New Year greetings from past visitors

Thanks to Caleb Klauder and Reeb Wilms (seen above with their Country Band) for their 'Happy New Year to all!' greetings-newsletter, which goes a long way towards ensuring a Happy New Year by confirming that the Foghorn String Band will indeed be on tour in Scotland and Ireland from 25 April to 15 May 2023 inclusive. No details are on the Foghorns' online tour schedule yet. The Country Band is scheduled to make a European tour in August and September.

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Thanks also to Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers (Omagh headliners in 2019) for their own New Year greeting, which looks back (with photos) on the eventful year they had in 2022, with special reference to the induction of Joe's father Paul 'Moon' Mullins into the Bluegrass Music Hall Of Fame, and the success of the Industrial Strength Bluegrass Festival.

© Richard Hawkins

Christmas greetings from the BIB

The Bluegrass Ireland Blog sends best wishes for a joyful, peaceful, and healthy Christmas and a happy, safe, and prosperous New Year to all its readers, to all lovers of bluegrass and kindred musics, and to all people of goodwill everywhere.

© Richard Hawkins

Greetings from the Dublin Bluegrass Jam

The Bluestack Mountain Boys / Dublin Bluegrass Collective, hosts of the weekly Dublin Bluegrass Jam Session at Mother Reilly's, 28-32 Upper Rathmines Road, Dublin, post this photo by Gerry Geoghegan on their Facebook, with the greeting:

Happy Christmas and have a safe and Happy New Year! See you all back New Year's Day!

© Richard Hawkins

Christmas Pickin' 2022 in Mother Reilly's!

Thanks to Patrick Simpson of the Bluestack Mountain Boys / Dublin Bluegrass Collective , who host the weekly Dublin bluegrass jam at Mother Reilly's, 32 Rathmines Rd Upper, Dublin 6. Patrick sends the fine photo above by Gerry Geoghegan, and reports:

We have really been enjoying the music and vibe at "Ma's" on Sundays and wanted to let you and your readers know that we will have Christmas Day off this year, so we plan to celebrate our 'Dublin Bluestacks Christmas Pickin' Party' this Sunday, December 18th, from 7.00 to 11.00 p.m. with a Festive Open Bluegrass Jam Session. We Ho Ho Hope y'all can make it! Thank you and all the pickers who have supported the jam in 2022, we look forward to being back on again on New Year's Day 2023! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone!

© Richard Hawkins

Detached notes

The IBMA Foundation, devoted to 'a brighter future for bluegrass', has just released on its YouTube channel four videos, each of about ten minutes under the collective title 'Bluegrass Stagecraft 101', with good advice on stage management for bluegrass events, MC work (both for stage managers and for band spokespersons), and working with a sound crew. More details of the set are given by John Lawless on Bluegrass Today, together with one of the videos.

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Ken Perlman, master of 'melodic clawhammer' banjo, sends a reminder of his next two ninety-minute online live instructional workshops in the current season of his 'Clawhammer Clinics for old-time banjo': 'Modes & pentatonics in old-time music', which is tonight (5 Dec.) and 'Creating variations via scale formulas on clawhammer banjo' (9 Jan.). See the BIB for 17 Nov.

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Several US artists who have played in Ireland in the past are bringing out new recordings. They include Becky Buller, who was here in 2005 with Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike, and has now released a full Christmas album, The perfect gift, on the Dark Shadow label; Ashby Frank, mandolinist with the Special Consensus on their 2009 tour, with his single 'Christmas in Virginia' from the Mountain Home Music Company; and frequent visitor Milan Miller, who has a new single 'Distractions' with a lyric video that can be seen on Bluegrass Today or YouTube. Kendl Winter and Palmer T. Lee, who toured here in the spring of 2018 as The Lowest Pair, have joined forces with another duo, Small Town Therapy, in the album Horse camp, which is reviewed by Rachel Cholst on No Depression with a playlist of all tracks.

And finally (for now), Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers, Omagh headliners in the autumn of 2019, send their Christmas greetings to all, with news of two Christmas singles, 'No room at the inn' and 'Old fashioned Christmas' (with Paul Williams). They have a new album scheduled for release on St Patrick's day 2023, and a single from it can be heard and seen in a live performance video via a link on their e-newsletter.

Update: Becky Buller's The perfect gift is reviewed by David Morris on Bluegrass Today, with a playlist of samples from all the songs. In addition, Valerie Smith's own Bell Buckle Records company has released Christmas songs by Valerie, Pam Setser, and Maria Levine.

