Joe Troop, bluegrass musician and radical activist

The BIB editor writes:

Thanks to Devon Léger of Hearth Music/ HearthPR for continuing news of multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter Joe Troop (right) of North Carolina, whose impact on the bluegrass scene can be expected to increase although some of his music comes from unfamiliar directions.

In June 2019 the BIB reported on Che Apalache, Troop's four-piece band formed in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Having won the Neo-Traditional Band contest at the 2017 Clifftop, WV, festival, in 2019 they signed with Free Dirt Records, released a second album, produced by Béla Fleck, and were being well received at festivals; for although the other three members and some of the band's material and style came from Latin America, they also embodied core bluegrass values in their solid drive, close harmonies, Troop's lead singing, and especially the banjo work of Pau Barjau from Mexico.

The pandemic and travel restrictions cut short the band's progress. Troop, undaunted, has since risen to the challenge as a solo artist. During the summer the single 'Purdy little rainbows' from his new Borrowed time album has been featured on the Bluegrass Situation, the video of 'Mercy for migrants' (featuring Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn) was premiered on Rolling Stone, and he has been interviewed on Billboard. On top of this, he has been increasingly active in support of migrants and other marginalised sections of society, while at the same time learning, in his words, 'not to demonise the opposition'.

This is not the normal career path for a bluegrass musician, but Troop (quite apart from his activism) has, In my view, earned the right to be taken very seriously as a bluegrass musician. First because, important as the words of his songs are, he uses his voice as an instrument, as the founding fathers of bluegrass did in their individual ways; secondly, his banjo style has evolved to meet his demands in the same way as that of a more obviously traditional - but very individual - bluegrass artist, the late Dave Evans. Plenty of his music can now be heard on YouTube.

© Richard Hawkins

Greg Blake single climbs the charts

In February this year the BIB relayed the news that 'People, places, and songs', the new single by Greg Blake (USA) on Turnberry Records, had been released to radio; and in June, that the official video of the song (the title track from his forthcoming album) had been released. Turnberry Records now announce that the song has charted this month at the #1 position on the Bluegrass Standard video chart, and continues to climb the Bluegrass Unlimited survey, reaching #8 this month. The video can be seen on Turnberry's e-newsletter or on YouTube, and the album can be pre-ordered in physical or digital form from Turnberry.

Greg is well known in Ireland from his tours (organised by John Nyhan) as guitarist and lead singer with Jeff Scroggins & Colorado, as a bandleader, and as a solo artist. Since then, he has joined the Special Consensus as replacement for Rick Faris, and appears in the lead photos on the band's website and Facebook.

© Richard Hawkins

Bill Evans, Kristin Scott Benson, and the banjo

The September issue of Bluegrass Unlimited (not yet featured on the magazine's website) includes, among many other good things, 'Bill Evans and the 5-string banjo', an article by Bill Borwick. The emphasis is on the teaching aspect of Bill Evans's many-sided relationship with the banjo, and in particular with his eight-session online workshop 'Earl Scruggs: a player's guide', now part of Peghead Nation's course catalogue.

The Scruggs course is based on an in-depth study of Earl's playing, made as part of a personal voyage of discovery by Bill Evans, together with feedback from students and other players including Sonny Osborne and J.D. Crowe. Evans writes: 'Just to hear those guys in a room playing, [...] I realised there was so much I didn't know about how one can take the roll pattern approach that Earl Scruggs created and use it to create just an incredible array of music.' When this is taken together with the Earl Scruggs banjo songbook published this year by Hal Leonard, it looks as if there may never have been a better time for learning Scruggs-style banjo. A similar eight-session Peghead Nation course on Crowe's playing is planned for the new year.

Bill Evans and Kristin Scott Benson are also preparing a book together, 25 great bluegrass banjo solos. For more on this, read 'Kristin Scott Benson - What the banjo means to me today' on Bluegrass Today.

© Richard Hawkins

Italian Bluegrass Meeting in Cremona, 25 Sept. 2021

Our friend Danilo Cartia from Rome is the moving spirit and coordinator behind the annual Italian Bluegrass Meeting, scheduled this year for Saturday 25 September.

The Meeting is held as part of the Acoustic Guitar Village every autumn in Cremona, Italy. For enthusiasts for whom the combination of live bluegrass music and Italy in autumn is irresistible, the current state of regulations for travel between Ireland and Italy can be checked here.

