Monthly Archives: September 2020

Singers and pickers are the most visible stars in bluegrass, but as with any venture, much of the work and preparation is done by those behind the scenes – the promoters, songwriters, broadcasters, CD and poster designers, and journalists.

But today was their day to shine, as IBMA announced the winners of the 2020 Industry Awards and the Distinguished Achievement Awards.

The winners of the Distinguished Achievement Awards are Wayne Rice, picker and host of the long-running Bluegrass Special radio show on KSON in San Diego; fiddler Darol Anger of the David Grisman Quintet; festival promoters Norman and Judy Adams; Darrel and Phyllis Adkins, who founded Musicians Against Childhood Cancer in memory of their daughter, Mandy; and Jack Tottle, an inventive mandolin player best known for pioneering the bluegrass studies program at East Tennessee State University.

Winners of the Industry Awards:

• Graphic Designer of the Year: Michael Armisted, for the second straight year
• Broadcaster of the Year: Michael Kear, whose show airs in Australia and in the United States
• Liner Notes: Katy Daley, for the re-release of the Seldom Scene’s Live From the Cellar Door on Rebel Records
• Engineer of the Year: Stephen Mougin, of Dark Shadows Recording
• Event of the Year: Augusta Heritage Center’s Bluegrass Week, in Elkins, WV
• Songwriter of the Year: Milan Miller.
• Writer (journalist) of the Year: Derek Halsey.

As an aside, I’m really feeling the pandemic blues today, and mourning the fact that World of Bluegrass is virtual this year. In safer, healthier times, I would have presented the writer trophy to Derek in person, by virtue of winning the award last year. Nobody works harder, and I’m glad to see him recognized after being a finalist so many times (10) that some friends took to calling him the Susan Lucci of bluegrass. Lucci, an actress, finally won an Emmy the 19th time she was nominated.

One of the great mysteries of bluegrass – how so many different bluegrass charts come up with such divergent results – is a little less puzzling today, thanks to one of the best panels I’ve heard in 11 years of attending IBMA World of Bluegrass conferences.

With writer and DJ Daniel Mullins moderating, four creators and managers of major charts pulled back the curtain a bit on their processes. Thanks to five of them, the next time someone asks me a question about the charts – probably the most-asked query I get after, “will you review my record?” – I’ll have an answer.

The panelists represented three major bluegrass charts: Lee Michael Demsey, who compiles the Bluegrass Unlimited chart; Terry Herd, Bluegrass Today founder and creator of the site’s Bluegrass, Grassicana and Gospel charts; and Jim Asker, in charge of Billboard’s bluegrass chart. Adding a Gospel perspective was Rick Francis, of Singing News.

Here, in a nutshell, is how each chart works:

Bluegrass Unlimited: Demsey, a highly regarded DJ in the Washington, DC, area, has been compiling the monthly chart for 30 years. Each reporting DJ, mostly those who are on the air at least two hours a week and who play a lot of new music, submits a Top 10 list each month, with no more than two songs per artist. Demsey assigns points to each song mentioned, with 10 points for first place, 9 for second, and so on. The criteria that each DJ uses is rather loose, and subjective. Lists can be based on spins, but DJs can also use their own judgment, listener requests, or other yardsticks.

Bluegrass Today: This weekly chart is driven by spins, or airplay, as reported by DJs on terrestrial or satellite radio, so there’s less subjectivity than in other charts, Herd said. Some DJs have more of a say than others. For example, if a DJ for one station plays the song one time, that’s one spin. But if a DJ whose show is syndicated to, say, 50 stations, plays a song once, that one spin counts as 50. Then there’s SiriusXM’s Bluegrass Junction. It would be unfair to consider the channel as being a separate station in every town, Herd said, but it would be seriously underrepresented to count each spin just once. So the chart applies a multiplier to the actual spin count.

Billboard: The bluegrass album chart that Asker manages is based strictly on sales, but not, to the consternation of some artists and labels, not all sales. The sales numbers come from Nielsen, the tracking service that Billboard used to partner with and now owns. Because many bluegrass recordings are sold directly by artists at festivals and shows, or on their websites, and because many artists aren’t using Nielsen tracking codes, some music falls through the cracks. But some good news might be coming soon. Asker said Billboard is expected to switch the bluegrass chart to a consumption-based model in the near future, counting terrestrial radio plays and, in some manner, streams.

Singing News: The publication keeps charts for Southern Gospel and Bluegrass Gospel, generally giving the artists and labels the right to pick their category. Francis said DJs from 11 stations report their top 5 songs each month. He uses a 5-4-3-2-1 point system to compile separate Top 10 charts for SoGo and Bluegrass Gosepel.

