Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival 2022 - More acts announced

Exactly a month ago the organising team of the Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival announced eight of the international acts who will be performing at this year's LIVE event. Thanks to festival director Uri Kohen for this additional welcome news:

Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival has just announced six more acts to their already amazing lineup.

• Cesar Benzoni will be joined by very special guests for the opening session of the festival.
• The Horsenecks, who are no strangers to the festival, will return as a duo and perform as one of the two acts on the Old Time concert bill.
• Local man and all-round superb folksinger/ songwriter Tony Reidy and multi-instrumentalist Seamie O'Dowd will play the Sunday night main concert - The Folky Thing.
• Dan Beimborn will host a mandolin workshop in association with Mandolin Cafe.
• To top it all off, we will see the return of two of the festival's favourites and the only acts to play each festival since 2007 - The Rocky Top String Band and Tim Rogers.

Tickets for the main concerts will go on sale this coming Friday, 4 March.

© Richard Hawkins

Approaches to the music

The BIB editor writes:

My bluegrass heart is the name of Béla Fleck's recent, massively impressive two-CD set of instrumental music composed specifically with the instruments and playing styles of the bluegrass band in mind. 'My Bluegrass Heart' is also the name of the stellar group of musicians he assembled for the recordings, who now make up a performing ensemble (see photo above); and the concert on 9 January 2022 by the ensemble at New York's Carnegie Hall is the subject of Jen Hughes's major article and interview, 'Béla Fleck in Carnegie Hall? Be still My Bluegrass Heart!', published on Bluegrass Today a fortnight ago.

The article gives an exciting account of the concert; but the most substantial part is the interview, in which Fleck speaks at considerable length and even greater depth about not just what went into the tunes on this recording, or choosing this group of musicians, but what went into making his musical life - and, indeed, what could go into anyone's musical life. His insights into the influence of playing with Tony Rice and jazz composer/ keyboardist Chick Corea*, and into their own attitudes to music, are - like the rest of the interview - a thought-provoking look into the mindset of a musician at the top of his profession.

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A player with a very different experience and approach to the music - but with whom (from my understanding of the interview) Béla Fleck would sympathise - is the subject of an article by Dan Miller in the Feb. 2022 issue of Bluegrass Unlimited magazine, 'Don Bryant: a short - but brilliant - bluegrass career'. Like Tom Neal (see the BIB for 18 Jan. 2022), Don Bryant was fully qualified to stand alongside the leading bluegrass musicians; as well as playing banjo for Buzz Busby and Mac Wiseman, he was asked by Lester Flatt to stand in for Earl Scruggs during a period when Earl was in hospital. And like Tom Neal, he decided to make his living in a different field. When a friend, overcome by his playing, said recently 'Man, how can you play that kind of music and keep it to yourself?', he replied 'Well, I really just learned it for myself.'

* Some BIB readers may have seen the concert by Béla Fleck and Chick Corea at the NCH in Dublin in 2017 (see the BIB for 23 Mar. 2017).

© Richard Hawkins

Hank Smith on using the picking hand

The image on the right says that Hank Smith's latest video of banjo technique advice is on 'the power of the right hand', but this is not just about loudness and impact. On YouTube the video is entitled 'Right hand fundamentals', and on the Deering blog David Bandrowski calls it 'Adjusting your tone with your right hand'. The emphasis of both video and accompanying text is on controlling volume, dynamics, and tone with the picking hand (whether right or left). J.D. Crowe is cited as an example of the tone difference that results from positioning the hand so that the thumb hits the strings forward of the fingers.

© Richard Hawkins

More (assorted) US news

Mandolin master Mike Compton, who visited Ireland with the Nashville Bluegrass Band in 2007, is a recognised authority on the music of the Father of Bluegrass. He now has a new album, Rare & fine: uncommon tunes of Bill Monroe, scheduled for release early next month. On it, he plays Monroe instrumentals that are not often heard, including some that were never released on a record label. An example is his new single, 'Orange Blossom breakdown'; the tune was learned from a recording of a radio broadcast. It can be heard on Bluegrass Today, and (the BIB recommends) on the Bluegrass Situation and YouTube, where the video includes footage and stills taken during the recording of the Compton version.

