I'm happy to say I'll be back in the WSM studios on Friday morning with a few of the Poor Mountain Boys visiting with Bill Cody and Charlie Mattos.
We'll be doing a few tunes off the new CD and talking about our trip to Russia...maybe even telling a few road stories we have yet to share!
If you're in the Nashville area you can listen on your radio at 650-AM on your dial or you can tune in online from anywhere in this big ole world by clicking here.
So tune in at 8:00 a.m. central time or 9:00 a.m. eastern time.
…Now batting relief ……Todd Livingston in for Leah Needham.
Earlier this week Mark Newton’s press release gave us a hint of yet another bluegrass band member change-up (The only thing that changes more often than bluegrass is baseball) when they announced Leah Needham was joining Mark’s trio “The Stillhouse Band”
Clarification from the Dixie Bee Liner’s Buddy Woodward confirmed that Leah was indeed making a switch and according to Woodward, "the parting was amicable".
The Bee Liners press release coming in the form of their regular newsletter states:
Noteworthy News.... In other news, we're bidding farewell to dobroist Leah Needham, who has been appearing with the Bee-Liners on select dates this year. This weekend will mark Leah's final shows with the band. We'll be welcoming back our friend and special guest, Todd Livingston, for several fun shows this fall. Stay tuned for more dobro news!
The Alternate Root Magazine has just announced its first readers choice awards. Nu-Blu is nominated in the Best American Roots Debut Album category for; “Nights”, and Greg Luck is nominated for Fiddle Player of the year. If you would like to vote click here.
In other Nu-Blu News,
NEW VIDEO COMING
This weekend the group will be on the road to Jonesboro TN, where they will be filming a video of “Other Woman’s Blues”, our single release from “The Blu-Disc”. This will be the first music video for the group and naturally they are excited for all of you to see it!
By way of a small teaser, the video just may include a guest appearance by one country music mega-superstar. Be watching for it.
Tom Erickson, C.E.O. and General Manager for the K-JAZZ Radio Network serving Northern Arizona announced this week that the group of stations now feed the world-wide-web with their streaming 24 hours a day.
That means that every Saturday night at 10pm Arizona Time or Sunday morning at 08:00 GMT, you can get your first weekly dose of Prescription Bluegrass or your refill if so desired.
Brian McNeal, host of Prescription Bluegrass says the K-JAZZ Network stations were the very first clinic to offer Prescription Bluegrass and now the entire planet can experience the same Auditory Therapy every Saturday night.
“I'm sitting in Nashville, TN, right now, mixing my new recording, which is scheduled for release on Bill Monroe's 100th birthday, Sept. 13. That is the deadline that we have set for the release, and I seem to be having a hard time keeping up with everything. There are just no blank spaces on my calendar. I keep saying that "next year" things will open up a bit, and then suddenly I''m in the midst of it. I'm just a girl who can't say "No," I guess. I've got to practice that more.”
Other Laurie Lewis News
The radio show, American Routes, was on hand to record the Arhoolie Records' 50th Anniversary Celebration in Berkeley last February (in which Laurie & Tom took part), and the shows have been aired and are available on the internet now. You can listen to both hours of the show here.
In a special tribute to the 50th Anniversary of "The Andy Griffith Show", The Grascals have released a 7-song mini-CD featuring music performed on the show plus a bonus track never heard before.
"I firmly believe that each of the episodes (the Andy Griffith Show) offers up a real moral code that we should all aspire to live by. Smitty and I watch the show every night." - Terry Eldredge
Terry Eldredge, guitarist and one of the founding members of the extremely talented group The Grascalstalked with us on the phone recently.
Edredge is a longtime fan of the show and confesses to have seen each episode numerous times. "The Andy Griffith Show had a moral lesson that every human being should live by," Eldredge comments. "It's an honor and privilege to be associated with the best TV show ever made. It was - and still is - awesome family entertainment."
"I'm Going Back to Old Kentucky (A Bill Monroe Celebration)"
NOW RELEASED!