The most common question each chart manager gets is what artists can do to help their songs chart, and they all have similar answers: Network. Talk to the DJs, make sure they have your new music, be friendly.

“First, you’ve gotta have a great song,” Herd said, and it has be available to DJs, through email, AirPlay Direct or other means. “If they don’t have it, they can’t play it. If they can’t play it, they can’t report it. And if they can’t report it, it can’t chart.”

If you’re registered for the IBMA business conference, check out an on-demand replay of the session. It’s well worth 55 minutes of your time.

In keeping with tradition – and we wouldn’t want to break with tradition now, would we – Chris has delivered his weekly column during World of Bluegrass 2020 on video. Virtually, so to speak.

Neither a global pandemic nor intermittent showers could dampen the spirit nor the music this past weekend at the Denton FarmPark in central North Carolina. Doyle Lawson’s 40th Annual Bluegrass Festival was one for the record books.

With seating spaced to maintain social distancing and a covered pavilion to keep attendees dry, the event ran safely and smoothly. Everyone present just seemed happy to be there, listening to live music, and reuniting with longtime friends. 

“I’m just happy to be back with my bluegrass family,” expressed one fan.

“We’re glad to be at a REAL bluegrass festival playing for REAL people,” Melanie Williamson of Williamson Branch announced during their first set.

Host, Doyle Lawson, stressed, “With this COVID mess, Karen (Miller) and I held out as long as we could. We made a decision and moved the festival (from May) to September. It was a wait and see thing.”

“We were blessed to have a great crowd. Bottom line: I love being back to pick and sing. I thank the good Lord that we were able to have the festival.”

Park co-owner, Karen Miller, agreed. “We are thankful to the Lord. What could have been a washed out weekend turned out really good. We had 309 campers in the park plus many camping in the rough.”

She added, “I miss Daddy being here.”

Denton FarmPark founder, Brown Loflin, passed away last September, leaving the duties to his family.

“I miss Brown and other people here do, too.” Ruby, his widow, stated.

The Loflin family worked closely with local authorities to maintain the annual music event, and keep the festival safe for attendees.

Afternoon emcee, Bob Webster, noted that the family style festival presented a family band performing on the stage each day. Trinity River Band appeared on Thursday, Mountain Highway on Friday, and Williamson Branch on Saturday.

The three day event also offered changes, substitutions, and surprises that made for a memorable weekend. There were changes from the initial line-up due to the pandemic. Fast Track filled in for Donna Ulisse on Thursday and IIIrd Tyme Out took Larry Sparks’ spot on Saturday evening. Bailey Coe (Sideline alum) and Lee Sawyer subbed for Drive Time’s bassist, Grayson Tuttle, who was in the midst of clinicals. Jeff Parker pinch hit for Mike Terry of Radio Ramblers. Terry was by the bedside of his ailing father.

Joe Mullins explained, “First time we played with Jeff was about 30 minutes before we came on stage.”

Parker hit a home run, playing all the mandolin breaks and singing the third part on the band’s trio numbers.

“I studied their material,” the mando man admitted, but with only a couple of days to prepare.

There were several firsts at the festival. Kevin Richardson debuted as Merle Monroe’s new guitar player. Lawson’s alum, Stephen Burwell, guested with original Quicksilver on Thursday evening, then joined Doyle’s new fiddler, Matt Flake, for twin fiddling during Quicksilver’s Friday and Saturday performances. Attendees were introduced to Doyle’s new ensemble with Eli Johnston returning to the band, but this time on banjo. Ben James, a guitarist from Hickory, NC, blew the crowd away with his large voice. There was some swapping of instruments when bassist, Jerry Cole, would switch to rhythm guitar and Flake would move to bass for some of the numbers.

 A nice surprise on Saturday morning was the powerhouse singing of the National Anthem by 18 year old, Caroline Owens of the Garrett Newton Band, that revved up the audience and spring-boarded the festival into a high energy afternoon and evening.

Even with laryngitis, Sideline’s Steve Dilling gave it his all. He whispered into the microphone and pointed, “This festival means a lot to me. In 1981, I sat right there on the front row.”

Scott Burgess of Deeper Shade of Blue told those assembled, “I know we’re living in trying times, but we serve a higher power and we know who’s in control.”

Lawson was obviously pleased with the 40th festival that bears his name. Evening emcee, Jeff Branch, presented Doyle with a placard filled with signatures of performers from the festival.

