Bluegrass Unlimited on Emerson, Osborne, and Crowe

The 60th weekly newsletter issued by Bluegrass Unlimited magazine (BU) includes a podcast interview with Bill Evans, talking about his recording and instructional projects and about the late Sonny Osborne and Bill Emerson. (BU podcasts are now listed in Apple iTunes and on Spotify.) This week's playlist is a compilation of recordings by J.D. Crowe & the New South, and the newsletter also includes from BU archives a 1974 article by Mary Jane Bolle on the innovative directions the band was taking at that time, with amplification and drums.

The special series of articles on Bill Emerson will resume soon; meanwhile, this link leads to all the articles BU has already published about him.

© Richard Hawkins

'I'll be lovin' you' from Greg Blake

Turnberry Records announces that Greg Blake's next single, 'I'll be lovin' you', a love song with a positive message, has been released on all streaming outlets, following the success of his first Turnberry single, the title track of his album People, places, and songs. Joining Greg on the recording are Jesse Brock (mandolin, vocals), Jacob Metz (banjo, vocals), Aynsley Porchak (fiddle), and the great Mark Schatz (bass). More details are on the Turnberry press release. The official video of the song, with complete lyrics, can be watched on Bluegrass Today or YouTube.

Greg has already made (thanks to John Nyhan) several tours in Ireland, whether as lead guitarist and singer with Jeff Scroggins & Colorado, as a solo artist, or leading his own band. The continuing COVID emergency has deprived us of seeing and hearing him in a new capacity: guitar player with the Special Consensus, who had planned to tour these islands early in 2022.

© Richard Hawkins

Barry Waldrep and friends celebrate Tony Rice

David Morris gave a strong endorsement a week ago (Christmas Eve) on Bluegrass Today to Barry Waldrep and friends celebrate Tony Rice, a 21-track album released on that day to commemorate the legendary Tony Rice, who died on Christmas Day 2020.

Barry Waldrep and a score of other artists present their versions of songs that Tony Rice recorded. The treatments given are not all bluegrass (like a lot of the songs themselves; Rice had wide tastes in music), but Morris sums up: 'In fact, along with the emergence of Billy Strings, this project represents one of the biggest shots in the arm for bluegrass in recent memory.'

© Richard Hawkins

'The Earth is getting ready' from the McKernans

The BIB editor writes:

Many thanks to our friends in Australia, the McKernan family, whose 'browngrass' music has often been featured on the BIB in the past. Nine days ago Joe and Nancy McKernan sent us this link to the Christmas Spectacular of the Bruderhof religious community to which they belong - a ninety-minute concert of music from many countries celebrating Christmas. Nancy's own composition 'The Earth is getting ready' is the first song, performed by the whole family in the midst of Australian countryside.

Joe and Nancy write that the song is 'not exactly bluegrass', but it's not hard to imagine it being sung by an old-time band, or a bluegrass band that leans towards the old-time. Apologies for not sharing this before Christmas, but it is no less topical for the BIB's delay.

© Richard Hawkins

You gave me a song now on video stream

The production team of You gave me a song, the documentary film of the remarkable life of Alice Gerrard (centre in photo), are happy to announce that it can now be watched on video stream, and can be rented or bought here. Some box sets and other merchandise are still available through the film's website. Part of the proceeds from sales goes to benefit the Highlander Research and Education Center. More details are on Facebook.

© Richard Hawkins

2021 In Memoriam from mygrassisblue.com

The team at mygrassisblue.com send their wishes for a prosperous New Year, together with this exemplary and moving video tribute and their introduction:

It has been yet another tough year, and now that it’s almost at an end we take the time to remember some of those from the tight-knit bluegrass community, titans among them, that we said a final goodbye to during the twelve months of 2021.

The video is also on YouTube and Facebook.

© Richard Hawkins

Banjo-related news (addendum)

The board of directors of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) and the IBMA Trust Fund board of trustees voted unanimously on 8 December 2021 to pass a joint resolution recognising Sonny Osborne (above) for his work as a founding member of the IBMA and IBMA Trust Fund and his great contributions to bluegrass music. The full text of the resolution is on the IBMA press release.

The BIB recommends (again) the documentary video 'A Kentucky treasure: the Osborne Brothers story', and - for a special focus on Sonny - the two-and-a-half-hour video interview with him by Tom Riggs in 2009 as part of the International Bluegrass Music Museum's Oral History project. Sonny's face is always worth watching.

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Nearly ten years ago (28 Feb. 2012) the BIB drew attention to two YouTube videos of stage performances by J.D. Crowe and the New South, which (especially the second) gave clear views of J.D.'s hands while playing. Anyone who liked these should also visit this video on the Bluegrass Music Channel - fifty minutes of J.D. bringing out the tone of three different banjos at a private session in the late 1980s, videoed in close-up.

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A special 'Happy holidays' greeting from the Deering family and the Deering Banjo Company can be seen here.

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Ken Perlman announces that the complete programme schedule for the next Suwanee Banjo Camp (10-13 Mar. 2022) is now online.

