Industrial strength bluegrass - in print and on record

Thanks to East Public Relations for their press release marking the issue of a book and an album both commemorating an area of the US that played an important role in the development of bluegrass music. The book, Industrial strength bluegrass: southwestern Ohio's musical legacy, is edited by Fred Bartenstein and Curtis W. Ellison and published by the University of Illinois Press in their 'Music in American Life' series, which are both strong recommendations in themselves. The album, under the same title, is being issued by Smithsonian Folkways, and a track from it, 'Readin', Rightin' [sic], Route 23' by Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers, can be heard (and the record pre-ordered) on BandCamp.

The book Industrial strength bluegrass joins Tim Newby's Bluegrass in Baltimore: the hard drivin' sound and its legacy and Kip Lornell's Capital Bluegrass: hillbilly music meets Washington, DC as studies of the hotbeds of bluegrass in its first decades.

New website for Some Neck Guitars, Dublin

The BIB editor writes:

Some Neck Guitars, now at 4 Dean St., Dublin 8, announce the launch of their new website:

You can find our complete range of stock and browse with new user-friendly options and features. You can also get in touch with us directly with our new chat box if you need a hand with anything!

High-quality electric guitars constitute the company's main stock, but the acoustics currently on hand include a 1945 Martin D-18. Some Neck Guitars can also be recommended for repair and maintenance work (see the BIB for 24 May 2019). Under COVID restrictions they are unable to offer a click-and-collect service, but are shipping out all over the world in response to online orders.

Douglas, Tuttle, Brown, and more on Transatlantic Sessions, 29 Jan. 2021

At the time of the BIB post of 8 Jan. the Celtic Connections festival team in Glasgow had announced that this year's festival programme would include a Transatlantic Sessions online concert beginning at 7.30 p.m. on Fri. 29 Jan., in the form of a 70-minute video. This performance will be available to watch for one week after 29 Jan. to accommodate different time zones.

No names of artists taking part in this concert had then been mentioned, but the latest e-newsletter from Celtic Connections lists Jerry Douglas, Aly Bain, Molly Tuttle, Alison Brown, and Scottish folk singers Julie Fowlis and Kris Drever.

Remembering Tony Rice and 'O brother' on the BGS

The latest Weekly Dispatch issued by the Bluegrass Situation (BGS) online magazine continues its celebration of twenty years since the US release of 'O brother where art thou?' in December 2000, with Stephen Deusner's article '"O brother where art thou?" created an instant audience for old-time music'.

The BGS is also running a special tribute series of podcasts under the title 'Toy heart: remembering Tony Rice'. In the first of the series, the host Tom Power speaks with Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, and David Grisman about their old friend and bandmate. This episode, over ninety minutes long, can be heard here. In a comment on this page, singer, songwriter, and banjo-player Pam Gadd writes: 'this interview is absolutely the most candid, interesting, informative and longed-for understanding of who Tony Rice was.'

Rhiannon Giddens on Deering Live tonight, 8.00 p.m. GMT

Deering Banjos announce:

We are very excited to feature Rhiannon Giddens on Deering Live. Rhiannon has been a longtime Deering banjo artist and was a founding member of the Grammy Award winning Carolina Chocolate Drops. She since has forged a very successful solo career. Her latest album, There is no other, featuring Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi, was produced by iconic producer Joe Henry and is an astounding work. Tune in to hear Rhiannon play, talk about her artistic process, what she is working on, and more. You can also ask Rhiannon questions in the live chatroom.

The company are also running a photo contest for owners of their instruments: a photo of you with your Deering banjo could be on the front of the next Deering digital catalogue. Find out how to enter here.

Mygrassisblue.com feature Alan Bibey & Grasstowne album release, 28 Jan. 2021

The mygrassisblue.com team in Co. Wicklow, in collaboration with Billy Blue Records, will bring an Album Release Feature to their www.thebluegrassjamboree.com broadcast this coming Thursday, 28 January, the eve of the release of the new album by Alan Bibey & Grasstowne, Hitchhiking to California.

