Wonderland from Martha Spencer out on 2 Sept. 2022 (update)

Martha Spencer visited Ireland in 2014 as a young member of the Whitetop Mountain Band from the Virginia mountains. A multi-instrumentalist, dancer, and an outstanding singer, she is now developing her solo career, following an acclaimed debut album (2018) with her new album Wonderland, due for release this coming Friday (2 Sept.). The album, half of which is original material, demonstrates the range of songs she can deliver with complete confidence and power. A video of the title track can be seen on the Hearth Music press release and on YouTube.

The Whitetop Mountain Band website shows (above) the band's current lineup. A photo of the band on their 2014 visit to Ireland can be seen here.

Update 2 Sept.: Henry Carrigan's very favourable review, 'Martha Spencer makes traditional-tinted magic on ‘Wonderland’', with two YouTube videos from the album, is now on No Depression.

Update 13 Oct.: The album has now been reviewed by Braeden Paul on Bluegrass Today, with a playlist of samples from all tracks.

*

Fiddler and luthier Albert Hash (1917-83) founded the Whitetop Mountain Band. Earlier this month, Dr Malcolm Smith gave a talk at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol, TN, on the book he wrote with Edwin Lacy, Appalachian fiddler Albert Hash: the last leaf on the tree, published in 2020 by McFarland Books in their 'Contributions to Southern Appalachian Studies' series.

© Richard Hawkins

Always something new from Earl (update)

The Earl Scruggs Music Festival (also on Facebook), delayed for two years by the pandemic, is being held this coming weekend (2-4 Sept. 2022) at Mill Spring, NC, with a lineup featuring a galaxy of artists from all corners of the Big Tent of bluegrass, reflecting Earl's own open-mindedness about music.

Update 9 Sept.: Photos from the Earl Scruggs Music Festival can be seen on the Bluegrass Situation website.

It seems appropriate that about this time the Earl Scruggs Center in Shelby, NC, is adding to its displays a banjo built in 1970-71 for Earl, which he played while performing with his sons in the Earl Scruggs Revue. The Jim Faulkner Mark V top-tension banjo 'Ruben' is now owned by Aaron and Darlene Carr, who had it set up and repaired by Richie Dotson. Ten photos of the instrument are included in John Lawless's feature on Bluegrass Today.

© Richard Hawkins

Europe represented in IBMA's 2023 LBG class

John Lawless reports on Bluegrass Today that the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) has announced the names of those who will form its 2023 Leadership Bluegrass class. The list includes Christopher Howard-Williams (above left), organiser of the Bluegrass in La Roche festival in France, and Guido de Groot (above right), organiser of the Rotterdam Bluegrass Festival in the Netherlands. Christopher and Guido are the only two on the list who are based outside the United States; Kristy Cox from Australia, who toured Ireland in 2019 (thanks to mygrassisblue.com), has since moved to the USA and her address appears as Hendersonville, TN.

© Richard Hawkins

Annie Keating Band in Ireland, 5-9 Oct. 2022

Thanks to Brendan O'Regan of Arklow Roots Music for the news that Americana artist Annie Keating and her band (right) will be playing at the Whale Theatre ('excellent venue, intimate and roomy!', according to Brendan), Greystones, Co. Wicklow, on Thurs. 6 Oct. at 8.00 p.m. (doors 7.00 p.m.). Tickets are €15.00. The YouTube video of her song 'Marigold' can also be seen on the Whale Theatre website, and her tenth album, Bristol county tides, on which 'Marigold' is recorded, can be heard and bought on Bandcamp.

The Greystones concert is part of a tour of fourteen shows, eight in Britain and six in this island:

• Tues. 4th Oct.: Sunflower Public House, Belfast, 8.00 p.m. (doors 7.30 p.m.), £16.50 (£15.00)
• Wed. 5th: Sea Church, Ballycotton, Co. Cork, 8.00 p.m., €15.00
• Thurs. 6th: Whale Theatre, Greystones, Co. Wicklow, 8.00 p.m., €15.00
• Fri. 7th: Séamus Ennis Arts Centre, Naul, Co. Dublin, 8.00 p.m. 
• Sat. 8th: Balor Arts Centre (with Midnight Preachers), Ballybofey, Co. Donegal, 8.00 p.m.
• Sun. 9th: The Playhouse, Derry city, 8.00 p.m., £18

© Richard Hawkins

Max Wareham's Rudy Lyle published (update)

The BIB mentioned on 23 July and 4 Aug. Max Wareham's book Rudy Lyle: the unsung hero of the five-string banjo, which has now been published and is available from the author at $30 plus postage for hard copy, or $20 for a digital download. Max Wareham, himself a respected banjo player, has been interviewed by Lee Zimmerman on Bluegrass Today, where he responds to a string of important questions.