Doyle concluded, “Milton Harkey came to me with the idea of this festival. It has turned into just what I wanted, a family style festival. I look out and see children, their parents, and grandparents.”

Today is a day that Melody Williamson won’t soon forget. This afternoon, the talented fiddler and singer with Williamson Branch accepted the 2020 Momentum Vocalist Award during IBMA’s Momentum Awards ceremony, streamed virtually online.

And this evening she has announced her engagement to Geoffrey Keyes. The North Carolina native is likewise deeply involved in the bluegrass music industry, as an audio engineer in the studio and on the road. He has provided live audio at many events, including ones for IBMA and the National Folk Festival, and has done sound for Dailey & Vincent on tour and for their television program, aired on the Circle network.

In typical fashion, Melody’s dad greeted the announcement with good natured wit. “We don’t look at it as losing a daughter, we look at it as gaining a sound man.”

Geoffrey and Melody have been dating for about two years now, having met while he was running sound at the Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver bluegrass festival in North Carolina. Their first date came about six months later, and he was stealthily introduced last year in the Williamson Branch music video for Blue Moon Over Texas, from their current Pinecastle album, Classy, Sassy, Bluegrassy. Keyes played the cowboy in the video snuggling up with Melody.

Geoffrey proposed back in mid-August, in a gazebo he had decorated for the occasion. The couple has not yet announced a date, but have a wedding site online with tons of pictures of them together, including the day she said, “yes.”

We wish the very best of luck to Melody and Geoffrey – there’s nothing cuter than a bluegrass couple!

The announcement of the Momentum Awards for newer performers has been a highlight of my World of Bluegrass experience in recent years, and this year was no exception.

As the finalists are announced and the winners selected, you can’t help but come away thinking that the future of bluegrass is in good hands, not only in the US and Canada, but in Europe and elsewhere. And it’s fun to keep score when many of the nominees and winners end up on the big stage for the Awards Show in future years.

This year’s virtual ceremony was compact – less than an hour – but chock full of great music from the five band-of-the-year finalists, and it was kept moving by host Stephen Mougin, himself a past winner of the Momentum Mentor of the Year trophy.

The 2020 winners are:

• Industry Involvement: Kris Truelsen, Radio Bristol
• Instrumentalists of the Year (two winners): Banjo player Tabitha Agnew and mandolinist Thomas Cassell
• Vocalist of the Year: Melody Williamson
• Band of the Year: The Slocan Ramblers
• Mentor of the Year: Annie Savage

You can catch some of these pickers, performers and bands this week during IBMAs virtual World of Bluegrass. And soon, hopefully, you’ll be able to catch them live at festivals and shows.

Congratulations to the winners, and to all of the nominees.

It was only this past December that we announced that bluegrass veteran Jeff Parker had brought his young guitarist and vocalist, Colin Ray, in as a partner in the band they were promoting. The group had appeared as a showcase act on the 2019 Bluegrass Ramble at last year’s World of Bluegrass in Raleigh, where they ignited a great deal of interest.

Colin has a lovely singing voice, and Jeff’s has been a staple of top groups like Lonesome River Band and Dailey & Vincent, and the pair of them sang beautifully together. Ray actually sings even higher than Parker!

But the emergence of the novel coronavirus this winter, and the show cancellations that followed the widespread lockdowns, have claimed them as a victim.

Speaking with Jeff this morning, we learned that they have decided to call it quits. Parker told us, “Due to COVID and everything that’s happening, we have decided to disband Jeff Parker and Colin Ray.”

“At the start I figured to give it three years, but COVID has changed our plans. Like everyone else, we have lost 2020, and with all that is going on with promoters, and I don’t think we can get our price back up for 2021 to where it needs to be to keep going.

At my age, I just don’t have two more years to build this up to where it can support us. It’s unfortunate that we hit at a bad time with this new act, but there you go.”

The recently completed album by the Parker/Ray partnership, My Home Town, will be released as planned. Bluegrass radio can expect to hear more about that soon.

“I’m going to make myself available as a sideman if anyone needs me, and do others things like teach my lessons,” said Jeff.

“We part as friends, and I’m saddened about it, but we’ve got to move on.”

We will speak with Colin later this week about his future plans. Look for that on Thursday.

Farewell Jeff Parker and Colin Ray. We barely knew ye.

‘Bonnie Lou’ Margaret Moore, of the east Tennessee region country/bluegrass/Gospel duo, Bonnie Lou & Buster, passed away on September 21, 2020, aged 93. 

Born Margaret Louise Bell on June 4, 1927, she was a native of Etowah, North Carolina. As a child guitar player and singer ‘Bonnie Lou’ and her younger brother Lloyd were guests on Asheville’s Radio WWNC Farm Hour program. 

