06 June 2022

More news - mostly of past visitors

On 10 Feb. the BIB mentioned a ten-minute video by Bill Evans which encapsulates his presentation on the developments in banjo construction, music, and playing styles over the last two-and-a-half centuries. John Lawless on Bluegrass Today now reports that Evans's The banjo in America, a 65-minute DVD/CD set from the Old-Time Tiki Parlour, featuring nineteen songs and medleys played on ten different instruments, can now be pre-ordered for $19.99.
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Smithsonian Folkways Recordings announce 'The brain on banjos', a thirty-three-track playlist, curated by banjo maker and player Jason Romero. Smithsonian write: 'Jason moves slowly through the deep and beautiful forest of North American banjo music, meeting the greats and the obscure along the way.' He and his wife Pharis have a new album, Tell 'em you were gold, due for release on 17 June. A video of a performance of 'Cannot change it all', one of the tracks from the album, can be seen here.
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Thanks to Richard Thompson for a link to this YouTube video showing Alison Krauss & Union Station on tour in these islands in 2005. The video is entitled 'UK tour 2005', but as Richard points out the first fifteen minutes (out of forty-three) are set in Ireland, and specifically in Dublin, where the band played at the Olympia Theatre on Dame St.
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The Steep Canyon Rangers, the very last American band to play in Ireland before the Covid lockdowns began, announce their new single 'Sweet spot' and their forthcoming bookings, including the Mountain Song Festival in September. More details, including their new T-shirt designs, can be seen on their latest e-newsletter.
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Radio Bristol at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol, TN/VA, announce that a special edition of their 'Farm and Fun Time' show will be held on 21 July to mark the 95th anniversary of the historic 1927 Bristol Sessions, widely known aa the 'Big Bang of Country Music'. The distinguished cast will include Rhonda Vincent & the Rage, Bill & the Belles (formerly on the bill at Omagh), and Roni Stoneman, who visited Ireland in 2013 and 2016 and whose father Ernest V. Stoneman can be given much of the credit for the Bristol Sessions having been held. More details can be seen here.
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Fast Track released on Friday (3 June) their third album, Heartache and trouble, and a playlist of all ten tracks can be heard on this Engelhardt Music Group press release. With Jesse Brock having left to join Authentic Unlimited, Ron Spears is now (we believe) the only member of Fast Track who has previously played in Ireland.

© Richard Hawkins

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