© Richard Hawkins

Bob Everhart, 16 June 1936-20 Aug. 2021

The BIB learns with regret, from Richard Thompson's feature on Bluegrass Today, of the death of Robert Phillip 'Bob' Everhart, of the mid-western USA, a week ago at the age of 85 from heart complications. Bob Everhart was founder and president of the National Traditional Country Music Association, and was dedicated to preserving America's heritage of a wide range of tradition-based music. Richard Thompson's feature includes a comprehensive discography, and this intriguing passage:

As a result of an exchange of correspondence with a like-minded group in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Everhart took his music and ideologies to foreign shores. In 1978 he made his first of many tours to Europe with dates throughout the UK and in Germany. Other visits followed in quick succession. In all he made well over 20 concert tours of Europe, where he was presented with many various accolades over the years.

Does anyone recall the Belfast contacts? Bob certainly visited Dublin in (we think, but cannot at present confirm) 2000, when the US association SPBGMA held a European Bluegrass Band Contest in a hotel at Howth. The image above is from the cover of one of his albums, still available on Smithsonian Folkways Records.

© Richard Hawkins

Songs with clawhammer banjo, from Pat Kelleher

Thanks to Pat Kelleher of Dripsey, Co. Cork, for letting the BIB use these videos of his clawhammer-banjo arrangements for two songs: 'Wayfaring stranger' (above) and Elizabeth 'Libba' Cotten's 'Freight train' (below). The banjo shown here has the normal length of neck; Pat is highly regarded for his long-neck-banjo playing.



© Richard Hawkins

'Person of the year' from Kristy Cox

The award-winning Australian bluegrass and country singer Kristy Cox (right), whose band toured Ireland two years ago (thanks to the mygrassisblue.com team), would have been back before now but for the pandemic. Kristy is now well established in Nashville, TN (see the BIB for 21 May 2021), and is preparing her first US album with Billy Blue Records. A single from the album has been released: 'Person of the year', a song written by Jerry Salley and Bill Whyte, and dedicated to healthcare workers and the experiences of the past eighteen months. You can hear it on John Lawless's feature on Bluegrass Today or on YouTube.

Update 30 Aug.: See also this press release from Billy Blue Records.

© Richard Hawkins

Dunmore East 2021 SOLD OUT

Mick Daly, director of the Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival, quite rightly puts the following in the Good News Department: 'The Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival is SOLD OUT.'

Congratulations to Mick for organising, at about three weeks' notice, a 200-seater event featuring seven bands from this island, with provision for food and drink, on the picturesque coast of Co. Waterford, AND selling every ticket.

© Richard Hawkins

More US - and European - news

The August 2021 issue of Bluegrass Unlimited magazine, with the cover story on Sarah Jarosz, includes (among many other good things) a five-page feature on Andrea Roberts (see the BIB for 24 June) and a three-page feature on Tristan Scroggins and his mandolin instruction projects. The latest of these is his 80-page book How to play mandolin in 14 days: daily lessons for absolute beginners, about which more details are on Bluegrass Today. The BU features, together with much more, can be read on the magazine's website.

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Edwina (left) is one of the wide range of Ear Trunpet Laboratories microphones. The organising team of the Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival bought an Edwina for Festival use, as mentioned by the director, Uri Kohen, on Facebook on 8 June this year. In ten years, Ear Trumpet Labs have produced ten thousand microphones, which are increasingly seen in photos of bluegrass, old-time, and other acoustic musicians.

To mark this achievement, Ear Trumpet have made eleven 'Louise' microphones in 10K silver, of which ten will be sold at $750 each. All profits from sales in the last ten days of August will be donated to MESO (Micro Enterprise Services of Oregon), a campaign to 'elevate and empower historically excluded and under-resourced entrepreneurs with tailored business assistance and flexible capital to build family wealth through small-business ownership'. See this press release.

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Our Swiss friend Mala Gassman (right), who has toured Ireland several times with her band Mala & Fyrmoon, took the step in April this year of assuming a new name as a performer: Mala Oreen (and on Facebook). Her single 'Offspring' was released around that time, and 'Ragged queen' in early July. Both are from an album scheduled for release on 5 Nov. 2021. More details are in Mala's summer e-newsletter.

© Richard Hawkins

New music from past visitors

Thanks to Mountain Fever Records for this press release on 'Carolina line', the latest single from Seth Mulder & Midnight Run. The song was written by Jerry Salley and Glen Duncan. Seth says: 'It features our guitar player, Ben Watlington, singing lead in an Osborne Brothers-inspired arrangement that we had fun coming up with.' Their previous single, 'One more night', has been doing very well in the charts of Bluegrass Today and Bluegrass Unlimited.