This feature is part of a strategy to spice up the one-year-old show, while at the same time continuing to build meaningful and mutually beneficial relationships with the wider professional bluegrass community (promoters, artists, labels etc.), and staying visual and relevant during the ongoing pause in all things live bluegrass. Above is a brief video introduction to the Feature, which mygrassisblue.com have put together, and have been spreading on social media during the past week.

Dave Byrne of mygrassisblue.com reports:

The Feature will run for about 20-25 minutes and will comprise an interview with Alan (already in the can) and exclusive first plays of two tracks off the album, which we’re very excited about and grateful to Billy Blue for greenlighting.

John Lawless on Bluegrass Today has been giving the forthcoming album several mentions. The BIB warmly recommends www.thebluegrassjamboree.com as one more of the worthy resources that mygrassisblue.com are making available.

Pioneers

Thanks to Richard Thompson for the sad news of the death, two weeks ago, of Robert 'Red' Cravens (b. 1932), one of the leading pioneers of bluegrass in the Mid-Western USA. Red Cravens was best known as guitarist and singer together with the three Bray brothers. They made one studio album, under the name 'The Bluegrass Gentlemen'; two other albums, Prairie bluegrass and 419 West Main, were compiled from live tapes and issued by Rounder Records. Their music was hard-core bluegrass in the lineage of Bill Monroe and the Stanley Brothers. More details, together with two audio tracks and a discography, are on Bluegrass Today.

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The BIB also notes with regret the death three days ago (23 Jan.) of Colleen Trenwith (née Bain), musician, teacher, and an undoubted pioneer of bluegrass in her native New Zealand as fiddler with the Hamilton County Bluegrass Band. The HCBB were the second band from outside the USA to appear on the cover of Bluegrass Unlimited magazine (Sept. 1969; the Bluegrass Specials from Vienna, Austria, were the first in Feb. 1969). BU published two articles on them by their mandolinist Dave Calder, who wrote 'as far as we know we're the only bluegrass group around with a female fiddler' - very likely true at that time. The band became full-time professionals after Christmas 1968, and in the '70s were among the first bands from outside North America to tour in the USA. Colleen married the HCBB banjo-player, Paul Trenwith. During the last ten years she became a respected teacher at East Tennessee State University. More details, together with a tribute video and photos from the band's history, are in the obituary by John Curtis Goad on Bluegrass Today.

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The September 1969 issue of Bluegrass Unlimited also included a photo and feature on the English bluegrass pioneer Pete Sayers (1942-2005), who was then working in Nashville as a music presenter on WSM TV.

Second Jens Kruger masterclass TONIGHT (26 Jan.)

As announced on the BIB on 7 Jan., the instalments of the 2021 series of banjo masterclasses by Jens Kruger on Deering Live will follow one another at three-week intervals. The second, divided between playing fast and cleanly and the use of embellishments, will be aired tonight (Tues. 26 Jan.) at 6.00 p.m. ET/ 3.00 p.m. PT., and can be watched here, where you can also see the full schedule of masterclasses and the topics to which each will be devoted.

Kristy Cox (AUS) wins three more awards

Thanks to the US label Mountain Fever Records for the news that in this year's Golden Guitar Awards in Australia, Kristy Cox has received the awards for Traditional Country Album, Female Artist, and Bluegrass Recording of the Year. The first of these is for her album No headlights, and the third is for the track 'Finger picking good', featuring guitar wizard Tommy Emmanuel. A video for this track can be seen here.

Kristy and her band were in Ireland in May 2019 on a tour arranged by the mygrassisblue.com team, whose preparations to bring her back for a European tour in 2020, and again this year, have (like so much else) been disrupted by the pandemic. Don't miss her whenever she does come back.

Instead of Gainsborough: FOAOTMAD workshop weekend, 27-28 Feb. 2021

Back in October the BIB relayed an announcement by FOAOTMAD, the UK's national association for old-time music and dance, stating that as their normal November workshops had had to be cancelled due to COVID restrictions, a weekend of online workshops would be available free to FOAOTMAD members in November. In consequence of the cancellation of this year's Gainsborough festival in February (the main annual old-time event in these islands), FOAOTMAD now announce on their Workshops page:

Following the success of the online workshops last November and the disappointment many of you have felt over the cancellation of Gainsborough, we are going to run further online workshops for banjo, fiddle, guitar (with the addition of voice) and dance, over the weekend of 27th and 28th February 2021. All four workshops will again be FREE to FOAOTMAD members and each will have a maximum of 30 places.

