Leigh Gibson – T-Shirt Designer

Designer wear from Leigh Gibson!  Well, we’re not sure that’s exactly what the label says but you can bet that if you’re wearing one of the new Barry Bales Bass shirts….you’ve got Leigh Gibson’s designer artwork.

According to Bales here’s how it happened:

Stillhouse Band Adds New Bass Player

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (August 7, 2012) - Mark Newton and Steve Thomas  announce the addition of Matt Wallace to the StillHouse Band line up.

Wallace will start performing with the band in the next few weeks during live shows and will be in the studio with Newton and Thomas as the band works on their upcoming CD to be released later this year or early 2013. The addition of Wallace to the group brings a solid, experienced bass player as well as baritone and lead singer to the ensemble.

Wallace grew up in the Knoxville, Tennessee area and continues to live there today with his wife and two sons. He has toured with some of the best in bluegrass to include his most recent position as bass player for David Parmley and Continental Divide.

Bass Player John Bradley To Carolina Road

Carolina Road is proud to announce the addition of John Bradley to the line up.

John is the son of Dale Ann Bradley (a name many of our fans will recognize) and has joined the band on bass duty. 

While at Berea College he majored in music and minored in political science. He considers Berea his home, having lived there for the past 10 years.

On campus, he was in the wind and jazz ensembles and he played string bass in the Bluegrass Ensemble. We look forward to having him with the band!

Three Tall Pines Adds New Bass Player!

The Boston based bluegrass band Three Tall Pines, a band Performer Magazine calls “bluegrass at its best” is excited to announce the addition of Nick DiSebastian as the new bass player for the band.

Nick DiSebastian is a multi-instrumentalist currently residing in Boston, MA. Stylistically he is rooted in bluegrass and country music but has an affection for jazz, Motown, rock, and Latin styles.

Master Songwriting Class to be Taught by Claire Lynch

To call Claire Lynch a first-class songwriter is a serious understatement.  We once said that if Ms. Lynch had been born a hundred years ago she could have stopped old A.P. Carter from tramping the hills looking for good material for the Carter Family to record – meaning that she could just write all they needed and we believe they’d still have produced the enormous catalog of wonderful songs.  Of course that’s much like going back in time and meeting a direct ancestor whom you then influence to the degree that you are never born.  None the less, suffice it to say that the caliber of Ms. Lynch’s songwriting, albeit influenced by the Carters and everyone afterwards,  still has that cut-to-the-bone, I-know-exactly-how-you-feel type of emotion crafted into every line.   

We can only imagine what it may have been like to work with A. P. Carter as he collected material and subsequently crafted it into any one of those great Carter Family songs.   So,  to see a post in the Boston Bluegrass Union Newsletter regarding an upcoming Songwriting Class taught by Ms. Lynch may be about as close as one could get.  

Songwriting taught by Claire Lynch
The songwriting class with Claire Lynch will cover tips and information for writing a solid song. Some subjects covered will be line construction, focus, lyric relation to melody, rhythm and rhyme, the re-writing process and simplicity of communication.

Additionally, Claire will offer insights on staff writing for a publisher, pitching your songs and business aspects of songwriting. Students will be allowed to present their songs for helpful comments and constructive criticism. Q&A and group discussion will also be encouraged.

Long recognized and praised as a creative force in acoustic music, Claire Lynch is a pioneer who continually pushes the boundaries of the bluegrass genre. The current Claire Lynch Band is a powerful juggernaut, a quartet that has the innate ability to perfectly interpret the beauty, subtlety, and genre-defying sophistication of Claire’s music.

Claire’s career is fittingly bookended by two IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year awards:  in 2010, in recognition of her current work with the Claire Lynch Band, and in 1997, for her influential work with the Front Porch String Band, and as a solo artist. Claire was nominated for the 2011 IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year Award. As a songwriter, her tunes have been recorded by such luminaries as Patty Loveless, The Seldom Scene, Cherryholmes, Kathy Mattea, the Whites and Stephanie Davis.

For registration, email Claire: clairelynchband@gmail.com

Making Music Magazine Features Bluegrass in July Issue

For anyone seeing an authentic bluegrass band for the first time, the unique instrumentation, driving tempos, soulful harmonies, and fierce, piercing tenor singing can be a lot to take. The sharp suits and masterfully virtuosic musicianship defy any “hillbilly” stereotype of its southern Appalachian roots, and it’s hard to disagree that ace bluegrass musicians are among the best of any genre.
Making Music staff writer, Jason Borisoff, also a member of the Salt City Ramblers of Syracuse, NY. has a feature article in the July issue of Making Music Magazine called “The Lonesome Language – A Helpful Guide to Bluegrass Music.