Our own intrepid correspondent, Richard Thompson [bluegrassmercury], spent a week in Nashville in early October, having traveled from the UK to attend the IBMA convention, accompanied by his wife, Karen. It was their first trip to IBMA in 20 years, and we thought that his post-IBMA impressions and reflections would be of interest both to others who were likewise in attendance, and our many readers who would love to have been there.

Here, Karen adds her thoughts to those Richard shared in his previous Travelogue entries. Read them all here.

bluegrassmercury Travelogue #14
By Karen Thompson
Nashville, Tenn.  Karen’s Travelogue

We flew into Nashville late Thursday afternoon (9/25), stepping from the airport into the outside after being 2 in two airplanes in pressurised conditions for several hours was short-lived bliss, I hadn’t expected it to be so hot at 5 o’clock. But we were soon on an air-conditioned bus heading towards downtown Nashville. After checking at the Holiday Express Inn on Broadway, unpacking etc, etc we (hubby and I) took to the street to explore. It was still very hot and as we walked down Broadway towards Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge familiar and not so familiar sights greeted me.

The last time I was in Nashville was 1981, and for a short time I was transported back to the early 1980s as so much seemed to be the same as it was back then, I was only a mere slip of a girl, had not been married long, and everywhere looked big and new. But now Nashville in the dark (8 at night) looked as though it hadn’t changed much. The sights, sounds and smells all came flooding back to me.

It was only the next morning in the clear light of day when walking the same streets I realized that some things were very much the same and some things had changed significantly. Now we have the Sommett Center and the AT&M (Batman Building), and the Country Music Hall of Fame is now located downtown and the Nashville Convention Center (where I spent most of my time while in Nashville). It is comforting to know we still have the Ryman, Tootsies and Ernest Tubb’s record store still where they were 27 years ago.

When I first came here it was for a the 1981 Country Music Fan Fair, having a week of country music from dawn to dusk. Now older and slightly wiser, bluegrass music is more to my liking (although I still have a love of what I would call more traditional country music - Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Statler Brothers - but hey, didn’t they probably all grow up listening to bluegrass/old time music????) (more…)

April 2009 has been set as the publication date for the in-depth biography of Tony Rice, of which we first learned more than two years ago. Written by Tim Stafford and Caroline Wright, it will be debuted during this year’s Merlefest in North Carolina.

Tim tells us that the working title for the book is Still Inside: The Tony Rice Story. It will be the second release from Word of Mouth Press, a new progressive imprint based in Kingsport, TN. Stafford founded the company along with with Bobby Starnes and Johnny Burton to publish biographies of important roots musicians. Their first book was a children’s Christmas book on the Santa Train, a Thanksgiving tradition in East Tennessee of more than 60 years.

Still Inside covers Rice on two tracks, examining Tony’s personal life and his impact as a musician, with Tim tackling the guitar side and Caroline, Rice the individual.

Stafford says that it will run to over 400 pages with plenty to interest the most devoted Rice-head.

“We’re very excited about this book. It will features scads of great photos as well as Tony’s entire life in his own words along with testimony from over a hundred key eyewitnesses, all laid out in an innovative new design.”

More details about the book’s release should be forthcoming shortly, including information about book signings and other public events. We’ll be sure to pass them along as we get them.

Dailey & Vincent won nearly every conceivable award from IBMA in 2008. They have a new CD due in March, and their tour schedule is the envy of most every other bluegrass act.

Now, they have dipped their toes into the instructional video market with a new release from Homespun. Bluegrass and Gospel Duet Singing is a 75 minute DVD released yesterday (1/5/09) that features Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent performing, discussing and analyzing how they sing together.

By The Mark, Can You Hear Me Now, More Than a Name On a Wall, I Hope You Have Learned, Music of the Mountains, Rock of Ages, Selfish Heart, Waves of Sorrow and Don’t You Call My Name are all covered, while Homespun founder Happy Traum interviews the guys throughout.

The DVD sells for $29.95, and a brief video preview can be seen on the Homespun site.

Also new from Homespun is From Clawhammer to Bluegrass by Mark Johnson.

Mark has developed a unique banjo style which he calls clawgrass, combining the traditional frailing and drop thumb styles with “roll” patterns more commonly associated with bluegrass banjo.

