Bluegrass dominates the Bluegrass Situation's Weekly Dispatch

The latest Weekly Dispatch, issued by the Bluegrass Situation (BGS) online magazine, pays its respects to this week's IBMA World Of Bluegrass by presenting features on Fair Black Rose, a diverse young Arizona string band who are on the showcase schedule; the five nominations for the 2021 Instrumental Recording of the Year award; the full lists of nominees for all awards, and of inductees into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame; and the official video of the Punch Brothers playing 'Church Street blues' from their new album Hell on Church Street. The video can also be seen on YouTube.

© Richard Hawkins

Bill Evans on Deering Live TONIGHT

The Deering Banjo Company announce:

Bill Evans is an internationally recognized five-string banjo life force. As a performer, teacher, writer and composer, he brings a deep knowledge, intense virtuosity, and contagious passion to all things banjo, with thousands of music fans and banjo students from all over the world in a music career that now spans over thirty-five years. Join us to hear him play, tell some stories, and give some banjo playing tips!

Bill, who toured Ireland some years ago with fiddle star Megan Lynch Chowning, can be seen and heard on Deering Live or YouTube tonight (Thurs. 30 Sept.) at 11.00 p.m. Irish time.

© Richard Hawkins

Danny Burns prepares for his third album

Danny Burns, who was touring and performing in Ireland shortly before the first lockdown took effect, announces that he has signed with the Wilson Pickins Promotion agency of Nashville, TN, for full service publicity and booking. His first two albums, North country and Hurricane, have been warmly received, and he is starting work on a third for Bonfire Music Group. Danny is also on Facebook. More details are on the Wilson Pickins press release.

© Richard Hawkins

'What is folklore today?' from the Bitter Southerner

The Bitter Southerner (BS) online magazine has published 'What is folklore today?', in which BS guest editors April and Lance Ledbetter talk with Sarah Bryan, executive director of the North Carolina Folklife Institute and editor of the Old-Time Herald, and Emily Hilliard, program officer of Folk and Traditional Arts at Mid Atlantic Arts and former West Virginia state folklorist at the West Virginia Humanities Council, about 'tradition, authenticity, validation, and building creative cultural communities in our digital age'.

The Ledbetters created the Atlanta-based organisation Dust-to-Digital, dedicated to preserving and making accessible obscure recordings. The discussion touches on many aspects of folklore in the South that relate to old-time musicians in particular, but also to humanity in general: traditions of survival and coping with disaster, for instance, or what to do about traditions that have undesirable aspects (quote: 'Folklore isn't inherently good').

Associated with the interview are features on the Ledbetters themselves; photos taken by Margo Newark Rosenbaum, wife of Art Rosenbaum; and a playlist from the Dust-to-Digital collections.

© Richard Hawkins

'Browngrass' playlist on YouTube

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. Joe reports that the Bruderhof Music YouTube channel now has a 'Browngrass/ Folk' playlist, comprising the six original McKernan family songs that have so far appeared on video.

The most recent of these, added last Saturday (25 Sept.), is 'The truck driver's morning devotion', written by Joe's son Donal, sung by Donal and his wife Cornelia, and with notes including the complete lyrics and Joe's account of the circumstances in which the song came to be written.

© Richard Hawkins

Commemorating Ken Seaman

John Lawless reports on Bluegrass Today that a memorial service for the late Ken Seaman will be held on Thursday (30 Sept.) at Foundations Church in Loveland, CO, at 3:00 p.m. local time. A meeting in celebration of Ken's life is planned for a later date, for which details will be announced.

The Bluegrass Today feature includes more biographical details, a tribute from Pete Wernick, and the video of the Bluegrass Patriots at Athy in 2003 which Tony O'Brien posted on the Woodbine YouTube channel on Saturday (25 Sept.).

© Richard Hawkins

Past visitors at WOB 2021

Fans of Chicago's Henhouse Prowlers (right) from their previous appearances in Ireland will be glad to know that they'll be conspicuous this week at the IBMA World Of Bluegrass (WOB) in Raleigh, NC - beginning, in fact, this evening (WOB officially opens tomorrow) at the Kickoff Party, in the Raleigh Convention Center tomorrow and Wednesday, and more gigs through to the Capitol Stage on Friday evening. Their banjo player Ben Wright will also be MC at the two days of the IBMA International Showcase, sponsored by the Bluegrass Ambassadors organisation. The Prowlers and Bluegrass Ambassadors will be at Booth 115 in the Exhibit Hall throughout WOB.