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On 22 Feb. the BIB mentioned Hurricane Clarice, the forthcoming album by the 'apocalyptic stringband duo' of Allison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves (left). The Bluegrass Situation (BG) now presents a substantial article on the album by Steve Hochman, 'Allison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves reunite to honor their grandmothers', with input from both musicians on the background of the album, the choice of numbers, the contributions of producer Phil Cook, the importance of 'the idea of family, whether that’s family that you’re connected with at childhood or your musical community', and much more. There are three videos of de Groot and Hargreaves playing items from the album, and one sixty-eight-minute full concert video.

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In his latest e-newsletter, Michael J. Miles announces that he will be teaching at three banjo camps this year: 'If you play the banjo these can be utopian. If you don't, that's another story.' Michael's other forthcoming events include concerts, fundraisers, and one-time-only workshops for clawhammer banjo and fingerstyle guitar, which will be streamed on Zoom. More details, and two videos, are here.

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Finally - and of special interest to anyone who likes skiffle and jug-band music - the Birthplace of Country Music Museum announces in its latest e-newsletter that on 8 Mar. Scott Paulson, who contributed to the Museum's 'Instrument interview: the kazoo', will give a talk on 'The kazoo's place in history and music'.

© Richard Hawkins

Happy birthday, Little Roy Lewis!

Photo: B Chord Photography

Roy M. 'Little Roy' Lewis of Lincolntown, GA, was born eighty years ago today (24 Feb. 1942) and from the age of 9 was performing with his parents and siblings in the Lewis Family, the 'First Family of bluegrass gospel', playing 5-string banjo, guitar, and autoharp, singing, and (outstandingly) clowning - of his entries, exits, antics, and costuming, all you could predict was that they would be unpredictable. Sonny Osborne, in his much-missed Bluegrass Today column 'Ask Sonny anything', gave examples of the pranks with which Little Roy would punctuate Osborne Brothers performances.

Ted Lehmann's 2018 article for No Depression, 'Little Roy Lewis: an icon of bluegrass culture' is an excellent assessment and biographical outline, and includes six performance videos. A briefer interview by Elizabeth Tracy, 'Little Roy Lewis: still on the road', appeared in Banjo News Letter in Nov. 2017. For over twenty years he and his foster-daughter Lizzy Long have been performing as a duo and leading the Little Roy and Lizzy Show (also on Facebook). Typical quotes from the Elizabeth Tracy interview are: 'I always try to find something new' and 'Everywhere I go is fun'. Happy birthday, Little Roy!

Update 25 Feb.: See also Richard Thompson's much more informative article on Bluegrass Today, with two videos and several photos.

© Richard Hawkins

Picking and sliding from Black Mountain

Thanks to the Bluegrass Standard online/ print magazine for an advertisement feature from the Black Mountain company, famous for their innovative thumb-pick design. The Black Mountain pick, usable both for flatpicking and fingerpicking, was the first to incorporate a hinge and a spring. The inventor, Cole McBride, has now brought out the steel Black Mountain® Slide Ring, which also incorporates a spring, making it possible to play slide guitar while retaining the use of all the fretting fingers. Prices are on the Black Mountain website; the Bluegrass Standard remains, as always, free.

© Richard Hawkins

Banjo- and old-time-related news

Building on the success of a year ago (see the BIB for 2 Feb. 2021), the International Bluegrass Music Association and Pisgah Banjos of Asheville, NC, announce that a second special banjo has been made to be raffled at $20.00 a ticket to raise funds for the IBMA's Arnold Shultz Fund (set up in 2020 to support activities increasing the participation in bluegrass music by people of colour) and for the Black Banjo Reclamation Project (BBRP), 'a vehicle to return instruments of African origin to the descendants of their original makers'.

Last year's raffle aimed at selling 1,000 tickets to raise $20,000, and in fact raised $26,740. This year's target is $40,000. The sale of tickets began on 1 Feb. and continues to 6 Mar. The banjo's value has been estimated at $2,500; for more details of it, see the Pisgah website or John Lawless's feature on Bluegrass Today.

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Ken Perlman (USA), master of 'melodic clawhammer' banjo, sends a reminder of the next two online live instructional banjo workshops in his 'Clawhammer Clinic' series, of which the first is next Monday (28 Feb.), and the second on Mon. 21 Mar. - see the BIB for 7 Feb. Ken also reminds us of the online Suwanee Banjo Camp on 10-13 Mar.