He teaches a number of tunes, Cherokee Shuffle, Cold  Frosty Morning, Angeline the Baker and Heartbroken among them, demonstrating the techniques he has developed.

This DVD runs to 105 minutes and sells for $29.95 with a tab booklet. A video sample is also available online.

Wichita Rutherford made an appearance on CMT over the weekend. He was featured on CMT Insider’s “The Year in a Nutshell,” along with several other comedians. They asked Wichita some questions and during his responses he talked about some famous people.

I predicted that Wichita would run “8 silly contests on his blog” during 2009. He’s getting off to an early start. If you can tell him the names of the artists he talked about on CMT over the weekend, he’ll put your name in a big old pile with everyone else who gets it correct. Then Mitchell, the monkey, will pull one name out of the pile. Sound silly so far. The lucky winner will receive a Sirius/XM radio. Not so silly anymore!

Visit Wichita’s blog for more info, and the email link (under his picture on the left) so you can get your entry in.

One down, seven to go…

After a hiatus of 16 months, Clay Jones has re-assumed the guitar chair with Mountain Heart.

Jones left the band in August of 2007 to deal with some personal and familial issues, and with Clay Hess having left the group to work with Sierra Hull, he is happy for the chance to return.

“I’m so excited to be back with all my brothers! I’m looking forward to seeing the greatest fans in any music again!”

I spoke with Mountain Heart fiddler Jim Van Cleve this morning, and he is likewise stoked to have Jones back onboard.

“It’s no secret that Clay Jones was a large part of the musical personality that MH had developed over the years. He brings a unique spark and intensity to the table that is all his own. That, along with his stage presence, is such a powerful combo. So, of course, we’re all super excited to get to pick with him again.

He and I go back a long time… I’ve known Jones since I was 15!

We just had our first round of rehearsals where we ran through about two and a half hours of music several times. We played all of our material and most all the songs we’ve been performing with Tony Rice. Jones knocked them all out of the park!

He grew up playing with Tony, so I guess that it shouldn’t have been a surprise that he knew that rhythmic feel and most of that material better than anybody! So, with a bit of a return to what MH has become known for, we are all chomping at the bit now to get out and do what we do this year!!”

Jim also mentioned that Clay’s first show back with the band will be at The Ark, in Ann Arbor, MI this coming weekend. This where they cut their current CD release, Road That Never Ends, The Live Album, which features Jones on guitar. From there, the band heads to Clay City, KY.

Sounds like this was meant to be…

You can find the band’s full tour schedule on their web site, and look for a chance to catch Clay with Mountain Heart - and Tony Rice - near you in ‘09.

The Infamous Stringdusters have just made their first live download available. The band has been multi-tracking their live shows since June of 2008. This first download is from a September 13, 2008 show in Normal, IL, at the Illinois State University Performing Arts Center.

The show includes the expected Dusters tracks along with a couple standards that it’s cool to hear this dynamic young band perform.

The band has ambitious plans to release a live recording “every two months or so” during 2009, culminating in a new studio album sometime later in the year.

This is, in effect, our first official live release. Our sound engineer Drew Becker spent a lot of hours mixing this one down to get it just right and we’re excited to offer you a high quality show like this one.

The download includes 21 songs on two virtual “CDs.” Individual tracks can be downloaded for $0.99 each as mp3 files, or the entire set can be purchased for only $9.99, which works out to a mere $0.48 per track. For $12.95 you can download high quality FLAC files of the entire show.

All artwork for the two disc set is available for download as PDF files at no additional charge.

Larry Keel and Natural Bridge have released a new CD for 2009.

Backwoods features 10 tracks, with 7 originals from the band, all performed in the high-energy, ultra-progressive style that is the hallmark of their popular live show.

It features Keel on guitar and vocals, Mark Schimick on mandolin, Jason Flournoy on banjo and Jenny Keel on bass

The CD was produced by Keller Williams, and audio samples for two songs can be found on the band’s MySpace page.

UPDATE 1/6:  Larry Keel fans may also want to check out audio from the band’s recent performance on Mountain Stage. The show was recorded on December 12 of ‘08, and Natural Bridge does three songs - Crocodile Man, Diamond Break and Bitten By a Snake/Blackjack.