Update 8 Oct.: The article by Doug Hutchens, 'Rudy Lyle - classic bluegrass banjo man', first published in Bluegrass Unlimited in April 1985, can now be read online in the BU archives, where it includes half-a-dozen photos and a death notice that are not reprinted elsewhere.

© Richard Hawkins

Danny Roberts - a lament for small towns

The BIB doesn't often draw attention to record releases by bands that aren't already familiar (or about to be familiar) to audiences in Ireland; but the latest recording by Danny Roberts, mandolinist with the Grascals, is on a theme that may strike a chord with listeners here. His 'Small town America', released today on the Mountain Home Music Company label, mourns the towns that have had their life sucked away by the out-of-town shopping centre. John Lawless writes about it on Bluegrass Today.

More details, together with a link to streaming and purchase, are on the Mountain Home press release. Oh, and there is a link with Ireland: Danny's wife Andrea, who plays bass and sings harmony on the record, was over here as bass player with the Special Consensus in 1998.

© Richard Hawkins

'What a difference a day makes' from the Gibson Brothers

Fans of the Gibson Brothers will be glad to know that 'What a difference a day makes', the first single released on their own label, Bull Run Records, was released on 29 July and can be heard and bought on Bandcamp and other platforms. It's a solidly bluegrass song, delivered with the precision and intensity the Gibsons have always displayed, and comes from a forthcoming album, produced by Jerry Douglas, which they began preparing at the start of the pandemic. More details on what the Gibson Brothers are currently up to are on their latest e-newsletter.

© Richard Hawkins

Quote of the month

I’ve noticed that bluegrass has gone to this place where the traditional side is sort of stuck singing songs about how everything use to be and the progressive side is so far in left field that, while extremely technically impressive, it doesn’t have that ‘everybody can play it’ appeal anymore.

Jeff Kennedy, musician and operator of Mother Mountain Records in western Virginia, quoted on Bluegrass Today. The image above is from the Mother Mountain Facebook.

© Richard Hawkins

Latest news from We Banjo 3

The latest newsletter from Galway's We Banjo 3 (above), masters of Celtgrass, includes a link to a 30-second trailer for their latest album, Open the road; a further link to their performance on stage at MerleFest of 'Dawn breaks' from their 2018 album Haven, which went to the top of the Billboard bluegrass chart; a report on Fergal Scahill's project to record a fiddle tune a day for a whole year; and more. Subscribe to the band's newsletter for further information and tour dates.

© Richard Hawkins

North Wales Picking Weekend, 15-18 Sept. 2022

For anyone in Ireland who's keen to get abroad and do some picking, the FOAOTMAD news blog has what may be an easy solution: the Just Pickin Wales organisation presents a North Wales Picking Weekend on 15-18 Sept. on the premises of the Pet Rescue Association at Llewerllyd Farm, Dyserth, Denbighshire, North Wales, LL18 6BP. This is about 3 km from the centre of Rhyl, which is on the main road and railway line from Holyhead along the North Wales coast. The organisers provide two marquees, one of them dedicated to old-time music.

© Richard Hawkins

Ireland at La Roche

The Skillet Lickers from Drogheda (l-r: Mick Dunne, Jim MacArdle, Dick McGarry) playing in the centre of La Roche as part of the 'Fringe' of the 2009 festival (photo: Carol Hawkins)

The celebrated festival now known as Bluegrass in La Roche, held annually at La Roche-sur-Foron on the edge of the French Alps, is the largest bluegrass event in Europe, supported entirely by the municipal authorities, with free admission to all concerts.

One feature of its website is a list of all bands who have played on stage there, organised by country and in alphabetical order. From this list (which at present extends up to 2019), it can be seen that Ireland has made a respectable contribution: in chronological order, the bands appearing under the heading 'Ireland' are:

Watery Hill Boys (2012, 2013)
Rackhouse Pilfer (2013, 2014, 2015)
Old Hannah (2016)
Pine Marten (2017 contest winner, 2018)
I Draw Slow (2018)
Hot Rock Pilgrims (2019)
Mules & Men (2019)

To this list can now be added Long Way Home (2022). It should be noted that the Hot Rock Pilgrims are listed as a UK band for 2018. No bands from Northern Ireland appear to have gone on stage at La Roche as yet. The list also does not include bands who have played at La Roche but not on stage - e.g. the Skillet Lickers (see photo above). A BIB report on the 2009 La Roche festival, with photos, can be seen here.