*

Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers, headliners at the 2019 Omagh festival, will also be very active, especially on Thursday at the Special Awards Luncheon and the main evening Awards Show. Their 'Hear Jerusalem calling' is nominated for the Gospel Recorded Performance award, and the album Industrial strength bluegrass, produced by Joe Mullins, is nominated for Album of the Year. More detail is on the East Public Relations press release.

© Richard Hawkins

Ken Seaman, 1942-2021

The BIB editor writes:

Thanks to Tony O'Brien for the sad news of the death of Ken Seaman (right) of the Bluegrass Patriots, one of the most distinguished bluegrass bands west of the Mississippi river. Earlier this evening Tony posted the news on Facebook, writing:

Another great bluegrass banjo player, band leader & promoter is gone with the sudden passing of Ken Seaman of The Bluegrass Patriots, Colorado. A much loved band with Irish audiences especially the Athy bluegrass festival. Ken will be a great loss to his family and the Colorado bluegrass community. I have known Ken since 1995 and proud to call him a friend.

RIP Ken and condolances to Mary & all the family.

Tony attached to his Facebook post a video (added today to the Woodbine YouTube channel) of the Patriots at the 2003 Athy festival, singing 'When you and I were young, Maggie', which Tony considers his own favourite song, and the favourite of all the Patriots - and which, I believe, they learned from the singing of Clem O'Brien, seen to the left in the video. The video also shows how Ken's energy kept him moving on stage - stomping on faster numbers.

The photo above was taken in early January 2019, when Ken was one of six musicians honoured with the title of Pioneers of Missouri Bluegrass Music - he was raised in Shannon county, Missouri, and was among the first Scruggs-style banjo players in the Ozarks, following closely behind Doug Dillard. John Lawless wrote on Bluegrass Today: 'No matter where he went, Ken still called the Ozarks home.'

Update 27 Sept.: Thanks again to Tony for the news that an obituary is on Ken's Facebook.

© Richard Hawkins

'Tradition now' at the NCH

The BIB reported on 9 Sept. the autumn concert programme of the National Concert Hall (NCH) in Dublin. This includes the 'Tradition now' series, which begins tomorrow (Sat. 25 Sept.) with two concerts celebrating the enduring influence of the composer Seán Ó Riada (1931-1971) on a diverse range of Irish music fifty years after his untimely death. The concerts are at 2.00 p.m. and 8.00 p.m., with a free livestream on nch.ie.

It may be argued that the impact of Ó Riada's ensemble setting of Irish traditional music for Ceoltóirí Chualann, followed by the Chieftains, is one of the factors leading to the rapprochement between Irish music and bluegrass in the last forty-odd years.

© Richard Hawkins

Béla Fleck: two more Artist of the Month features on BGS (added note)

It was announced a fortnight ago that Béla Fleck would be the Bluegrass Situation's Artist of the Month for September 2021. The two features on him by David Menconi can now be read online: the 16 Sept. article includes videos of 'Round Rock', 'Vertigo', and 'Slippery eel'; the one for 17 Sept. includes videos for 'Wheels up' and 'Revenge of the tentacle dragon'.

BIB editor's note: David Menconi's published writings include Step it up and go: the story of North Carolina popular music (2020), the first chapter of which is devoted to Charlie Poole. Menconi mentions that 'Some thirty-five years after Poole's death, in 1966, an old-time music fan from Northern Ireland raised enough money to pay for gravestones for Poole and Posey Rorer.' The 'old-time music fan' was the late Rodney McElrea of Omagh, Co. Tyrone, world-class collector and walking encyclopedia of country music (see the BIB for 28 June and 5 July 2017).

© Richard Hawkins

8th Italian Bluegrass Meeting: update

Three weeks ago the BIB mentioned the Italian Bluegrass Meeting, which will be held for the eighth time in Cremona this coming Saturday (25 Sept.) as part of the Acoustic Guitar Village event.