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Thanks to Hearth Music and the Fretboard Journal (FJ) for the news that the 'apocalyptic stringband duo' of Allison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves have brought out a six-minute video of a track from their forthcoming album Hurricane Clarice (cover image, left). The 'drone-heavy, doom-laden' video is premiered on the FJ website and can also be seen on YouTube or via the Hearth Music press release. The track combines the original composition 'Hurricane Clarice' with the traditional 'Brushy fork of John's Creek'. NB: this 'Brushy fork' is based on the playing of John Morgan Salyer, and is not the same as the Hiram Stamper/ Art Stamper tune, as played (for instance) by Erynn Marshall and Chris Coole.

© Richard Hawkins

Ardara Bluegrass Festival scheduled for 15-17 July 2022

Thanks to Tony O'Brien for the welcome news that planning is in progress for the return of the Ardara Bluegrass Festival to Ardara, Co. Donegal, on the weekend Friday 15 July to Sunday 17 July. The Festival Facebook announced last month that a lineup will soon be announced. Details will appear on the BIB as soon as we receive them.

© Richard Hawkins

Latest news of past visitors

Since 1995 the Special Consensus have toured in Ireland more often than any other visiting band, making many friends and fans here; so when their expected tour in early 2021 was cancelled by one of the peaks of the pandemic, and another tour planned for the start of this year fell victim to the latest set of restrictions, our acute sense of deprivation was understandable. How are they passing the time without us? The poster image (right) and this press release from the Sheri Clark Agency are examples of how Greg Cahill's tireless work is keeping them busy. See also the Special C. online tour schedule, at the end of which is this video as a bonus.

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Mandolinist Nick Dumas, who toured Ireland twice with the Special C., is the first artist on the roster of the new Nashville record label Skyline Records. More details are on Bluegrass Today.

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Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road have released a new single, 'Who's gonna tell the story', written by Mark Brinkman and David Stewart and recorded on the Pinecastle label. More details are on this Pinecastle press release, and the song - a tribute to bluegrass songwriters - can be heard on Bluegrass Today.

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Milan Miller, a noted bluegrass songwriter who has visited Ireland numerous times, released in 2020 'Walking home to Wexford', written with Tim O'Brien (see the BIB for 17 July 2020). Earlier this week he released a new single, 'Talking to myself', which can be heard on Bluegrass Today.

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Banjo master Jeff Scroggins, who toured here several times with his band Colorado and most recently with the Scroggdogs, is playing banjo with the award-winning Canadian band Jackson Hollow on their latest single, 'Shallow rivers', which can be seen and heard on the Mountain Fever Records press release and on YouTube.

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The International Bluegrass Music Association and its Trust Fund announce a special interactive Facebook Live event, 'The banjo legacy of J.D. Crowe', to be held on Saturday 5 March at 2.00 p.m. CT (8.00 p.m. GMT), featuring Bill Evans, Ron Block, and Ron Stewart. It can be viewed live on IBMA's Facebook Page, free to all, but donations are welcomed. 100% of donations made will benefit the IBMA Trust Fund.

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The Del McCoury Band announce the release of their new album Almost proud, and also further additions to the already very impressive lineup for their four-day DelFest at the end of May this year. Their latest e-newsletter provides a list of links to recent media features and reviews about Del and the album.


© Richard Hawkins

Jake Xerxes Fussell (USA) picks favourites from Smithsonian Folkways recordings

The BIB drew attention on 27 Jan. to Jake Xerxes Fussell of North Carolina, who is on the bill for this year's Kilkenny Roots Festival (29 Apr.-2 May).

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings announce that he has prepared a 25-track Spotify playlist of his favourites, drawn from the very wide range of Folkways recordings of world music (including bluegrass and old-time music) for their 'People's Picks' series. A description is on the Smithsonian Folkways Facebook.

© Richard Hawkins

'Aidan McGale remembered' on Bluegrass Today

Yesterday (16 Feb.) Richard Thompson's article 'Aidan McGale remembered' became the most comprehensive, in-depth, and informative account of a member of the bluegrass scene in this island that has appeared to date on Bluegrass Today. The text includes contributions from Frank Galligan, Declan O'Kane (fellow member of the Knotty Pine String Band), and others who knew Aidan. With one video of the Knotty Pines with Aidan singing the Jim Croce song 'Thursday' (the band subsequently dedicated this video to his memory), and a further twenty-minute video of the Knotty Pines on stage at the 2016 Omagh bluegrass festival, this obituary and tribute gives ample evidence of the high regard and affection in which he was held.