© Richard Hawkins

'The mountains are calling for me' from Seth Mulder & Midnight Run

Seth Mulder & Midnight Run (who headlined Bluegrass Omagh 2022 in May as part of the European tour organised for them by Wicklow's mygrassisblue.com agency) will have their new album In dreams I go back released on Friday next week (2 Sept.) on the Mountain Fever Records label. In advance, Mountain Fever announce the release of a single, 'The mountains are calling for me'.

The Mountain Fever press release provides a link to YouTube for a live performance of the song by the band on stage at Nashville's Station Inn in July 2021. The studio recording can be heard on Bluegrass Today and on the band's YouTube channel. The single is available on download and streaming services, and the album can be pre-ordered from Midnight Run's website.

© Richard Hawkins

More Ulster dates for Block-O'Kane tour, Oct. 2022

A week ago the BIB gave dates for a forthcoming tour by Ron Block (5-string banjo) and Damien O'Kane (tenor banjo) in support of their second collaboration on record, the album Banjophonics. The schedule we presented gave the dates that were then shown on Damien O'Kane's website. The Moving On Music agency has since announced three further dates in Northern Ireland, together with the news that the tour will be by a four-piece band: Ron (banjo, guitar, vocals), Damien (tenor banjo, tenor guitar, vocals), Duncan Lyall (double bass, moog), and Stevie Byrnes (guitar, stomp). The augmented schedule now reads:

Damien O'Kane and Ron Block with Aoife Scott
Thurs. 13th Oct.: Glórach Theatre, Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick
Fri. 14th: Monroes Live, Galway city
Sat. 15th: Seamus Ennis Arts Centre, Naul, Co. Dublin
Sun. 16th: Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo town (two afternoon 'Banjo babies' shows and evening concert)

Damien O'Kane and Ron Block with Michael McGoldrick
Thurs. 20th: Dún Uladh, Omagh, Co. Tyrone
Fri. 21st: Flowerfield Arts Centre, Portstewart, Co. Londonderry
Sat. 22nd: Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin, Derry city
Sun. 23rd: The Duncairn, Belfast

Links for online booking of the new NI shows are given in the Duncairn link.

© Richard Hawkins

Sacred Harp in Cork this coming weekend

The Cork Sacred Harp association, who sing every Thursday from 7.00 to 9.00 p.m. in the Unitarian Church, Prince's St., Cork city, will hold their Double Half Day Singing this coming weekend (Sat. 27 Aug.-Sun. 28 Aug.). Anyone who wishes to take part should complete the registration form, which is primarily concerned with precautions against the spread of Covid. The form can also be seen on the group's Facebook page.

Other Sacred Harp groups in this island appear to be relatively quiescent, but anyone interested in singing Sacred Harp in Dublin, Belfast, or Galway should check the links in the 'Sacred Harp' section of the BIB sidebar.

© Richard Hawkins

Amethyst Kiah at Whelan's, Dublin, tomorrow (23 Aug.)

Whelan's of Wexford St., Dublin 2, announce that Amethyst Kiah will be performing in their Main Venue (doors open 8.00 p.m.) tomorrow night (Tues. 23 Aug.) in support of her acclaimed new album Wary + strange on Rounder Records. Tickets (€20 including booking fee) are still available here.

Amethyst Kiah is an alumna of the East Tennessee State University (ETSU) degree course in bluegrass, old-time, and country music. She was one of the four artists who came together to create the 2019 Smithsonian Folkways album Songs of our native daughters (SFW40232). The BIB has not yet found a picture of her, by herself, with a banjo; but you can see and hear her version of 'Darling Cora', with banjo, on YouTube.

© Richard Hawkins

Fiddle Fair at Cork Folk Festival, 30 Sept. 2022 (update)

Baltimore Fiddle Fair announce that to celebrate their thirtieth anniversary they will present a Gala Concert at Cork Folk Festival next month:

[...] with musicians from Sweden, Finland, Shetland, Scotland and from every corner of Ireland. As well as some great tunes we’ll also be bringing the Fiddle Fair vibe to the big smoke for what promises to be a very memorable evening. We hope you can join us!

The lineup is shown on the poster image, and full details of the artists, together with ticket booking links, are on the Fiddle Fair website. BIB readers should note the information on Lena Jonsson:

In the new generation of contemporary folk music, Sweden's Lena Jonsson is one of Scandinavia’s most influential fiddlers. Lena’s style is unique in combining her deep knowledge of traditional Swedish folk music and the youthful sounds of rock, pop, jazz, American old-time and bluegrass [bold type added by the BIB].

See this YouTube video, in which her trio plays compositions by the fine American chamber/ progressive string band Hawktail, whose latest album Place of growth is reviewed by Braeden Paul on Bluegrass Today and by Nancy Posey on No Depression.

