Online old-time banjo festival THIS WEEKEND (2-3 May 2020)

THANKS to Oldtime Central (OTC) for the news that an Online Old Time Banjo Festival is to be held this weekend (Sat. 2 May and Sun. 3 May), under the auspices of the Mike Seeger Commemorative Old Time Banjo Festival and hosted by Cathy Fink and Brad Kolodner. The lineup, shown on the poster image above, includes a good selection of the top layer of today's old-time players.

Concerts will be streamed on YouTube from 7.30 to 9.30 p.m. EST on both evenings; workshops (for which prior registration is needed) will be held on Zoom from 2.00 to 5.30 p.m. EST on Saturday and 12.00 noon to 5.30 p.m. EST on Sunday. Details are on the OTC. The cost is $25 per workshop, payable via PayPal; for concerts, the rule is 'pay what you can', but a donation of $25 is suggested. For admission to all concerts and workshops, a full weekend pass is $150. A one-minute teaser video can be seen here. NB: EST is five hours behind BST.

For pickers interested in Irish music (or the tunes in 6/8 notated in Samuel Bayard's 1944 book Hill country tunes), Allison de Groot's Sunday workshop will be on playing jigs in 6/8 - to take this workshop, you must be able to drop-thumb.

Detached notes

No Depression carries an online article by Michael Davis on singer/ songwriter Darrell Scott (USA) and his latest album Darrell Scott sings the blues of Hank Williams, in which he approaches the songs from a blues rather than a country angle. We think Bill Monroe (who liked both blues and Hank Williams) would approve. Two videos from YouTube, 'My sweet love ain't around' and 'Lost highway' are included in the article.

Update: No Depression now offers a print+digital annual subscription of $68 (i.e. the existing print subscription, plus digital at no extra charge) and a digital-only subscription of $36.

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MULTI-instrumental maestro and teacher Steve Kaufman (USA; right) announces a new set of one-off online classes in guitar and mandolin that will be offered over the weekend 15-17 May, early in the US day to facilitate as much international participation as possible. He uses the platform 'Go to meeting'. Each class costs $30, and you can sign up to as many as you like: they include 'Celtic guitar', mandolin, swing songs, and flatpicking at different levels. Details are on his website.

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IN her latest e-newsletter, April Verch (CAN), fiddler, singer, and stepdancer extraordinaire, offers fans and friends 'a virtual, very safe hug' and news of coming online concerts, new Verch Merch, a twenty-year celebration, online jams and lessons, and much more.

Deering Tech Live, episode 5

FOLLOWING on from previous BIB posts, Deering Banjos will bring out tomorrow night (Thursday 30 April) the fifth episode of 'Deering Tech Live', where viewers can tune in via Facebook or Instagram and ask Chad Kopotic, vice-president of operations at Deering, any questions about banjo maintenance. This week Chad is to talk about the different types of banjo heads, string spacing, radiused v. flat fingerboards, and more

The episode will air at 3.00 p.m. PST (California time), which should be 11.00 p.m. BST. Any questions for Chad to answer can be left as comments on Deering's Facebook page. Last week's forty-minute video episode, on the differences of various models in the Deering range, can be seen on the Deering Banjos Blog.

Appalachian music hits New York City, 1962

FOLLOWING on from the last post - news concerning an iconic figure in American music who was also a hero (and friend) of the Kruger Brothers. Thanks to Hearth Music for the news that a month from today (29 May 2020) Smithsonian Folkways Recordings will release a fifteen-track album of previously unissued recordings of Arthel 'Doc' Watson (banjo, guitar, vocals) and his father-in-law Gaither Carlton (fiddle).

The recordings were made by a teenage Peter Siegel at two of the earliest shows Doc played for urban 'folk revival' audiences. More details are here. NB: Billboard magazine is quoted as saying the recordings date from spring 1962, but the shows appear to have been in October. The music can be heard on the Smithsonian Folkways website.

Kruger Brothers on live stream from North Carolina

THANKS to the European Bluegrass Music Association (EBMA) for sharing on its Facebook a video by the Kruger Brothers of a live-stream concert they gave recently. The venue was The 1915, the former federal courthouse and post office building in Wilkesboro, NC, which now houses a music hall, restaurant, cafe, and meeting place, and hosts the series 'The 1915 Shows'. The video can be seen here.

For old-time enthusiasts

THE FOAOTMAD news blog reports that the tour by Evie Ladin and Keith Terry (USA) (organised by True North Music), which was to have brought banjo, bass, body music, and 'neo-trad kinetic folk' to Britain from 29 April to 10 May, has been cancelled.

Instead, they will be giving a concert streamed live on Facebook and Instagram at 8.00 p.m. BST tomorrow (Wednesday 29 April). Donations can be made through PayPal. Full details are on the FOAOTMAD news blog.

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Jake Blount (USA; also on Facebook) is prominent among a growing number of musicians who represent the diversity that old-time music has, both in its sources and in its current practitioners. He came first in the banjo contest at last year's Appalachian String Band Music Festival at Clifftop, WV, playing three tunes learned from black traditions.