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Tom Nechville announces that a number of Nechville Musical Products' elegant and innovative banjos have recently been shipped to dealers and may still be available. The list of dealers, with photos of the varied banjo models concerned, can be seen here.

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Much interest has been aroused among banjo players by the advent of Rickard Cyclone 10:1 tuning pegs with their unique gearing system. A comprehensive review of this product by John Lawless on Bluegrass Today makes clear why, in his concluding words, 'We have to rate these tuners as first rate, excellent in every way.'

The review begins by stressing that at between $205 and $225 for a set of five tuners, the Rickards are a premium product. To put this in context, the Beacon Banjo Company, founded by the late Bill Keith, sells its highly regarded standard tuners at $130 a pair in stainless steel; its D-tuners (the celebrated 'Keith pegs') are $260 a pair.

Addendum: Rickard Cyclone 10:1 tuners are also fitted to the high-quality guitars which the company is now producing.

© Richard Hawkins

More news of past visitors

Authentic Unlimited (l-r): front, Stephen Burwell, Eli Johnston,

John Meador; rear, Jesse Brock, Jerry Cole

With the retirement of Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame member Doyle Lawson from active touring, three of the members of his group Quicksilver - Eli Johnston (banjo), Stephen Burwell (fiddle), and Jerry Cole (bass) - have decided to carry on together as Authentic Unlimited, completing the band with the addition of John Meador (guitar) and Jesse Brock (mandolin).

John Lawless introduced the new band on Bluegrass Today yesterday, with more details given by Sandy Hatley, who announces that they are already booked for the Bluegrass First Class festival in late February 2022. With Jesse's departure, the mandolin chair in Fast Track has now been filled by Shayne Bartley, another thoroughly experienced bluegrass veteran; see the Wilson Pickins Promotions press release and today's Bluegrass Today.

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Multi-instrumentalist Tim Carter has formed a new band, Damn the Banjos, which (despite the name) puts Tim's three-finger-style banjo at the centre of its sound. The band, comprising Tim (banjo, mandolin, vocals), Mike McAdam (electric guitar, vocals), Dann Sherrill (drums, percussion), and Scotty Huff (bass guitar, vocals), describes itself as 'a pseudo-supergroup of funked-up folkified Americana blues & roots rock music'. A promo video of their music is on John Lawless's feature on Bluegrass Today and on YouTube; it includes a snatch of 'Road to Roosky', a reminder of the time when Tim and his elder brother Danny, as the Carter Brothers, were regular audience-pleasers at the Johnny Keenan Banjo Festivals.

© Richard Hawkins

Christmas greetings

The BIB gratefully received and cordially reciprocates the seasonal greetings received from all sources, including the venues in Ireland that have welcomed visiting bluegrass and old-time acts in the past and will do so again (we hope) before too long, with the Seamus Ennis Arts Centre at Naul, Co. Dublin, as an example;

- our visitors, of whom Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers (above) are among the most recent - see their latest e-newsletter;

- and outfits such as Compass Records (above) who are an essential part of the bluegrass world; Compass, for instance, is the company that records our multi-award-winning old friends the Special Consensus (below).

To complete the circle, we find that the January 2022 schedule of the Seamus Ennis Arts Centre had included for Saturday 29 January a show by the Special Consensus with tickets at €20. This show, and the whole tour, are now of course regrettably postponed; but it's a bittersweet pleasure to know that we were so close to being able to see and hear a band of this calibre once again.

© Richard Hawkins

We Banjo 3 on TG4, 31 Dec. 2021

Thanks to Des Butler for this news of a major 'Celtgrass' event this week (links added by the BIB):

For We Banjo 3 fans. On Friday 31 December at 10.30 p.m. on channel TG4 'We Banjo 3 - Live in Dublin'. Shot on location in the Pearse Lyons Distillery, in the heart of the Liberties, We Banjo 3 come together for a live concert featuring their signature acoustic sound.

The show continues to 11.30 p.m. The TG4 schedule adds: 'This virtuosic and energy-filled show confirms why the Galway quartet are hugely popular on both sides of the Atlantic. With multiple Billboard #1 albums to their name, and an RTÉ Folk Album of the Year award, We Banjo 3 promise a night of unforgettable music and song.' Their holiday livestream, broadcast on 18 Dec., can still be watched, up to and including New Year's day.

© Richard Hawkins

Christmas greetings from the BIB

The Bluegrass Ireland Blog sends best wishes for a joyful, peaceful, and healthy Christmas and a happy, safe, and prosperous New Year to all its readers, to all lovers of bluegrass and kindred musics, and to all people of goodwill everywhere.

© Richard Hawkins

J.D. Crowe, 27 Aug. 1937-24 Dec. 2021 (updates)

The BIB learns with deep regret that James Dee 'J.D.' Crowe died at home early this morning, just a week after the news that he was recovering after a brief stay in hospital. John Lawless gives on Bluegrass Today an appreciation of his career, together with photos and two videos from stage shows, one by the 'Rounder 0044' lineup of the New South from the early 1970s and one from a more recent version of the band. More features and tributes will certainly be following.

