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

Detached notes

Dailey & Vincent, who headlined the 2011 Omagh bluegrass festival in 2011, when they were in full award-winning mode with their outstanding vocals, now announce their latest album, Let's sing some country!, which is due for release on 16 Sept. 2022. More details, together with links to pre-ordering facilities and to audio and video tracks, are on their press release. See also John Lawless's feature on Bluegrass Today.

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The BIB has previously mentioned the presentations on banjo history by Bill Evans, and it is now announced that his 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, and showing developments in banjo construction, music, and playing styles over the last two-and-a-half centuries or more) can be bought for $19.99 from the Old-Time Tiki Parlour or autographed from Bill's website for $24.95.

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The Deering Banjo Company announce a new limited edition of instruments: their Goodtime Bronze Banjos, consisting of the Goodtime Openback (11" head), Goodtime Americana (openback, 12" head), and Goodtime Two (resonator), all with a gold-rubbed bronze powder finish on the hardware - extremely durable and low-maintenance, and also 100% hypoallergenic - and a special inlay pattern. This collection (featured on Bluegrass Today last Friday, 15 July) will only be available to the end of the summer.

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The ProPik® company, associated with Deering, announce their new ProPik® Heritage Fingerpicks, based on a set of Nationals that Earl Scruggs used to record 'Pike County breakdown' in 1950. The history of these iconic picks, and full details of the new issues (priced at $14.00 per pick) is on the lProPik® website.

These picks are of course aimed at fingerpickers with a sense of history. Flatpickers who look to the future will welcome ToneSlabs, plectrums made of a new and specially developed material. Three shapes of flatpick are now on offer; a thumbpick is being developed. See John Lawless's feature on Bluegrass Today.

Update 20 July: Much more detail on the new ProPik® range is given by John Curtis Goad on Bluegrass Today.

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In 'No Depression’s best roots music albums of 2022 (so far)', bluegrass-related music is represented by Crooked tree from Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, and Good and green again from Jake Xerxes Fussell (who played this year's Kilkenny Roots festival and other gigs). No Depression also carries Henry Carrigan's review of Bob Black's book Mandolin man: the bluegrass life of Roland White, published by the University of Illinois Press.

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Just under a year ago the BIB recommended Dave Berry's major two-part interview of Kathy Kallick on Bluegrass Today because it was such a good picture of the musical life and experiences of an important figure in our music. Similarly worth reading is Claire Levine's interview on the Bluegrass Situation, 'Kathy Kallick honors her mother's legacy while establishing her own'. The interview includes five audio tracks from Kallick's album of songs she learned from her mother, with stellar guest artists, plus a YouTube recording of 'I can't stand to ramble' from the Good Ol' Persons.

© Richard Hawkins

News from (and of) recent visitors

Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers, who topped the bill at Omagh last September, are looking forward to getting back on the road, which at present won't be until May. On the plus side, their new DVD, the vinyl edition of their latest album, and more merchandise are available at special bundle discount prices. More news and details are on their latest e-newsletter.

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Gina Furtado was also here last autumn at Omagh and on other dates, playing banjo with Chris Jones & the Night Drivers. Her solo album I hope you have a good life has just received a Highight Review in the April 2020 issue of Bluegrass Unlimited from Nancy Cardwell Webster.

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Kenny & Amanda Smith also played at Omagh some years earlier (Kenny has since been back as a member of the Band of Ruhks). Their latest album With you is now being released by Farm Boy Records.

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Becky Buller, who played at Athy and elsewhere early this century with Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike and has since won two Grammy swards and eight IBMA awards, has just released a new single, 'The barber's fiddle', a story of tradition, with eighteen award-winning fiddlers taking part in the recording. More details are on the latest newsletter from Dark Shadow Recording.

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Finally, an artist who would have been a visitor earlier this month but for the coronavirus crisis: Thomm Jutz. When it comes to continental Europe's contributions to the US bluegrass scene, Jutz looks like having a comparable impact in songwriting and record production to what the Kruger Brothers have had as performers. The first volume of his record project To live in two worlds is being released today by Mountain Home Music Company. More details on his already impressive career are in Mountain Home's press release, and the track 'Moving up, moving on' can be heard in John Lawless's feature on Bluegrass Today.