He can be heard on 'Blackbird says to the crow', a single release from his forthcoming album Spider tales, with Tatiana Hargreaves (fiddle) and Nic Gareiss (feet). More details are in John Lawless's feature on Bluegrass Today.

Cup O' Joe live online TODAY at 3.30 p.m. (update)

THANKS to Cup O' Joe (left) for their spring newsletter, full of good information, of which the most immediate item is that they will be playing live THIS AFTERNOON (Tuesday 28 Apr.) at 3.30 p.m. BST in the '#Ireland Performs' series run by Culture Ireland. The band add:

We have been Live-streaming on Facebook for the past few weeks, since lockdown began. We wanted to engage with the Facebook community, and it's given us an excuse to learn some new music and enjoy delving into some unknown territory (including 'Sk8r Boi' Avril Lavigne, and 'Hero' Enrique Iglesias songs!)

Click the link below to catch up with the live streams and re-watch us play some original songs, Bluegrass classics, Pop covers, Early Swing, and Irish Trad!

We have a TipJar running at https://www.paypal.me/cupojoemusic for those who have felt like supporting us and already have our recordings (available here).

Much more is on the newsletter, including details of online banjo and guitar instruction by Tabitha and Reuben, and visions of country life in Co. Armagh!

Update 29 Apr.: The 45-minute Tuesday afternoon show can now be seen here.

Advertising on the Bluegrass Standard

THE Bluegrass Standard online monthly magazine announces its advertising rates, starting at $225 for a quarter-page for one month, rising for three, six, and twelve months. All twelve-month ads earn automatic inclusion in the annual printed Collector's Edition of the magazine. Full details are on the 'Advertise' page of the Bluegrass Standard website.

Free DVD from Nu-Blu (USA)

NORTH Carolina's Nu-Blu, who toured Ireland in September in a trio configuration, are offering their DVD free. More details are on their latest e-newsletter, where you can also find details of their live streaming programme, including concerts and monthly instructional teaching videos for mandolin, banjo, and guitar. Videos and other good stuff can be seen on their Facebook.

Mile Twelve with Strings

Mile Twelve (USA), who first toured in Ireland four years ago (thanks to John Nyhan) as a four-piece band before adding David Benedict on mandolin, are spending the lockdown period preparing a six-track EP entitled Roll the tapes all night long, which is due for release on 29 May. The concept behind it is described as 'Let’s record a bunch of deep-catalogue cover songs we’ve been digging, and get some of our favorite artists out there to be a part of it.'

On John Lawless's feature on Bluegrass Today, you can hear them doing 'Cold wind' (remember hearing the Down and Out Bluegrass Band covering that one?) with the phenomenal Billy Strings sitting in.

More news of past visitors

L-r: Drew Matulich, Max Johnson, Gina Furtado, Malia Furtado (photo: Sandlin Gaither)

THE Mountain Home Music Company announces that after releasing two successful albums on the label, Gina Furtado (who has toured here as banjo player for Chris Jones & the Night Drivers (USA)) has now released her first single, 'The things I saw', backed by her own band, the Gina Furtado Project (above).

The song arises from her childhood experiences by the Shenandoah river, which gave her the vision of a secret society composed of '...anyone or thing who refuses to let darkness and negativity take over and instead chooses to exude pure and unstoppable love'. More details are on Mountain Home's e-newsletter.

Meanwhile her former boss Chris Jones has taken over as curator and host of the NewSong Showcase at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas, in succession to the duo Still on the Hill, who had run it for twenty-five years. Chris and his band have collectively won sixteen International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) awards, and he is also a broadcaster for Sirius XM’s 'Bluegrass Junction' and writes a weekly column for Bluegrass Today.

Online festivals this weekend

Free Dirt Records announce an online festival featuring artists from their roster, many of whom are already known to audiences here. The show will be streamed on the Free Dirt Records Facebook tonight from 2,00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m. EDT (= 6.00-11.00 p.m. GMT). Full details of the lineup and schedule are on their e-newsletter.

Due to the virus crisis, only a Dublin audience got to hear anything of the Steep Canyon Rangers when they were in Ireland last month, since when they have been releasing records. However, they can be seen online tomorrow (Sunday 26 Apr.), when Mountain Song Festival of Brevard, NC, are rebroadcasting online the Rangers' set from last year's event.

It can be seen on the Festival Facebook, on the band's Facebook, and on other media, all detailed on this e-newsletter. The show goes out at 7.00 p.m. EDT (= 11.00 p.m. GMT) and will be available on the Rangers' new Patreon page next week.

Getting under the hood with Deering TONIGHT

FOLLOWING on from previous BIB posts, Deering Banjos will bring out tonight (Thursday 23 April) the fourth episode of 'Deering Tech Live', where viewers can tune in via Facebook or Instagram and ask Chad Kopotic, vice-president of operations at Deering, any questions about banjo maintenance. Deering announce: 'This week [...] we are going to get under the hood of what makes our banjos different.'