A ninety-minute interview with J.D., conducted in late 2018 as part of the East Tennessee State University's 'Living History' series, can be seen on YouTube. A video history of his life and music, 'A Kentucky treasure: the JD Crowe story', can be seen here, divided into ten uneven sections; the tenth ends with his part in the 'Bluegrass Album Band' in the late 1980s. Though the divisions are more or less arbitrary, this is recommended for the close-up views of J.D. and others. He is the third banjo-player member of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame that we have lost since the summer.

Update 28 Dec.: Bluegrass Today announces that the funeral will be held on Thursday (30 Dec.) in Nicholasville, KY.

BT also gives links to video interviews with J.D., as well as the ETSU one mentioned above: a half-hour one with Jim Mills (also on YouTube) and another, at 47 minutes (also on YouTube), with fellow Kentuckians the Moron Brothers, who toured Ireland in September 2014.

© Richard Hawkins

Bluegrass-related albums appear in the Bluegrass Situation's list of favourite 2021 recordings

The latest Weekly Dispatch, issued by the Bluegrass Situation (BGS) online magazine, includes the BGS staff's favourite albums of 2021. The list comprises over a dozen albums of modern 'roots' music, each with a video of one of its tracks. No less than four of the albums on the list are of bluegrass- or old-time-related music: Béla Fleck's My bluegrass heart; the Infamous Stringdusters' A tribute to Bill Monroe; Race records by Miko Marks & the Resurrectors; and Sixteen kings’ daughters by Libby Weitnauer, the fiddler on Jake Blount's last album Spider tales.

© Richard Hawkins

Aidan McGale

The Knotty Pine String Band, Aidan McGale on bass

The BIB learns with regret this news from Frank Galligan:

Sad news... Aidan McGale of Knotty Pines has passed away in Omagh. He was a great musician, a warm and engaging man. Anytime I interviewed or introduced the lads over the years, Aidan's 'devilment' came to the fore. As the first band to play the first ever [Omagh] Bluegrass Festival, the Knotties are held in particular affection up here, and Aidan was much loved, God Rest him...

© Richard Hawkins

'Deep river' video from Rick Faris

Back at the end of March this year it was announced that former Special Consensus member Rick Faris had released a new single, 'Deep river', from his forthcoming album The next mountain on Stephen Mougin's Dark Shadow Recording label.

John Lawless now reports on Bluegrass Today that a video of the song has been released, showing Rick and his fellow musicians Laura Orshaw (fiddle), Russ Carson (banjo), Harry Clark (mandolin), Zak McLamb (bass), and Shawn Lane (harmony vocals) in the studio recording it. You can see the video on Bluegrass Today and on YouTube.

© Richard Hawkins

UK's 2022 Gainsborough old-time festival cancelled

Only two weeks ago the BIB reported that US musicians would again be touring in Britain this coming February, beginning at the Gainsborough old-time festival. However, FOAOTMAD, the UK's association for old-time music and dance, has now been obliged to cancel the event. Tim Rooke, festival organiser of FOAOTMAD, announces:

With the rapidly worsening situation with the Omicron variant of Covid 19 in the UK and the potential disruption that it might bring, it is with regret that we have decided it would be impossible to run February’s 2022 Gainsborough Festival in a Covid-safe way. Therefore we must formally announce that the advertised event will now not take place.

As the FOAOTMAD Annual General Meeting normally takes place over the festival weekend we will now replace it with a Zoom meeting similar to last year. Details of the meeting, committee member reports, and annual accounts will be sent out by e-mail direct to members as well as being published on our website. You will also find details on the website of how members can take part in the meeting. For more information please go to the FOAOTMAD website.

© Richard Hawkins

Peggy Seeger and Calum MacColl at the Pavilion, Dun Laoghaire, 9 June 2022

The Pavilion Theatre at Dun Laoghaire, like other venues, is suffering from the reimposition of restrictions, but continues to offer events for the holiday period, together with news of its spring and early summer programmes, for which tickets can now be booked. Of these, the most relevant to BIB readers is the concert on Thursday 9 June by Peggy Seeger and her son Calum MacColl, beginning at 8.00 p.m. Tickets are €30. Any news of other shows by them in Ireland around that time will appear on the BIB as soon as the information is received.

© Richard Hawkins

'Alegria' from FlamenGrass

The BIB editor writes:

Five months ago (16 July) the BIB relayed the news that Lluís Gómez, whose Barcelona Bluegrass Band was a favourite at successive Johnny Keenan Banjo Festivals, would be showcasing with his Flamencograss Quartet at this year's IBMA World Of Bluegrass. Their debut release was the original composition 'La flor', dedicated to Lluís's father, with a video that appeared on Bluegrass Today and YouTube.

We now learn from Bluegrass Today that the Quartet - Lluís Gómez (banjo), Carol Durán (fiddle), Javi Vaquero (guitar), Maribel Rivero (bass) - have streamlined their name to FlamenGrass, are on Facebook, and have a debut album, Alegria ('Joy'), scheduled for release on 20 Jan. 2022. They are releasing today (21 Dec.) a video single of the title track, a Carol Durán composition, full of fun and vitality; it can be seen on Bluegrass Today or YouTube. (Watch right to the end.)