Thanks to the Bluegrass Italia Channel and the European Bluegrass Music Association Facebook, we can now present a more detailed poster image for the event, listing the artists and acts who will be taking part.

© Richard Hawkins

Norman Blake: new album Day by day for release, 22 Oct. 2021

Thanks to Devon Léger of HearthPR for the news that the legendary US guitarist Norman Blake (above) will have a new album, Day by day, released on the Smithsonian Folkways label on 22 October. The first single from the album, 'I'm free again', can be heard on YouTube. Here's an excerpt from the press release:

American guitarist Norman Blake is one of the great unsung heroes of 20th century folk music. Over the course of his long career, he’s been at the forefront of multiple revivals of American roots music, from his time in the late 60s and 70s as the house guitarist for Johnny Cash and his playing on Bob Dylan’s Nashville skyline, to his work creating newgrass with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and in the 2000s reinventing bluegrass for a new generation with T Bone Burnett on the O Brother, where art thou? soundtrack. Even with the glitz, glamor, and prestige, including nine Grammy nominations, Blake has held steadfast to the idea that the music should remain as humble as his own aspirations. And though he’s recently undergone a kind of personal renaissance – releasing five albums in the last ten years for the same label, Plectrafone Records – he’s done this work entirely by hand, recording in and around his rural home in the hinterlands of Georgia.

For now, Blake seems content to amble the backroads of his musical memory, using obscure histories for new songs or pulling forth old chestnuts he hasn’t been able to stop singing in all the long years. His new album for venerable record label Smithsonian Folkways, Day by day, due out October 22, 2021, is an album of favorite folk songs and a few originals done in single-take recordings. On guitar and on banjo, Blake showcases the instrumental mastery that’s won him four generations of fans, never playing for speed or virtuosity, but always treating the source material with the greatest respect.

BIB editor's note: More detail, with a link for pre-ordering, are on the press release. If you've ever wished for more verses to 'My home's across the Blue Ridge mountains', this album has them! - and much more besides. Norman Blake's early albums were a strong influence on Dublin's Sackville String Band in the 1970s.

Update 22 Sept.: The title of the YouTube single was erroneously given as 'Free at last' when this post was first published. Thanks to Denis McCarthy for pointing out this error, which has been corrected above. See also John Lawless's feature on Bluegrass Today.

© Richard Hawkins

Gary Ferguson releases Ferguson's farewell: the Irish connection

Thanks to Bell Buckle Records (USA) for the news that the acclaimed singer and songwriter Gary Ferguson is releasing a new album, Ferguson's farewell: the Irish connection, which will be available for airplay and on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon, Pandora, and Deezer from tomorrow (Wed. 22 Sept.). The album comprises twelve original tracks, and features fourteen Irish artists with whom Gary has collaborated during his many visits. He writes:

I toured Ireland every July from 2005 to 2019. I love the music, people, scenery, and their July weather. A very special and magical place for me. During that time I met so many great writers, singers, and musicians. This project is a result of all those trips, and writing with some of the writers that I've met along the way.

A much fuller account of the background to the album appears on Gary's website, together with contributions by many of the Irish artists who took part in the project: Charlie McGettigan, Donna Murray, Mary Greene, Errol Walsh, Carrie Haskins, Niall Toner, Shane Sullivan, Roy Thompson, Janet Henry, Gillian Tuite, and Ted Ponsonby. Also involved were Frankie Lane, Joe Murray, and Colin Henry, who composed the instrumental title track. Colin's music can be heard on this brief teaser video on YouTube, where the descriptive notes include Colin's own evocative and moving account of his musical partnership with Gary since 2007.

BIB editor's note: Ronnie Norton on CMR Nashville writes: 'Absolutely loving this album. Such a variety of artists and styles. Best Irish singer songwriter album in years.'

© Richard Hawkins

B.B. Bowness on Deering Live Shorts

Last month the award-winning New Zealand-born banjo-player Catherine 'BB' Bowness, who has toured Ireland several times as a member of the award-winning Mile Twelve (thanks to John Nyhan) was featured and interviewed on Deering Live. The Deering Banjo Company announce that four themed excerpts from the interview can be watched on Deering Live Shorts or on YouTube.