The photo above of the Knotty Pine String Band shows (l-r) Aidan McGale (bass, vocals), Declan O'Kane (fiddle, mandolin, vocals), Tony Hutchinson (guitar, vocals), and Seamus McGurgan (banjo, dobro).

© Richard Hawkins

We Banjo 3 begin US 'Spring Awakening Tour' next week

Galway's We Banjo 3, in their latest e-newsletter, announce to their many US admirers :

Since 2012, we've toured the US several times a year (with the exception of 2020 and 2021), playing to you our fans. While we've unfortunately had to postpone the start of our USA 'Spring Awakening Tour', we hope you'll join us on one of these upcoming dates starting soon.

Their online tour schedule shows dates in the States beginning on Thursday next week (24 Feb.). The band's 2022 calendars are still on sale at a special reduced price of $7.99.

© Richard Hawkins

Tony Furtado on Deering Live, Wed. 16 Feb. 2022

David Bandrowski announces on the Deering Banjos blog that Tony Furtado will be the featured musician interviewed on Deering Live - on Wednesday 16 Feb. (not Thursday, the usual day of the week for Deering Live interviews), at 11.00 p.m. Irish time. Tony Furtado's most recent album, Decembering, is sure to be discussed. A playlist of some of his recent recordings is also on the Deering blog. The interview can be viewed on Deering Live or on YouTube.

© Richard Hawkins

Sam Amidon (USA) in Ireland, 2-6 Mar. 2022

Thanks to Whelan's of Wexford St., Dublin 2, for the news that New York-based folksinger Sam Amidon will be in their Main Venue on 3 Mar. 2022 from 8.00 (doors open) to 10.30 p.m. Details are on the Whelan's event page. The show is part of a European tour that includes five dates in this island and eleven in Britain.

Sam Amidon's music, largely drawn from traditional sources, can be heard on Bandcamp; Whelan's supply a YouTube link to his version of Taj Mahal's 'Light rain blues'. His wife is English folksinger Beth Orton. Tonight (15 Feb.) Amidon is playing in Zurich, Switzerland, following with one show in Luxembourg and four in Belgium before coming to Ireland, where his full schedule is:

Wed. 2nd Mar.: The Black Gate, Galway, 8.00 p.m.
Thurs. 3rd: Whelan's, 25 Wexford St., Dublin 2, 8.00 p.m., €20
Fri. 4th: Connolly's of Leap, Co. Cork, 7.30 p.m.
Sat. 5th: The Duncairn, Belfast, 7.30 p.m.
Sun. 6th: Flowerfield Arts Centre, Portstewart, Co. Londonderry, 3.00 p.m.

Links for online booking are provided on Sam Amidon's website. Tickets (€20) for his Whelan's show (supported by Niamh Regan) can be bought here.

© Richard Hawkins

Continuing legacies of two giants of bluegrass

In the 66th weekly newsletter from Bluegrass Unlimited magazine, among other good things Dan Miller completes the special series on the late Bill Emerson with an article on the last five years, between Emerson's retirement from touring and his death on 21 Aug. last year. There is substantial input from his youngest son, Billy, and others who remember him as 'the nicest guy that you’d ever want to know'. A bonus is that Dan Miller hopes that the series will become the foundation for a full biography of Bill Emerson. The photo image above is taken from this final article.

Further good news comes from John Lawless on Bluegrass Today, and it concerns Doyle Lawson (friend of Bill Emerson, bandmate when they were both in the Country Gentlemen in the early 1970s, and source of the words quoted above about him). Following his retirement from touring with a band at the end of 2021, Lawson will - among other activities - be contributing a regular weekly column to Bluegrass Today under the title 'The school of bluegrass' (echoing the title of his 1999 compilation album, A school of bluegrass). John Lawless writes:

He is ready to address inquiries about the many bands he toured and recorded with, the large group of bluegrass contemporaries he has known, and the dozens of recordings he has made over a professional career getting close to 60 years’ duration. You ask... he’ll answer. We hope to have the first edition of School of Bluegrass with Doyle Lawson within the next two weeks.

This should go far to make up for the loss of 'Ask Sonny anything', the weekly treat of bluegrass history, banjo talk, personal memoir, and frankly expressed opinion that ended after two-and-a-half years with the passing of Sonny Osborne last October.