Film news: You gave me a song and The mountain minor

The organising team of You gave me a song, the documentary film on the life and achievements of Alice Gerrard, has received at the IndieMemphis Film Festival the Soul of Southern Film Award, together with the Audience Award in the 'Sounds' category. It has also been screened at five other festivals, and this present weekend (16-17 Nov.) is being screened at three more.

A 2020 schedule is being arranged, which is intended to include a special screening as part of 'She changed the world: NC women breaking barriers', a programme set up by the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NCDNCR) to commemorate the centenary of female suffrage in the USA. Meanwhile, donations are still needed to cover costs before a DVD of You gave me a song can be issued.

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The film drama of Appalachian migration The mountain minor has also been winning awards with showings round the festivals. A DVD or Blu-Ray can be ordered as from 1 Dec. 2019, and a sound-track CD is being planned. More details are in the organising team's e-newsletter.

Mike Seeger's last banjo documentary - out next month

Yesterday would have been Mike Seeger's eighty-sixth birthday, and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings announce that Just around the bend: survival and revival in southern banjo sounds, the last documentary recorded by Mike Seeger, is due for release on 20 Sept. 2019 and can be pre-ordered.

The project comprises two CDs with a total of forty-three tracks by nineteen musicians, an eighty-page book, and a DVD which (like the CD set) runs for 110 minutes. A brief trailer can be seen here. The Smithsonian Folkways news release includes a link to a Bitter Southerner article on the banjo (mentioned on the BIB a year ago).

The release refers to Mike Seeger as 'one-third of hunky '50s boyband the New Lost City Ramblers'; similarly, it later refers to the 'unknown and underappreciated singer/ songwriter Robert A. Zimmerman'.

BU, Jan. 2018

The January 2018 issue of Bluegrass Unlimited magazine is now out; it's the annual festival guide issue, so the articles are primarily on individual festivals, and ten pages are devoted to listing events throughout the USA and beyond.

The list depends on information sent in by festival organisers (see the BIB for 31 Oct.), so inevitably many events that will be held are not shown; but it's still good to see that outside North America, Ireland comes equal first with Australia, with three events listed: the 12th Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival (8-10 June), the 24th Dunmore East International Bluegrass Festival (23-6 Aug.), and the Bunratty Bluegrass Festival (19-21 Oct.).

The full text of Tom Netherland's article on the Bristol (TN) Rhythm & Roots Reunion (headlined last year by the Earls of Leicester) can be read on the BU website. The largest article, however, is Derek Halsey's on the Appalachian String Band Festival ('Clifftop', one of the most important annual events in old-time music), subtitled 'Appreciating the deep roots of bluegrass'. And the 'Highlight' review in BU's review section is of The Stuart Brothers, a DVD by Trevor and Travis Stuart, produced by the Old Time Tiki Parlour (which also has a great YouTube channel).

Top-class banjo and DVDs for sale

Thanks to Ray O'Brien for sharing this news from Tony Wall of Waterford city - Tony's rare 1994 Bill Keith signature Rich & Taylor top-tension banjo is now for sale.

The banjo is in immaculate condition. This is a very sought-after banjo, and Tony says: 'Someone will be getting a real bargain at €2500 (no offers).'

Tony is also selling his collection of over seventy DVDs from America's top bluegrass artists. Each has only been played once, and they are in excellent condition. Tony would like to sell this collection as a whole for €350 (no offers).

Photos of the DVDs and more photos of the banjo are published on Ray's Facebook page. Tony can be contacted by e-mail or 'phone (0876244718).

The Moron Brothers - the genuine article

We're glad to hear from Scott 'Bama' Moore, friend and publicist for the Moron Brothers of central Kentucky, who would be happy to play in Ireland. Promoters, event organisers, and others who can offer bookings for them can e-mail Scott, who sends this bio information:

Lardo (Mike Carr) and Burley (Mike Hammond), the Moron Brothers, are certified originals. They were 'branded' before there were brands. These comedians/ musicians/ goodwill ambassadors are part of the landscape from which they sprang. Lardo lives on the Kentucky River; Burley, in the nearby town of Nicholasville, Kentucky. Their spirits have been formed through life on the river, where Lardo maintains a genuine shantyboat; and in small towns filled with friendly, nurturing neighbors.

These 'brothers' are talented, accomplished, and respected bluegrass musicians, singing their own songs and those of their ancestors and keeping history as alive as yesterday. They write 60 per cent of their own funny and imaginative material. Their music takes them to 60-90 events and bluegrass festivals each year, including their own, where they pick and sing for delighted fans.