Deeting also send a reminder that they supply banjo parts for replacements or upgrading, including wooden armrests, tailpieces, tuners, and bridges.

© Richard Hawkins

Sideline (USA) release their latest album

We mentioned on 25 August that Sideline, who toured Ireland two years ago (thanks to the mygrassisblue.com team), would release on 17 September a new album, Ups, downs, and no-name towns, on the Mountain Home label. The record company have just announced its release.

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. You can hear the song in John Lawless's feature on Bluegrass Today, and another of the tracks, 'Just a guy in a bar', sung by guitarist Skip Cherryholmes, is on YouTube.

© Richard Hawkins

News from the USA

For anyone who would like to sample this year's IBMA World Of Bluegrass (the single most important annual bluegrass event in the world) but can't get to Raleigh, NC, the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) offers access for professionals and fans alike by issuing virtual tickets using Swapcard. These take the form of

• free virtual Music Passes;
• virtual Conference Passes, starting at $99 for IBMA members;
• virtual Exhibitor Passes at $299.00.

Virtual access is already automatically included for anyone currently registered to attend the IBMA Business Conference in person, or as an exhibitor. The IBMA advises that to become familiar with Swapcard and build out ones profile, exhibitors have access to the event platform from 14 September, followed by attenders on 21 September. To ensure timely access to the platform, the IBMA encourages attenders to buy tickets 24 to 48 hours before the event.

*

Ken Perlman, godfather of 'melodic clawhammer banjo', will begin his new season of banjo 'clinics' with two Zoom lessons next month: one on 4 October, dealing with the 'roll' technique, and one three weeks later (25 Oct.) on syncopated patterns of double-thumbing. All Ken's previous lessons are available as videos at $25 each from his Encore Collection.

Ken also announces that his latest book, Appalachian fiddle tunes for clawhammer banjo, with arrangements for over 100 tunes, has just been published by Mel Bay and can be bought from his website.

*

Lorraine Jordan, who was over here a few years back, touring with the Garrett Newton Band instead of her own Carolina Road, announces that all the live shows at her Coffeehouse music venue can now be watched free on her Video Jukebox. All shows are recorded with three high-definition cameras and high-quality house audio.

*

Patrick McAvinue, who played in Ireland earlier this century as a teenage fiddler with Tom Mindte's Patuxent Partners band, is now a father. His wife Jules gave birth to their son William Coleman McAvinue on 23 August, over a month ahead of schedule, and all three are doing well. More details are given in John Lawless's feature on Bluegrass Today, which includes four photos.

© Richard Hawkins

Pictures from Dunmore East 2021

Thanks to Mick Daly and Peter Fitzgerald of the Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival for these evocative photos taken at the 26th festival, held on 28 August. Those shown below are the editor's choice from among a larger number supplied.

The venue: Creadan Head, north of Dunmore East village

Festival director Mick Daly and Councillor Séamus Ryan, mayor of Waterford

Pilgrim St on stage

Cathal McQuaid and Peadar Farrelly of Pilgrim St

Brendan Kelly of Pilgrim St

Eugene Donegan of Pilgrim St

No Oil Paintings

No Oil Paintings

No Oil Paintings

No Oil Paintings

Southern Welfare on stage...

... and off

Tony Wall of Southern Welfare

Gerry Madden with Southern Welfare

Below: Satisfied customers

'Lady of Spain' X 2 - and another Hispanic lady

The BIB editor writes:

Today (15 Sept.) is the beginning of National Hispanic Heritage Month in the USA. To mark the occasion, here are two arrangements of 'Lady of Spain', each by a banjo-player who worked with Jim & Jesse McReynolds: North Carolina's Allen Shelton (who we believe recorded it first with Jim Eanes), and Carl Jackson from Mississippi, now one of the leading bluegrass songwriters, and featured in the May 2021 issue of Bluegrass Unlimited. Allen Shelton's Rounder recording of it can be heard here and Carl Jackson's TV performance here.

Update 16 Sept.: It may be objected that 'Lady of Spain' (by a British composer) does not represent Hispanic heritage. Here instead is 'Maria', a good deal closer to Latin-American traditions.