The Mountain Home Music Company announce a new album from Chris Jones & the Night Drivers, Make each second last, which is due for release on 15 October and can be pre-ordered from Mountain Home, who call it Chris's 'most original and most varied outing yet'. It includes strong songwriting by Thomm Jutz and former Night Driver Jon Weisberger.

Rick Faris, formerly mandolin and guitar player with the Special Consensus for eleven years, has released two new singles, 'See you on the other side' and 'Can't build a bridge to Glory', both from his forthcoming album on the Dark Shadow Recording label. Rick has a powerful cast of supporting artists, including Sam Bush on mandolin and Ronnie Bowman on vocals.

Thanks to Billy Blue Records and Laughing Penguin Publicity for the news that Don Rigsby, who has played in Ireland several times in different combinations, has released a new, autobiographical single, 'These days I stand alone', which he wrote together with Billy Droze. It reinforces his position as (to quote the press release) 'the quintessential bluegrass tenor of our time'.

Sideline, who toured Ireland two years ago (thanks to the mygrassisblue.com team), will release on 17 September a new album, Ups, downs, and no-name towns, on the Mountain Home label. The title, taken from a line in one of the album's songs, 'This old guitar case', relates to the experiences of the last eighteen months. Guitarist Skip Cherryholmes writes: 'In the musical slump caused by the shutdowns of 2020, Sideline decided to pull together and start on a new project. We had time, we had each other, and we decided to put it all to work in a way we had never done before.' The album can be pre-ordered from Mountain Home.

© Richard Hawkins

Bluegrass Family Reunion at Durrow, Co. Laois, 4 Sept. 2021

Thanks to Tony O'Brien for the very welcome news that a Bluegrass Family Reunion will be held outdoors at Bob's Bar (above) in Durrow, Co. Laois, on Saturday 4 September, hosted by Woodbine, from 4.00 p.m. till dark. Guest musicians are welcome.

Bob's Bar, beside the River Erkina at the north end of Durrow, has for a long time been one of Woodbine's favourite places to play. It is also the focal point for rallies of the traditional 'High Nelly' upright bicycles, and anyone interested in local history should visit its unique museum.

© Richard Hawkins

Bill Emerson, 1938-2021

The BIB editor writes:

We learn with great regret that Bill Emerson (John Lawless on Bluegrass Today describes him as 'surely one of the most consequential banjo players of the 20th century') died on Saturday 21 Aug. from complications of pneumonia, at the age of 83.

Bill Emerson (William Hundley Emerson, jr) was inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2019. The biographical article there by Gary Reid, together with John Lawless's feature, give good overviews of his long career, and the heartfelt tribute by Lynwood Lunsford at the end of the feature is bound to be followed by many. Instead of repeating the same facts, here are some of the impacts that Bill Emerson made on my own experience and outlook.

Bluegrass Unlimited magazine for October 1968 had Edwin G. Huffman's splendid black-and-white photo of Jimmy Martin and Bill Emerson on the cover, and the first instalment of Bill's 'On the road with Jimmy Martin' inside. These brought me closer to the real life of the professional bluegrass musician than anything had previously done.

Bill Emerson's contributions to the early years of BU shouldn't be overlooked: they included detailed assessments and comparisons of the different brands of bluegrass banjo then available; reviews of LPs, banjo accessories, and the first edition of Earl Scruggs and the 5-string banjo; a system of record reviewing; and his part in 'Sonny tells it like it is', a long and very frank 1969 interview with the Osborne Brothers and others about the current state and prospects of bluegrass.

The first 5-string banjos I encountered were all old and needing attention in one way or another. This convinced me that 'tinkering' was an essential part of banjo ownership, and many other people clearly felt (and feel) the same. It was therefore a shock to find a player of Bill Emerson's stature stating, as he did in an early issue of Banjo News Letter, 'Get a good banjo and leave it alone' (or words to that effect).

Joe Ross's major article in the March 1992 issue of BU, 'Bill Emerson: banjo player extraordinaire', is one of the most comprehensive, informative, and thought-provoking interviews of a bluegrass musician I've ever seen. It showed that Emerson (with a clear view of the past) was always focused on the present and future. I hope it is soon made available from the Bluegrass Unlimited archives.

Update: The interview can now be read here.

Finally, it does no harm to remember that when Bill Emerson and Roni Stoneman (four months younger) were in their teens, Roni kicked Bill for saying that as a girl, she couldn't play banjo in three-finger style. Harmony was later restored.