The episode will air at 3.00 p.m. PST (California time), which should be 11.00 p.m. GMT. Any questions for Chad to answer can be left as comments on Deering's Facebook page. Last week's fifty-minute video episode, dealing with the variety of tone rings, can be seen on the Deering Banjos Blog.

Detached notes [UPDATE]

THE organising team of the big Rotterdam Bluegrass Festival (above) in the Netherlands (see the BIB for 18 Feb.) announce that they have cancelled this year's event, scheduled for 26-28 June, but are already planning to hold the tenth festival on 25-27 June 2021. Guido de Groot, the chief organiser, says: 'We now know that events are not allowed until September, but also that it's better and safer not to have any events anytime soon.' The 48th Banjo Jamboree at Čáslav in the Czech Republic - the oldest bluegrass festival in Europe - is still advertised as scheduled for 19-20 June 2020.

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SONGWRITERS should have a look at (at least) two online articles on the craft:

• Randy Barrett's major interview on Bluegrass Today with Tim O'Brien, dealing with how Tim began writing songs; the experience of writing for Hot Rize; his collaboration with Darrell Scott; and much more; and
• 'Don't forget to write', an essay by the late John Prine, originally published a year ago in the print edition of No Depression magazine.

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ALSO from No Depression online: 'The long haul: a world without live music' is a brief essay by Rachel Baiman (who was to have toured here next month as half of the duo 10 String Symphony) on the life of musicians now.

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NICK DUMAS, mandolin player for the Special Consensus (USA) up to last December, has not been idle since then: his thirteen-track album Story of a beautiful life is now out, with a legion of fine guest pickers including his former bandmates of the Special C. (with whom he toured Ireland in 2017 and 2019). Judging by the clips that can be heard on Bluegrass Today, it's a fine album.

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THE BIB learns with regret of the death at 83 of John Kaparakis - not a professional musician, not a candidate for the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, but someone who made a difference to the people he met. Find out why and how from mandolin maestro Jack Tottle's memoir on Bluegrass Today.

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FINALLY, a historic new release from someone who is already in the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame: living legend Rodney Dillard, sole surviving member of the original Dillards band whose achievements included regular TV appearances on the immensely popular Andy Griffith Show; adding songs and tunes to the classic bluegrass canon; recording with Byron Berline the first fiddle album to have full bluegrass band backing; and making vocal and instrumental innovations that laid the foundations for country rock.

Rodney and his band are now proud to release a new single, 'Earthman', produced and engineered by the legendary Bil VornDick (who produced two albums for Longford's Carmel Sheeran & the Ravens, #1 European Bluegrass Band of 2005, earlier this century). The song is part of a new group of songs Rodney will be releasing in the next few months. He writes:

I’m very proud of this single because of the united message that ‘Earthman’ conveys – we are all on this Earth facing the same challenges, and so far 2020 has reminded all of us that what really matters is mankind’s search for love, truth, and peace. [...] We’re all Earthmen, we’re all passing through, trying to get by, trying to make our way, to keep our family safe, to look out for our neighbors, and ultimately to understand that all of us are in this life and on this planet together, especially as we consider Earth Day this year.

UPDATE 30 Apr.: A substantial interview with Rodney by John Lawless about his life in music, the new release, and his plans for the future, is now on Bluegrass Today.

Old-time tunes on three-finger banjo (update)

In recent years a vague impression has spread that folk banjo players used only clawhammer style before Earl Scruggs invented three-finger picking. No one brought up on Pete Seeger's seminal How to play the 5-string banjo, let alone Art Rosenbaum's Old-time mountain banjo (1968), would fall for this; but those who have picked up this impression should be reassured that it's OK to use two- or three-finger style in old-time music.

To mention only artists active today, the Foghorn Stringband used three-finger banjo in their early years, while a prominent picker currently doing so is Clarke Wyatt of Betse & Clarke (above; they toured here in 2016). An hour-long interview with Clarke by Keith Billik is on the Deering Banjos blog as a podcast.*

The Deering blog has just published a substantial instructional article by Jamie Francis, 'Arranging old-time tunes for bluegrass banjo' with exercises, tablatures, and videos. An example of an old-time tune played in an old-time style is this video of 'Black Jack Grove' played by the late Mac Benford.

*Update 4 May: Betse & Clarke can be heard in a one-hour-plus online set on the Quarantine Happy Hour, posted on 30 Apr.

Update 29 May: Nick Hornbuckle has brought out two books of tablature, each for twenty old-time fiddle tunes, the first book in seven different tunings and the second in five, with audio download URLs. He also has tabs of seventeen tunes that can be bought separately. All his albums are strongly recommended by the BIB editor - just for listening pleasure, even if you don't intend to learn any of the tunes.