© Richard Hawkins

Building solos: two strategies from Hank Smith

The series of banjo tutorials by Hank Smith of Hank, Pattie, & the Current (USA) continues on the Deering Banjos blog with two videos on the theme of building a banjo solo. The first is based on thematic variations and the second on melodic patterns. The familiar tune 'Blackberry blossom' is used to demonstrate how the methods can be applied.

Though these methods are naturally based on the 5-string banjo and its fingerboard, the musical principles involved can be applied to the other bluegrass lead instruments. The two videos, which add up to some forty minutes, can be seen on the Deering blog or on YouTube.

© Richard Hawkins

Bill Monroe, 13 Sept. 1911-9 Sept. 1996

Bill Monroe, father of bluegrass music, was born 110 years ago today. Last Thursday (9 Sept.) was the twenty-fifth anniversary of his death.

The only safe rule for anyone who wants to know about his life is to read everything there is. While Richard D. Smith's Can't you hear me callin': the life of Bill Monroe, father of bluegrass (2000) comes closest to being a single general-purpose comprehensive biography, Jim Rooney's compact Bossmen: Bill Monroe & Muddy Waters (1971) is still very much worth reading after fifty years.

The music of Bill Monroe (2007) by Neil V. Rosenberg and Charles K. Wolfe is an exemplary bio-discography of all that Monroe recorded during his life, but Rosenberg's earlier Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys: an illustrated discography (1974) is worth finding for the pictures.

Anything written by those who played with Bill Monroe (or were otherwise as close to him as he allowed) should be given priority. Rosenberg both played with Monroe and managed the Brown County Jamboree during the 1960s, as recounted in his Bluegrass generation: a memoir (2018). Two more banjo players and a fiddler have published their own reminiscences - Butch Robins, What I know 'bout what I know (2003), Bob Black, Come hither to go yonder: playing bluegrass with Bill Monroe (2005), and Gene Lowinger, I hear a voice calling: a bluegrass memoir (2009). And Tom Ewing, who played guitar as a Blue Grass Boy for the last ten years of Monroe's career, has meticulously edited The Bill Monroe reader (2000) and written the monumental Bill Monroe: the life and music of the Blue Grass Man (2018), which he carefully describes as 'not necessarily a biography [...] more accurately, a chronicle'. Some of what is in The Bill Monroe reader is also in the Ottawa Valley Bluegrass Music Association's compilation of tributes by people whose lives were touched by Bill Monroe.

Richard Thompson's year-long daily chronicle of milestones in the life of Monroe, compiled for Bluegrass Today in 2010-11, should not be forgotten. What else would BIB readers suggest?

It seems appropriate to mark the present occasion with a recording of 'Bill Monroe for breakfast', written and sung by Tom T. Hall, who died on 20 August.

To come: The University of Illinois Press expects to publish in 2022 Bob Black's Mandolin man: the bluegrass life of Roland White (guitarist for Monroe 1967-9) and Mark Hembree's On the bus with Bill Monroe.

© Richard Hawkins

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

Thanks to Tony O'Brien for this photo and his report on a very necessary and enjoyable event. Click on the photo to enlarge it, and identify people!

Great evening of bluegrass last Sat. in Bob’s Bar, Durrow, at Bluegrass Family Reunion gig hosted by Woodbine with guests Southern Welfare, Geraldine & Kevin Gill, Dangerfield, and John Nyhan.

Great to meet so many old friends after eighteen months. The music went on from 4 p.m. until 11 p.m. A big thank you to Bob Campion for use of premises and the wonderful food much appreciated by the fantastic audience.

© Richard Hawkins

I Draw Slow reintroduce live shows to Whelan's

The news reached us too late for the actual gig, but there is some satisfaction in the fact that live shows were reintroduced to Whelan's of Wexford St., Dublin 2, by I Draw Slow, who were scheduled to play there last night (Fri. 10 Sept.).

Whelan's now have a programme of live shows extending till late October. Note that in accordance with government guidelines, these are all limited-capacity seated shows, and you must have a Covid-19 certificate to attend.