You will find additional information and an application form on this page. The arrangements of intermediate/advanced workshops for this autumn will be based on any Covid19 restrictions in force at the time.

Details are similar to those for the November workshops, and are set out fully on the Workshops page, the FOAOTMAD news blog, and the poster image above (click to enlarge).

And now - for mandolinists

The BIB has carried news about online instruction for banjo and guitar this week, so it's opportune that Bluegrass Today now reports on the new Mandolin skill builder workshops from Tristan Scroggins (right), who has many admirers in Ireland already from his performances as a member of his father's band, Jeff Scroggins & Colorado, and filling in with Chris Jones & the Night Drivers. He also teaches in festival workshops and music camps during the year.

The new online workshops are aimed at players at intermediate level who want to consolidate and develop their skills. Charges and further details are given on the Bluegrass Today feature, which includes a three-minute introductory video that can also be seen on YouTube.

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Also for mandolinists: Bluegrass Today reports that Pinecastle Records are celebrating the success on the charts of the song 'Bill Monroe's old mandolin' with a contest to win a new Loar LM-310F Honey Creek mandolin. The contest will run to 13 February this year, and the four ways of qualifying to enter are detailed here and on Bluegrass Today. John Lawless's feature there has the added bonus of showing again the video of the song, recorded by Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road. Ardara festival attenders will remember Lorraine appearing there in 2017 with the Garrett Newton Band.

PS: Those specifically interested in Bill Monroe's mandolin style might take a look at the video 'Monroe style mandolin - introduction to the lineage' which Chris Henry put on YouTube a year ago.

Learn fast, clean flatpicking from Trey Hensley (USA)

Admirers of the guitar mastery of Trey Hensley (who first played in Ireland in 2016 at the 22nd Dunmore East International Bluegrass Festival, in his well established duo with Rob Ickes) can now kearn from him in an online flatpicking instruction course, Trey Hensley's road map to playing fast and clean, costing $30.00. Further details are on John Lawless's feature on Bluegrass Today, which contains a one-minute promotional trailer for the course (also on YouTube).

Larry Sparks on live-stream video, 24 Jan. 2021

Thanks to Bluegrass Today for news of a treat this coming weekend for fans of traditional bluegrass: Larry Sparks will be interviewed on live-stream video for an hour by Brian Eyster on Sunday 24 Jan. at 8.00 p.m. (EST). The interview is presented by the Signature Sounds record company as part of their Home Sessions series.

The event is free, but viewers should register for it here, where more details are given about Larry - the 'King of Bluegrass Soul' - and Brian Eyster, and there are links for making donations.

New resources for banjo beginners from Joff Lowson

Thanks to Joff Lowson (right) of Bristol, England, for news of additional resources for his banjo instruction website, which was already impressive when the BIB first mentioned it in August 2015. Joff now reports:

I’ve recently updated several of the free pages to make a great resource for complete beginners. In particular the beginners page has a lot of new material on it, as does the easy song page.

As the BIB made clear in 2015, Joff's website is packed with material and good advice, well organised and well presented, especially with a view to making learning easier for the beginner, whether they're familiar with bluegrass and old-time or not. With thirty years' teaching experience, he is an accredited Wernick Method teacher, a member of the Buffalo Gals (UK) old-time band, and one of the organisers of the old-time music workshop weeks in Spain. He has also recently made some new recordings: a fine example is his composition ‘Penny’, in old-time style. The video was shot in the Andalusian mountains.

Ten Hens at Westport, 2018

Thanks to Des Butler for a further photo featuring the irreplaceable Mel Corry. This shot shows the Tennessee Hennessees playing in - we believe - McGing's bar on High St.*, Westport, Co. Mayo, during the 2018 Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival. The lineup is (l-r) Bill Johnston, Sean McKerr, Laurence Hill, Mel (taking a lead break), and Colin Henry.

*This should have read 'the Cobbler's Bar at the Wyatt Hotel'. Thanks again to Des for the correction.