PS: Thanks to Flanman for his comment, below. By chance, Jimmy Martin's own preferences concerning J.D. Crowe and Bill Emerson as banjo players are reported by a contributor to Banjo Hangout (https://www.banjohangout.org/topic/377256).

© Richard Hawkins

Tom T. Hall, 1936-2021 (updates)

The BIB reported in January 2015 the death of Iris Violet May Hall, 'Miss Dixie'. We now learn with great regret of the death on Friday of her husband, Tom T. Hall. Tom T. and Miss Dixie were inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2018. Thanks to Des Butler for the photo image (right) and the following appreciation of Tom T.'s career:

The death has occured on Friday 20 Aug. of Tom T. Hall, country music songwriter, singer, instrumentalist, and writer, at the age of 85. Known as 'the Storyteller', Tom T. Hall penned twelve No. 1 songs and over twenty-six Top 10s throughout his career.

Born 25 May 1936 in Olive Hill, Kentucky, Hall wrote his first song at the age of 9 and joined his first band, the Kentucky Travelers, as a teenager.

His first single as an artist, 'I washed my face in the morning dew', was released in the summer of ’67 and the No. 1s began rolling in shortly after, carrying him through much of the 1970s.

All self-penned, Hall’s many hits included 'A week in a country jail', 'The year that Clayton Delaney died', '(Old dogs, children and) Watermelon wine', 'I love', 'Country is', 'I care', and 'Faster horses (the Cowboy and the Poet)', among others. He joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1971 and was elected to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1978.

Among other hits penned by Hall are Dave Dudley’s 'The pool shark'; Bobby Bare’s '(Margie’s at) The Lincoln Park Inn' and 'How I got to Memphis'; and 'Harper Valley P.T.A.' for Jeannie C. Riley, which earned a CMA Single of the Year award.

Later on, Hall and his wife Iris (née Lawrence), better known as 'Miss Dixie', focused on advancing bluegrass music and its artists' careers. On their farm outside of Nashville the couple operated their own publishing companies as well as a state-of-the-art recording studio. Together, they won a dozen SPBGMA awards for Bluegrass Songwriter of the Year between 2002 and 2015 before Dixie’s death in 2015.

Tom T. Hall was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008 and was presented the BMI Icon Award in 2012 for his lasting influence on generations of songwriters.

Of the many albums I have of him, both vinyl and CD, I still get as much pleasure removing one of his early vinyl recordings from its sleeve, putting it on the turntable, and listening to it as I did the day I bought it. A great songwriting and storytelling talent has gone from us.

Tom T. Hall 1936-2021: RIP

Dixie and Tom T. Hall

Update: See also the obituary by Chris Jones on Bluegrass Today.

Update 24 Aug.: See also David Morris's memoir on Bluegrass Today.

Dunmore East 2021: complete lineup and running schedule

Thanks to Mick Daly, director of the Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival in Co. Waterford, for the complete lineup and running schedule of the 26th Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival, to be held at Creadan (X91 W7T8) on Creadan Head, near Dunmore East, Co. Waterford, a week from today (Sat. 28 Aug. 2021). Here's the programme:

1.00 p.m. Whistle (Co. Dublin)
2.15 p.m. Southern Welfare with Gerry Madden (Waterford city)
3.30 p.m. Lands End
4.45 p.m. Mules & Men (Dublin)
6.00 p.m. Pilgrim St (Navan)
7.15 p.m. No Oil Paintings (Belfast)
8.30 p.m. Mons Wheeler Band

A small amount of tickets are still available. To order tickets, call 051-878832/ 087-2562899 or e-mail bluegrass@eircom.net, and collect in Waterford from:
Crosslane Ltd, Westgate Retail Park, Tramore Road, Waterford city

Further details are on the BIB posts for 7 Aug. and 16 Aug.

Mick says (in what may be the understatement of the year): 'it was a large undertaking to put the festival in place in just three weeks; lots we would have done had to be put on the back burner due to time constraints.' He and his team deserve all credit for presenting the first live bluegrass festival in Ireland since the pandemic struck this country early last year.

© Richard Hawkins

Kathy Kallick interview, part 2

The BIB editor writes:

The second instalment of Dave Berry's major interview of Kathy Kallick, focusing on her experiences of songwriting, bandleading, and collaborating with other artists, can be read now on Bluegrass Today. Just like the first instalment a month ago, it's illuminating, stimulating, and well worth reading.

Three videos are included to illustrate some of Kallick's music, made with her own band, with Laurie Lewis, and with other notable bluegrass women. All are very satisfying to see and hear; I specially recommend one from a live show by the Kathy Kallick Band in January 2017, playing 'I'm not your honey baby now'. This is exactly what I most enjoy hearing from a band: passion, energy, and excitement, all in perfect coordination. Watch it on Bluegrass Today or on YouTube.