Lardo and Burley have classic comedic timing and two distinctive performing styles. Lardo is much more outgoing and verbal. He sucks the air out of a room before filling it with humor and song. Burley is non-verbal - and some of our most powerful communication doesn't need words. ('Burley ain't dead, he just don’t talk much.') The two are drawn together by friendship, companionship, and a natural rapport; like all the great performing teams, they draw on each other’s strengths to become more than the sum of their parts.

Scott adds:

Here is what we are hoping our friends in Ireland will do:

- Join our Facebook page;
- help us get on bluegrass radio in Ireland! We don't know who to contact about it.

Many videos of the Brothers are on YouTube; Scott sends the following selection of links, which fully back up what he says about their abilities:

'The Moron Brothers' [showing the 'shantyboat']

'Electric fence' (song)

'Uncle Ben' (song and jokes)

'Meet the Moron Brothers' (clip from one of the Brothers' DVDs)

A 'teaser' from their DVD 'Almost alive'

'Poison ivy' (song)

'Hoss Walker' (song; cut from their brand new DVD)

Talking turkey about banjos with Dangem

Thanks to Dangem Bluegrass for their latest e-newsletter with news of goodies for any bluegrass enthusiast - ranging from Rough terrain, the new CD by Cup o' Joe, and Lowering the tone, the debut CD by the Down and Out Bluegrass Band, through picks, instructional books and DVDs, all the way up to (of course) banjos and everything else that Dangem stock for the musician.

Go to the e-newsletter, and with a click on the mouse you can browse, order, or buy. Dangem's website also carries the news that the first Dangem Bluegrass Get-Together of the new year will be on Saturday 25 January, at the usual place and time.

A bluegrass legend celebrated on film

Herschel Sizemore in a hotel lobby in Nashville during IBMA's World of Bluegrass 2006 (photo: Carol Hawkins)

Thanks to Rick Bowman of Backyard Green Films, maker of the documentary film Mandolin in B, released last month on DVD as a tribute to the great mandolinist Herschel Sizemore (a brief mention of the release appeared on the BIB on 12 September). Rick sends this YouTube link to the trailer for Mandolin in B, and this introductory text:

Bluegrass legend Herschel Sizemore and his wife Joyce were both diagnosed with cancer on the same day in the fall of 2011. On the evening of 19 February 2012, bluegrass stars came out for a special benefit concert in Roanoke, Virginia, and the music community that supported the event captures the spirit of the man being feted. With interviews and performances by the Seldom Scene, David Grisman, Doyle Lawson, the Travelers, Chris Thile, and a special reunion of Del McCoury and the Dixie Pals. This is a lasting tribute to one of the greatest mandolin players of our time.

Rick also sends links to reports and reviews of the release that have appeared in the media: Bluegrass Today, Mandolin Cafe, Cybergrass, and IMDb. We particularly like this passage in the Cybergrass review:

Much of the video is in black and white which really adds to the atmosphere. It has often been said that black and white permits more emotion and in the case of this video, that is most certainly true.

Rick would also be glad to know whether there might be any interest in setting up a screening of the film in Ireland. Ideas and proposals can be sent to him by e-mail.

News digest #33

Events in the next week (from the BIB calendar; please check also the 'weekly sessions' section of the calendar)

Thurs. 12th: Demolition String Band (USA), Midnight Ramble, The Oliver Plunkett, Cork city, midnight

Fri. 13th: Demolition String Band (USA), Charlie's Bar, Union Quay, Cork city, 10.00 p.m.

Fri. 13th-Sun. 15th: Down and Out Bluegrass Band, Cornish Bluegrass Festival, Newquay, Cornwall, UK

Sat. 14th: Demolition String Band (USA), Olde Fiddle, Mallow, Co. Cork, 10.00 p.m.
Two Time Polka, Arnold's Hotel, Dunfanaghy, Co. Donegal. Start 10.30 p.m. Adm. free. Tel. 074 9136208 (part of Dunfanaghy Jazz & Blues Festival)

Sun. 15th: Two Time Polka, Molly's Marquee, Dunfanaghy, Co. Donegal. 2.00-4.00 p.m. Adm. free (part of Dunfanaghy Jazz & Blues Festival)

Wed. 18th: Demolition String Band (USA), The Atlantic Aparthotel (with Hank Wedel), Bundoran, Co. Donegal

Thurs. 19th: Demolition String Band (USA), Crowley’s, Kenmare, Co. Kerry, 9.30 p.m.