We Banjo 3 cover of 'Wildflowers' coming 29 Jan. 2021

Further extending their musical range, Galway's We Banjo 3, originators of Celtgrass, announce that their recording of ‘Wildflowers’ (the title track from Tom Petty’s 1994 album) is due for release on 29 January. It will feature Steve Ferrone, who played on the original recording, which was also his first recording with Petty; and (on fiddle and vocals) Martin Howley’s wife Kiana June Weber. More details and links are on the We Banjo 3 e-newsletter.

A photographic record of Mel Corry in bluegrass

Thanks to Tony O'Brien for this fine series of photos showing bands in which Mel played. Would any BIB reader have a photo from the 2006 tour of Ireland by Buddy Merriam & Backroads (USA), throughout which Mel was their banjo-player?

The Seldom Herd with US guitar maestro Dan Crary: (l-r) Pete Toman,

Charlie McGorran, Dan Crary, Mel Corry, Sean McKerr

Seldom Herd on stage

The Dusty Millers: Sean (mnd), Ger Thompson (bs),

Charlie Cooper (gtr), Mel (bjo)

High Lonesome: (l-r) Mel, Paul Hull, Sean

King Blue: (l-r) Mel, Caolan 'Chief' Derby, Clem O'Brien, Sean

The Tennessee Hennessees: (l-r) Bill Johnston, Sean, Mel,

Laurence Hill, Colin Henry

Woodbine, original lineup: (l-r) Tony O'Brien, Mel,

Paddy Chanders, Liam Wright

Woodbine, late lineup with Nicola O'Brien Kennedy (bs),

plus Dessie Crerand (fdl)

Tabitha Benedict: video introduction to bluegrass banjo

Thanks to the European Bluegrass Music Association Facebook for the news that today (17 Jan.) Tabitha Benedict (above) of Co. Armagh launched on YouTube a twenty-minute video 'Introduction to the bluegrass banjo' on the Midnight Skyracer YouTube channel. Starting from a basic description of the banjo, this video forms part of a series of introductions to the bluegrass instruments by the members of Midnight Skyracer, and can also be seen on the band's Facebook.

Tabitha also gives online banjo lessons via Zoom/Skype or FaceTime; total beginners to more advanced players are all welcome. Details are available through her website.

Tributes to Mel continue

The funeral of Mel Corry, who died on Wednesday 13 January, took place yesterday. John Nyhan, another central figure of the bluegrass scene in this island, sends the following tribute:

When I think of Mel Corry, I especially think of two things. Firstly as a great bluegrass musician, and secondly as a political activist who cared greatly for his fellow human beings. Mel's passing leaves a huge void in both of the above.

Of course I can never forget Mel's help when the legendary J.D. Crowe and the New South played the Village Arts Centre, Kilworth, on 2 and 3 August 1999 (their only shows in Ireland). Unfortunately J.D.'s banjo was damaged on the flight to Ireland, making it unplayable. Mel came to the rescue. Without a second thought he gave J.D. the use of his banjo. One bluegrass legend helping another.

Finally, I knew Mel for over twenty-five years, and we had many a great bluegrass session together. Also some great conversations on many aspects of music and politics.

I can honestly say - Mel Corry; you enhanced my life.

Deepest sympathy to his wife Fiona, sons Seán and Michael, granddaughter Nancy, and extended families.

Love and Peace
John and Gearoid Nyhan

Ricky Skaggs to receive National Medal of Arts

As reported by the BIB fourteen months ago, Alison Krauss received the National Medal of Arts (left), the US government's supreme award for outstanding achievements in the arts fields, presented to her by President Donald Trump at the White House. It was reported yesterday on Bluegrass Today that the medal is being (or has been?) conferred on Ricky Skaggs in recognition of his long, distinguished career in bluegrass and traditional country music. The article includes the video of Skaggs's 'Country boy', in which Bill Monroe plays a conspicuous part.

While the BT writes that the 'Presidential Medal' has been awarded by the current president, it appears from Wikipedia that recommendations from an advisory committee of the National Endowment for the Arts have to be approved by a president, who then hands over the National Medals at the award ceremony, but does not necessarily 'award' them as a personal choice.