© Richard Hawkins

Good things from BU

Corresponding with the focus on the Stanley Brothers in the Dec. 2021 issue of Bluegrass Unlimited magazine, the 58th BU newsletter has a podcast interview with Gary Reid, who probably knows more about the Stanleys and their music than anyone else in the world; a Spotify playlist drawn from their recordings; and two archive articles from the Aug. 2016 issue following the death of Ralph Stanley.

Other good things include the seventh instalment of the special series of articles on Bill Emerson, covering the beginning of the 1970s when he rejoined the Country Gentlemen for what was to be one of the peak periods in the band's history. The Gents, with Emerson, feature prominently in the 1971 film Bluegrass country soul, which was recently re-released in a deluxe edition. The next instalment will cover Emerson's opening up a new career path for bluegrass musicians.

© Richard Hawkins

Appalshop endorses the Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival

Thanks to Uri Kohen, head of the organising team of the Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival in Co. Mayo, for this news:

Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival are delighted and honoured to be endorsed by Appalshop.

The Appalshop organisation and community have been working for the past fifty years to preserve and promote the culture and lifestyle of the Appalachia region and its people.

The Festival recognises the importance of understanding the region and endeavours to promote its cultural values by inviting artists from the region to participate in the festival.

This endorsement is a massive stamp of approval by a major organisation for the work we have been doing in Westport over the years, and for the projects we will continue to produce in the future.

BIB editor's note: On 13 Dec. the European Bluegrass Music Association Facebook carried the 'accommodation in Westport' advice from the Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival website.

© Richard Hawkins

Christmas music from Tony Trischka

Tony Trischka, whose performances and banjo workshops at Johnny Keenan Banjo Festivals earlier this century will be remembered by many, has given the world two Christmas recordings, 'Christmas night' and 'The Christmas medley', with an ensemble including Phoebe Hunt (vocals, fiddle), Brittany Haas (fiddle), Dominick Leslie (mandolin), Todd Philips (bass), and Tony’s son Sean (drums). Both recordings can be heard on Bluegrass Today and on Tony's own YouTube channel.

© Richard Hawkins

Newberry & Verch: livestream concerts, Mon. 20 Dec. 2021

The duo of Joe Newberry and April Verch announce that in association with Maria Wallace of the UK's True North Music agency, they will be giving two live-stream concerts on Monday 20 December, via the True North Facebook page and the True North YouTube channel. The first of these is timed to begin at 8.30 p.m. European time, for the convenience of fans on this side of the Atlantic. More details are on the Facebook event page and the duo's latest e-newsletter.

Update 17 Dec.: See also today's entry on the FOAOTMAD news blog.

© Richard Hawkins

Christmas kin EP from Cup O' Joe

Thanks to John Lawless and Bluegrass Today for the news that Cup O' Joe have released a five-track EP, Christmas kin, together with a video of one of the tracks, the traditional Cornish carol 'The holly bears a berry'. The video can be seen on Bluegrass Today, on YouTube, and on Cup O' Joe's Facebook. John Lawless writes: 'It’s simply lovely, as is the rest of the project.' All the tracks can be heard and bought on the Cup O' Joe Bandcamp page; the complete EP is £8.99 as a CD and £6.00 in digital form.

According to Bluegrass Today, 'The holly bears a berry' is 'believed to have emerged around the turn of the twentieth century'. The words 'is believed to have emerged', in this context, mean 'was collected by a folklorist'. More on the song, together with a list of other recordings of it since 1965, can be found here.

© Richard Hawkins

A.P. Carter, born 130 years ago today

On 7 November last year, the BIB commemorated the sixtieth anniversary of the death of Alvin Pleasant Carter in Kingsport, TN. We now celebrate his birth 130 years ago (15 Dec. 1891) in Scott county, VA. In 1927 he and his wife Sara Dougherty Carter and sister-in-law Maybelle Addington Carter took part in Ralph Peer's recording sessions in Bristol, TN, which have come to be seen as the 'Big Bang' of country music. The three of them - the original Carter Family - helped to bring about radical change in the recording of rural music by their mastery of a diverse range of old and new material, and although the group broke up in 1943 their recordings remained an incalculable influence on tradition-oriented country music, bluegrass, and the folk revival. They were inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2001.

A.P. took on the task of searching out and arranging new material for the Family to record, and in this he had vital assistance from black musician and song collector Lesley Riddle (1905-79), who not only acted as a 'human jukebox', supplying and memorising material, but influenced Maybelle Carter's guitar playing. An annual RiddleFest is held in his home town, Burnsville, NC, and a thirteen-minute video on his life is on the 'Black in Appalachia' YouTube channel.

© Richard Hawkins

More news of past visitors

The next two Zoom lessons in the present season of banjo 'clinics' by Ken Perlman, godfather of 'melodic clawhammer banjo', are on 'Melodic fingering shapes in double-C and G modal tunings' (10 Jan.) and 'The real Round Peak: Learn tune versions by Fred Cockerham, Kyle Creed & others' (31 Jan.). All Ken's previous lessons are available as videos at $25 each from his Encore Collection. He also sends reminders of the Suwannee Banjo Camp. coming in March, and the Midwestern Banjo Camp three months later.