The democratic dungaree

The BIB editor writes:

Dungarees/ overalls have long been associated with old-time and (to a lesser extent) bluegrass music, and we show above (photo: culturenorthernireland.org) two outfits with celebrity models: Richard Hurst (banjo) of the Ulster American Folk Park and Geordie McAdam (fiddle). Geordie has a set from Boone, in the North Carolina hills; we can't be sure where Richard's came from, but they are clearly giving satisfaction.

Nowadays attenders at bluegrass and old-time events often wear dungarees for comfort, convenience, and/or a lifestyle statement. What may be less well known is that exactly a hundred years ago (April 1920) a widely supported movement arose among middle-class Americans of wearing dungarees as a protest against exorbitant rises in the price of clothing. The Cheese Club of New York, 'an organisation of dramatic critics, press agents, and theatrical editors', took a leading part. According to a newspaper report of the time,

'Overalls over all' is the motto adopted by many of the leading universities of the country, and to be seen in a working man's uniform is regarded as an honour.

No connection with bluegrass

In memory

'Todd' (Gordon Cyril George) Hawkins
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve; 107 Squadron, 2 Group,
RAF Bomber Command
Born 14 April 1911; POW 10 July 1940; died 19 April 1945 from 'friendly fire'
Younger son of Henry Frederick Hawkins and Susannah Jane Hawkins (née Blackmore) of Wembley, Middlesex, England; brother of Harry, Vera, and Jeanne; husband of Jessie Ellen (née Chisholm)

Labourers worthy of their hire

With reference to yesterday's post 'Horsenecks host 'Quarantine Happy Hour' online', thanks to Tim Rogers for his comment on it, which needs to be given greater prominence:

It's great to see this being shared. I would encourage you to remind your readers that it is important that they support these fantastic artists by leaving a tip in the tip jar. The global pandemic has resulted in a massive loss of income and summer touring is no longer possible.

Tim (right) is not exaggerating. When the BIB first touched on the plight of musicians last month, we wrote of one losing a month's income in a day. To take just one example from how things stand now: an award-winning band well known to audiences in Ireland has lost over three months' income out of the year and had two tours cancelled (one to mark a record release, one to mark a band anniversary).

Music and the South in the present crisis

The BIB editor writes:

Two items just published in The Bitter Southerner online magazine will be particularly meaningful for BIB readers. 'The hope to be heard', an article by author and lecturer C.H. Hooks, tells the stories of fourteen people involved with music in the South during the present crisis, all of whom were asked: 'Where do you find hope?' Of the fourteen, the most closely involved with bluegrass music is Maria Ivey of the IVPR public relations company. However, the issues faced by all of them will be familiar to everyone in bluegrass.

University teacher Susan Jennings Lantz contributes 'West Virginia: practicing [sic] social distancing since 1863', which surveys with grim humour how life and culture developed in WV conditions up to the present, and ends: 'We aren’t holding out hope anyone will be able to help us besides ourselves, because, as history has shown us, they rarely do.' Professor Lantz's cheerful account of the origins of Scots-Irish settlement may raise eyebrows here and in Scotland, but she does stress the ethnic complexity of Appalachia.

Horsenecks host 'Quarantine Happy Hour' online

Thanks to Uri Kohen in Westport for this welcome news:

While festivals, domestic gigs, and international tours are all cancelled or postponed, and there is no end in sight at this stage, we are all relying on the online gigs. People who follow Facebook are overwhelmed with the amount of gigs on offer, and music fans have a unique chance to see many gigs from their favourite artists, probably more then ever before.

Most artists, both in Ireland and around the world, are doing regular online sessions, and I would like to point out one in particular.

Barry and Gabrielle from The Horsenecks [photo] have started a daily session known as the Quarantine Happy Hour. Every day around 6.00 p.m. Portland (Oregon) time,* a different artist playing an hour-long session of string music.

So far we had some superb performances from artists who have been to our shores in the past and some who might be new for the Irish audience. Although these sessions are going live in the middle of the night Irish time,* it is well worth while to go and revisit them the following day.

Enjoy the music, keep safe and keep in touch!

BIB editor's note: PDT (Pacific Daylight Time) is eight hours behind GMT/ UTC, so 6.00 p.m. in Portland, OR, is 2.00 a.m. in Ireland.

Wookalily against isolation blues - and for NHS Charities Together

Wookalily have come together in their individual isolations to produce a Facebook video of 'Welcome to the fold', an Adele Ingram original, with the full lyrics accompanying the video. The band announce:

To help with our isolation blues and stop us going bonkers in our bunkers we decided to keep the music going via the wonderful, but sometimes really annoying, world of technology. We're so grateful for it now and thanks to our Clair for putting this together. Please watch and share! We're raising money for NHS Charities Together so if you've any spare 'squids' please give by clicking on the donate button at the bottom of the video.* We've managed to raise a whopping £150 so far, not quite in the Captain Tom league yet but we're hopeful.