Tributes to Mel

The first tributes to Mel were made very shortly after his death yesterday. Tony O'Brien wrote:

Today I lost a friend of thirty years with the death of Mel Corry. Mel passed away at 5.30 p.m. and has left a great void in the Irish bluegrass family. I met Mel at the first Athy Bluegrass Festival in 1991 and we were firm friends ever since. Mel was a member of the first Woodbine lineup in 2002, and even though he was only in for one year he filled in with the band on many occasions.

Mel shaped a lot of bands in Ireland this past thirty years - the Seldom Herd, the Dusty Millers, the Tennessee Hennessees, and King Blue. Mel was at the end of my phone any time I needed him to play or for some advice. A great banjo player and vocalist, he was at the heart of everything bluegrass in Ireland over that past thirty years. To me, Mel and a small core of bluegrass musicians were the leaders of Bluegrass Ireland, and everyone else were the supporting cast. He was a great friend to the Athy Bluegrass Festival and I’ll miss him so much. I was so looking forward to an end to this Covid so we could all meet up for a big session, but it has robbed us of that; so if and when it happens now, there will be a huge hole in the session with the loss of Mel.

As much as I and every bluegrass musician and fan will miss Mel, it is nothing to the loss his wife Fiona, sons Sean and Michael, and grand-daughter Nancy will feel. My heart is with them at this, the saddest time in their lives.

RIP Mel, old friend.

Many messages of sympathy and tributes to Mel, from friends all over Ireland and abroad, are on Tony's Facebook.

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Des Butler of Co. Meath wrote:

The death has occurred of Mel Corry from Covid, a true gentleman and a bluegrass banjo player of exceptional talent. Having heard Mel play at many festivals and many more jamming sessions, I can say his great loss to bluegrass music cannot be estimated. His laid-back style of playing and his great harmonies were something to experience and always a treat to be present for.

I have no doubt that he will be missed greatly by the many musicians that have played with him, both in his bands and at many jamming sessions, and his many fans that enjoyed his exceptional musicianship. I have no doubt that his close friends and the fine musicians who always accompanied him will feel a great loss, likewise his wife and family.

Mel Corry RIP

Parking lot picking

King Blue at Athy, 2015: (l-r) Clem O'Brien, Sean McKerr,

Mel, Caolan 'Chief' Derby

Jamming at Ardara, 2019: Sean, Mel, Dessie Crerand (fiddle)

King Blue at Ardara, 2019: (l-r) Colin Henry, Sean, 

Mel, Charlie, Caolan

Thanks to Tony for the first two photos above, and to Des for the three following. Many more photos of Mel are on his Facebook page. Two photos and tributes to Mel have been added to Trademark's Facebook page.

Mel Corry

This is a far too brief notice of the sad news which many will already have learned from Facebook: the death at 5.30 p.m. today, from COVID-related causes, of Mel Corry of Lurgan, Co. Armagh, a pillar of the bluegrass community in this island for a generation, at the same time as deserving - as much as ever anyone did - the title of 'activist' on a wider stage.

Mel described himself on Twitter both as 'retired hell raiser, banjo player and Communist!' and as 'musician, campaigner, retired hell raiser'. We prefer the second, because he was so much more than just 'banjo player' or 'communist'. As for 'hell raiser' - the words would never have occurred to anyone who knew Mel through bluegrass music.

The two photos above show Mel in two aspects of his life: on the left, as a member (since 2008) of Trademark, and on the right, delivering his hard-driving picking on stage at one of the Athy Bluegrass Festivals. The BIB will publish tomorrow tributes and photos of Mel as the bluegrass community of Ireland knew him. Meanwhile, our deepest condolences go out to his family and friends.

IBMA awards show 2020 to be rebroadcast on Mon. 18 Jan.

The International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) announces in its latest e-newsletter that the 31st Annual IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards, will be re-broadcast by Count On Me NC on Circle TV and affiliated platforms, on 18 January at 8.00 p.m. (ET), repeated at 12.00 a.m. (ET). This is the first-ever virtual format for the awards show; it was taped at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN, with additional performances and presentations from across the US, and was originally broadcast during IBMA Virtual World of Bluegrass 2020. It was met with critical acclaim, and has been viewed by a record number of bluegrass fans.