Other news

The BIB has previously noted that Session Americana (USA) will be playing on 27 Sept. at the Seamus Ennis Cultural Centre in Naul, Co. Dublin (for which the updated schedule of events can be seen here). This is part of a three-week tour in these islands; the band's full list of dates in Ireland, as shown on their calendar, is:

Sept.
Wed. 25th: 36th Clifden Community Arts Festival, Clifden, Co. Galway
Thurs. 26th: 36th Clifden Community Arts Festival, Clifden, Co. Galway
Fri. 27th: Seamus Ennis Cultural Centre, Naul, Co. Dublin
Sat. 28th: McDaid's Wine Bar, Ramelton, Co. Donegal, 10.00 p.m.
Oct.
Wed. 9th: The Red Room, Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, 8.00 p.m.
Thurs. 10th: Whelan's, Dublin 2
Fri. 11th: Wexford Arts Centre, Wexford town
Sat. 12th: Monroe's Live, Galway city
Sun. 13th: Dolan's, Limerick city, 9.00 p.m.

Session Americana's online calendar also has links to venue websites, locations, etc.

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BIB readers who are also fans of Herschel Sizemore will be glad to learn of a new 57-minute DVD, Herschel Sizemore: mandolin in B, filmed at a tribute concert early last year, with many bluegrass stars taking part. Read more on Bluegrass Today.

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Thanks to UKBluegrass for a reminder that though the most active part of the 2013 season is coming to an end, the UKB archive is a valuable resource - and not just about bluegrass in Britain.

Music instruction for the new year

The ArtistWorks Music Campus Video Exchange Learning programme, with its roster of A-list instructors for the bluegrass instruments as well as much more, also offers three months' unlimited access for $90. More details and access to free sample lessons are here. In addition, Homespun Music Instruction announce:

It's hard to believe it's 2013 and we're starting our 46th year of high-quality music instruction taught by top professional players and performers!

To get the year started right, we're extending our 20% download sale through this week. It will now end at midnight on Tuesday 8 January.Use the code JAN2013 and click 'Apply' when checking out. Your discount will be automatically issued.

Our Homespun Instant Access Catalog is filled with hundreds of lessons teaching many styles and techniques at all levels, from beginner to advanced. Check it out!

The full Homespun release, including many examples of the goodies on offer, can be read here.

Building up your bass muscles

One of the latest instructional videos from Homespun is aimed at helping people to master what even on the physical level can be a pretty challenging instrument. Todd Phillips, who has already produced the 2-DVD Essential techniques for acoustic bass on Homespun, has now brought out his Bass workout and practice regimen - $29.95 as a DVD or $5.00 less as an instant download. Read more on the Homespun website or on their latest e-newsletter.  

Update 27 Sept.: Homespun have just announced $10 reductions on each of two 2-DVD sets: You can play bluegrass mandolin, by the late Butch Baldassari, and Norman Blake's guitar techniques. This offer closes on 2 October.

Compass Records Americana sale

Compass Records announce their latest sale: to mark Memorial Day, which this year falls on 28 May, there is a reduction of 25% on all the Americana (including bluegrass) in the Compass catalogue. In addition, on orders of four or more CDs/DVDs, there is free shipping within the USA, and a 50% reduction on international shipping costs. Full details are here and on the Compass website. The sale lasts up to the end of Monday 28 May.

Homespun are also offering a Memorial Day sale (lasting a further day), with 20% off selected downloads from their catalogue of instructional material. Full details are here.

The fiddlers of Flatt & Scruggs

The BIB editor reports:

John Lawless's AcuTab has just released a new instructional DVD by Ron Stewart, which should be invaluable to anyone out there playing or learning bluegrass fiddle, and at the least of great interest to others. It seems safe to say this on the strength of Stewart's past achievements, the description given in the blurb, and the 4:48 min. video preview on the AcuTab website.

The fiddlers of Flatt & Scruggs analyses the playing of six fiddlers - Jim Shumate, Benny Sims, Howdy Forrester, Benny Martin, Chubby Wise, and Paul Warren - who laid the foundations of bluegrass fiddle style, not least through their work while playing with this immensely influential band. The playing of Fiddlin' Arthur Smith (1898-1971), who influenced all of them, is also studied. As Stewart says, his own learning process as a fiddler included months of studying and playing along with their recordings - trying to get not just the notes but the tone and the phrasing, and to figure out why they played what they did when they did.