PS: Incidentally (if that's the right word), the mandolinist in the KKB is Tom Bekeny, who played at the very first Athy bluegrass festival as a member of High Country, and at later Athy events with the same band.

© Richard Hawkins

Kyle O'Brien (USA) touches base

Kyle O'Brien from Colorado, USA, sends greetings and his inaugural newsletter, showing his long and varied experience as a bluegrass, folk, and country musician with several bands including Chicago's Henhouse Prowlers. Though no longer a Prowler, he has travelled the world with them in their Bluegrass Ambassadors role.

You can subscribe to Kyle's newsletter via a link on this first issue. In the present circumstances, he doesn't mention any plans to visit Ireland, but - surely that's the hill behind Bunratty in the background of that photo, seen from the left bank of the Shannon?

© Richard Hawkins

News and history from the US

The BIB learns with regret of the death last Saturday (14 Aug.) of Dennis Caplinger (right) of California, an outstanding multi-instrumentalist, described in Richard Thompson's very informative obituary on Bluegrass Today as 'a virtuoso’s virtuoso and Grammy Award-winner' (and much more). The obituary includes four videos of his recorded and stage performances on banjo. The regard in which he was held is indicated by the fact that a GoFundMe campaign, set up to help his family with medical and funeral costs, has already received two-and-a-half times the target amount.

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Another banjo-player, Neil V. Rosenberg, the premier bluegrass historian and a member of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, is fortunately still with us. The second instalment of his account of the 1987 Bluegrass Reunion in Dayton, OH (Dayton being one of the hotbeds of bluegrass in its early decades), can be read on the Bluegrass Situation, as part of his ongoing 'Bluegrass Memoirs' series. The article includes reproductions of the 1987 programme and press reports, plus six YouTube videos of artists who took part (including Joe Mullins, headliner at the 2019 Omagh festival, who in 1987 was a member of his father's splendid band, the Traditional Grass).

© Richard Hawkins

The irreplaceable Mel Corry of Lurgan, Co. Armagh, died on 13 January this year from the effects of COVID. Among the tributes that were paid to Mel after his death, Tony O'Brien gave one of the first - as well as most of the photos that appeared on the BIB of Mel and the bands that he was at the heart of.

To follow and complement this, over the past couple of months Tony has compiled an album of Mel's music, taken from recordings made in several different formats. The result is an eighteen-track CD - fourteen songs and four classic bluegrass instrumentals. Seven were recorded with KingBlue; six with the Tennessee Hennessees; one with High Lonesome; and four with Buddy Merriam & Back Roads, marking the fact that just one of Mel's distinctions was to have played banjo for a professional touring US band throughout their tour of Ireland.

The image above, from one side of the CD inlay card, shows photos of Mel at the microphone and two of his bands; two more bands are shown inside, where the tracks are listed. Also shown above are Tony's descriptive notes, which can be read by clicking on the image. The whole is a worthy tribute to - as Tony's title says - an Irish bluegrass legend.

© Richard Hawkins

Contestants, not rivals

L-r: Gena Britt, Kristin Scott Benson, Gina Furtado

Anyone who enjoyed the banjo playing of Gena Britt, who toured Ireland in Alecia Nugent's band two years ago, or of Gina Furtado (over here later the same year, with Chris Jones & the Night Drivers), not to mention Kristin Scott Benson (who regrettably has not played at a festival in Ireland yet) should enjoy the article 'As banjo players and friends, these women set the tone in bluegrass', contributed to the Bluegrass Situation (BGS) by its staff members a week ago.

All three are nominated for the Banjo Player of the Year award at the 2021 IBMA World Of Bluegrass, starting in six weeks' time. The article includes three videos, showing recent playing by each of them: the Earl Scruggs classic 'Ground speed' played by Benson, 'Made up my mind' by Furtado, and Britt playing banjo with Sister Sadie on the Opry stage in 'Since I laid my burden down'.

© Richard Hawkins

Free live concert by Shane Hennessy at Carlow, 7.30 p.m. 12 Sept. 2021

As the BIB reported on 1 July, the showcase programme of this year's IBMA World Of Bluegrass (WOB) next month at Raleigh, NC, includes quite a few faces that are familiar to Irish audiences - notably the outstanding guitar maestro from Carlow, Shane Hennessy (right), who like the other showcase participants from outside the USA will be making his presentation by Zoom. In his latest e-newsletter Shane announces:

I am really delighted to announce my first concert with a live audience since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic! I will be performing as part of the Carlow Live & Local Music Festival in my hometown of Carlow, Ireland on Sunday September 12th 2021, at the George Bernard Shaw Theatre.