© Richard Hawkins

New recordings from past visitors (update)

Linda Lay from east Tennessee made a big impact in the 'Bluegrass on the Walls' events at Derry some years back, with her outstanding lead singing and the drive and tightness of her band Appalachian Trail. She has now released a new self-titled album on the Mountain Fever Records label. Further details are on the Mountain Fever press release, and samples of the album can be heard on Linda's website and Facebook.

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Matt Ruppert warmly reviews on No Depression The flowers that bloom in spring, the third album by the duo of Kieran Kane & Rayna Gellert. The album - too varied to be easily described, but all founded on respect for old-time country music - can be heard and bought on Bandcamp and other platforms.

Update 15 Feb.: No Depression has since published here another review of this album, by Amos Perrine, who has also taken some nice photos of Kane and Gellert.

© Richard Hawkins

2022 Crossover Festival (GB) workshop details

The organisers of the Crossover Festival (29 Apr.-2 May), in an accessible part of England for visitors from Ireland, issue their third newsletter of 2022, with details of their extensive workshop programme; more classes are being planned. The tutors (see image above) are outstanding pickers from Britain, the USA, and Europe; and all workshops are included in the price of a weekend ticket. The newsletter also presents news and videos from some of the artists on the bill, including Sapphire Storm (see the BIB for 9 Feb.) and the Foreign Landers.

© Richard Hawkins

Tony Friel on Bluegrass Today

Country and bluegrass record collector and radio presenter Tony 'The Bluegrass Boy' Friel is featured in a major article on Bluegrass Today. Tony recounts for Sandy Hatley the history of his personal love affair with the music since 1968, beginning with hearing in a local cinema the voice of Hank Snow, who remains his favourite country singer. He also touches on the encouragement and advice he received from the late, great DJ Ray Davis of WAMU; how he came to appreciate the music of Bill Monroe; the many friends he has made in the bluegrass world; and much more.

Tony is now broadcasting every Tuesday evening from 7.00 to 9.00 p.m. (GMT) on Donegal Bay Radio. He ends with these words:

I have found as a bluegrass presenter how difficult it is to get artists to send you their music. We broadcast worldwide. So if any of you reading this have bluegrass CDs that you would like to have played on my show, please send them to me!

Tony Friel, 18 Sycamore Avenue, Sion Mills, Co. Tyrone BY82 9HT, Northern Ireland

BIB editor's note: The photo below, showing Tony between me and Niall Toner, was taken in the lounge of the Tullamore Court Hotel on Sunday 23 Sept. 2012 during the eleventh and last Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival, at Tullamore, Co. Offaly. It tickled me to read on Bluegrass Today how Tony came to find himself sitting with Bill Monroe, Kenny Baker, Brother Oswald, and Charlie Collins at a lunch table in my home town.

© Richard Hawkins

Folk-tune arrangement for 5-string banjo

In a substantial new post on the Deering Banjo Company blog, UK banjoist Jamie Francis writes:

This article is designed to guide you through the entire process of arranging folk tunes on the fingerpicking 5-string banjo. I’ll be talking you through the thought processes, and techniques, that I would use, as well as helping you to build up some useful skills along the way. I’ve always felt there was a bit of a leap between the simplified versions of tunes that you might learn initially, and the complex, inventive arrangements that a skilled folk band would put together. Hopefully, I can help you bridge this gap.

The Irish jig in D which is used here as a working example is approached in four stages with several sets of exercises in tablature and video demonstrations for each stage. This is a foretaste of Francis's new book, The complete tune playing toolkit for 5-string banjo, published by Mel Bay and also available from Deering. Twelve of the forty tunes listed in the contents are American old-time tunes.

© Richard Hawkins

The BGS presents Stillhouse Junkies; Aoife O'Donovan interviewed; and Bill Evans on nine historic banjos

Colorado's Stillhouse Junkies (Cody Tinnin, bass; Alissa Wolf, fiddle; and Fred Kosak, guitar), who are on the bill for this year's Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival in June, are featured in the latest Weekly Dispatch from the Bluegrass Situation (BGS) online roots magazine. A five-minute video of the trio performing the song 'Haskell town' can be seen here and on YouTube.