© Richard Hawkins

Banjo-related news (addendum)

The board of directors of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) and the IBMA Trust Fund board of trustees voted unanimously on 8 December 2021 to pass a joint resolution recognising Sonny Osborne (above) for his work as a founding member of the IBMA and IBMA Trust Fund and his great contributions to bluegrass music. The full text of the resolution is on the IBMA press release.

The BIB recommends (again) the documentary video 'A Kentucky treasure: the Osborne Brothers story', and - for a special focus on Sonny - the two-and-a-half-hour video interview with him by Tom Riggs in 2009 as part of the International Bluegrass Music Museum's Oral History project. Sonny's face is always worth watching.

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Nearly ten years ago (28 Feb. 2012) the BIB drew attention to two YouTube videos of stage performances by J.D. Crowe and the New South, which (especially the second) gave clear views of J.D.'s hands while playing. Anyone who liked these should also visit this video on the Bluegrass Music Channel - fifty minutes of J.D. bringing out the tone of three different banjos at a private session in the late 1980s, videoed in close-up.

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A special 'Happy holidays' greeting from the Deering family and the Deering Banjo Company can be seen here.

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Ken Perlman announces that the complete programme schedule for the next Suwanee Banjo Camp (10-13 Mar. 2022) is now online.

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Tom Nechville announces that a number of Nechville Musical Products' elegant and innovative banjos have recently been shipped to dealers and may still be available. The list of dealers, with photos of the varied banjo models concerned, can be seen here.

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Much interest has been aroused among banjo players by the advent of Rickard Cyclone 10:1 tuning pegs with their unique gearing system. A comprehensive review of this product by John Lawless on Bluegrass Today makes clear why, in his concluding words, 'We have to rate these tuners as first rate, excellent in every way.'

The review begins by stressing that at between $205 and $225 for a set of five tuners, the Rickards are a premium product. To put this in context, the Beacon Banjo Company, founded by the late Bill Keith, sells its highly regarded standard tuners at $130 a pair in stainless steel; its D-tuners (the celebrated 'Keith pegs') are $260 a pair.

Addendum: Rickard Cyclone 10:1 tuners are also fitted to the high-quality guitars which the company is now producing.

© Richard Hawkins

Christmas greetings

The BIB gratefully received and cordially reciprocates the seasonal greetings received from all sources, including the venues in Ireland that have welcomed visiting bluegrass and old-time acts in the past and will do so again (we hope) before too long, with the Seamus Ennis Arts Centre at Naul, Co. Dublin, as an example;

- our visitors, of whom Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers (above) are among the most recent - see their latest e-newsletter;

- and outfits such as Compass Records (above) who are an essential part of the bluegrass world; Compass, for instance, is the company that records our multi-award-winning old friends the Special Consensus (below).

To complete the circle, we find that the January 2022 schedule of the Seamus Ennis Arts Centre had included for Saturday 29 January a show by the Special Consensus with tickets at €20. This show, and the whole tour, are now of course regrettably postponed; but it's a bittersweet pleasure to know that we were so close to being able to see and hear a band of this calibre once again.

© Richard Hawkins

Christmas greetings from the BIB

The Bluegrass Ireland Blog sends best wishes for a joyful, peaceful, and healthy Christmas and a happy, safe, and prosperous New Year to all its readers, to all lovers of bluegrass and kindred musics, and to all people of goodwill everywhere.

© Richard Hawkins

Is there a Tranjo in the island?

The Gold Tone Music Group send Thanksgiving Day greetings (right); the image shows a banjo, but Gold Tone also supply other bluegrass instruments and the accompanying message says 'We are grateful for all of you!', so non-banjoists should not feel excluded.

Gold Tone have also sold (under licence) instruments built to the specifications of other makers (such as Beard resonator guitars). Instruments in this category have included the Tranjo, devised by the Farris Travel Banjo Company of Tennessee.

The BIB editor would be glad to hear from any BIB reader in the island of Ireland who has a Tranjo that they might be willing to part with. The main requirement is that it should be capable of taking the silent practice option kit - that is, any Tranjo model (including the Gold Tone version) except the Tranjo Express III. If you have one (with or without that option), please e-mail the editor, attaching photos of it if possible.

