).

The following weekend (23-5 June), as mentioned earlier on the BIB, the Rotterdam Bluegrass Festival will be held in the Netherlands, with a lineup including several acts from the USA headed by Sierra Hull in her only appearance in Europe on this trip.*

For those travelling further afield: the oldest bluegrass festival in Europe, the 45th Banjo Jamboree, takes place this weekend at Čáslav in the Czech Republic with over 25 bands (lineup here).

*Update 16 June: Since the above was written, it appears from the latest EBMA newsletter that Sierra Hull will be playing six dates in Britain after Rotterdam.

Dale Ann Bradley to head Omagh 2017 lineup

The Ulster American Folk Park at Omagh, Co. Tyrone, announces this year's 26th Bluegrass Music Festival (Fri. 1-Sun. 3 Sept.): Dale Ann Bradley (USA) - five times winner of the IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year award - returns to Omagh to head the 2017 lineup, which will also include Viper Central (CAN), Robirohi (EST), Flats & Sharps (GB), Dirty Beggars (Scotland), and Rackhouse Pilfer. More acts are to be announced.

Times are announced as 14.00-20.00. A full weekend pass costs £35. Day tickets for an adult are £15 for Friday, £15 for Saturday, and £12 for Sunday. Children of 4 and under are admitted free of charge; tickets for those of 17 and under are £6. A family ticket (admitting up to five persons with a MAXIMUM of two adults or a MINIMUM of one adult) costs £35 for Friday, £35 for Saturday, and £30 for Sunday. Tickets can be booked online from Monday 26 June, or by calling the ticket hotline on 028 8224 3292. Regular updates will appear on the Folk Park website.

The Folk Park also announces that Cup O' Joe will be part of its American Independence Celebrations on Tuesday 4 July (10.00-17.00).

'Roots Freeway' back on the air

Niall Toner's 'Roots Freeway' returned to RTÉ Radio 1 for a new three-month schedule on Saturday 3 June, airing every Saturday at 11.00 p.m. Niall announced on his Facebook that he will have

... Music and song from Conor O'Donnell, Ed Dupas, We Banjo 3, the Glee Club, Eamonn O'Dowd, and more, and I'll have the Old Yellers in the studio for a chst about their current Ireland tour. Join me, if you can, and if not 'live', then check us out on the RTE Radio Player! Yours, Niall. PS. It's all about the ROOTS! E-mail the show: rootsfreeway@rte.ie.

Jim Lauderdale at Triskel Christchurch, Cork, 14 July 2017

Thanks to Tina Darb of the Triskel Christchurch arts centre in Cork city for the news that multi-Grammy-award-winning American country, bluegrass, and Americana singer/ songwriter Jim Lauderdale (above) will perform at Triskel Christchurch on Friday 14 July. His 29th album, London Southern, is due for release on 30 June.

Jim has featured in Bluegrass Unlimited magazine and worked with many bluegrass artists: his friendship with Dr Ralph Stanley is exemplified by this video in which he joins Dr Ralph and the Clinch Mountain Boys (including Jack Cooke and James Alan Shelton) for a bout of friendly dissension. Another video of Jim in a solid bluegrass context is 'Old time angels'. For an example of Jim's country side, watch 'I met Jesus in a bar'.

The show starts at 8.00 p.m. on 14 July; tickets (€23.50) can be booked online or from 021 4272022. This is the first show in a European tour that includes nine dates in Britain, one in the Netherlands, and - for Dubliners for whom Cork is just too far away - a final show on Sunday 30 July at the National Concert Hall, Dublin 2, with Beth Nielsen Chapman.

Abroad

The BIB editor writes:

As announced beforehand, I was 'out of the office for reasons of pleasure' from Tuesday 16 May to Sunday 28 May inclusive, having planned a Continental trip to include the 15th International Bühl Bluegrass Festival in south-west Germany, followed by two bluegrass events in the Netherlands: the mini-festival at De Parel van Zuilen in Utrecht, and the 20th (and final) European World of Bluegrass (EWOB) Festival at Voorthuizen.

This ambitious plan came unstuck halfway through, and I had to miss the two Netherlands events. Apologies to all the friends whom I was looking forward to seeing at Voorthuizen; I greatly regret being absent, and the final EWOB (quite apart from its historic significance) is moreover reported to have been outstandingly good.

At the Bühl Festival, however, I'd already met friends, heard a load of very impressive music, and been given much food for thought. The following photos (by Carol Hawkins) were taken at Bühl.

Jussi Syren and the Groundbreakers from Finland (above) consistently win warmly favourable reviews in Bluegrass Unlimited for the fidelity and passion with which they capture the raw spirit and energy of bluegrass in its early years. I enjoyed them so much that a prominent member of the German bluegrass community came over to try to tone down my enthusiasm. The attempt was unsuccessful; if (as many fans in Ireland do) you want to hear bluegrass played with the guts that it had in the 1950s, very few bands anywhere do it as well as Jussi Syren and the Groundbreakers.