The BIB is not sure how accessible Circle TV is to viewers in Ireland, but guidance is on the Circle TV website. Details of the show are on Bluegrass Today.

Bill Runkle, 7 Jan. 1939-7 Jan.2021

Thanks to Richard Thompson on Bluegrass Today for the sad news that William G. 'Bill' Runkle, Pennsylvania banjo-player, died last Thursday (7 Jan.) on his 82nd birthday. In addition to the many details of his career on the BT feature, a major interview with Bill Runkle for Banjo News Letter was conducted by Tom Mindte. 

The image above comes from the cover of the Lonely tonight album by Bill and his band Smith Hollow, released on Tom's Patuxent Records label. More recordings are listed at the end of Richard Thompson's feature.

22nd Portland Old-Time Music Gathering online, 14-17 Jan. 2021

Thanks to the FOAOTMAD blog, news medium of the UK's national old-time music and dance association, for the news that the vibrant and influential old-time scene in Portland, Oregon, will be holding the 22nd Portland Old-Time Music Gathering as a free online event ('Quarantine Edition') this coming Thursday-to-Sunday, 14-17 Jan. The full programme is given here.

There's a very impressive lineup, of whom a few acts have performed in Ireland: the Foghorn Stringband, the Horsenecks, Evie Ladin, Annie Staninec and John Kael. The website announces:

There will be concerts, jams, hangouts, song swaps, workshops, a Crankie show, a square dance for 2 or more people, a kids’ open mic and kids’ show, and a panel discussion titled: 'An introduction to race and racism in old time music' featuring Jake Blount and Tatiana Hargreaves.

The panel discussion will be dealing with issues similar to those touched on by the BIB in various posts during the past autumn.

Essential advice from master musicians

As noted in the update added earlier today to the BIB item of 7 Jan., tomorrow (Tues. 12 Jan.) at 6.00 p.m. ET/ 3.00 p.m. PT, Deering Live will be repeating the 48-minute video masterclass given last week by Jens Kruger. This will be followed by a question-and-answer session, designed to serve as a follow-up lesson, in which Jens will respond to queries submitted by viewers.

Last week's video was the first in Jens's 2021 series of banjo masterclasses, and can now be watched on the Deering website and also on YouTube. It falls into two equal halves, of which the first deals with learning how to play what you hear - this can be seen as fundamental for any player. The second - on the construction of melodies - seems at first more narrowly technical, but viewers should not neglect the 'trick' that Jens describes in the last quarter of the video.

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Deering also released on Friday a further video lesson in Hank Smith's banjo instruction series, 'Active listening' (also on YouTube. Far from being just for banjo players, this is a vital skill for any instrumentalist, any band member, any would-be record producer or music critic, or indeed anyone who listens to music.

News of recent visitors

L-r: James Field, Terry Wittenberg, Wally Hughes,

Lisa Kay Howard-Hughes, Joe Hannabach

It's becoming harder all the time to speak of our past US visitors as 'recent', but news of them from the States is always welcome. Level Best (above) from the Virginia/ Maryland region around DC, who were touring here fifteen months ago, have brought out 'Just when I needed you most', the first single from their second album, Happy together. A 55-second clip from it can be heard on Bluegrass Today, where John Lawless gives more details of the song, the band, and the recording.

Sideline, who toured Ireland in July 2019, have also brought out a new single, with an acoustic-country feel instead of their regular hard-driving North Carolina sound. The song, 'Just a guy in a bar', released on the Mountain Home Music label, can be heard in full as an audio track on Bluegrass Today, and a 47-second video 'sneak peek' can be seen on YouTube. More details are on the Mountain Home press release.

Fans of Sideline should note that the band will give a live-stream concert tomorrow (Sat. 9 Jan.) at 7.00 p.m. EST, on their Facebook page. It will be shown free of charge; donations can be made by PayPal and other channels.

Celtic Connections 2021: 'Transatlantic Sessions' concert, 29 Jan.