Ron Stewart has won IBMA Instrumental Performer of the Year awards on both fiddle and banjo, and is a much-sought-after session musician and guest artist on others' recordings. This DVD reveals not just what went into creating the essence of bluegrass fiddling; it also shows something of the mindset that goes into the making of a leading bluegrass musician.

Tin Box Company at Elvis Country Barndance in Dublin, 5 Feb. 2012

Thanks to Derek Duff (above, with banjo), who reports:

When Elvis recorded 'Blue moon of Kentucky' way back he gave Bill Monroe's profile a significant boost.

With this theme in mind the Tin Box Company are playing at an Elvis Country Barndance in the Church Nightclub in Jervis St., Dublin, this Sunday evening (5 Feb. 2012). Other Elvis-themed entertainment will be also taking to the stage on the night. A disco will round off the evening. There is a €10 cover charge and doors open from 7.00 till midnight. The Tin Box Company will be doing their stuff from 9.00.

A reminder also that the Tin Box Company have produced a DVD of their showcase performance at X Music in Dublin, extracts of which can be viewed on YouTube and their Facebook page. A complimentary copy is available to anybody attending their regular Bluegrass Thursday Night gig in Delaneys, Knocklyon. Just mention the Bluegrass Blog.

Steve Kaufman on Homespun

The BIB has carried news in the past both on Homespun's great catalogue of instructional material and their recession-busting sales prices, and on Steve Kaufman's well respected instruction workshops in the USA. They can now be both mentioned in one post, as Homespun have just published Steve's DVD Get started on bluegrass and country guitar. Full details are here.

As we mentioned last month, Steve Kaufman will be in Ireland in September, and will be giving a guitar workshop in Dublin as part of his tour schedule.

Forty years of Rounder

Forty years ago today, the Rounder record company issued the first releases in a massively important stream of bluegrass, old-time, and other recordings. Our friend Erio Meili of the Sao Paulo Bluegrass Music Association in Brazil writes to Rounder head Ken Irwin:

Ken, WE thank you!

Happy anniversary and congratulation to you and to the whole Rounder Team.

You have been a vital element to keep bluegrass constantly under a contemporary sunshine or even one step forward as visioneers for 40 years. Rounder is one of the main reasons that this music has never grown old to fade away or to become stamped as something of the past, although keeping its great respect to the roots of bluegrass pioneers.

On 12 October a celebratory concert was held at the Grand Ole Opry; a DVD of the show is now available.

New jamming DVD from Acutab

Thanks to Acutab Publications for news of their latest release: the two-and-a-half-hour DVD Bluegrass jamming essentials, designed to help the picker make the essential transition to playing with others. It also serves as a course in the fundamentals of how a band works.

The artists taking part describe the basic roles of the bass, mandolin, guitar, banjo, and fiddle in the band setting, and address such crucial topics as tuning, choosing keys and tempos, proper capo use, and more. Other concepts covered include backup and fills, soloing, playing with drive, a variety of song formats, and communication within a band while playing.

They demonstrate all this using twelve bluegrass vocal and instrumental classics, each chosen to show these important concepts in a variety of keys, tempos, and styles. And for each song, they leave a spot for you to play your own break...

All the musicians will be familiar to pickers in Ireland: Bill Evans & Megan Lynch have toured here three times as a duo, while Adam Steffey, Tim Stafford, and David Thomas have played here with Alison Krauss & Union Station, Blue Highway, and Special Consensus respectively.

Full details are on the Acutab website, where a six-minute-plus video sample can also be seen.

PS: Megan Lynch, six times US national fiddle champion, won the Randall Franks Trophy at the Fiddlers' Convention at Ringgold, GA, in May 2010.

Great prizes for bass players...

A great opportunity for upright bass players - the exemplary Barry Bales (bassist with Alison Krauss & Union Station) has just released a 140-minute DVD, A solid foundation to acoustic bass, on Acutab Publications.

But that's not all the good news; some astounding prizes, worth up to over $1,000 for the grand prize winner, can also be won in an associated competition which looks like a good deal of fun. Find all the details here or on the original Bluegrass Blog.