News of past visitors

During this month several bands or individual musicians, familiar to audiences here from past appearances at festivals, have figured in bluegrass news items. On Bluegrass Today Dave Berry's series of reports from California includes a long interview with Larry Cohea, banjo-player with High Country at the first Athy Bluegrass Festival back in 1991 and on the band's subsequent visits. Larry keeps busy with several other bands as well as High Country, together with his work on instruments.

At the time of writing, the latest post on Bluegrass Today is a feature on Cedar Hill, Frank Ray's band from the Ozarks, and their latest album, By request, volume 1: a 50 year tradition. Frank and the band have played more than once at Omagh festivals, and the new album (twelve songs, 45 minutes playing time) can be heard on iTunes.

Also on a past Omagh lineup, Love Canon from North Carolina have just released a six-minute video of a live performance of the Paul Simon song 'Graceland', which was recorded on their Cover story album earlier this year on Organic Records. It follows their formula of applying a solid bluegrass treatment to pop and rock material. The video can be seen on YouTube or through a link on the Organic Records press release.

A regular favourite on the much-missed Johnny Keenan Banjo Festivals was Catalan banjo maestro Lluís Gómez with his Barcelona Bluegrass Band. Bluegrass Today has carried features on the 17th Al Ras festival of bluegrass and old-time music, which was held in Barcelona on the second weekend of this month; and on a video from Lluís showing his creative response to requests to play 'Oh, Susanna'.

Finally, the sad news that Bill Hicks, fiddler, songwriter, and stonemason, died on Remembrance Day at the age of 75. As a member of the Fuzzy Mountain String Band, the Red Clay Ramblers, Craver, Hicks, Watson, & Newberry (see image above), with whom he appeared at Omagh some years back, and other string bands, he was a strong force in the reinvigoration of old-time music over the past fifty years. A long interview with him by Sarah Bryan appeared in the Old Time Herald, xiv, no. 1, pp 20-33. Our sympathies and condolences go out to his wife and musical partner Libby Hicks.