The Celtic Connections festival team in Glasgow announce on their latest e-newsletter that this year's festival is now only a week away from starting (15 Jan.-2 Feb.), and that the programme will include a Transatlantic Sessions online concert beginning at 7.30 p.m. on Fri. 29 Jan., in the form of a 70-minute video. This performance will be available to watch for one week after 29 Jan. to accommodate different time zones.

No details are given of artists taking part, but the website says: 'We couldn't have a Celtic Connections without Transatlantic Sessions, which welcomes the regular all-star lineup from here in Scotland and across the pond for 2021.' Tickets are £10, which includes booking fee; and the concert is included in the Celtic Connections 2021 festival pass, so no ticket is needed for this event if you've already bought a pass.

Jens Kruger masterclass programme: in progress (Update)

The first in the new 2021 series of banjo masterclasses by Jens Kruger on Deering Live was given on Tuesday 5 January, and can now be seen as a forty-eight-minute video on the Deering website and also on YouTube. The subject is 'Intuitive playing & melody'.

Four further masterclasses will be given in the series, following at three-week intervals into March. The full schedule, with topics of each class, is shown on the Deering website. Jens's introductory talk about his masterclass series, with musical demonstrations, was first shown in live stream on 17 Dec. 2020 and is now on YouTube. One revelation in the course of that video is that he will be inducted into the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame in 2021.

Update 11 Jan.: Deering announce that episode 1 can be watched ahead of a live Q&A Session tomorrow (Tues. 12 Jan.) at 6.00 p.m. ET/ 3.00 p.m. PT. A form is also supplied for viewers to submit questions to Jens.

Red Hat Acoustic Music Club: 10th virtual meeting, 8 Jan. 2021

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

Hi all Red Hatters. Our 10th virtual session tomorrow. Onwards and upwards, keep the music going. Looking forward to hearing you. 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.

The Sackville String Band, forty-five years back

In the distractions of the past months, the BIB overlooked an anniversary of the founding, just over forty-five years ago, of what soon became known (thanks to Niall Toner) as the Sackville String Band. Thanks again to Niall for this photo, which has previously appeared on the BIB. It was almost certainly taken by his wife Moira, and shows the band at its second public (if that's the word) performance, in the basement of Hartigan's in Leeson Street, Dublin, early in Dec. 1975.

In the foreground are your editor and his Jedson 6006 'Symphonic' with tunnel 5th string, and Niall with his recently acquired 'The Gibson' A-model mandolin. The banjo just visible behind them is almost certainly being played by Mick 'Black Dog' Daly of Cork, a core member during the band's first year. Hairstyles are moderate by the standards of that time.

Historical markers from the Bluegrass Situation

The latest Weekly Dispatch issued by the Bluegrass Situation online magazine celebrates twenty years since the US release of 'O brother where art thou?' in December 2000.

Among other contributions are 'Ricky Skaggs remembers Tony Rice' and a reissue from September 2016 of 'Tony Rice on the legacy and impact of Clarence White', a major interview by Desiré Moses in which, among other things, the story of how Tony came to acquire Clarence's now-legendary D-28 is told in his own words.

IBMA Women in Bluegrass Summit, 7 Jan. 2021

The International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Women’s Council will hold an interactive Women in Bluegrass Summit tomorrow (Thurs. 7 Jan.) at noon ET (11.00 a.m. CT), to include panel discussions and presentations on gender equity from renowned artists and women in the bluegrass business. Zoom capacity is already full, but the event can be watched on Facebook. Details of the programme (subject to change) are outlined in the IBMA e-newsletter. The photo above looks back to a time before social distancing.

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Looking forward to a return to normality in performing and recording music, the IBMA has also issued a special event safety message, emphasising in detail the need for full cooperation, communication, and transparency among all persons and parties involved. The message comes with links to resources applicable to the USA, Canada, and the UK, and the following caution is given twice:

This information is provided as a starting point for your own research and consideration of federal, state, and local health and safety regulatory requirements and other practices that may support a safe return to in-person creation and sharing of music. It does not constitute legal advice. 

Tributes to Tony Rice

For any who still need to know what made the late Tony Rice special, a unique symposium is on the ArtistWorks YouTube channel: 'Me and his guitar', a three-hour video of a live-stream event in which Bryan Sutton and a pantheon of today's guitar players talk about their experiences with Tony and his impact on their lives and music.