Update 25 Aug.: An interview/ review feature by Steve Hochman on the Hawktail album, 'Hawktail's instrumentals add a storybook spirit to "Place of growth"',with four YouTube tracks, appeared yesterday on the Bluegrass Situation.

© Richard Hawkins

Fine times in Rathmines!

Thanks to Patrick Simpson of the Bluestack Mountain Boys / Dublin Bluegrass Collective for this news and photos from a specially good time last night at the weekly Dublin bluegrass jam session in Mother Reilly's, 32 Rathmines Road Upper, Dublin 6:

Craig High of the Boxcar Preachers, Texas, USA, turned up tonight with his fabulous washboard outfit. I encouraged him to hit the cymbal, but his washboard pickin' was immaculate! It was a pleasure to have him with us. The Bluestack Mountains came up in discussion and it was a great reunion with Luke, Lily, Simon and John, TJ and Craig playing live Bluegrass music in the Beer Garden. Lovely people, great Sunday nights 7.00-11.00 p.m. in Mother Reilly's. Cheers. Lovely to see such crowd affections. Bananas!

BIB editor's note: The Boxcar Preachers played at the Dunmore East Bluegrass Festivals of 2007 and 2014, when an enduring connection with the Dublin scene was born.

© Richard Hawkins

JigJam and Navá in Tradfest Temple Bar 2023

The organising team of Dublin's TradFest Temple Bar announce that tickets are now on sale (exclusively to subscribers to the TradFest newsletter, at present) for next year's event, which will be held on the five days Wed. 25 Jan.-Sun. 29 Jan. 2023. An ample preliminary list of the artists featured is on the newsletter and on the TradFest website, and more will be announced as they are added.

Members of the Irish bluegrass scene taking part in the lineup include JigJam, playing in the Grand Social at 8.00 p.m. on Thurs. 26 Jan.; and Paddy Kiernan and Niall Hughes, who form half of Navá. Navá will be in concert in the Castle Hall, Dublin Castle, on Sun. 29 Jan.; doors open at 6.30 p.m. and the show starts at 7.00 p.m.

Jigjam now consists of Jamie McKeogh (lead vocal, guitar), Daithi Melia (5-string banjo, dobro), Gavin Strappe (mandolin, tenor banjo), and Glaswegians Calum Morrison (bass) and Danny Hunter (fiddle).

© Richard Hawkins

Dunmore East programme, 26-28 August 2022

Thanks to Mick Daly, director of the Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival in Co. Waterford, for the poster (above), which appears also on the Festival website, and the performance schedule (below) showing where and when the bands listed will perform on all three days (26, 27, 28 Aug.) of the Festival. Credit for the artwork on both goes to the design office of the Disc & Print Centre in Waterford.

Update 22 Aug.: Mick sends word that P.J. Coleman (see the BIB for 7 Mar.), whose photo has been on the Dunmore East website for years, will be commemorated at Dunmore East by special posters on display at venues throughout the village during the Festival weekend. On the recent death of Anthony Hannigan (BIB, 16 Aug.), Mick writes: 'I was shocked to hear of Anthony’s passing; he was in touch every year & was always wanting to do a return visit.'

© Richard Hawkins

Eleven years of Frank Wakefield Band videos

Jim Moss and Frank Wakefield

Jim Moss, longtime fiddler for the bluegrass band headed by the legendary mandolinist Frank Wakefield (b. 26 June 1934), has a website packed with invaluable memoirs; reviews; interviews; instructional material; photo, audio, and video galleries - an archive and treasury for anyone who has been bitten good and hard by the bluegrass bug. Because of its value, the BIB mentioned the website as long ago as 2006. Noticing this, Jim sends this welcome news:

You might know some bluegrass musicians who would be interested in our shows from the 2000s. Feel free to list these links on your website too. There will be more going up there. I videotaped most of our shows from 1997 to 2007. I am just now getting around to uploading them to YouTube.

You can see all of my videos on my YouTube Channel jmoss99. There are playlists too which hook together the shows.

Many thanks to Jim for this. As a taster, the video below, showing the classic 'New Camptown races' played by the composer himself, comes from a playlist of eighteen videos, filmed when the Frank Wakefield Band played at the Canal Street Tavern in Dayton, OH, on 16 Nov. 2002. The band is in splendid form throughout.

© Richard Hawkins

News of bands who came to Westport and Omagh 2022

Three of the bands from abroad who played at this year's Westport and Omagh bluegrass festivals have since been featured on our distinguished contemporary Bluegrass Today; two of them, who were both on the Saturday night concert at Westport, are also signed with Stephen Mougin's Dark Shadow Recording label. The Colorado trio Stillhouse Junkies have released a new single from their forthcoming album Small towns (cover image, above): it is a cover of the 1977 Fleetwood Mac song 'Never going back again'. Details are in John Lawless's article on Bluegrass Today, where the song (also on YouTube) can be heard.