Audio for the show can be accessed online. Little Big Town, Catherine Russell, Rose Cousins and the Davisson Brothers Band are also featured.

As we reported earlier (12/31), WAMU’s Bluegrass Country DJ Lee Michael Demsey saw in the New Year with his Top 40 Countdown computed on the same basis as the Bluegrass Unlimited National Survey.

The full list of 40 songs is shown below, but first there are a couple of observations made by Demsey during the program. The #1 song, Through The Window Of A Train, had been, at the end of 2008, at the top of the Survey for five months. The second song, Alison’s Band, was only a couple of points away from reaching the top spot on the Survey during its 13 month stay on the Survey.

The placement of these two songs mirrors the choices made by IBMA members in the Song Of The Year award in October with both songs being on the final ballot and Through The Window Of A Train triumphing there as well.

A rough assessment of the Top 40 shows that Rhonda Vincent and the Gibson Brothers both had three titles on the chart, Blue Highway, Dailey & Vincent, The SteelDrivers, Cherryholmes and Steep Canyon Rangers all had two entries.

Allocating points for a song relative to its position on the chart makes Dailey & Vincent the top band with 71pts, by virtue of their two top five entries. They are followed by The Gibson Brothers, with 64pts, Steep Canyon Rangers (63pts) third, Blue Highway (54pts) fourth and Rhonda Vincent, fifth with 51pts.

Dailey & Vincent were in the final five on the IBMA ballot for Vocal Group Of The Year as were Blue Highway, who featured in the final five choices for Instrumental Group Of The Year also.

The top albums are, in descending order, Dailey & Vincent, Iron & Diamonds, Lovin’ Pretty Women, Through The Window Of A Train and Good Thing Going.

Dailey & Vincent, Lovin’ Pretty Women and Through The Window Of A Train were in the last five albums on the IBMA ballot for the Album Of The Year award. The sixth placed band, The SteelDrivers, had its album, also called The SteelDrivers, in the final ballot for the Album Of The Year award.

The top record label is Rounder with 14 entries. They are followed by Sugar Hill (with five titles), then Pinecastle, Rebel, Rural Rhythm and Skaggs Family each with three songs on the chart.

See the complete Top 40 listing after the jump. (more…)

We have noticed that a great many blogs have issued a list of predictions for the new year, touching on their individual areas of interest or expertise.

Leaping gingerly onto the bandwagon, here are some predictions from The Bluegrass Blog, to be taken with as large a grain of salt as you have at your disposal.

1. Dailey & Vincent will release another recording which will be just as good as the first, but some won’t like it because it’s too perfect.
2. CD sales will continue to decline, and the larger industry will persist in bemoaning the fact while still dragging their feet with regard to any new business models.
3. 1024 bluegrass CDs will be released in total (professional, part-time, amateur, and compilations).
4. Wichita Rutherford will have 8 silly contests on his blog.
5. Dan Tyminski will grow one of those tiny goatees like Barry Bales wears.
6. Emulating farm subsidies, government bailouts will be offered to banjo builders if they will cease production immediately. There will be several takers.
7. Tim Stafford will write the perfect bluegrass song, only to have it recorded on a Michael Bolton comeback project.
8. The Cherryholmes reality TV show becomes a smash success, leading to a number of spin-offs and emulators. Cia and Molly Kate dress up dolls set sales records, but Jere’s line of rugged dress wear for men generates unwelcome attention from PETA.
9. Continuing her efforts to offer fans a window into her personal life, Rhonda Vincent will film herself shopping for groceries and ask viewers to help her make purchase decisions via online chat.
10. The Bluegrass Intelligencer will uncover attempts by terrorists to learn banjo kickoffs (but not endings), and will be investigated by Homeland Security.
11. Kristen Scott Benson will quietly engender dissension in the ranks, and push for further female replacements as existing band members depart. The group will be re-named The GrassGals.
12. Alison Krauss will dash the reunion hopes of another swath of the geriatric rocker set when she teams up with Mick Jagger for a CD of duets based on the Canterbury Tales.