8 windows, 7 instruments, 5 women, 4 houses, 1 band and a suitably apt song about not being able to go outside. 'Welcome to the fold' from our forthcoming album was originally written by Adele while channelling her future self. No it's not about a sheep farm or a witches' coven, lol, it's about growing old and losing the freedom to explore an incredible and wondrous world. We think you'll all be able to relate to this with what's going on now.

Pre-save the album here: https://ffm.to/wookalily

Please try to stay safe and sane everyone! We miss you AND each other :-(

PS. blog coming soon with some isolation tips. Watch out on our website and socials: linktr.ee/wookalily

*BIB editor's note: To donate as suggested, you will need to log in to Facebook.

More banjo maintenance from Deering

Following on from the BIB post of 8 April, Deering Banjos will bring out tonight (Thursday 16 April) the third episode of 'Deering Tech Live', where viewers can tune in via Facebook or Instagram and ask Chad Kopotic, vice-president of operations at Deering, any questions about banjo maintenance.

The episode will air at 3.00 p.m. PST (California time), which should be 11.00 p.m. GMT. Any questions for Chad to answer can be left as comments on Deering's Facebook page. For those who missed episode 2, it is being rebroadcast on the Deering Banjos Blog.

Separately on the Deering blog, Jamie Latty posted lasr week advice on 'The importance of banjo intonation'.

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Update: It was announced today that Deering have acquired the extensive ProPik® range of thumb- and fingerpicks, which can be browsed here.

Hear John Prine on RTÉ Radio 1

Thanks to the National Concert Hall in Dublin for a reminder that though the NCH will be closed till 5 May, plenty of music and other arts are available through other channels. The treats the NCH mentions include, from the RTÉ Radio 1 archives, a sixty-four-minute special recorded in 2015 at the US ambassador's residence.

In 'An evening with John Prine', the singer is interviewed by John Creedon and sings a series of his classic songs before a live audience. The programme can be heard on the RTÉ website, where it is being rebroadcast in tribute to John Prine, who died last week.

Po' Ramblin' Boys (USA) in online concert this coming Friday

Bluegrass fans in Ireland were hoping for a tour by the Tennessee-based Po' Ramblin' Boys (left) two years ago; but events have since prevented their coming over and at present, like other bands, they are enduring the effects of the coronavirus lockdowns.

The good news (thanks to Bluegrass Today) is that they will be playing in concert this coming Friday (17 April) to launch the Jars & Jams Virtual Concert Series organised by the Ole Smoky Distillery, with which the band has been closely associated from the beginning. The concerts will be streamed live on the Ole Smoky Facebook; you'll need to log in to Facebook to watch. Shows start at 8.00 p.m. EDT, which translates to midnight GMT.

The Po' Ramblin' Boys website has an unusually rich merchandise section. One item that should interest many bluegrass fans is a reissue as a six-CD set, with a 200-page book of history, photos, and interviews, of the ten-LP series 'The early days of bluegrass', issued decades ago by Rounder Records. A more detailed description is on the Bluegrass Country website. The price from the Po' Ramblin' Boys website is $75.

Seth Mulder & Midnight Run, who made a welcome tour of Ireland in January this year, will be appearing later in the Jars & Jams series, on Friday 1 May 2020.

Two views from the back door

The Bitter Southerner online magazine titles its latest e-newsletter 'Lookin' out my back door', as the lead story, by Jesse Davis with photographs by Jamie Harmon, is on the experiences of families and individuals in Memphis, TN, under lockdown conditions.

By chance, 'Looking out my back door' is the fifth track on Chicago Barn Dance, the latest album from the Special Consensus, which the BIB mentioned on 1 April - and we weren't April fooling. It's a fine album by a fine band on top form; the concept of a tribute to Chicago requires using some material from non-bluegrass sources, but the record lacks nothing that bluegrass should have.

'Looking out my back door' and all the other tracks can be heard on the Compass Records website, and the album can now be bought direct from the Special C's own website.

Between the Stone Fox and the Culm Crusher

Niall Toner posted on his blog last month this report on the progress of his forthcoming album. The photo, taken by his son Daradh, shows Niall at Kilkenny Castle early in March.

You would think it would get a little 'easier' after six all-original albums, but in truth, with experience, we tend to get more critical of our own material, and therefore it appears to be a bigger challenge! The work on the new Niall Toner Band album seems a little slow, but hopefully it will be well worth the wait...

The focus this time 'round is much more on local issues and historical events, mostly inspired by the area between Myshall and Carlow town, following the route of the River Burren, in a bluegrass/ rootsy frame of mind...

Songs and tunes about 'The last wolf on the mountain', shot near Fenagh; 'Myles Walter Keogh', from Leighlinbridge, who died with General Custer at the battle of the Little Bighorn; 'Railroad dreams', the story of the train that used to run from St Mullins; 'Blues for Larry', an instrumental dedicated to the late Larry Roddy; and lots more besides. The current tentative title for this project is Between the Stone Fox and the Culm Crusher. (Alternative title might be Between Orchard Studio, Enniscorthy, and the Toolshed Studios, Nashville, TN.)