© Richard Hawkins

Gold Tone's new 'Bluegrass Heart' Béla Fleck signature model banjo

The Gold Tone Music Group announce the release of their newest banjo: the Mastertone™ 'Bluegrass Heart' Béla Fleck signature model. The many features include a no-hole tone ring, Rickard tuners, radiused fingerboard, 7/8" bridge, Prucha tailpiece, and fibreglass hardshell case, all for $3,699.99. It can be pre-ordered through the Gold Tone website, where you can also find a link to a long excerpt from a Banjo News Letter interview with Béla Fleck by Noam Pikelny. This describes at length the development of the new banjo, with a great deal of input from Fleck himself to ensure that all details met his requirements.

The banjo is named after his new album, the release of which will be celebrated on live stream this coming Sunday (12 Sept.). Gold Tone announce that the new banjo will be played at about 60 minutes into the live stream. Tickets can be bought here.

© Richard Hawkins

Banjo-oriented news (updates)

Last week (when the BIB editor was absent) Gina Furtado was the artist interviewed on Deering Live. The hour-long interview can now be seen on YouTube. Gina Furtado was here last two years ago, playing banjo with Chris Jones & the Night Drivers, since when she has been performing and recording with her own band. Forthcoming episodes of the Deering Live interview series will be with Clinton Davis tonight (Thurs. 9 Sept.) and Jake Schepps (Thurs. 14 Oct.).

*

The staff of the Bluegrass Situation announce that Béla Fleck is their Artist of the Month for September 2021 (as he was in 2017). The feature focuses on his new album, My bluegrass heart, which is scheduled for imminent release, and which, he stresses, 'is not a straight bluegrass album, but it’s written for a bluegrass band [...] I like taking that instrumentation, and seeing what I can do with it'. The feature includes a video of his composition 'Wheels up' and a 48-tune playlist. A two-part interview with him is promised for later this month.

See also Matt Ruppert's review of My bluegrass heart on No Depression, with two videos of numbers from the album.

*

Thanks to Ken Perlman for reminders that the American Banjo Camp (of which he and Peter Langston are co-directors) will take place online by Zoom this coming weekend (11-12 Sept.). On each day four back-to-back classes in bluegrass banjo and four back-to-back classes in old-time banjo will be held, and the stellar set of instructors includes Greg Cahill and Jeff Scroggins on the bluegrass side. Each class will teach a different set of skills. The cost to attend the full two-day schedule is $180; you can also sign up for any one day (Saturday or Sunday) for $100. Full details are on the ABC website.

*

Richard Thompson on Bluegrass Today reports that a memorial service for the late Bill Emerson will be held at 11.00 a.m. on Sat. 18 Sept. at Our Lady of Good Counsel catholic church in Vienna, VA.

© Richard Hawkins

Rhiannon Giddens, Francesco Turrisi, and more at the NCH, 7 Oct. 2021

The National Concert Hall (NCH) in Dublin is marking its fortieth anniversary with a series of concerts under the title 'Refractions', for which tickets will go on sale tomorrow (Fri. 10 Sept.). Four weeks from today, Rhiannon Giddens & Francesco Turrisi will curate and host 'Prism', the first of two concerts in which 'Giddens uses her art to excavate the past and reveal bold truths about our present.' Also taking part are Emer Mayock (flute, uilleann pipes, fiddle) and Niwel Tsumbu (guitar), who both feature on the latest Giddens/ Turrisi album, They’re calling me home, recorded in Dublin and released earlier this year. The title song was written by Alice Gerrard. The concert will be at 8.00 p.m. on Thurs. 7 Oct. on the main stage (tickets €20) and also on livestream (€10).

Also of likely interest to BIB readers from this series: Andy Irvine will be giving a concert, 'The Woody Guthrie project', on Sat. 2 Oct., with Rens van der Zalm (fiddle, mandolin, guitar). Time and ticket prices are the same as above.

BIB editor's note: I believe Andy Irvine was the first person I ever heard play 'Cluck old hen' on 5-string banjo, in O'Donoghue's on Leeson St. in the early 1960s.