Dark Shadow announced last week that Chicago's Henhouse Prowlers have signed with the label. From John Lawless's feature on Bluegrass Today, it seems a very congenial partnership for both label and band, and a new album by the Prowlers is expected in the near future. The feature includes a half-hour video (also on YouTube) of a set the Prowlers recorded two years ago for Paste magazine, in which they talk about their experiences as bluegrass ambassadors.

The multinational Fountaineers, who formed and are based in Glasgow, played at Bluegrass Omagh 2022 in May. A week ago (11 Aug.) Bluegrass Today carried an interview by Lee Zimmerman in his 'Bluegrass beyond borders' series with the Fountaineers' Australian fiddler Jeri Foreman, who has a good explanation of why bluegrass appeals to people. The interview includes two videos.

© Richard Hawkins

Russ Carson's take on 'Bugle call rag'

Almost exactly two years ago (21 Aug. 2020) the BIB published a post on Russell 'Russ' Carson', who (among his other distinctions) has one great-grandparent from Co. Cavan and another from Co. Antrim. A day short of two weeks ago (5 Aug. 2022), the Engelhardt Music Group (EMG) announced that he had signed with them and released his first single on their label, from a full album which is to appear later this autumn.

The new single, 'Bugle call rag', features Stuart Duncan (fiddle), Jake Workman (guitar), Aaron Ramsey (mandolin), and Mike Bub (bass). You can hear it via links in the EMG press release, in John Lawless's feature on Bluegrass Today, and on the EMG YouTube channel. All these give more details about Russ Carson and the recording, as does the Wilson Pickins Promotions press release.

© Richard Hawkins

Jamming guidelines supplemented

The BIB editor writes:

Jamming is a highly important part of bluegrass activity, especially for developing the individual's musicianship and for learning how to fit in with others - very necessary in what is essentially an ensemble music. Pete 'Dr Banjo' Wernick has done more than anyone else to emphasise the importance of jamming; here's a reminder of the Wernick Method Weekend Bluegrass Jam Camp, led by Larry Kernagis, which is to be held in Galway on 4-6 November (see the BIB for 15 July).

Jamming can also be a test of the player's sensitivity to the 'rules', often unspoken, by which a session is being conducted. I remember with pain one session, the beginning of which was one of the best half-hours of my entire life. After that, things seemed to go more and more wrong, and I didn't know why. Days later, I found out I'd been taking breaks according to one set of conventions while everyone else was on another.*

This kind of experience can be avoided by following the advice that Chris Jones gives in today's instalment of his weekly 'From the side of the road' feature on Bluegrass Today. Near the end, he makes the point: 'Listen, Listen, Listen: This is one of the most important jamming principles anyone can learn, and it applies to playing music with other people in any situation.'

Chris and his band the Night Drivers (photo below), who toured here in the autumn of 2019, have been having a string of chart successes on bluegrass radio, with seven consecutive #1 singles from their current project, Make each second last, on the Mountain Home Music Company label. A new single from the album has been released: 'Silver city', the inspiration for which struck Chris when he was in Aberdeen, Scotland. It can be heard on Bluegrass Today and on SoundCloud.

* When this post was first published, this episode appeared as a clash between 'Dublin conventions' and 'Ulster rules'. In reality, it was just the result of my not noticing what everyone else was doing. Thanks to Colin Henry for help in clarifying this matter.

© Richard Hawkins

Supporting flooded Appalachia

The BIB mentioned three weeks ago the floods that were then devastating Appalachia, coming on top of the tornado damage of March in western Kentucky. The website of WoodSongs Old Time Radio Hour (organised by folksinger Michael Johnathon) reports that in response to the tornados 'WoodSongs, along with our friends, fellow musicians, companies like Martin Guitars, D’Addario, Highbridge Spring Water and music stores across the nation collected and distributed nearly 1,000 music instruments to the communities damaged', and a similar response to the floods is in progress. More detail is on the WoodSongs press release.

A photo on the Woodsongs website shows the office building of the Appalshop organisation standing in flood water about as high as the door lintels. Appalshop have set up a Flood Support Resources page with links to reports, public bodies and aid organisations. The Bitter Southerner (BS) online magazine has produced a new T-shirt with 'HELL AND HIGH WATER' on the front, and the BS is donating $5 to Appalshop from the sale of each shirt, 'to help fund the difficult process ahead as they salvage priceless Appalachian history and culture'.