La Roche keeps options open

A fair number of Irish acts have played at the great La Roche Bluegrass Festival at La Roche-sur-Foron, on the edge of the French Alps. The organisers at La Roche announced two weeks ago that there were no plans to cancel this year's event, scheduled for 30 July-2 August:

While the medium term future remains uncertain, we do not wish to make a rash decision. We will continue to monitor the situation, follow government advice and post new information when we have any. Meanwhile we are carrying on with preparations for the festival this summer.

On 7 April the organisers announced a strong lineup of bands from across Europe, stating:

La Roche plans for a full festival, but if necessary will reduce it in size and content depending on the CV19 outcome and restrictions.

A one-minute video teaser about the Festival can be seen on its website and on YouTube.

Happy Easter!

The Association Of Irish Festival Events (AOIFE) adopted the image above yesterday as their Facebook cover photo. The BIB responds with this link to the 1931 recording by Crockett's Kentucky Mountaineers of what is widely played nowadays as a five-part tune in A under the title 'Little rabbit, where's your mammy?' They recorded it as a medley of two tunes. Anyhow, the picture shows a happy answer to the question.

Thanks to Mick Daly, moving spirit of the Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival, for a sight of AOIFE's Arts Sector Update for April, which does not present happy answers to current problems. It envisages, indeed, a 'cancellation of our events calendar as we know it till late September and possibly to Halloween'. Though the general message is stark, the report also shows that much is being done by AOIFE and the National Campaign For the Arts (NCFA), with international cooperation, to find ways through.

Mick Daly takes a positive stance: 'We still hope to run Dunmore 2020 as an all-Irish festival - fingers crossed.' The Festival has traditionally been held towards the end of August.

'The barber's fiddle' from Becky Buller and Company

The BIB editor writes:

The BIB mentioned on 27 Mar. that Becky Buller, who played at Athy and elsewhere early this century with Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike and has since won two Grammy swards and eight IBMA awards, has just released a new single, 'The barber's fiddle', a story of tradition, with many award-winning fiddlers taking part in the recording. The song was co-written by Becky Buller and Lynda Dawson (who played a few years ago at Omagh in a duo with Pattie Hopkins, now of Hank, Pattie, & the Current).

The video can be seen on YouTube as well as on Becky Buller's Twitter and on Bluegrass Today, where there is a detailed commentary by John Lawless and Jeremy Darrow. The main thing, though, is to see and hear it - I can't imagine many (if any) bluegrass fans being unmoved by it. At the very least, it's a reminder of the powerful sound of multiple fiddles.

Apologies to Lynda Dawson, who was shown as 'Linda Jackson'  when this post was first published.

Why are these men smiling?

Tullamore's JigJam (above), like innumerable other musicians, are suffering from the present crisis: self-isolation, travel restrictions, gig cancellations, and closure of venues.

To set against this, they learned last night that their album Phoenix has been nominated for the 'Americana' section of the 18th Independent Music Awards. The impressive full list of nominees can be seen here; the 'Bluegrass' section, for instance, includes Allison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves and Daniel Crabtree. The legion of distinguished judges for all sections can be seen here. The awards are scheduled to be made on 20 June.

To engage more closely with their fans, JigJam have set up a Patreon page for interaction, support, and community. They are also busy rescheduling tour dates into the summer, autumn, and 2021.

The Red Hat Acoustic Music Club: a virtual meeting this Friday

Paul and Anne McEvoy, organisers of the Red Hat Acoustic Music Club, announce:

Hi, all Red Hatters,

First of all, Happy Easter EGGS to every one. We will do a virtual posting for Friday. If you would like to contribute it would be great. Start any time that suits you. Looking forward to hearing your songs. Keep indoors, keep alive. Strong words, I know, but we have to be strong.

Paul & Anne

In normal times the Red Hat meets on the second Friday of every month at the Harbour Hotel, Naas, Co. Kildare. Music starts around 8.30 p.m.; a donation of €3.00 covers coffee/ tea and sandwiches at the interval.

John Prine, 1946-2020 (updates)

Singer/ songwriter John Prine died on Tuesday from pneumonia complicated by the effects of coronavirus. The image on the right is the cover of The tree of forgiveness, his eighteenth studio album, released almost two years ago.

David Morris, in a major feature on Bluegrass Today, shows the ample reasons why the news of his death 'rocked the bluegrass world as though he was one of our own'. The feature also includes a video of Jim & Jesse performing 'Paradise' in 1976.

BIB readers will have their own favourites among John Prine's songs; the NPR website provides an hour-long playlist in the 'All songs considered' series, under the title 'John Prine's life in 10 songs'.

Update 10 Apr.: 'John Prine: a grief counsellor for our time', a thought-provoking article by Johnny Kauffman, appeared yesterday in the Bitter Southerner online magazine.

Further update: More on John Prine, written by his friends, family members, and collaborators, is appearing on the Bitter Southerner, together with this video.