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On 22 Jan. the BIB reported that Age of apathy, the third and latest solo album by Aoife O'Donovan, had been reviewed on No Depression by Maeri Ferguson. The BGS has now published a major interview with O'Donovan by Kira Grunenberg, 'On "Age of apathy", Aoife O'Donovan explores the emotions of her past', which focuses on sense of community (in contrast to the isolation of the pandemic), the passing of time, changes in life situations, and more. Five YouTube videos are included - four official videos, and one recorded at a live performance. In addition, the Fretboard Journal editor Jason Verlinde interviews O'Donovan on the FJ's Podcast 354.

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Specially for banjo devotees, Bill Evans contributes to the BGS a feature, 'Watch: Bill Evans plays 9 historic banjos in 9 minutes at Ear Trumpet Labs', based on a video he recorded at the Ear Trumpet Labs workshops in Portland, OR, last week. The video - illustrating developments in banjo construction, music, and playing styles - can be seen on the BGS or on YouTube.

The banjos comprise three replicas by Jim Hartel of instruments from the late 1840s-early 1850s, a Cole 'Eclipse' (c.1911-12), a Vega 'Whyte Laydie' (1917), a Cammeyer 'Vibrante Royale' zither-banjo (c.1936), two 1930 Gibson Mastertones, and a 2010 Gold Tone cello banjo. This is in effect an encapsulation of Evans's show 'The banjo in America'; he announces that for those who’d like to see and hear more, Tiki Parlour Recordings will release this spring a DVD/CD set featuring nineteen songs and medleys played on ten different banjos.

© Richard Hawkins

The latest BBN

The latest issue (no. 96, winter 2021) of British Bluegrass News (BBN), journal of the British Bluegrass Music Asociation, features on the cover Leanne Thorose and Eleanor Wilkie of Midnight Skyracer (UK), who are also playing together as Sapphire Storm and are about to release the duo's debut album Two hearts and a double shot of whiskey. They are interviewed inside by BBN editor Chris Lord.

Other features include Philippa Ogden's four-page analysis of the messages conveyed by bluegrass album designs over the decades; illustrated reports from UK events; the regular 'Gospel corner'; three US CDs given substantial reviews by Chris Courogen; full-colour instrument ads; and Jack Baker's 'Tab corner' which reviews the recordings since 1926 of the song 'Way downtown'/ 'Late last night'/ 'Oh me, oh my', and bases the tabs for guitar, fiddle, banjo, and mandolin on breaks from different recordings.

BIB readers, however, should find special interest in Chris Lord's four-page interview with Greg Blake, who since his last tour here has joined the Special Consensus as lead singer and guitarist; he and Special C. leader Greg Cahill have been friends for over twenty-five years. Chris writes that the Special C. 'are one of my favourite bands, and there are very few people that would make as good a fit as Greg Blake in such a prestigious position.'

© Richard Hawkins

Cosmic banjo from Michael Johnathon

Thanks to Jason W. Ashcraft of the JWA Media PR agency for news of US folksinger Michael Johnathon, a disciple of Pete Seeger and host of the WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour (which has featured some of our friends, such as the Special Consensus and Red Wine).

Michael Johnathon's new album Cosmic banjo features collaborations with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s John McEuen, New Grass Revival’s Sam Bush and John Cowan, Ronnie McCoury, Rob Ickes, Kentucky cellist Ben Sollee, and the Niles String Quartet. Full details are on the JWA Media digital press release, and music from the album can be heard on YouTube.

Jason also draws attention to the WoodSongs Tornado Relief Effort, organised by Michael and his WoodSongs community in response to the recent devastation wrought by tornados, from which Kentucky has suffered particularly badly (see also this article on Bluegrass Today last month).

© Richard Hawkins

'Smilin'' from Cedar Hill

Mountain Fever Records announce the release today (8 Feb.) of a new single, 'Smilin', from Cedar Hill, the fine traditional bluegrass band from the Ozark region, led by Frank Ray (centre in the photo below). The band has made acclaimed appearances at Omagh bluegrass festivals, and Frank was inducted into the SPBGMA Preservation Hall of Greats in 2019. (The biographical article on him there is by C.J. Lewandowski of the Po' Ramblin' Boys.)

Frank's own words on the song and why he felt it needed to be recorded are quoted on the Bluegrass Situation website, where you can also hear the single on Soundcloud. More details are on the Mountain Fever press release and Cedar Hill's Facebook.

Update 11 Feb.: See also John Lawless's feature on Bluegrass Today.