Finally, as an example of a response by one music company among many, the Sound Biscuit Studio has a 'Help support Kentucky' page on its website, and is donating to eastern Kentucky disaster relief all the proceeds from the sales on 5 August of God's love is so divine: remastered, the gospel album by the Po' Ramblin' Boys. The official release of the album will be on 22 September, at a festival where other bands will include the fine traditional Ozark band Frank Ray & Cedar Hill.

© Richard Hawkins

Damien O'Kane and Ron Block in Ireland, Oct. 2022 (updates)

Ron Block (longtime banjoist with Alison Krauss & Union Station, who was featured on Deering Live on 9 June) has been touring in Britain during the past two months with Damien O'Kane (tenor banjo) in support of their second collaboration on record, the album Banjophonics. The duo performed in Ireland several times in the six months before the onset of the pandemic, and are now scheduled to play a short tour here this coming October. The schedule, as it appears at present (with links for online booking) on Damien O'Kane's website, reads:

Damien O'Kane and Ron Block with Aoife Scott
Thurs. 13th Oct.: Glórach Theatre, Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick
Fri. 14th: Monroes Live, Galway city
Sat. 15th: Seamus Ennis Arts Centre, Naul, Co. Dublin
Sun. 16th: Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo town

Damien O'Kane and Ron Block with Michael McGoldrick
Thurs. 20th: Dún Uladh, Omagh, Co. Tyrone
Fri. 21st: Flowerfield Arts Centre, Portstewart, Co. Londonderry
Sat. 22nd: Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin, Derry city
Sun. 23rd: The Duncairn, Belfast

Update 23 Aug.: The dates shown above in red have been added from information sent by the Moving On Music organisation, which adds that the tour will be by a four-piece band: Ron (banjo, guitar, vocals), Damien (tenor banjo, tenor guitar, vocals), Duncan Lyall (double bass, moog), and Stevie Byrnes (guitar, stomp). Links for online booking of the Ulster shows are given in the Duncairn link.

They will be playing three distinct shows at the Hawk's Well on 16 Oct. - two forty-minute 'Banjo babies' shows, at 1.00 p.m. for children in their first twelve months, and at 2.30 p.m. for those aged thirteen to thirty-six months, each at €10 for parent+baby; and a 'The Nashville connection' concert (with Aoife Scott) at 8.00 p.m., at €20/10.

© Richard Hawkins

Anthony Hannigan

As the dates of this year's Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival approach, the BIB learns with regret of the recent death of Anthony Hannigan (right), mandolinist of the powerful Pennsylvania band Hickory Project, after a long struggle with cancer. The band played several times in Ireland and were headliners at successive Dunmore East festivals, as well as playing at Omagh.

Hickory Project also toured in Europe, and made an important contribution to the La Roche Bluegrass Festival (now renamed 'Bluegrass in La Roche'), at which they played six times. The news of Anthony's death reached La Roche-sur-Foron on 7 August, the final day of this year's festival (see Michael Luchtan's report on the festival on Bluegrass Today). A tribute to him by French musician François Vola on Facebook has been republished on the European Bluegrass Music Association Facebook.

Hickory Project's dazzling fiddle player Sue Cunningham died nearly seven years ago (see the BIB for 14 Sept. 2015). As well as being stunning performers, the band's members were active in music instruction, both in workshops and online; and the Project's banjo-player David Cavage continues to make hundreds of banjo lessons available, free of charge.

© Richard Hawkins

'Rainy Sunday sessions' of fiddle music, 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 - and particularly to Joe McKernan, who sends this link to the one-minute video seen above, in which his son Donal introduces a new series of videos on the YouTube channel of the Bruderhof religious community to which the McKernans belong. The notes under the introductory video describe the original 'Rainy Sunday' on which the family began their music sessions. The series comprises all-instrumental recordings of fiddle tunes, which (as the notes state)

... spring from Appalachian, Cajun, and Celtic roots, including several 17th century Irish compositions from the blind harpist Turlough O’Carolan. May they lift your spirits, as they did ours, on that ‘Rainy Sunday’. We will be posting them here over the next few weeks.

Update 25 Aug.: Joe sends word that a new tune is posted on YouTube every Thursday at 6.00 a.m. 'Aussie time' (i.e. eight to ten hours ahead of GMT/UTC, and so at 2.00 to 4.00 p.m. here). This week's tune is the Carolan composition 'Loftus Jones', played by Geordie McKernan (fiddle), Nancy McKernan (whistle), and Johann Bazeley (guitar).