Walter Haynes, steel guitar player and producer, passed away on Thursday, January 1, in Tyler, Texas. He was 80 years old.

Born December 14, 1928, in Kingsport, Tennessee, Haynes was an under-rated steel guitar player who worked with Little Jimmy Dickens, Ferlin Husky and Webb Pierce.

However, Haynes’ legacy is not solely defined by his steel guitar playing prowess. He was the producer at several of Bill Monroe’s recording sessions from December 2, 1970 through to May 1983. As well as the regular studio sessions, Haynes oversaw the recording of a ‘live’ album, that at Bean Blossom, and the gospel set at Cathedral Caverns, near Huntsville, Alabama, the recordings from which remained unreleased for over two decades.

Haynes was producer for as many as 40 Monroe Decca/MCA sessions, which yielded recordings of such titles as Kentucky Waltz, My Little Georgia Rose, Tallahassee, Milenburg Joy, Tall Pines, Walls Of Time [both with James Monroe], Jerusalem Ridge, Old, Old House, Weary Traveler, My Sweet Blue-Eyed Darling and That’s Christmas Time To Me.

Additionally, Haynes produced the wonderful all-instrument album, Master Of Bluegrass, which includes the immediately emotive cut My Last Days On Earth, and the less successful collection, Bill Monroe And Friends.

When I was first learning to play bluegrass music back in the 1970s, I spent as much time around old time players as I did ‘grassers. Though I never learned to play it in an authentic style, I have always enjoyed old time music and old time influences in bluegrass.

I recall the sport of (mostly) good-natured ribbing that the bluegrass and old time camps threw each other’s way, something I still see whenever the two country cousins converge in groups at fiddlers conventions and contests each summer. It involves stereotypical humor at the other lot’s expense, a bit like the game of dozens or cracking that the young people play.

Trolling the Internet last week, I came across a clever take on this at the Pete’s World blog in a post titled, The Difference Between Bluegrass and Old Time Music.

Some excerpts…

• A BG band travels in an old converted Greyhound bus that idles all weekend with the air conditioner running full blast, and fumigates the county with diesel exhaust. The band’s name and Inspirational Statement are painted on both the side and front of the bus in script lettering.
• An OT band travels in a rusted-out 1965 VW microbus that blows an engine in North Nowhere, Nebraska. It’s pretty evident that their vehicles don’t have air conditioning.
• BG bumper stickers are in red, white and blue and have stars and/or stripes on them. OT bumper stickers don’t make any sense (e.g. “Gid is My Co-Pilot”)
• A BG band tells terrible jokes while tuning. An OT band tells terrible jokes without bothering to tune.
• The audience claps after each BG solo break. If anyone claps for an OT band it confuses them, even after the tune is over.
• Mandolin players spend half their time tuning their mandolin and the other half of their time playing their mandolin out of tune.
• An OT fiddle player can make dogs howl & incapacitate people suffering from sciatic nerve damage.
• “A good OT fiddle player?” Now there’s an oxymoron.
• An OT banjo player can lose 3 right-hand fingers and 2 left-hand fingers in an industrial accident without affecting his performance.

Read the whole post at Pete’s World.

HT - Fiddlefreak

Blueridge Guitars is set to introduce a limited edition, signature model guitar for Larry Sparks, honoring a true trend-setter among bluegrass flatpickers.

It will be designated as the Blueridge BR-3060, and styled after Larry’s legendary early 1950’s D-28, including the distinctive double pickguard.

Specifications for the BR-3060:

• Select solid Sitka spruce top
• White body binding - with characteristic W/B/W purfling
• Select solid East Indian rosewood back and sides
• Select mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard and mother of pearl position markers
• Ebony Bridge with mother of pearl dots and maple bridge plate
• Bone nut and Saddle
• Characteristic single-ply double pickguard
• Vintage-style, nickel-plated round button tuners
• Larry’s signature on the peghead
• A signed and numbered certificate of authenticity and soundhole label

Blueridge is a subsidiary of Saga Musical Instruments, and the Larry Sparks BR-3060 will be available from any the many Saga dealers starting in February ‘09. There is no information yet on the Blueridge web site about this guitar, but David Gartland with Saga gave us a rundown on how it came to be…

“Being huge fans of Larry’s and thankful for his valuable contribution to the Stanley Brothers and Bluegrass music, we felt it only natural to pay tribute to our own personal hero and this Bluegrass legend.  As you may already know, we had already set a precedent for creating special guitars, notably the BR-1060P Carter Stanley Memorial Blueridge Guitar, and we thought that recreating Larry’s unmistakable guitar was the perfect next step. Truly an honor for us.