Curly Strings (above) have won a string of awards in their native Estonia, and last year at the 19th EWOB Festival they won not only the #1 European Bluegrass Band award but the Liz Meyer European Innovation of Bluegrass Music Award. On one level, this is completely comprehensible: they're a young, original band, full of charm, verve, and musical mastery, and worth anyone's time to see and hear. The puzzle is why they should be considered as a bluegrass band or as innovators in bluegrass. They share with bluegrass the use of bass, fiddle, mandolin, flatpicked guitar, and vocals; what they play is popular and tradition-based music in Estonian, and it's in that field that (in my view) they should be considered innovators. The music of We Banjo 3 (which I would not personally nominate for a bluegrass award) is in fact a good deal closer to bluegrass.

Balsam Range (above) from North Carolina were the headliners at Bühl, and they delivered a set with overpowering vocal, instrumental, and emotional impact. (Some of the reasons behind this are indicated in the Bluegrass Today review of their latest CD.) They have four strong lead singers, and their fiddler Buddy Melton and bass/dobro player Tim Surrett have outstanding voices, but the strength of the ensemble is something to wonder at. This is traditional bluegrass on steroids.

These were just three bands from the Bühl lineup; many more photos and videos are on the Festival Facebook, and the same applies to the EWOB Festival Facebook.

PS: The week before we reached Amsterdam, the Tropenmuseum opened its Rhythm & Roots exhibition (open till 7 January 2018), which traces the development of modern musical styles from roots in Africa. It's well worth a visit; but though the ngoni and other ancestors of the banjo can be seen and heard, the instrument in its modern form is barely mentioned.

The West's awake this weekend!

A welcome reminder from Uri Kohen, head of the organising team in Westport, Co. Mayo, together with these sticker images:

The 11th Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival is taking place this weekend (9-11 June). The 2017 festival is bound to be the biggest and most ambitious one to date.

The festival will include many favourite gigs as well as some new additions to the programme. The programme will see 20 official gigs in 11 different venues, 2 workshops, 1 children’s concert, 1 vinyl record fair, 1 luthiers’ exhibition, 1 official session, and many more spontaneous ones.

Performing at the festival will be 18 different acts from 4 different countries - 10 of them are international and 8 are Irish-based. The 18 acts are made up of 60 individual musicians…. and that’s just the official count! No doubt, there will many more people arriving in town with banjos and fiddles under their oxters.

Tickets are still available via the festival's website. The festival's organising committee are very much looking forward to see all music fans in Westport this weekend.

9th Moniaive Michaelmas Bluegrass Festival, 22-4 Sept. 2017

Thanks to C. Paul Lyttle, organiser of the Moniaive Michaelmas Bluegrass Festival in south-west Scotland. Paul is a regular attender at the annual Omagh festival and engaged several bands from Ireland for Moniaive in earlier years. The 9th Moniaive Festival will feature the Ballinger Family Band with Matt Flinner (USA), the Horsenecks (USA/ England), Dapper McDan (Scotland), the Reckless Abandoners (England), Hot Rock Pilgrims (England), the François Vola Trio (France), Legs Levens Appalachian Clog Dancers (Cumbria)*, and Wayward Jane (Scotland)

Performance videos for all these, together with the programme and ticket information, can be seen on the festival website. The Moniaive Michaelmas Bluegrass Festival is also on Facebook.

*We're not sure whether this designation indicates Cumbrian separatism or the territorial ambitions of Dumfries and Galloway. For the time being, Cumbria remains officially part of England.

Cairncastle Ulster Scots Festival - Bluegrass Evening, 27 July 2017

Thanks to Adrian Rolston of Cairncastle Ulster Scots for these images and details of this year's Cairncastle Ulster Scots Bluegrass & Folk Cross-Community Festival, and in particular of its Bluegrass Evening (Thursday 27 July).

The Festival programme (above) shows events from from 19 July to 1 September, with a central continuous core from Tuesday 25 to Sunday 30 July. Events on the 27th are in the Halfway House Hotel, Ballygally, Co. Antrim, about eight miles north of Larne. The evening concert (7.30 p.m.) features two bands: the Bluestack Mountain Boys from Dublin (who went down extremely well there last year) and the Prairie Jaywalkers from Cork, making their first Cairncastle appearance. Admission is £10.

In addition, the Thursday afternoon workshop programme includes a talk on the history of bluegrass music at 3.00 p.m. Admission is free.

Bluestack Mountain Boys: (l-r) Patrick Simpson, T.J. Screen, Luke Coffey, Aran Sheehan, Niall Hughes

Prairie Jaywalkers: (l-r) Cian Gill, Kevin Gill, Dave Riordan,
Geraldine Gill

The Bluestack Mountain Boys are members of the Dublin Bluegrass Collective which maintains the weekly jam session every Tuesday in central Dublin. Also every Tuesday, the Prairie Jaywalkers host their own session from 9.00 p.m. in Coughlan's, 7 Douglas St., Cork city. Admission to both sessions is free.

Woodbine and the BAND Festival

Tony O'Brien, leader of Woodbine, announces:

Woodbine are NOT now playing the BAND Festival in Dunfanaghy, Co. Donegal, at the end of month, due to unforeseen circumstances. We are still listed on their website but wish to let people know we are not now on programme. We wish the festival well and hope it's a great success, as we need more festivals like this.

The 1st BAND (Bluegrass And Nashville Dunfanaghy) Festival, with its impressive lineup, will be held on 23-5 June 2017. Fans of Woodbine can look forward to seeing and hearing them and their guest artists at the 2nd Woodbine Bluegrass Jamboree at Athy, Co. Kildare, on 7-8 July.