© Richard Hawkins

Pete Wernick recovering after heart attack

The BIB learns with concern that Pete Wernick, 'Dr Banjo' (seen above with his wife Joan, 'Nurse Banjo') suffered a heart attack on 1 February. The good news is that surgery on a blocked artery was accomplished, further treatment is in progress, and though he was still in intensive care when John Lawless's article on Bluegrass Today was posted, the overall prospects appear to be good. The episode, nonetheless, has naturally been traumatic.

Pete Wernick is known to many in this island from his performances here as a member of Hot Rize and with Joan as a duo, and as a bandleader and workshop teacher at the Johnny Keenan Banjo Festivals earlier this century. He is also one of the most gifted writers, communicators, and organisers in bluegrass music, and many of us have benefited from his teachings and publications. The BIB sends him and Joan every good wish for his complete and speedy recovery.

© Richard Hawkins

Ken Perlman online workshops, 28 Feb. and 21 Mar. 2020

Ken Perlman (USA), master of 'melodic clawhammer' banjo, announces that the next two online live instructional banjo workshops in his 'Clawhammer Clinic' series will be 'Harmonized scales: using 3rds & 6ths to spice up your clawhammer arrangements' on Mon. 28 Feb., and 'Playing Celtic reels with taste and authority, clawhammer style' on Mon. 21 Mar. The latter should be of special interest to players in this island. Tunes in this workshop will include 'The wind that shakes the barley', 'The black mill', 'Far from home', 'Drowsy Maggie', and 'High road to Linton'.

© Richard Hawkins

Bill Emerson as bandleader, mentor, and example

The 65th weekly newsletter issued by Bluegrass Unlimited magazine (BU) includes a podcast interview with musicologist, discographer, broadcaster, and bluegrass historian Dick Spottswood. Video instruction on crosspicking guitar is taken from the DVD by James Alan Shelton, and a 1982 article from BU archives by Ron Thomason is on Hazel Dickens.

The eleventh aricle in the special series on Bill Emerson covers the period from his forming his band Sweet Dixie in 2006 to his retirement from live performance ten years later. The original concept was for Sweet Dixie to be a pool of musicians from which various combinations could be formed; it eventually became a regular four- or five-piece band for touring and recording. A strong message that comes through the article is the importance of Emerson's role as a mentor and example, and the values of professionalism and musicianship that he embodied and communicated.

© Richard Hawkins

Assorted goodies

The Bluegrass Situation (BGS) online magazine has an ongoing series under the title 'BGS top 50 moments'. The second in the series, compiled by BGS staff, introduces a special behind-the-scenes sound-check video from 2013, featuring Sam Bush and Del McCoury, longtime friends who were then touring as a duo. The four-and-a-half minute video, which can also be seen on YouTube, includes a brief snatch of Del playing 5-string banjo, which he had rarely done in public in the previous fifty years. The BGS staff write that he

actually started his career in Bill Monroe’s band as the banjo player before being shuffled to guitar

- but this needs clarification. Del had played banjo with several groups before Monroe heard him play in February 1963 and offered him a job. He had not, however, joined the Blue Grass Boys before Monroe heard Bill Keith and offered him a job as well. The two of them auditioned together on 15 March 1963 and, as Keith later put it, 'it was clear to all of us that Del could play guitar much better than I, and I believe I had the edge in banjo playing.' So when they both went on stage for the first time with Monroe, Keith was the banjo player. (Tom Ewing, Bill Monroe: the life and music of the Blue Grass Man (2018), pp 251-4).

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Banjo Hangout's video section includes a thirteen-minute video by Eddie Collins (also on YouTube), 'Five great banjo players we lost in 2021' - John Hickman, Dennis Caplinger, Bill Emerson, Sonny Osborne, and J.D. Crowe - giving a deeper appreciation of their contribution to banjo history.

Bluegrass Today began last month a series entitled 'My favorite J.D. Crowe lick' (see the BIB for 17 Jan.). Eddie Collins posted in Oct. 2020 on YouTube a nine-minute video, '15 cool J.D. Crowe licks', including tablature for each lick.

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The Fretboard Journal editor Jason Verlinde has conducted a half-hour podcast interview with Chris Eldridge, guitarist of Punch Brothers, on the making of their album Hell on Church Street as a tribute to Tony Rice.