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Both the Suwannee and the Midwestern Banjo Camp will also have as an instructor Michael J. Miles, godfather of 'Bach-for-clawhammer-banjo', who will in addition be teaching at Banjo Camp North near Boston. Details of Michael's varied programme of other projects, and of his impressive range of banjo and guitar instructional material and tune books, are on his latest e-newsletter.

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Don Wayne Reno, son of banjo legend Don Reno, is well known over here from his previous tours as a member of Hayseed Dixie. He has now joined the Farm Hands, an award-winning bluegrass gospel band including Tim and Bryan Graves, both sons of dobro legend Josh Graves. The band's video version of 'Blue Christmas', with Don Wayne on banjo, can be seen on Bluegrass Today and Facebook.

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Beppe Gambetta, Italian flatpicking guitar maestro who toured Ireland a few years back (and was a founder member of Red Wine), will be a special guest at an 'Italian Night' concert in Brevard, NC, this coming Sunday (19 Dec.), hosted by Mike Guggino and Barrett Smith (photo). In addition to being members of the Steep Canyon Rangers, they have played Italian folk music as a duo for a long time. Details are on this press release.

© Richard Hawkins

Shane Hennessy: last livestream of 2021, Wed. 15 Dec.

Carlow's own guitar maestro Shane Hennessy draws attention in his latest e-newsletter to his final livestream performance of 2021, which can be seen tomorrow (Wednesday 15 December) at 9.00 p.m. Irish time on YouTube. Tips are welcome! Times for other parts of the world are given in the newsletter, which also includes five videos of Christmastime tunes as played by Shane, headed by 'In the bleak midwinter'.

Shane's staggering command of the instrument can be seen in the 25-minute showcase performance on YouTube which he contributed to this year's IBMA World Of Bluegrass.

© Richard Hawkins

Mandolin man announced for May 2022

On 13 Sept. the BIB mentioned that Bob Black, banjo-player and author of his fine memoir Come hither to go yonder: playing bluegrass with Bill Monroe, will have his next book, Mandolin man: the bluegrass life of Roland White, published by the University of Illinois Press next year. Richard Thompson has now contributed a major feature on the book to Bluegrass Today, which includes an illuminating account by Bob Black on how he came to undertake the book and what went into the writing of it.

Roland White (a veteran of the Omagh stage, among so many other stages) was inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2019 as a member of the Kentucky Colonels, who (as Bob Black writes) 'personified west coast bluegrass, which has always been characterized by openness to change and a greater willingness to embrace the best aspects of alternative musical genres than the more tradition-bound eastern and southern bluegrass' - and that was just the start of Roland's contributions to the music. Details of the book appear at the end of Richard Thompson's feature, where a publication date of 17 May 2022 is given.

© Richard Hawkins

New recordings from past visitors

Molly Tuttle (right) has a new album on Nonesuch Records scheduled for early next year, and a video single from it, 'She'll change', is already released. It features her touring bluegrass band Golden Highway - Bronwyn Keith-Hines (fiddle), Kyle Tuttle (banjo), Dominick Leslie (mandolin), Shelby Means (bass) - and is emphatically bluegrass. It can be watched here, on the Nonesuch website, on YouTube, or on John Lawless's feature on Bluegrass Today.

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Danny Paisley has just released a video single of the song 'I never was too much', written by Eric Gibson of the Gibson Brothers, and recorded on Danny's current album Bluegrass troubadour on Pinecastle Records (a playlist of all songs on the album is on the Pinecastle website). He is backed by his regular band the Southern Grass - Ryan Paisley (mandolin), Mark Delaney (banjo), Bobby Lundy (bass), T.J. Lundy (fiddle). More details are on the Pinecastle press release. The video can be seen on the press release, on the Pinecastle YouTube channel, or on Bluegrass Today.

© Richard Hawkins

The Henry Girls in Tradfest, 28-29 Jan. 2022

Thanks to Ania Schuler of the organising team of Tradfest Temple Bar for the news that the complete lineup and schedule of the Smithwick's Sessions in next month's event can now be seen online. All these sessions, held in the pubs of the Temple Bar district of Dublin, are completely free of charge. For BIB readers the main interest is that Donegal's Henry Girls (photo) will be performing in the Fleet Inn at 6.00 p.m. on Fri. 28 Jan., and in the Morgan at 4.00 p.m. on Sat. 29 Jan.

© Richard Hawkins

'Fox on the run' becomes a bluegrass song

In the 57th newsletter issued by Bluegrass Unlimited magazine, the latest article by Dan Miller in the special series on Bill Emerson is 'Bill Emerson — staying home in the Washington, D.C. area (1966-1970)', covering the various bands he played with between and after the two periods with Jimmy Martin, especially his fruitful partnership with Cliff Waldron in the New Shades of Grass, the first bluegrass band ever to record 'Fox on the run'. To fit in with this, this week's Spotify playlist is drawn from the recordings of a number of bands who have taken well-known tunes from rock, pop, country, and folk music and performed them in bluegrass style.