An integral part of the process has been our ability to work hand in hand with Mr. Sparks to produce a guitar that will stand up to his unique style of play and remain true to his original instrument.

Our primary objective for Larry and the Saga team was to maintain the highest level of quality using only the best materials; while at the same time trying to making it more affordable.

It is a truly an amazing instrument.”

The suggested retail price for the BR-3060 will be $1395.

Rolling Stone Magazine has listed Warren Haynes as 23rd on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. While I would contend that the title of that list should be amended to the 100 Greatest Rock Guitarists of All Time, and even then it could be disputed (by those concerned with the genre), the fact remains that Warren Haynes is greatly respected in rock circles as being one the genre’s best.

What many fans who enjoy the music he has made with the Allman Brothers Band and Gov’t Mule may not know, is that Haynes grew up in the mountains of North Carloina surrounded by bluegrass music…and enjoyed it!

[speaking of Doc Watson, Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas and others] All of those guys are such special musicians because they excel at their own genre but they’re influenced outside of their own genre, which I think makes you better as a musician. They’re just amazing. Tony Rice is great. That whole group of musicians are people that I respect and have listened to for a long, long time.

In an article on Swampland.com, author Derek Halsey explores Haynes’ love of bluegrass, his dad’s listening habits (Stanley Brothers and Bill Monroe, among others), and the 20 year history of Haynes’ Christmas Jam concert, which included Del McCoury in the 2008 lineup.

For those interested in how bluegrass music helped shape one of rock music’s greatest guitarists, it’s an interesting read.

Roger Siminoff has dedicated his life to the fretted string instruments we use to play bluegrass music. His work as a luthier - and as an instructor to other builders and repairmen - has been a valuable service to our acoustic music community.

Roger’s latest effort is a book of descriptive definitions, illustrations and photos for builders, entitled Siminoff’s Luthiers Glossary. In this 206 page softcover book, Roger defines well over 800 design terms commonly used by artisans working in the design, construction, and production of acoustic stringed instruments.

The glossary provides definitions for parts, techniques, tools, adhesives, finishes, machinery, woods, stains, plus acoustics and legal terms. Roger also includes color photos of common tone woods to help in their identification, both finished and unfinished.

Siminoff’s Luthiers Glossary is published by Hal Leonard and can be found in music retailers specializing in acoustic instruments, and from Roger’s web site - which is itself a treasure trove of information and parts for luthiers at any level of experience.

On October 31 of last year, we mentioned that the forthcoming Alecia Nugent album, Hillbilly Goddess, on Rounder Records, was to be released on January 13, 2009.

Rounder has pushed that release date back to March 24, 2009, and chosen revised artwork for the cover.

The full track listing is now available:

1. Wreckin’ The Train
2. Don’t Tell Me
3. Hillbilly Goddess
4. Just Another Alice
5. The Last Greyhound
6. Cryin’ All The Way To The Bank
7. Dyin’ To Hold Her Again
8. Nugent Family Band
9. Wishin’ Hard
10. The Writing’s All Over The Wall (with Bradley Walker)
11. Already Home

Our earlier post included an interview with Alecia, where she discussed the origins of several songs from the new CD. You can read it here on The Bluegrass Blog.

Our friend Ted Lehmann has posted several galleries of photos he took over the course of 2008 which we think our readers would enjoy.

In addition to blogging about bluegrass, Ted also travels to festivals and shows all over the US where he captures images of the various performers, both on stage and off.

I’ve included a few of my favorites that Ted has taken here, and suggest that anyone who enjoys these sort of candid images visit Ted’s site to see them all.

Here are a few of his photo posts:

• Pick Of The Litter - photo collection from early ‘08
• Fall Photo Favorites 2008
• Fall Foto Favorites 2008 - Fan Fest Saturday

Go to Ted’s web site to see his various offerings online.