Tickets are free, but due to ongoing public health restrictions, the capacity of the venue is limited to 50 people, so an allocation of two tickets per booking applies. Tickets are available via this link, or by contacting VISUAL at 059 9172400, or e-mailing VISUAL at boxoffice@visualcarlow.ie.

© Richard Hawkins

Nanci Griffith, 1953-2021

(photo: Julie Jacobson/ AP)

Des Butler sends this sad news:

Nanci Griffith, the Grammy-winning folk and country songwriter whose popular recordings include 'Love at the Five and Dime', 'Once in a very blue moon', and 'Outbound plane', died Friday 13 August 2021; no cause of death has been given. She was 68.

Born 6 July 1953 in Seguin, Texas, and raised in Austin, Nanci Caroline Griffith began her performing career as a teenager, playing at clubs and festivals around Texas. She attended the University of Texas and began a career as a teacher.

She released several albums, including Lone Star State of mind and Little love affairs that demonstrated her powers as a writer as well as an interpreter of others’ work. Among her best-charting country radio singles from this era were 'Lone Star State of mind', 'Trouble in the fields', 'Cold hearts/ closed minds', and 'I knew love'.

Griffith was also the first artist to record Julie Gold’s 'From a distance', which Bette Midler later cut in 1990 to massive pop success. Griffith’s recording of the song was successful in Ireland and helped endear her to performers like Mary Black, who championed her work and recorded a version of 'Once in a very blue moon'.

Though Griffith never got to experience a big radio hit with her own recordings, her songs were often recorded with greater success by others. 'Love at the Five and Dime', from The last of the true believers, earned Kathy Mattea a #3 country hit in 1986. Likewise, 'Outbound plane', which Griffith had written with Tom Russell for Little love affairs, ended up as a Top 10 hit for Suzy Bogguss in 1991. Other artists who cut Griffith’s songs include Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, and Maura O’Connell.

Her album Other voices, other rooms (1993) had a guest list that included Emmylou Harris, Guy Clark, Iris DeMent, and John Prine, who sang on her version of 'Speed of the sound of loneliness'. Other voices won a 1994 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album.

In July, it was announced that Griffith was among the incoming class of the Texas Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Nanci Griffith 1953-2021: RIP

Dunmore East 2021 - latest news

Thanks to Mick Daly, director of the Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival in Co. Waterford, for supplying the poster image (above) for the Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival, to be held at Creadan Head, near Dunmore East, Co. Waterford, on Sat. 28 Aug. (see the BIB for 7 Aug.). In addition to the bands previously announced (Mules & Men, Pilgrim St, and the Mons Wheeler Band), Lands End, No Oil Paintings from Belfast, and Waterford's own Southern Welfare (with Gerry Madden) are on the lineup.

Mick also notes that Tickets.ie is not activated yet, so in the mean time contact bluegrass@eircom.net for tickets.

© Richard Hawkins

Another editorial hiatus

The BIB editor will be out of the editorial chair on pleasure bent again for a few days, starting today (Tuesday 10 Aug.); so please send in news but don't expect it to appear before Monday 16 Aug. at the earliest.

© Richard Hawkins

BB Bowness on Deering Live, Thurs. 12 Aug.

The Deering Banjo Company announce that the featured artist on Deering Live this coming Thursday will be the award-winning Catherine 'BB' Bowness, who has toured Ireland several times as a member of the award-winning Mile Twelve (thanks to John Nyhan) and is now one of the most respected younger players of bluegrass banjo. The interview can be watched from 11.00 p.m. (Irish time) on Deering Live or YouTube.

A collection of highlights from the Deering Live interview on 8 July with Riley Baugus can be seen now on Deering Live Shorts.

© Richard Hawkins

Alice Gerrard box sets and bundles

More merchandise, this time connected with a friend of Bill Monroe, Alice Gerrard (above), and with a documentary film about her life - the organisers of You gave me a song announce:

We’re happy to announce our 2021 Box Set Summer Sale! Our little boxes contain the seventy-seven-minute film festival cut, bonus scenes, two CDs of favorite film tunes, never-before-released archival music from Alice’s collection, and an assortment of photo cards from Alice's archive. We have a limited supply of signed film posters, LPs, and CDs to bundle with your box order. And you can also order one of our Phil Blank-designed YOU GAVE ME A SONG t-shirts, which some have called 'one of the most comfortable tees in my dresser'. Visit our shop and order here...