BIB editor's note: Scotty Stoneman's album Mr Country Fiddler was released with no details of the musicians taking part besides Stoneman. In the above article Dan Miller dates the recording session to Feb. 1967, with Bill Emerson (banjo), Charlie Waller (guitar), and Tom Gray (bass). However, Dennis Satterlee's bio-discography Teardrops in my eyes: the music of Harley 'Red' Allen (2007) dates it to c. 1965 or 1966, with Red Allen (guitar), Dick Drevo (banjo), Wayne Yates (mandolin), and Bill Yates (bass).

© Richard Hawkins

Arne Sørensen retires from chairing Bluegrass Music Denmark

Thanks to Lars Hansen on Bluegrass Today for the news that Arne Sørensen, Denmark's 'Mr Bluegrass', retired from the post of chair of Bluegrass Music Denmark on 26 November, his eightieth birthday.

As well as taking an active role in every aspect of building the bluegrass scene in Denmark, Arne has made his home country's presence felt internationally by hosting visiting bands, regular attendance with a Danish contingent at IBMA conventions, and tours in the US with his band Græshopperne. The photo (right) shows Arne on banjo as a member of Sunset Ridge. Bluegrass Music Denmark will continue to build on the firm foundation laid down under Arne.

© Richard Hawkins

Latest news from We Banjo 3

Galway's We Banjo 3, originators of 'Celtgrass', who began their latest US tour on 1 Dec., now have tickets on sale for over forty shows on their 2022 schedule.

Tickets for their livestream 'Winter Wonderful' concert on 18 Dec. can now be bought, and each purchase entitles the buyer to 15% off any holiday merchandise item in their catalogue. More information is on their latest e-newsletter.

© Richard Hawkins

Christmas greetings from the Petersens

'The Petersens', writes John Lawless on Bluegrass Today, 'are another of those bluegrass bands that you never get to see, unless you visit them in Branson, MO where they have one of the most consistently top rated shows in town.' As bluegrass fans in Ireland are well aware, another way to see them live on stage has been during the several tours that John Nyhan has organised for them, the latest of which was in August 2019. They can now also be seen on a video of 'Have yourself a merry little Christmas', either in the Bluegrass Today feature or on YouTube.

Update 25 Dec.: 'Home for the holidays', a new seasonal video by the Petersens, can be seen on Bluegrass Today and YouTube.

© Richard Hawkins

Ben Wright on Deering Live, 9 Dec. 2021

The Deering Banjo Company announce that this week on Deering Live Ben Wright, banjo-player of Chicago's Henhouse Prowlers, will be interviewed, with this introduction:

Ben Wright is a founding member of the Henhouse Prowlers, taking the band on the road for more than fifteen years and proudly leading Chicago’s robust bluegrass scene. The Prowlers have recorded eight albums and tour relentlessly, having garnered a large following across the planet. The band blends their own original material with songs written in multiple languages, learned from their extensive travels.

In 2013 the Henhouse Prowlers began working with the US State Department as musical diplomats. To date they have traveled to more than twenty-five countries. During these tours, Ben started to see the opportunities for education and diplomacy at home were just as valuable as the international exchanges, inspiring him (and his business partner Jon Goldfine) to start the 501(c)3 non-profit Bluegrass Ambassadors.

The band now works through this entity to bring cross-cultural music education to children in low-income schools, college students in universities, and festival attendees; striving to remind people that diplomacy isn’t just for diplomats; blending global folk music traditions with cultural awareness and understanding.

Since Covid, Ben was hired by American Voices, the implementing partner for the State Department cultural programs, to help transition musical diplomacy work into the virtual setting.

The coming interview can be seen at 11.00 p.m. Irish time on Thursday 9 Dec., on Deering Live or YouTube. As always, the interviewee can be questioned in the live chat.

© Richard Hawkins

US musicians to tour in Britain, Feb. 2022

The FOAOTMAD news blog announces that Chris Testerman (fiddle) and Jackson Cunningham (guitar) of the Cabin Creek Boys old-time band from Virginia will be touring in Britain in mid February 2022, with British musician Nick Pimbert on banjo. At present five dates between 11 and 20 February are announced, with more to be announced. The tour begins with FOAOTMAD's 2022 Gainsborough old-time festival (11-13 Feb.).

FOAOTMAD also report on the coming 'Steps from the heart' step-dance project by April Verch and UK dancer Simon Harmer, which will be presented live on Zoom on 8-9 Jan. (see the BIB for 8 Nov.).

And of the two Dave Stacy banjos announced for sale last month (see the BIB for 12 Nov.), the 'Tubebuster' built in 2020 has now been sold; the reconditioned 1923 Bacon and Day with a new Stacy neck is still available.

© Richard Hawkins

'Old Joe Clark' from the Bluegrass Babies!