© Richard Hawkins

We Banjo 3 list songs that inspired them

Galway's We Banjo 3, kings of Celtgrass,who released their new album Open the road a month ago today, have compiled an hour-long Spotify playlist of songs that inspired them in the making of the album. Of the thirteen songs, the two most closely related to bluegrass music are 'Wayfaring stranger', recorded by Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi on their album there is no Other, and 'If I could talk to a younger me', recorded by Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn on Echo in the valley.

We Banjo 3 also supply a link to a YouTube video of them performing the instrumental 'Pressed for time' live at MerleFest earlier this year. As the BIB has previously remarked about another group, it's easy to imagine Jimmy Martin saying: 'What those boys are playing is not bluegrass - but they give it everything they've got and they make the folks in the audience glad they came, and that's what I always tried to do.'

© Richard Hawkins

Whistle at the Strand from 6.00 p.m. tonight

The BIB has received an anonymous message, coming as a comment on a previous post, stating: 'Whistle playing Sunday evening at 6pm in The Strand. https://www.breakingtunes.com/Whistle'. We assume this is the Strand venue at North Strand Road, Dublin 3. Whistle (photo above), the six-piece Dublin band blending old-time, bluegrass, and country, will be part of this year's Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival later this month. The BIB regrets that the message did not reach us till after the time announced.

© Richard Hawkins

'Black roots' audio series from Rhiannon Giddens

The BIB editor reports:

Thanks to my cousin Audrey Watson for letting me know of a BBC audio series presented by Rhiannon Giddens (right) earlier this year under the title 'Black roots', and devoted to the contributions of black music and musicians to the development of old-time, bluegrass, and country music. The full series consists of:

1. Frank Johnson, Joe Thompson, and the fiddle in North Carolina (24 May 2022)
2. Arnold Shultz, the banjo, and bluegrass music in Kentucky (31 May)
3. DeFord Bailey, the harmonica, and country music in Nashville (7 June)

Each of the three episodes lasts twenty-eight minutes, narrated by Giddens and featuring expert guest speakers and musical illustrations, and can be heard for over a year from the date of first transmission. All are warmly recommended.

© Richard Hawkins

Editorial hiatus, 7-13 Aug. 2022

The BIB editor will be out of the editorial chair for a week, starting on Sunday 7 August; so please keep sending in news, but don't expect it to appear before Saturday 13 August at the earliest.

News about the Special C.

Compass Records present in their latest e-newsletter artists on their roster who are nominated for the 2022 IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards, and at the head of the list are our old friends the Special Consensus, The band are nominated for Collaborative Recording Event of the Year for their 'Blackbird', with guests Dale Ann Bradley and Amanda Smith (vocals), Alison Brown (producer, banjo), and Rob Ickes (dobro). The song can be heard on the YouTube video above, and through a link on the Compass e-newsletter; see also Bluegrass Today for 22 Mar. 2022.

The Special C.'s guitarist and lead singer Greg Blake (photo below) is separately nominated for Male Vocalist of the Year; this is also celebrated by Turnberry Records, for whom he records as a solo artist. The official video of his 'I'll be lovin' you' can be heard on the Turnberry press release and also on YouTube. All nominations for this year's IBMA Music Awards are on this IBMA press release, in addition to the releases for the 2022 inductees to the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Distinguished Achievement Awards.

Some nice photos of Special C. members on or off stage at recent festivals in the USA can be seen on Bluegrass Today, taken by Bill Warren and Jeromie Stephens. We can expect to see the band over here between 25 Jan. and 13 Feb. 2023.

© Richard Hawkins

A happy ending at Listowel

Thanks to James Carr, organiser of the 'Little Big Tour of Ireland 2022' by the Italian blues band Dago Red, for his response to the BIB post of 26 July, 'Bluegrass? Dago Red in Ireland, 29 July-2 Aug. 2022'. James offers an explanation for the description of the band as 'Bluegrass' in advnce publicity by St. John's Theatre & Arts Centre, Listowel, Co. Kerry; adds the welcome news that Dago Red played to a packed house at the Centre and have been invited to return; and ends:

Whatever the type of music that is on offer, bluegrass, blues, folk, opera or ukelele orchestras, I highly recommend the venue, the town and Máire, the artistic director at St. John's, who couldn't have looked after us better if she tried.

The Centre has welcomed numerous acts in bluegrass and related music in the past, and the BIB is grateful for its continued support of live music of all varieties.

© Richard Hawkins

More from 'Banjo Month' on the BGS

As the BIB noted a week ago, the Bluegrass Situation online magazine has been celebrating 'Banjo Month' in July. A guest columnist contributed the feature 'Tray Wellington shares a list of banjo players thinking outside the box', stating in the introduction that Tray Wellington (right) has 'gathered a collection of current artists who are thinking outside the box, creating their own voice on the banjo in new and innovative ways, and striving to make the banjo a better-known and appreciated sound'.