© Richard Hawkins

IBMA merchandise available - new and vintage

The International Bluegrass Music Association announces in its latest e-newsletter that IBMA merchandise - t-shirts, tumblers, masks, hats, and more - can be bought from the IBMA merch store, to which more items, new and vintage, will be added. The lead item (right) is a T-shirt with an image of the Father of Bluegrass looking appropriately magisterial. Members of IBMA are eligible for a 10% discount.

© Richard Hawkins

Dunmore East 26th Bluegrass (Picnic) Festival, 28 Aug. 2021

Thanks to Mick Daly, director of the Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival in Co. Waterford, for what Mick rightly calls:

Bit of good news for a change - yesterday we got permission from the authorities to go ahead with the 2021 mini festival!

The 26th Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival will be held as a one-day, ticket-only, over-18 event on Saturday 28 August 2021 from 1.00 p.m. to 10 p.m., with seven acts taking part. Two hundred (200) tickets at €50 each are available, with seating for all ticket holders. (For bookings, see below).

The Festival will be held outdoors on a forty-acre site at Creadan, Creadan Head, Co. Waterford X91W7TB, north of Dunmore East village and adjacent to Mick's home. Two food trucks will be on hand, together with an American-style bottle bar. Mick writes:

Bring your own beer/ wine/ spirits; we will put it in a cooler for you and serve it to you in a real glass with ice. Tip the bar staff at your discretion.

As of today, acts confirmed are Mules & Men, Pilgrim St, and the Mons Wheeler Band; four more are to be announced. Mick adds:

Tickets and wristbands may be reserved this week at bluegrass@eircom.net; just e-mail Mick and they will be held. If it's not sold out by Friday, remaining tickets will be sold online. For any queries, call 051 878832 or 087 2562899.

© Richard Hawkins

Roscommon County Line reviewed on Bluegrass Today...

... and by Tabitha (Agnew) Benedict of Co. Armagh, banjo player, guitarist, and singer of Cup O' Joe, Midnight Skyracer, and the Foreign Landers, who gives it the comprehensive, meticulous, and informative treatment that characterises her reviewing. Read the review here.

A playlist giving 30-second samples of all ten tracks of Roscommon County Line accompanies the review, together with a video of 'John Keavney'. For Mules & Men's own press release when the album first appeared last year, see the BIB for 28 Aug. 2020.

© Richard Hawkins

Appalachian music on film and TV

Dale Farmer (right), creator of The mountain minor, the film drama about old-time music in Appalachia, sends his latest e-newsletter, which includes a link to an hour-long TV presentation (accessible on YouTube). In this, he presents many examples of how bluegrass and old-time music have been shown on TV and movie screens, often perpetuating comic or negative stereotypes of country people. In the last few minutes, he gives salutary comments on how one might react to the term 'hillbilly'.

Dale reminds us that The mountain minor, as well as being on DVD and Blu-Ray, is available for public or private screenings. This year has seen the emergence of the cicadas after seventeen years underground; you can find out from the e-newsletter why Dale finds it easy to identify with the cicadas.

© Richard Hawkins

Medical fund for Spencer Nitchie of Banjo News Letter

John Lawless on Bluegrass Today posts the sad news that Spencer Nitchie, the business editor of Banjo News Letter (BNL; founded by his father fifty years ago) is suffering from cancer of the liver and pancreas. A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help his family meet medical expenses; at the time of writing this post, $15,455 has been raised towards a target of $50,000.

John Lawless mentions that while BNL is dedicated to the 5-string banjo, and Spencer's father Hub favoured bluegrass and his brother Donald old-time music, Spencer himself plays tenor banjo. A video of him playing Irish music can be seen on the GoFundMe page and on YouTube; other footage on YouTube shows him improvising in swing style on the tenor.

Update 7 Aug.: We learn with regret that Spencer Nitchie died yesterday (6 Aug.). Helene Clay, organiser of the medical fund (for which $29,723 has now been received) reports that donations are still welcome, as there is no knowing what total expenses may be.

© Richard Hawkins

Stephen Wade on Deering Live TONIGHT, Thurs. 5 Aug. 2021

The Deering Banjo Company announce that the featured artist on Deering Live tonight will be Stephen Wade. Deering state:

We are excited to feature musician and author Stephen Wade to Deering Live this week. Stephen is a true scholar of American folk music, having written the critically acclaimed book on American field recordings, The beautiful music all around us. Wade, a Grammy-nominated recording artist, is also a critically acclaimed playwright most known for his hit one-man show 'Banjo Dancing'. Tune in to hear Stephen play some tunes and ask him questions on the history of American folk music.