© Richard Hawkins

Instruction and more from across the Water

Ken Perlman (USA), master of 'melodic clawhammer' banjo (not to mention fingerstyle guitar) continues his programme of online live instructional banjo workshops on Zoom in the new year, with a workshop on 'A "crooked" tunes survival kit' on Sat. 9 Jan. at *5.00-6.15 p.m. EST*; one on creating variations and breaks in clawhammer style on Mon. 25 Jan. at 7.30-9.00 p.m. EST; and four in February (one every Monday) on fiddle tunes from Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island. Details of times and prices are given on the booking pages. Ken also announces that the Suwanee Banjo Camp (of which he is a director) will be held in 2021 on 13-14 March as an online event. Full details of programme and instructors are on the SBC website.

*Please note that the time for the 9 Jan. class was originally given in Pacific Time instead of Eastern Time; this has now been corrected.

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April Verch (CAN) sends her thanks and appreciation for everyone's support during the past twenty years, in a video that can be reached through her latest e-newsletter and also on YouTube.

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Deering Banjos send a reminder that Jens Kruger's new free series of masterclasses begins on Tuesday 5 Jan., devoted to musical concepts that can be applied to develop one's playing. While the series is aimed at players in intermediate and advanced levels, players at any level can benefit from the classes. Anyone interested in taking part should send an e-mail RSVP. Jens's video introduction to the series can now be seen on Deering Live or YouTube.

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Steve Kaufman (USA) announces that his schedule of new live flatpicking classes will begin on Monday next week (4 Jan.). Full details of all his instructional programmes are on Steve's website.

News from the Ulster American Folk Park

The BIB editor reports:

The Ulster American Folk Park at Omagh, Co. Tyrone, posted on Christmas day this early-20th-century greetings card on its Facebook.

On visiting the Park's website, what you'll hear first is the genial voice of Richard Hurst, director of customer services (and leader of the organising team of the Bluegrass Music Festival which the Park has held annually since 1992), announcing on a YouTube video: 'The Ulster American Folk Park is open again!' What you'll see first is an official statement that under the latest government guidance, the National Museums of Northern Ireland will remain closed for six weeks from 23 December. So if plans remain unchanged, Richard's welcome (recorded in August 2020) will be effective once more from 3 February 2021.

Since September the Park has a new online facility, Folk Park Live! Songs of the settlers. This now comprises eleven videos by Irish artists singing and/ or playing songs and tunes from both sides of the Atlantic, linked in one way or another to the emigration experience. The videos were each recorded in a different location in the Park and released in sequence on the Park's Facebook; all can now be accessed on the Park Music Tour page. Song texts shown on the website are not always the same as what is sung in the videos.

'2020 In Memoriam' from mygrassisblue.com

Thanks to Dave Byrne jr of mygrassisblue.com for this verdict on the year, combined with a fitting tribute to the bluegrass and country music artists who have died during it: 

The countdown is on to the end of this annus horribilis.

We put together a short video, an ‘In Memoriam’ to some of those we sadly lost in 2020.

2020 In Memoriam | https://youtu.be/plrBW3XBNbo

2020 has been a tough year for all, but we’re looking forward to 2021 and, of course, to getting back to some semblance of normality, whenever that happens to be.

Wishing all members of the bluegrass community in Ireland (and beyond) a very happy and prosperous new year.

'2020 In Memoriam' can also be seen on the mygrassisblue.com Facebook. It has been warmly welcomed by John Lawless on Bluegrass Today.

'Holly jolly Christmas' from Cup O' Joe

Bluegrass Today added several posts yesterday of Christmassy contributions by various artists, and at the time of writing the leading post on Bluegrass Today is John Lawless's Holly Jolly Christmas from Cup O’ Joe. This features a socially distanced video from Co. Armagh and South Carolina, with all the members of Cup O' Joe - including member-by-marriage David Benedict - suitably rigged out in seasonal jumpers to play and sing the 1962 pop song in string-swing mode. The video can also be watched on Facebook, where there are more seasonal songs from the Cup O' Joe circle.

Christmas greetings from the BIB

The Bluegrass Ireland Blog sends best wishes for a joyful, peaceful, and healthy Christmas and a happy, safe, and prosperous New Year to all its readers, to all lovers of bluegrass and kindred musics, and to all people of goodwill everywhere.

'Merry Christmas everyone' from Mules & Men

Special thanks to Mules & Men for this Christmas greeting:

Nollaig Shona Dhuit!

We made a Christmas video for the Shakin' Stevens classic 'Merry Christmas everyone' - hopefully it will give you a laugh.