The playlist comprises samples of ten tracks; of special interest to BIB readers, the fifth track is 'Finn's rescue' from the Foreign Landers' album Put all your troubles away, with the banjo (of course) played by Tabitha Benedict from Co. Armagh.

Also on 'Banjo Month', Kasey Chambers has an eight-minute cover (also on YouTube) of the Eminem song 'Lose yourself'. And to wrap up 'Banjo Month', the BGS staff proudly present a chapter from Max Wareham's forthcoming book Rudy Lyle: the unsung hero of the five-string banjo, due for release later this month (see the BIB for 23 July), which clearly shows its importance for the history of bluegrass banjo playing.

© Richard Hawkins

Full lineup for Dunmore East 2022, 26-28 Aug.

Thanks to Mick Daly, director of the Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival at Dunmore East, Co. Waterford, for the poster image (right) giving the complete lineup for this year's 27th edition of the Festival, which will be held on the three days Fri. 26-Sun. 28 Aug., with no admission charges.

As shown on the poster, the festival will present a total of eleven acts: the Blueberry Pickers, Shane Hennessy, Woodbine (with Gerry Madden), Prison Love, the Backyard Band, the Blue Light Smugglers, Kiss My Grass, Pilgrim St, Long Way Home, Whistle, and the Mons Wheeler Band. A schedule of appearances and venues will follow in due course.

© Richard Hawkins

NTB, M&M, and RRB at Howth Roots & Blues Festival, 5-7 Aug. 2022

Thanks to Niall Toner for the news that the Niall Toner Band will be performing at the 2022 Howth Roots & Blues Festival this coming weekend (Fri. 5th-Sun. 7th Aug.). The NTB are scheduled to appear on the Smokin' Stage at McNeill's of Howth, 19 Main St., Howth village, at 5.00 p.m. on Saturday. The band will be in the same configuration as for this spring's Kilkenny Roots Festival: Niall (guitar, mandolin, vocals), Dick Gladney (bass), Paddy Cummins (mandolin, vocals), and Lily Sheehan (guitar, vocals), with Andrea Booth (ukulele, vocals). 'Plus,' as Niall says, 'well, you just never know!'

Also among the thirty-plus bands on the programme are Mules & Men (playing on the Garden Stage, Harbour Bar, at 8.00 p.m. on Friday) and the Rye River Band (on the Tramline Stage at the Summit Inn at 3.00 p.m. on Saturday). The full lineup and programme are on the festival website.

© Richard Hawkins

Dick Smith, 1943-2022

The BIB learns with great regret of the unexpected death of Dick Smith last Thursday (28 July). Longtime bluegrass fans in Ireland will recall the shows in this island in May 2005 by a splendid band led by him and Mike O'Reilly (see the BIB for 6 June 2021). The band - Mike O'Reilly (guitar, lead vocals), Dick Smith (banjo, mandolin, harmony vocals), Ernie Sykes (bass, vocals), and Ray Legere (fiddle) - played ten shows here (three of them in Northern Ireland) from 2 to 11 May 2005 inclusive, as well as a tour in Britain.

Richard Thompson has contributed an outstanding biographical tribute to him on Bluegrass Today (BT), which the BIB recommends to all its readers. Dick Smith was an inspiring and influential musician and all-round human being, as can be seen by the testimony of those who knew him. The BT feature also includes a discography, eight videos from YouTube, and six photos, of which the fifth shows the band that toured in Ireland.

© Richard Hawkins

Eberhard Finke, 1943-2022

The BIB editor writes:

I learn from Richard Thompson, with great regret, of the death of Eberhard Finke (right), one of the prime movers of bluegrass music in Germany and beyond. Meeting Eberhard and his wife Monika at bluegrass events in Europe was always a pleasure for me and Carol, and we are especially sorry to hear that his death came after a long period of illness. He played an important part in the founding years of the European Bluegrass Music Association (EBMA), and this tribute appears on the EBMA Facebook:

It is great sadness that the passing been announced of Eberhard Finke. A kind and warm hearted man, and one of the staunchest supporters of European bluegrass.
He was a good friend and host to numerous touring musicians and bands, as well as being the founder of the German bluegrass magazine Bluegrass Buhne.
Condolences from the entire bluegrass community to Monika and to all his family.

Thanks again to Richard Thompson for this link to the obituary and tribute on Bluegrass Today by Mark Stoffel, who toured Ireland in 2018 as mandolinist with Chris Jones & the Night Drivers. A further tribute has been posted on the German Bluegrass Music Association Facebook.

© Richard Hawkins