Rural Rhythm Records is proud to announce today’s new album release, "I’M GOING BACK TO OLD KENTUCKY (A Bill Monroe Celebration)" by Audie Blaylock & Redline. The wealth of talent on this album is certainly a fitting tribute to Bill Monroe - especially this year as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the legend’s birth.
The album includes the talents of Audie Blaylockalong with Redline members: Patrick McAvinue, Reed Jones, and Russ Carson. Special guests on this exciting new album include: Del McCoury, Ronnie McCoury, Bobby Osborne, Glenn Duncan, Carl Jackson, Lou Reid, andJason Carter. Tracks include favorites, "Mighty Dark to Travel", "I'm Going Back to Old Kentucky", "My Little Georgia Rose," and many more!
I’M GOING BACK TO OLD KENTUCKY was recorded at Digital Underground, Engineered by Scott Vestal and Produced by Audie Blaylock. "Audie Blaylock & his Redline band have hit a home run with their new I’M GOING BACK TO OLD KENTUCKY (A Bill Monroe Celebration) CD on Rural Rhythm Records. With special guest vocalists Lou Reid, Bobby Osborne, Carl Jackson and Del McCoury they were able to capture the true Spirt of Bill Monroe's beloved Bluegrass Music,"said Charlie Hall, Radio Host WCYO FM. The entire album, including the first single, "Mighty Dark to Travel" is now available to radio via AirplayDirect.com
Audie Blaylock & Redline have of course also been busy touring and offering up fun new videos for their fans. Redliners, Patrick McAvinue and Russell Carson ride the Powderkeg roller coaster after playing a few shows at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri all the while talking about the new album. Fans will also enjoy their recent performance on Fox 7 TV show in Austin, Texas promoting their appearance at the Old Settler’s Music Festival (see video links below).
West Virginia’s highest folklife honor, The Vandalia Award, will be presented to renowned multi-instrumentalist and advocate for bluegrass and traditional country music, Buddy Griffin, on Friday, May 27, at the 35th Anniversary Vandalia Gathering.
The West Virginia State Division of Culture and History says Buddy Griffin will receive the Vandalia Award at the 35th Vandalia Gathering on Friday. The 7:00 PM ceremony will be held at the Culture Center on the state Capitol grounds. Griffin and his Glenville State Bluegrass Band are scheduled to play.
Griffin played professionally, performing around the country with bluegrass legend Bill Monroe, The Goins Brothers John Hartford and Mother Maybelle Carter. He played with The Dillards during the 1970s and performed on the "Grand Ol Opry," "Mountain Stage" and "A Prairie Home Companion."
In the 1970s and 1980s, Griffin performed on more than 150 commercially available recordings on such labels as Rounder, Rebel, Old Homestead, Folkways, Vetco and Screengems. In 1980 he, along with his parents, performed as featured artists in the internationally distributed documentary Keep On The Sunny Side, which highlighted the historic Carter Family.
During his 40-plus year career, his music nominations and awards have included the Most-Promising Bluegrass Fiddler nomination in 1975; the Branson, Mo., Old-Time Fiddle Champion in 1990; the Branson Fiddler of the Year nomination in 1992; and the Branson Mandolin Player of the Year award in 1992. His live stage appearances have included the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; the Winnipeg, Canada Folk Festival; the Mariposa, Canada Folk Festival; the Festival of the United States in Louisville; the Gold Coast in Las Vegas, and the Cristy Lane Theatre and the Albert E. Brumley Music Show, both in Branson, Mo. Radio and television broadcasts include the Grade Ole Opry, the Ernest Tubb Midnight Jamboree, Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage and a TV Land Television special with Andy Griffith for the dedication of a statue of Griffith in Mount Airy, N.C.
In March 1996, Griffin and his parents won the highly coveted Host’s Favorite Award on A Prarie Home Companion. Between 1995 and 2003, Griffin developed and operated an old-time radio-style creative writing and production workshop for universities, colleges and secondary schools. The program, Radio’s Golden Memories, was developed in conjunction with the WFMT Fine Arts Network in Chicago, and was designed to be an exercise in creative radio writing and production while preserving the artistic heritage of early radio broadcasting in America.