Later she met Herbert ‘Buster’ Moore and in August 1945 they married after his discharge from the Army, and he resumed playing with Carl Story’s Rambling Mountaineers as he had prior to WWII. Then Moore relocated to WROL, Knoxville, Tennessee, where he led the Dixie Partners and worked with Ray Atkins and the Morris Brothers. They appeared twice a week at a government recreational hall in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, also. 

Bonnie Lou became a member of the show when her husband asked her to fill in for a sick band member, and she became so popular that she was kept on, and did most of the advertising on the show. At this point she was given the name ‘Bonnie Lou’ since it rolled off the tongue better when paired with ‘Buster’. 

During the early years Buster Moore and His Dixie Partners worked in east Tennessee, in Greenville, South Carolina (with Don Reno); on WRAL, Raleigh, North Carolina – the group then included Buster (mandolin and banjo), Bonnie Lou (guitar), Lloyd Bell (electric bass guitar), Carl Butler (guitar) and Art Wootten (fiddle); in May 1947 they were at WPTF in Raleigh; for several months they then did well working in eastern North Carolina; and they played Saturday shows on The Old Dominion Barn Dance on WRVA in Richmond. 

The following year the group returned to Knoxville, working at WNOX, where they appeared regularly on The Mid-Day Merry-Go-Round as well as the Saturday night show, The Tennessee Barn Dance. The group then consisted of Buster, Bonnie Lou, Lloyd Bell and Willie G. Brewster (fiddle). 

Bonnie Lou & Buster continued to work on radio for several years, spending some time in Memphis, working a mid-day program with Lighting Chance (bass) and Paul Buskirk (mandolin); after a brief hiatus from the entertainment business, Bonnie Lou, Buster and the Tennessee Sweethearts as they became known, went to work at WSVA Harrisonburg, Virginia; and, linking up with his former boss Carl Story, Buster and Bonnie Lou moved to WCYB, Bristol. 

In 1953 Bonnie Lou & Buster become one of the first live television acts for Johnson City, Tennessee’s WJHL. Their three-day-a-week early evening music show, that included Lloyd Bell, Homer Harris (the Seven Foot Cowboy) and some fine banjo work from Chuck Henderson, the Carolina Indian, lasted until 1963. 

In the early 1960s, they began performing on the Jim Walter Jubilee show, sponsored by Jim Walter Homes. This enabled them to eliminate much of their traveling, since most of the shows were recorded at WATE-TV in Knoxville. They remained on the show for 21 years until it went off the air in 1982.

Bonnie Lou and Buster Moore appeared in the major Hollywood romantic drama film, Walk In The Spring Rain (1970), that starred Ingrid Berman and Anthony Quinn. The location scenes were filmed in and around Gatlinburg in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. 

Two years later the couple moved to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and opened their own nightly live show, The Smoky Mountain Hayride, at the Coliseum Theater, playing throughout the tourist season.

Apart from themselves, the show featured steel guitarist Little Roy Wiggins, Don McHan, and many other traditional acts with whom Bonnie Lou & Buster had worked during their many years in the music.

They retired in 1994 and Buster Moore passed away on January 13, 1996. Since then Bonnie Lou sang only in her church choir.

Beginning in 1949 Bonnie Lou & Buster (and The Mountain Music Makers)/The Dixie Partners recorded throughout most of their career, with four sides for Mercury, and four cuts for ACME. 

These were followed by several albums – Hymn Time (Waterfall LP 1, released in 1963); Bonnie and Buster Sing Country, Bluegrass and Gospel (Angel 577177, 1977); Bonnie Lou and Buster Sing Gospel/Country and Bluegrass Style (Angel  33582/Mastercor MLP 2882, 1982); Smoky Mountain Hayride Show (Green, 1983); Homecoming Gospel (Bonnie Lou and Buster 1078, 1986); a sequence of four Gospel music releases for the Crystal label; and two other singles, one on Riviera and another on Smokey Mtn. Records. 

Bonnie Lou and her brother are noted as Pioneers of Bluegrass by the IBMM. 

In February 2012 ‘Bonnie Lou’ Moore reflected on the role that she played in music and TV history. 

R.I.P. ‘Bonnie Lou’ Moore. 

A graveside service will be held on Friday, September 25, 2020, at 11:00am at White Pine Cemetery in White Pine, TN.

Here are the tracks from the Bonnie Lou & Buster – Sing Country, Bluegrass & Gospel LP ….  