Those taking part include Josh Williams, Tim Stafford, Chris Eldridge, Molly Tuttle, Billy Strings, David Grier, Tommy Emmanuel, Michael Daves, Jake Workman, Andy Falco, Dan Crary, Norman Blake, Dan Tyminski, Ron Block, Jon Stickley, Dave Bruzza, Jim Hurst, Kenny Smith, Cody Kilby, Trey Hensley, and more. John Lawless writes on Bluegrass Today:

Even if you don’t have time for the whole thing in one chunk, be sure to bookmark this page and contemplate this tribute if you have even a passing interest in bluegrass guitar, and the one and only Tony Rice.

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No Depression magazine publishes online Amos Perrine's 'Through the lens: remembering roots musicians we lost in 2020', with a gallery of photos; and Sierra Hull's fine article on Tony Rice: 'How lucky we have been'.

Wayfaring stranger now in paperback (update)

The BIB editor writes:

On 18 Dec. 2020 John Lawless on Bluegrass Today welcomed the appearance in paperback of Wayfaring stranger: a musical journey in the American South, by the English writer Emma John, who in earlier life trained under a hard teacher to be a classical violinist. In the book, she goes to the USA to find bluegrass, meets innumerable bluegrass people, becomes a fiddler, and discovers that playing music can be enjoyable and transformative (all her national false modesty and self-deprecation vanishes in the process).

Thanks to the late Frank Robinson of Derry, I read this book in hardback in 2019. I enjoyed it immensely, and it should do as much for any bluegrass lover, just for the sheer number of familiar figures that appear. Emma John had instruction and/ or good advice from (among many more) Pete Wernick, Matt Glaser, Michael Cleveland, and the Kruger Brothers; met (among many more) Wayne Henderson, Tim O'Brien, Alison Brown, Bobby Osborne, Roland White, and Carl Jackson; and saw many others perform in different settings and places. Her impressions were overwhelmingly favourable.

The book is very often very funny, but not faultless; she had to pick up a lot of bluegrass history in a hurry, and (despite help from impeccable bluegrass scholars) a journalistic desire for a neat effect led her astray at times. Is it true that after breaking with Earl Scruggs, Lester Flatt 'faded from view'? Or that Scotty Stoneman only played hokum fiddle? Also (in view of John Lawless's phrase 'the traditional music community', this is a necessary warning) she claims to have been immune or averse to old-time music and flatfooting.

Nevertheless, the core of the book is the experience of playing bluegrass music, and I find her descriptions of that experience completely convincing and often deeply moving. Over ten years ago Frank lent me another book which purported to describe a search for the moving spirit of flamenco, and at the time I wondered what the bluegrass equivalent would be. As a Daily Telegraph reader, I hate to admit that a Guardian writer can get anything right, but all in all I think that in Wayfaring stranger Emma John has nailed it. The book can be ordered from her website, from the Guardian online bookshop, and from other usual channels.

Update 26 Jan.: Henry Carrigan's favourable review of the book appeared on No Depression on 21 Jan.

The IBMA's Tony Rice tribute reader

The International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) has issued a special e-newsletter, 'Recollections of Tony Rice', compiling tributes, memories, and other contributions by a wide range of distinguished musicians in bluegrass and country music, in memory of Tony Rice, supreme master of bluegrass guitar, who died on Christmas day.

The IBMA release has an appendix of links to ten other obituaries or appreciations published in newspapers, journals, or online media. These, like the newsletter itself, include photos and videos from Tony Rice's long career as soloist and member of a string of musical combinations.

BIB editor's note: Geoffrey Himes writes in Paste magazine that when Tony Rice joined J.D. Crowe & the New South, '[h]ere, for the first time, was a traditional bluegrass line-up where the guitarist was taking solos that held their own with those of the banjo, mandolin and dobro.' This is not quite fair to Dan Crary, Tony Rice's predecessor as guitarist of Bluegrass Alliance. No one who heard Crary's powerful solos on the first Bluegrass Alliance album (1969) is likely to have forgotten them. NB: the sound of this LP on YouTube is not great.