The BIB editor writes:

Thanks to Paul Castle of The Rosinators band (GB) and Caroline Roberts of Little Pie Productions for this press release (above) on the latest music video from the Bluegrass Babies, a very pleasing version of 'Old Joe Clark'. We couldn't find out how to reproduce Caroline's illustrations separately from the text and didn't want to retype the text without the illustrations, so the best course was to show the whole release.

The video can be seen on YouTube, on the Bluegrass Babies' Facebook, and on John Lawless's feature on Bluegrass Today, where all the artists taking part are listed by name. The lead singing (and some neat dancing) is by Big Bru Brewster; the picking is solid and satisfying, with no superficial hot licks; and the choreography of the whole ensemble is both precise and exciting.

Discographers will note that both the words sung here and the general arrangement closely follow the 'Old Joe Clark' recorded twelve years ago by the Stripey Boys (zebra brothers 'Bucking' Bill Stripes (bass) and 'Howling' Sid Stripes (banjo), with cousin 'Little Bo' Stripes on first fiddle, plus Walt Catkin (lead vocals, guitar), Mini Catkin (second fiddle), and 'Jumping' Jim Crow and Art Quackman (percussion).

This may be due to the fact that both soundtracks are credited to the Rosinators (Paul Castle, vocals, acoustic guitar, banjo, bass; Will Sneyd, fiddle; Fliss Premru, fiddle). The Rosinators' website can be warmly recommended for including such bonus features as song texts, song histories ('Old Joe Clark' is one such), and tablature or notation of tunes.

© Richard Hawkins

Bobby Osborne - 90 today (update)

Robert Van 'Bobby' Osborne was born ninety years ago today, became a professional musician in his late teens, fought in the Korean war as a US Marine, made indelible impressions on the development of bluegrass music, and is still actively recording and leading his band, the Rocky Top X-Press. His life, with the numerous awards and honours received, is outlined on his website and in Fred Bartenstein's article for the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, into which he and his younger brother Roland 'Sonny' Osborne were inducted in 1994.

It may be inappropriate to wish Bobby Osborne a happy birthday - only six weeks have elapsed since Sonny's death on 24 October - but the BIB unreservedly wishes him many happy returns of the day.

Update 9 Dec.: Several video interviews with Bobby are on YouTube, but priority should be given to 'A Kentucky treasure: the Osborne Brothers story' (2014), compiled by Russ Farmer from interviews by the late Marty Godbey.

© Richard Hawkins

The Bitter Southerner's choice of 2021 albums

The Bitter Southerner online magazine has published its list of the twenty-one best Southern albums of 2021. The introduction states: 'Our list is filled with blues, folk, rap, and pop, but we think you’ll feel a soul-filled groove throughout these records. There’s also a little more mandolin and fiddle than usual.' The two bluegrass-related records on the list are no. 5, Watchhouse by Watchhouse (the duo formerly known as Mandolin Orange), and no. 12, Renewal by Billy Strings, whose music the BS describes as 'a renegade kind of bluegrass'. According to Watchhouse's tour schedule, their show in London on 20 Jan. is sold out, but tickets are still available for Glasgow the following night.

© Richard Hawkins

Gary Scruggs, 1949-2021

Earl Scruggs and his sons Gary (bass) and Randy (guitar)

The BIB learns with regret of the death last Wednesday (1 December) of multi-instrumentalist, performer, producer, and songwriter Gary Eugene Scruggs, eldest son of Earl and Louise Scruggs, at the age of 72. Bluegrass fans in Ireland and Europe will remember seeing him as bass player in the band accompanying his father at Earl's historic performance headlining the 2004 Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival in Longford town. His active career in many aspects of the music business is shown in Richard Thompson's obituary on Bluegrass Today, which includes four videos and a discography. Other obituaries include those on the savingcountrymusic.com and tasteofcountry.com websites.

© Richard Hawkins

The Old-Time Herald is back!

The organising team of The Old-Time Herald, founded by Alice Gerrard as the magazine of American old-time music, announce:

After a period of hibernation during the pandemic, we're delighted to announce that the Old-Time Herald is back in business. Our new issue - in its full digital edition! - is now available to subscribers on the website. Log in to oldtimeherald.org to read Volume 15, Number 2. (If you're a print subscriber, you're entitled to full online access as well. Be sure and set up a log-in if you haven't already, and let us know if you have any trouble accessing the content.) We hope you enjoy the new issue!

In view of this period of hibernation, the OTH will not be holding its annual fundraising campaign this year. Donations, by PayPal or cheque, are nonetheless welcome. The OTH is published by the 501(c)3 Old-Time Music Group, so contributions are tax-deductible in the USA.

© Richard Hawkins

Bill Emerson - the Jimmy Martin years

The 56th newsletter issued by Bluegrass Unlimited magazine includes this week's podcast, featuring guitar maestro Kenny Smith, and much more. The latest article by Dan Miller in the special series on Bill Emerson is 'Bill Emerson with Jimmy Martin (1961-1966)'. In addition to the many details of life for a performing and recording bluegrass artist in the 1960s, this article is especially valuable for the many examples Emerson gives of how much, and in how many ways, he learned from Martin. There are also several useful links to other BU sources on Bill's career. Strongly recommended.