Your banjo maintenance questions answered

Deering Banjos last week brought out the first episode of 'Deering Tech Live', where viewers could tune in via Facebook or Instagram and ask Chad Kopotic, vice-president of operations at Deering, about any banjo maintenance questions they had. It went very well, so 'Deering Tech Live' is being made a regular feature.

The second episode will air on Thursday 9 April at 3.00 p.m. PST (California time), which should be 11.00 p.m. GMT. Any questions for Chad to answer can be left as comments on Deering's Facebook page. For those who missed episode 1, it is being rebroadcast on the Deering Banjos Blog.

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Plenty of other useful information is available on the Deering blog: for instance, a podcast with Clarke Wyatt of Betse & Clarke; and banjo instruction from Hank Smith, the remarkable banjo player of Hank, Pattie, & the Current. Recent lessons from Hank include 'Working through challenges' and 'Composing on the 5-string banjo'.

Update 9 Apr.: The latest lesson from Hank is on Drive, and deals with playing ahead of the beat, the effect of leaving out the third note of the scale in a roll, and drive in 3/4 as well as 4/4 time.

Cup O' Joe in the Bluegrass Standard

Thanks to Nicole Watt in Co. Tyrone for letting us know that an article on Cup O' Joe (quote: 'one of the hottest bluegrass bands') has been published in the current issue of the Bluegrass Standard online magazine, edited in the US by Keith Barnacastle.

The article, drawing on interviews with Tabitha Agnew Benedict, includes a run-through of the band's 2016 EP Bluebirds and an embedded video (also on YouTube and their website) of 'Run run' (one of their least bluegrassy numbers).

The photo above shows Cup O' Joe playing at IBMA's World of Bluegrass in Raleigh, NC. Behind them is the city's statue of Sir Walter Raleigh, with suitable adornments added for the WOB.

Fast Track (USA) release new single

Fast Track attracted immediate interest when they formed at the end of last year (see the BIB for 1 Dec. 2019), as the band was packed with some of the most experienced musicians in bluegrass: Ron Spears (bass), Dale Perry (banjo), Steve Day (fiddle), Duane Sparks (guitar) and Jesse Brock (mandolin). Their debut single 'Blue and lonesome again' was released in January.

'I'd like to wander back to the old home', the second single from their forthcoming album, has just been released to AirPlay Direct for radio presenters, and will be on general release later this month. Ron Spears wrote the song and sings lead on this recording. Longtime Special Consensus fans will remember the song, which Ron (Special C.'s mandolinist 2004-7) contributed to their 2007 album The trail of aching hearts.

The BIB calendar for April and May

... is a mere shadow of what it was a few weeks ago [the BIB editor writes]. Many events have already been explicitly cancelled, and we have added to the calendar - both the full calendar and the extract that appears on the BIB front page - the warning that during COVID-19 restrictions it should be assumed that all performance venues will be closed.

However, we can't at present be sure how long restrictions will be continued; and so unless an event has been explicitly cancelled, it has been let stand on the BIB calendar on the offchance that it might take place after all. Less than three weeks from now, for instance, We Banjo 3 are scheduled to play two dates at Westport and Dublin; and at the time of writing, the band's tour schedule and the venue websites all announce the gigs as still being on.

Similarly, at present the Foghorn Stringband (USA) schedule shows their dates for this month as cancelled, but not those for their announced tour of Ireland and Britain in May. On checking the venues, we find that the Foghorns' Clew Bay Hotel show in Westport has been explicitly cancelled; however, the Clonmel World Music show, which opens the tour, has not*. The Red Room at Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, announced on 22 Mar. that 'all Red Room concerts are cancelled until further notice', and followed that two days ago with the words 'Sadly, the Foghorn Stringband won't be playing their planned show here in May.' Other venues are ominously silent. Short of something like a miracle in the near future, it begins to look as if the Foghorns' tour is likely to be postponed.

Update 11 Apr.: No miracle has happened - the Clonmel World Music website now shows the concert as postponed, and the whole tour (Ireland, Britain, and Finland) now appears as cancelled on the band's tour schedule..

The banjo is a voice

Chris Coole (photo: Tyler Knight)

The BIB editor writes:

The banjo is often regarded as a mechanical device capable of producing a stream of staccato notes. It is indeed often played that way, and it's well suited to that treatment. I had myself been involved with banjos for a long time before the lightbulb moment came from listening (not for the first time) to an early Flatt & Scruggs recording. The revelation was that the banjo is a voice.

This is well shown by clawhammerist Chris Coole (CAN) in this video of him playing 'Turkey in the straw' together with bones player Clif Ervin at the 2008 Midwest Banjo Camp. Chris Coole played in Ireland (not for the first time) at the beginning of last year as a member of the Lonesome Ace Stringband.

Sale of No Depression back issues

No Depression, the seasonal journal of roots music, spent seven years online before returning to a print edition in 2015. Issues since then have consistently had striking cover art - the image on the left is from the first issue of the return to print, and that on the right is from the 'Bluegrass beyond' issue of winter 2016.