© Richard Hawkins

The Kody Norris Show - 2022 SPBGMA Entertainer of the Year (update)

Thanks to Uri Kohen, director of the Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival for forwarding the latest issue of the Rhinestone Reader, newsletter of the Kody Norris Show, who would have come over to headline the Westport festival of 2020 but for the pandemic.

The big news is that at last weekend's SPBGMA Bluegrass Music Awards, National Convention, and Band Championship, the Kody Norris Show won the Bluegrass Entertainer of the Year award and their fiddle player, Mary Rachel Nalley-Norris, won the Bluegrass Fiddle Performer of the Year award. The photo above (taken by Claire Ratliff of Laughing Penguin Publicity) shows the band with their trophies. More details are on the Rhinestone Reader. The band's Rebel album All suited up was released in April 2021. A complete list of SPBGMA 2022 award winners is on Bluegrass Today.

Update 9 Feb.: The Kody Norris Show will play a live concert on the new lobby stage at the Bluegrass Music Hall Of Fame and Museum in Owensboro, KY, this coming Saturday (12 Feb.). Tickets and information are here.

© Richard Hawkins

Malpass Brothers to host NC festival in succession to Doyle Lawson

The Malpass Brothers from North Carolina (who had won many fans at three successive Omagh bluegrass festivals before appearing at any US bluegrass festival) are taking over the role of presenting a festival at Denton, NC, the location of the Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver Bluegrass Festival for forty-one years. John Lawless on Bluegrass Today reports that the Brothers have been a popular act on the Doyle Lawson festival for years, and Doyle is quoted as saying:

North Carolina loves their native sons, The Malpass Brothers, and everyone will love The Malpass Brothers Bluegrass and Country Music Fest at the Denton Farm Park in Denton, NC!

The festival will be held for the first time under the new name on 5-7 May 2022. More details are on Bluegrass Today.

© Richard Hawkins

Victor Furtado on Deering Live, Thurs. 3 Feb. 2020

The Deering Banjo Company announce that the featured artist on Deering Live this week will be the innovative young clawhammer player Victor Furtado (younger brother of Gina Furtado) who at the age of 20 won the 2019 Steve Martin Banjo Prize. In 2017 he had been interviewed by Mark Schatz for Banjo News Letter. More information is on the Deering blog. The interview can be seen on the Deering blog, on Deering Live, or on YouTube at midnight on Thursday 3 Feb.

© Richard Hawkins

'Bed of snow' from Chris Jones & the Night Drivers

Chris Jones & the Night Drivers (right), who have had one-and-a-half tours in Ireland in 2018 and '19 (the 2018 tour was halved by snowfall) have had a video single released by the Mountain Home Music Company from their current album Make each second last.

The song, 'Bed of snow', co-written by Chris with Thomm Jutz, is about the hope that lies under the snow (which in northern Alberta, where Chris lives, is a fact of life for half the year), a metaphor for recovery after the pandemic. More details are on Bluegrass Today, where you can see the video (also on YouTube). The informal photo above shows (l-r) Chris, Marshall Wilborn, Grace van 't Hof, and Mark Stoffel.

© Richard Hawkins

Three recorded tributes to Tony Rice

Since the passing of the legendary Tony Rice on Christmas Day 2020, innumerable tributes have been paid to him and his exceptional achievements. Yesterday (31 Jan.) No Depression online magazine published Henry Carrigan's 'The stories (and the love) behind three Tony Rice tributes', a major review article on three recorded projects, two of which have already been briefly mentioned on the BIB.

Two YouTube recordings from Barry Waldrep and friends celebrate Tony Rice, a 21-track album released on Christmas Eve 2021, are included in the review, and a further two from the Punch Brothers' 11-track album Hell on Church Street. The third project is Dan Tyminski's 5-track One more time before you go. The title track was co-written with Josh Williams (who toured Ireland some years ago as a lanky teenage mandolin player with the Special Consensus).

© Richard Hawkins

Alfi in concert at Celtic Connections, 4 Feb. 2020

Dublin-based trio Alfi (right), who combine traditional Irish and Appalachian music and song with harp, 5-string banjo, and uilleann pipes, will be taking part in a live concert this coming Friday (4 Feb.) at 7.30 p.m. in the Mackintosh Church, 870 Garscube Road, Glasgow, Scotland, as part of this year's Celtic Connections festival. Also featured in the concert are the Scottish quartet Westward the Light (fiddle, viola, guitar, and piano). Tickets are £15.40; this includes a booking fee.

© Richard Hawkins