© Richard Hawkins

Bea Lilly

Michael Burt 'Bea' Lilly was born one hundred years ago today (5 Dec. 1921) in Clear Creek, Raleigh county, WV. He and his younger brother Everett formed a guitar-and-mandolin vocal duo in the 1930s, which later became the core of a bluegrass band featuring fellow West Virginian Don Stover on banjo, and often with Tex Logan on fiddle. As Fred Bartenstein writes in his biographical article for the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, they

bridged the brother duet style of the 1930s into the emerging bluegrass genre of the 1940s and 1950s. A kind of 'living encyclopedia', the Lilly Brothers evoked for modern audiences the sounds and performance techniques of earlier decades.

Their long-term residency in the Boston area influenced a generation of performers from the folk music revival. The Lilly Brothers and Don Stover were inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2002, and (see Richard Thompson's 2008 article on Bluegrass Today) into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2008. In the image above, from the cover of one of their recordings, Bea is in the foreground. He and Everett were greatly influenced by the Monroe Brothers, and to mark this occasion here is a song - recorded in 1936 by the Monroes - from that 1962 album.

© Richard Hawkins

Updates to TradFest 2022

Thanks to Ania Schuler of the organising team of Tradfest Temple Bar for news of updates to next month's schedule of events (26-30 Jan.). Back in mid October, when ticket sales for the 2022 Tradfest were first announced, the BIB commented:

In past years, TradFest programmes have included some performers from genres related to bluegrass, old-time, or traditional country music. As it stands at present, the 2022 programme appears to have no such acts; but this may perhaps change.

It has. The programme of headline concerts includes on Friday 28 Jan. Boxing Banjo, who claim to have created 'a unique blend of traditional Irish music and song, old time and bluegrass music'. The concert is at 8.30 p.m. in Lost Lane; doors open 8.00 p.m. Tickets (€14.99) can be bought here. Their music can be heard on YouTube.

A more direct link to American folk music can be heard on Sunday 30 Jan. at the National Stadium, when the one and only Peggy Seeger takes part in the concert 'Women of note – Aoife Scott presents a celebration of female folk voices', together with Aoife Scott and Wallis Bird. Doors open at 7.30 p.m. and the show starts at 8.00 p.m. Tickets (€29.99) can be bought here.

© Richard Hawkins

Bob Taylor of Taylor Guitars on Deering Live TONIGHT (2 Dec.)

The Deering Banjo Company announce that this week on Deering Live Bob Taylor, co-founder of Taylor Guitars, will be interviewed, with this introduction:

Greg Deering and Bob Taylor have known each other since the late 1960s when they were both key members of the American Dream Cooperative - a collection of musical instrument repair specialists and builders here in San Diego.

In this episode, we sit down with Bob Taylor, Greg Deering, and Janet Deering to learn about the remarkable story of two of the world's most respected names in stringed musical instruments today.

The coming interview can be seen at 11.00 p.m. Irish time on Thursday 2 Dec., on Deering Live or YouTube. As always, the interviewee can be questioned in the live chat.

© Richard Hawkins

A BU feast for Stanley fans

The December 2021 issue of Bluegrass Unlimited magazine has 'Stanley Brothers' on the cover, and the contents include two major articles by Gary Reid, '75 years & counting: the birth of the Stanley sound' (eight pages on the first two years of the brothers' band) and 'Roy Sykes: bluegrass incubator' (six pages on the Virginia fiddler and bandleader who gave Carter Stanley and Jesse McReynolds their start as professional musicians).

BU editor Dan Miller writes on George Shuffler, whose widely influential singing and guitar- and bass-playing became an integral part of the Stanleys' sound, and on the Dr Ralph Stanley Hills of Home Memorial Day Bluegrass Festival, held annually for fifty years. Bill Conger writes on the Ralph Stanley Museum and Traditional Music Center and on Don Rigsby (veteran of several trips to Ireland), for whom Ralph Stanley was a major influence. In an interview by Derek Halsey, Ralph's son Ralph Stanley II 'shares stories of his dad and uncle including a sign from beyond the grave'.

There are also features on the song 'Wild Bill Jones', as recorded by the Stanleys, and on the banjo with an 'Eagle' peghead, formerly played by Ralph, which is one of four made in the 1960s by Johnnie Whisnant. These are by no means all the good things in this issue of BU.

Yesterday (1 December 2021) was the 55th anniversary of Carter Stanley's death. To mark the occasion, here's a 1992 performance by the Johnson Mountain Boys of Carter's composition 'Harbor of love'.

© Richard Hawkins

More on Darin and Brooke Aldridge - live-stream concert, 6 Dec.2021

A PS to one of the items in yesterday's post: multi-award-winning Darin and Brooke Aldridge are the stars in the last of the 2021 WoodSongs Old Time Radio Hour concert series presented by folksinger Michael Johnathon in the Lyric Theatre, Lexington, KY. The show can be watched (6 Dec.) on live-stream free on Woodsongs’ Facebook or YouTube channel; tickets to the show can be bought at Tix.com. More details on the WoodSongs concert series, on the show, and on the artists are on this press release.

© Richard Hawkins