In 1997, Griffin returned home to West Virginia, where he founded the nation’s first degree program in bluegrass music at Glenville State College. Currently he serves as director of cultural events and head of the bluegrass music program at the school. He also has produced more than 250 original Mountain Air syndicated radio programs for the college. He spends his spare time working in his own recording, publishing and production company, Braxton Records, which has released 16 acoustic music albums on cassette or CD in the past few years.
For more information about the Vandalia Gathering and the Vandalia Award, contact Caryn Gresham, deputy commissioner for the Division, at (304) 558-0220.
We heard from Donna Ulisse that her band has been invited to go to Russia.
Donna Says:
The tour season for us is fast approaching and we've been adding some really interesting and exciting shows to my schedule. One that I can hardly wait to tell you about is...banjo roll please...we are going to RUSSIA! That's right, the country! We have been invited by the U.S-Russia Bi-Lateral Presidential Commission to perform at the second bluegrass festival in Russia. We will do two days of shows in Vologda and two days in Yekaterinburg as "bluegrass ambassadors" from the United States along with some of the fine Russian bluegrass bands. Here is a copy of the Bluegrass Bugle from the Bi-Lateral Commission that gives you an idea of what our trip will be like. We'll take lots of pictures and try to post on Facebook while we are there.
Last year Pete and Joan Wernick were the headlining act at the first bluegrass festival in Russia. Click here to read about their visit last year.
Dixie Bee Liners L-R: Sara Needham, Sav Sankaran, Brandi
Hart, Leah Needham, Zachary Mongan,
Buddy Woodward
Welcome to the Dixie Bee Liners, our Special Guest Bloggers this month as they run down the highway sharing the blogging duties and driving duties alternately while on their way to some special shows. We'll let them tell you all about it. We're just a tad late posting their first story due to some technical glitches but continue to watch for more updates from one of Bluegrass and Acoustic Music's most exciting groups. Their first entry is written by founding member and mandolinist Buddy Woodward.
WILKESBORO, N.C. (April 29, 2011)—MerleFest 2011, presented by Lowe’s, held the Doc Watson Guitar Championship on Thursday, April 28 and the Merle Watson Bluegrass Banjo Contest on Friday, April 29.
That's what the IBMA Board of Directors heard through the various communication pipelines and surveys they've been listening to and reading.
More Music is what they will be delivering at the 2011 conference scheduled for Sept./Oct. in Nashville, TN.
IBMA Pres. Stan Zdonik
In an open letter to the membership and the bluegrass community, Board President, Stan Zdonik says, "You can expect to see and hear more great music than ever."
This will happen in several ways according to Zdonik. Through the expansion of the schedule to include more "after hours" showcases, and through the opening of more common areas to accommodate more jamming, socializing and networking are just a couple of ways the IBMA board and committees will be changing the conference landscape for 2011.
Other big news concerning the conference is that the public will be allowed access to the common areas without charge and more ala carte pricing will be featured this year. IBMA Executive Director Dan Hayes talked with Prescription Bluegrass Radio about these new elements of The 2011 World of Bluegrass business conference and FanFest to be held at the Nashville Convention Center Sept. 26 - Oct. 2.
READ Stan Zdonik's full message - click Read More:
The band recently sat down with Pop Matters' J.C. Sciaccotta to discuss their relationship with their fans, the dangers of cover tunes, and the future of YMSB.
They review the changes the band has seen in the last ten years as from the addition of percussion to the band's penchant for eclectic covers of tunes from other genres.
Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper will be featured guests of Ronnie Reno and his popular RFD TV show "Reno's Old Time Music Festival" this Saturday, March 19th at 7:00pm EST (4:00pm PST).
This will be a great opportunity for fans to get a sneak peak into the music on the Fired Up as the band performed several new tunes from the project. Flamekeeper was also joined onstage by the show's host, Ronnie Reno for a number.
In addition, Michael Cleveland, Tom Adams and Ronnie have an interview segment as well as a pickin' session that includes Michael, Jesse Brock, Marshall Wilborne and Reno Tradition band members Mike Scott and John Mayberry.
Cody and Charlie Mattos.