The beautiful music all around us (2012) is published by the University of Illinois Press in their invaluable 'Music in American Life' series. The Wikipedia article on Stephen Wade includes discography and bibliography; the interview by Greg Adams in the Dec. 2012 issue of Banjo News Letter, which lists the previous BNL features on him and contributions by him, is well worth reading also. Tonight's interview can be watched from 11.00 p.m. on Deering Live or YouTube.

© Richard Hawkins

Two new 'browngrass' videos

Thanks once again to our friend Joe McKernan (right) and his family in New South Wales, Australia, whose 'browngrass' music has been featured several times on the BIB in the past. In particular, Joe sent audio recordings of two songs written by his son Donal, 'Smoky wind' and 'Rain', with music in the old-time vein, which duly appeared on the BIB nearly four and nearly three years ago, respectively. We're glad to receive now new video versions, with appealing views of nature in the Australian countryside and layered vocal harmonies, of 'Smoky wind' and 'Rain'.

© Richard Hawkins

Long Way Home also at Doneraile, 15 Aug. 2021

Thanks to Long Way Home for the news that their outdoor concert series later this month (sponsored by Cork County Council in their CoCoPops programme) now comprises five shows, beginning on Sunday 15 Aug. in Doneraile Court Demesne at 5.00 p.m. This is announced as a short set during the closing ceremonies of the Doneraile Art FesT.

The full schedule for the series is now on Long Way Home's shows page and Facebook, and on this Facebook event page. The new date has been added to the BIB calendar and to yesterday's post on the series.

© Richard Hawkins

I Draw Slow to miss North Carolina festival, Sept. 2021

The organising team of the Mountain Song festival in Brevard, NC, scheduled for 10-11 Sept. 2021, announce in their latest e-newsletter that Dublin's I Draw Slow 'due to unforeseen circumstances, [...] will not be able to perform at the festival this year. We will miss having them but hopefully they can join us in the future!'

The photo above of I Draw Slow (l-r: Dave Holden, Louise Holden, Colin Derham, Adrian Hart, Konrad Liddy) may have been taken in Washington DC last year, according to their Facebook.

© Richard Hawkins

Long Way Home: free outdoor concerts in Co. Cork, 21-28 Aug. 2021 (UPDATE)

Long Way Home (comprising Owen Schinkel and Kylie Kay Anderson) announce on their Facebook:

We are excited to have some outdoor shows scheduled here in Ireland. Spread the word! We're looking forward to playing some music for you.

The poster image (right) shows the schedule for their Outdoor Concert Series in Co. Cork, sponsored by the Cork County Arts Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. The dates later this month are:

• Sun. 15th: Doneraile Court Demesne, 5.00 p.m. (as part of Doneraile Art FesT)
• Sat. 21st Aug.: Town Park, Fermoy, 3.00 p.m.
• Sun. 22nd: The Mill, Castletownroche, 3.00 p.m.
• Thurs. 26th: Market Square, Mitchelstown, 10.30 a.m. (note earlier time)
• Sat. 28th: Town Park, Kanturk, 3.00 p.m.

Dates and times may be subject to change. All events are free of charge and will conform to current government guidelines on COVID. You are advised to bring something to sit on! This will not be a problem if you engage Long Way Home for a show in their Garden Concert Series - see the BIB for 30 May and their introductory video.

Update 3 Aug.: Since this post was first published, the date on 15 Aug. has been added to the schedule, and the poster image has also been updated. Thanks to Long Way Home for the information.

© Richard Hawkins

The original 1991 Athy poster

Following Friday's BIB post (30 July) commemorating the first Athy Bluegrass Festival, thanks again to Tony O'Brien for this reproduction (right) of the original 1991 poster. It shows that the festival, sponsored by the Budweiser company, was on the weekend 25-28 July 1991, with a lineup comprising the New Blue Velvet Band (Jim Rooney, Bill Keith, Eric Weissberg, Kenny Kosek), Butch Waller & High Country, Homer Ledford & the Cabin Creek Band, and four Irish groups: Athy's own Flint Hill Boys, the Higglers Jug Band, Local Hero from Dublin, and the Rusty String Band, with Niall Toner as festival compere.

Admission to individual concerts was £8, and a ticket for the whole weekend was £20. Also mentioned is the busking competition, with a prize of £1,000. Does anyone recall who won that?

© Richard Hawkins