We had the privilege of being joined by Benjamin Burns for this one. Ben is from Geevagh, Co. Sligo, and makes lovely music with synths and recordings of bats, sparrows, and frogs! https://soundcloud.com/benjamin-burns-2

See ye in 2021. All the best from Luke, Paddy, Lily, & Niall
mulesandmen.com

Deering Live End Of Year Special, 22 Dec. 2020 (update)

Deering Banjos will be closed for business from Wed. 23 Dec. 2020 to Mon. 4 Jan. 2021, so they extend this invitation to join the creators of the company:

Join us for the last Deering Live of 2020, where we will sit down with Greg, Janet, and Jamie Deering, as we finally take a second to reflect on what has been a truly remarkable year. And since it's the holidays, you never know what artists and other guests might join us at any time! So grab a drink and come hang with us.

The Special will be shown live at the new time of 3.00 p.m. ET, noon PT, and 8.00 p.m. Irish time.

Update 24 Dec.: You can now watch the ninety-minute Special on the Deering Banjos blog, together with a two-minute video greeting from the Deering family, singing 'Deck the halls' (with Greg Deering playing Pete-Seeger-style up-picking).

Have a wonderful winter Wooka Yuletide

Belfast's Wookalily report in their latest e-newsletter:

Well, 2020 is a year we certainly won't forget. Here are some of the highlights and lowlights of our year.

• The attack of the Covid monster impacted us all, some worse than others, but generally it's been a very isolating, scary, and surreal time. At the beginning of lockdown we lost all of our gigs including our Irish album launch tour (now rescheduled for release Easter 2021 - Covid willing), but we're thankful we're still here to tell the tale. 
• We recorded two tracks for Help Musicians NI to help raise much-needed funds for fellow struggling musicians. The idea was to encourage fans to help musicians, help musicians, help musicians, quite literally. 
• Not long after we were invited by Hotpress magazine to film a live cover of Wavelength for Van Morrison's 75th birthday celebrations as part of the 'Rave on Van Morrison' series. Check it out on the Hotpress YouTube channel, along with contributions by a galaxy of Ireland’s leading artists and performers, including Sinéad O’Connor, Hozier, Imelda May, Damien Rice, Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol, Tim Wheeler of Ash, Moya Brennan, Bronagh Gallagher, John Spillane, Mary Coughlan, Brian Kennedy, Liam Ó Maonlaí, and the president of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins. 
• Not least WE SIGNED A WORLDWIDE RECORD DEAL with MIG Music in Germany and we're really looking forward to working with these guys. Wooooo!!!!! 

   Considering the current musical climate we're thankful for all the good things, but we're taking nothing for granted. Live music has virtually been banned in Northern Ireland, so we thank you all for your continued support during these strange and precarious times. Stay safe, stick to your 1 Christmas bauble (see what we did there? lol), have a very Merry Christmas and keep listening to good music! From all of us at Wookalily, until next year...

Wookalily's newsletter also includes this YouTube video of their version of 'Rockin' around the Christmas tree'!

Many happy returns!

A belated 'Many happy returns!' and congratulations to Alec Somerville, now of Co. Donegal, who had his ninetieth birthday earlier this year and looks game for another ninety. Alec's distinguished careers in music and the day job are outlined in the amply illustrated four-page interview with him by William Duddy in issue no. 97 (spring 2019) of the FOAOTMAD magazine Old Time News. It's enough to say that in his time he has probably sold more records, owned more banjos, and known more US pickers than anyone else on the old-time scene here.

The photo above, taken this month, shows Alec in a home-made tee shirt; the image depicts him with Edwin 'Ed' Haggard, musician and banjo collector of Winchester, Kentucky. Alec describes him as 'One of my oldest friends in the mountains. We traded a bit and talked a lot. I eventually sold him, for a client, my Orpheum no. 2, a banjo by Rettburg & Lange (later made Paramount) with a 12 1/8" pot, an archtop, and a 28" scale. Ed [...] was a standout.'

Holiday greetings from Walnut Valley, KS

Thanks to Rex Flottman and the Walnut Valley Association in Winfield, Kansas, home of the Walnut Valley National Guitar Flat-Picking Championships Festival since 1972, for this holiday greeting. The BIB particularly likes the central wreath decoration, evoking the ties worn by Flatt & Scruggs, the Stanley Brothers, and other classic bluegrass artists.

Christmas greetings from the BIB

The Bluegrass Ireland Blog sends good wishes for a joyful and peaceful Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year to all its readers, to all lovers of bluegrass and kindred musics, and to all people of goodwill everywhere.

The BIB's most seasonal offering is this link to the 27 Mar. 1963 recording by Bill Monroe's band of 'Santa Claus', led by Bill Keith (see the BIB for 20 Dec.) on banjo.