Chuck Armstrong reviews on No Depression the recent Elektra compilation album Home in this world: Woody Guthrie’s Dust Bowl Ballads, with fourteen contributing artists. I found it hard to reconcile the two sample tracks shown on video with what the reviewer says about them.

© Richard Hawkins

Jim Hurst reissues Second son

Another phenomenal guitarist, the great Jim Hurst (USA), who last toured Ireland two years ago after several previous visits, has joined the artists roster of Pinecastle Records and is preparing a new album for the label. He is also reissuing his very first album, Second son, first released twenty years ago, with twelve tracks (including 'Danny boy') and a constellation of accompanying A-list bluegrass artists. Full details are on this Pinecastle press release.

© Richard Hawkins

Shane Hennessy: coming appearances and ongoing instruction

Shane Hennessy, outstanding Carlow guitarist, who will be showcasing at IBMA's World Of Bluegrass at the end of this month, sends his Sept. 2021 e-newsletter. While going to the USA will not be possible, he will be taking part this month in the Warsaw Fingerstyle Festival in Poland, and in Feb. 2022 will be instructing at the Guitar Workshop Week in Altea, Spain.

For the concert this coming Sunday (12 Sept.) in Carlow town, the George Bernard Shaw Theatre will now be able to take up to 60% of normal capacity, so anyone who was hoping for tickets should apply via this link. Shane's Fretboard Atlas guitar instruction channel now has over 500 videos. Much more information is on the e-newsletter.

© Richard Hawkins

Two masters of single-string banjo

As mentioned in the BIB on 28 July, the many-sided Barry R. Willis has established a blog for discussing points of bluegrass history and elucidating disputed areas, based on testimony from the pioneers of the music themselves in interviews.

Last month, he examined the exact order of succession of the early fiddlers in Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys. This month, the banjo styles of Don Reno (b. 1926) and Eddie Adcock (b. 1938) are examined. Both are noted for their single-string playing; the careful analysis in this instalment of the blog shows clearly that they individually reached quite different styles. There's a good deal of musical detail here to interest banjo players especially (but not exclusively).

The image above is taken from the cover of the 1968 album The sensational twin banjos of Eddie Adcock and Don Reno (Rebel SLP 1482, reissued on CD 1992). The next blog instalment will examine the role of Bill Keith in preparing the book Earl Scruggs and the 5-string banjo.

© Richard Hawkins

ANOTHER editorial hiatus?

Yes, but this is expected to be the last this year. The BIB editor will be out of the editorial chair for a few days, starting today (Wednesday 1 Sept.); so please send in news but don't expect it to appear before Tuesday 7 Sept. at the earliest.

Meanwhile, we can all take comfort in the success of last weekend's Dunmore East festival; congratulations to Mick Daly and his team, to the bands who took part, and to the bluegrass supporters who bought every ticket.

© Richard Hawkins

We Banjo 3: sale, new episodes from the Banjoverse, and tour date tickets

Galway's We Banjo 3, originators of 'Celtgrass', announce a 20% reduction across the board on their official merchandise; the latest episodes from 'Inside the Banjoverse', including conversation with Abigail Washburn; and their coming tour dates, for which tickets are now available.

Update 9 Sept.: We Banjo 3 announce that their Summer Sale is almost over.

© Richard Hawkins

Sept. 2021 BNL to appear only online (UPDATE)

Thanks to Frank P. Coyne of Foxrock for the news that in consequence of the death of its business editor, Spencer Nitchie, Banjo News Letter (BNL) will appear only online this month. Donald Nitchie, editor-in-chief, announces that the September 2021 issue

... contains Noam Pikelny’s interview with Béla Fleck about his recent My bluegrass heart release, along with Chris Coole’s interview with Brad Kolodner, John Bullard’s interview with classical banjo master Claudio Parravicini, our interview with Czech 3-finger player Jaromír Jahoda, a profile of Nashville Banjo Co. builder Dave Dillard, and more. The issue is going to be a few days late... hopefully, September 3.

UPDATE 7 Sept.: Ar the end of last week it was announced that after the September issue the publication of BNL will be suspended. Full details are given in John Lawless's feature on Bluegrass Today. Note the word 'suspended'; it is hoped that BNL will continue if viable arrangements can be made.

© Richard Hawkins