Happy New Year from all of us at The Bluegrass Blog!

We would like to wish our readers all the best in the new year, while we strive to retain your support of our work online.

When you need to make a bluegrass purchase in the coming months, please consider patronizing the many fine advertisers who allow us to present the latest news and information online, 24/7, at no cost to our readers. These are uncertain times for the music industry - and for small businesses in general - and we hope that you will support the retailers, labels, instrument makers, events, artists and others who support the music online.

As we bid a fond farewell to 2008 and a hearty welcome to ‘09, there is a lot going on under the hood here at The Bluegrass Blog. We are working on a major redesign and expansion of our online offerings, which we hope to announce in more detail soon.

The end of each year inevitably brings a plethora of countdowns and “best of” events in both television and radio.

And bluegrass music is no different…

Lee Michael Demsey has compiled his Top 40 Bluegrass Songs of 2008, which he will disclose on WAMU’s Bluegrass Country on New Yea’s Eve from 10:00 p.m. until midnight (EST), and again on New Year’s Day from 10:00 a.m. until noon.

Lee has been in charge of putting together the National Bluegrass Survey charts for Bluegrass Unlimited this past 18 year, and has used that information from the past 14 months to create his 2008 Top 40.

“This [year end] chart is not officially sanctioned by BU as being ‘official.’ Songs that first charted in January 2008 and spent the whole year on the chart would have had an unfair advantage over songs that first charted the previous October and had a shorter run on the chart during the calender year of 2008. For that reason, if a song spent at least five months on the chart in 2008, I gave it credit for its points for its entire run, including late 2007. For songs that spent at least five months on the chart at the end of 2008, I extrapolated how the rest of their chart run might actually go, so as not to give them short shrift.

So it’s not an official chart, just an approximation.”

The BU charts are derived from votes cast by prominent bluegrass radio show hosts and syndicators world wide.

You can listen to Lee’s Top 40 countdown tonight and tomorrow morning at www.bluegrasscountry.org. It will also be rebroadcast during the Special Programs slot in the Bluegrass Country schedule later in January.

We’ve posted a number of times about US Navy Band, Country Current, which regularly includes professional bluegrass musicians. The band has maintained a bluegrass unit since 1973 when Bill Emerson joined on banjo.

Bill led the band until his retirement in 1993, at which point that leadership fell to Wayne Taylor who held the spot until he retired in March of this year. Wayne performed through 2008 as a member of Bill’s group, Bill Emerson & Sweet Dixie, and has now launched his own band.

Wayne Taylor and Appaloosa includes Emory Lester on mandolin, Dave Giegerich on resonator guitar, Mark Delaney on banjo, Kip Martin on bass, with Wayne on guitar and lead vocals.

They are in the middle of a recording project, which is expected to be completed in January 2009. Three tracks, Bury Me In Dixie, 40 Years and Oh Merrie, can be heard on the band’s web site. Their sound is reminiscent of prominent Washington, DC area bands like The Country Gentlemen and Seldom Scene - though with Wayne’s distinctive voice out front.

You can find their tour schedule - which includes a September trip to Scotland - online.

Flatpicking Guitar Magazine has committed to capturing performances by today’s top practitioners of the flatpicking art, and bringing those performances to guitar players everywhere via DVD.

Over the last several years they have put forth a number of such DVDs. Each DVD consists of a concert performance by three top players. This year’s offering is no exception.

The National Flatpicking Guitar Championship, held each September since 1972 in Winfield, Kansas, is the most prestigious flatpicking event in the country. Every person who has won this event is a master guitarist of the highest order. In this concert performance DVD, filmed at the Peaceful Bend Americana Music Festival in Steelville, MO, Flatpicking Guitar Magazine and SimpleFolk Productions present three of the National Flatpicking Guitar Championship’s most respected past champions: Robin Kessinger (1985 champ), Mark Cosgrove (1995 champ), and Robert Shafer (1983 and 2000 champ).

The DVD is now available for ordering at FlatpickingMercantile.com.

Here’s a one song trailer for the product. It features the tune When You and I Where Young, Maggie.

In the interest of full disclosure, my company was the production company which filmed and edited this DVD.