No Depression is now offering back issues at $9.00 (plus shipping) instead of the regular $17. Browse the issues on offer here; the sale lasts till the end of Monday 6 April.

The mountain minor available for streaming and on DVD and Blu-Ray

The team responsible for The mountain minor, the film drama of Appalachian migration and old-time music, report that the present crisis has hit their plans for screening the film and recouping funds through DVD sales, just as performing artists have been hit - seventeen screenings have had to be cancelled and no further events can be planned.

They have therefore decided to release the film for home entertainment through streaming media. Ihe mountain minor is now available on Amazon Direct and Vimeo On Demand. Those who don't stream movies can buy DVDs and Blu-Rays through Amazon. Full details on streaming are here.

Update 7 Apr.: A trailer for The mountain minor can be seen on YouTube, and also in John Lawless's feature on Bluegrass Today.

More online sessions

Following on from Thursday's mention of an online gathering by the Sunflower Folk Club in Belfast, the Club's Facebook included on 2 Apr. three videos from past performances there - one of which is a video of William Duddy and his new Bulas dulcimer, playing Dirk Powell's 'Waterbound'.

Meanwhile, the FOAOTMAD news blog announces initiatives by Su Mo, multi-instrumental old-time musician based in Somerset, south-west England, and also webmaster for FOAOTMAD. These include online old-time jam sessions on Tuesday evenings at 8.00 p.m. (7.00 p.m. UTC), via this live stream direct link, and slow jam sessions on Sundays. A session for setting up ZOOM together was held last night (Friday 3 Apr.) at 8.00 p.m. More details are on the FOAOTMAD news blog, and you can also message Su on her Facebook page.

Update 10 Apr.: FOAOTMAD reports that Su Mo's online sessions are a great success!

Thanks to Stephen Elkins of New York's Wild Magnolia bluegrass band, who writes:

... my picking buddies and I have responded to our self-isolation with a virtual jam video of 'You could hear the whistle blow (100 miles)' that I thought y'all might like to see [...]. Hope you are staying safe and well.

Same to you, Stephen! The video can be seen above. Nine musicians are taking part - from Poland, Texas, Connecticut, and several locations in Alabama and New York.

14th Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival CANCELLED

The organising team of the Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival send this sad news:

It is with a heavy heart that we announce that we have made the difficult decision to cancel this year’s Westport Folk & Bluegrass Festival, due to take place 5-7 June 2020.

As you all are aware, the world has a battle on its hands. We have been monitoring the ever-evolving Covid-19 situation, and while we always like to remain as optimistic as possible, it has become evident to us that this battle is going to take some time, and it is our duty to play our part, to ensure that life as we knew it will resume as soon as possible. With the cancellation of large public gatherings, the closure of pubs and venues, and the ban on unnecessary travel, we are left with no alternative. The health and safety of our musicians and our festival fans is of the utmost importance to us.

We had a great festival lined up for you, which we know you would have loved, and we would like to thank all our musicians for their willingness to attend in the first place, and now, for their understanding. We hope they will all make it to Westport next year, if not before!

If you had already purchased tickets for this year’s festival, we will contact you directly in relation to refunds.

Below is a list of the acts due to perform at our festival, so be sure to support them, buy their CDs, listen to them, share them!

• The Kody Norris Show
• Erynn Marshal & Carl Jones
• SLO County Stumblers
• Ye Vagabonds
• Cornmaiz String Band
• Johnny & the Yooahoos
• Pet Yeti
• The Jumper Cables
• Lunch Special
• Dave Kline & the Mountain Folk Band
• No Oil Paintings
• Darragh O'Dea
• The Rocky Top String Band
• Brendan Butler & Freda Hatton
• Tim Rogers

We hope to run some sort of a gathering once we get through all this, to mark our 14th year running, and we will keep you posted in due course. But for now, dear friends, please stay at home, stay safe, and keep listening to music online!

With much love and solidarity,

Uri, Tim, Sarah, and Freda

Fine instruments - from Poland to Ireland

Thanks again to William Duddy, this time for drawing attention to the work of Polish luthier Piotr Bulas of Bulas Banjos, based near Warsaw. Piotr has already made his Scarabeus model 5-string, with extended fingerboard, for Tabitha Agnew Benedict of Cup O' Joe, Midnight Skyracer, and Roots Revival. The photo above is now the cover image of the Bulas Banjos Facebook, and you can see and hear her and the new banjo on YouTube.

After seeing photos of this banjo, William ordered from Piotr a new custom-built mountain dulcimer, which fortunately was finished and deliveed before the lockdown. He adds that Piotr

... works with his son Michal and was a joy to deal with. It was made in the period after Christmas - with regular messages and pics to and fro to agree details - and, as good fortune would have it, I paid (the very reasonable price) at a time when the pound sterling peaked against the Polish zloty. It's a lovely instrument - see pics below.

William can be heard playing and singing with this strong and resonant instrument on Facebook.