News from Compass Records

A fair bit of news comes from the Compass Records Group, among which we choose to start with this video of the Special Consensus playing 'Pretty Kate and the rabbit' together with April Verch and Darol Anger (fiddles) and Alison Brown (banjo). All the members of the Special C. are up for nomination as 'Player of the Year' on their respective instruments in this year's IBMA awards (and Greg Blake as Male Vocalist of the Year), and 'Pretty Kate and the rabbit' is up for nomination as Instrumental Recording of the Year.

Alison Brown released yesterday (21 Apr.) a new single, 'Porches', with the Kronos Quartet. The official video is on YouTube. It will appear on her forthcoming album On banjo, due for release on 5 May and available now for pre-order. Alison, who has visited Ireland several times with her jazz-oriented Quartet, founded Compass Records, has produced the Special C.'s albums on the label, and was inducted into the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame in 2019. Her duet with Steve Martin on 'Foggy morning breaking' is up for nomination as Collaborative Recording of the Year and Instrumental Recording of the Year.

Grass roots is a new album (due out on 19 May) by the Colorado-based acoustic/newgrass/jam band Leftover Salmon, for whom Compass also have in stock new T-shirts. A track from the album, the Delmore Brothers classic 'Blue railroad train', which Leftover Salmon recorded with Billy Strings, was released yesterday (21 Apr.).

Update 23 Apr.: The Salmon/Strings recording of 'Blue railroad train' can be heard on the Bluegrass Situation and on YouTube.

© Richard Hawkins