Footnote: 

Bonnie Lou should not be confused with the singer of the same name who was a King recording artist and a regular on The Midwestern Hayride.

William E McEuen, known widely as Bill, has passed at 79 years of age. He died on Thursday, September 24, with the news shared by his brother, prolific multi-instrumentalist and award winning artist, John McEuen.

Bill had been involved in John’s career since the beginning, starting out as his first music teacher showing the younger brother how to play guitar. He served as manager for Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in the early days, getting them their first record label contract, and steering them in many positive directions as the band’s popularity grew.

On the first two Dirt Band albums, Bill wrote songs and contributed photos, until on their third, Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy, which included their first hit, Mr. Bojangles, in 1970, the older McEuen served as producer and engineer. And he was deeply involved in the band’s iconic Will The Circle Be Unbroken album, which released as a three-LP set in 1972. Bill was producer and engineer, contributed photography, played guitar, and handled the art direction for this milestone release. John McEuen has also credited much of the initial concept for the album to his brother.

Bill continued to produce the group’s subsequent records, before embarking on a new direction in comedy and film, working closely with Steve Martin, who had been a family friend since John and he became friends in high school. McEuen produced and engineered Martin’s first four comedy albums, which include the breakout A Wild and Crazy Guy in 1978. He followed Steve to the film studio producing The Jerk in 1979 through the company he and Martin founded, Aspen Film Society. That success was duplicated with other hits like Pee Wee’s Big Adventure and The Man With Two Brains.

But success in Hollywood didn’t dull Bill’s enthusiasm for music. He continued to produce for John, including his two highly-regarded String Wizards albums and The Essential Earl Scruggs in 2004.

His are contributions that anyone involved with the world of creative arts would be proud to call their own. John and Bill McEuen remained close until the end.

John shared these words at the end of a Facebook post noting the loss of his brother.

“William E. was mentor to many who continue today in showbusiness doing great things.

He leaves behind his wife and business partner Alice (Alice did the calligraphy on ‘Circle’); brother John, and a bunch of singing, laughing, and dancing people with happy feet who loved what he brought them. He KNEW what they would like!

‘Bill’, aka William E. McEuen, has left the building.”

R.I.P., Bill McEuen.

We can perhaps all agree that someone who steals instruments from a working musician is among the lowest of the low. Like all lawbreakers, they deserve the full punishment the statutes allow, but within the community of players, we reserve a special place in the lowest level of hell for such as these.

We have learned that Jordan Foster of Knoxville, TN had his band vehicle broken into in Richmond, KY on Saturday night in the parking lot of the Quality Inn, next door to the Champions Bar where they were playing over the weekend. Taken were his Collins D1A Varnish model guitar, his Fender banjo, and a custom rosewood Tele. Also stolen were a fiddle and bow, and a total of $15,000 worth of band equipment.

Jordan has posted photos on his Facebook page, not only of the instruments, but also of the suspected thief taken from hotel security cameras. As always, speed is of the essence in returning stolen items of any kind, as thieves typically look to sell their booty as quickly as possible.

Please have a look at Jordan’s photos, especially if you live in central Kentucky, and report back to him online. A reward of $2000 is in the offing.

Ready or not… here we go! The International Bluegrass Music Association staff and volunteers have been working double overtime this past few weeks, putting together the finishing touches on their first online, all virtual World of Bluegrass celebration.

As we have mentioned before, the annual convention, along with the IBMA Bluegrass Awards, and the big weekend music festival, IBMA Bluegrass Live!, have been held of late in Raleigh, NC, but as the Governor of the state had not cleared the return of large gatherings, the organization was forced to either cancel, or go virtual. And we see what they chose.

So the IBMA had to figure out and learn to implement a new software interface, called Swapcard, created especially for online integration of virtual conferencing. This Swapcard interface will be the home base for all World of Bluegrass week events.

You may have seen our earlier reporting that many aspects of the conference will be available free to all online, but there is this important caveat. Even though access is available at no charge, you will still need to register through Swapcard for the free Music Pass. This will gain you admission to all of the Bluegrass Ramble showcase performances during the week, plus the three awards presentations.

In order to view and attend the virtual seminar sessions, invited speakers, keynote address, artist-to-artists meetings, constituency meetings and the like, you will need to be fully registered for the conference. IBMA is offering a steeply discounted price for this registration, only $99 for IBMA members, and $149 for non-members.

Registration for either the free Music Pass or full WOB registration can be quickly completed online.

Things kick off this morning (September 28) at 11:20 a.m. (EDT) with the welcoming Keynote Address from Sarah Jarosz. This will be followed by a number of informative sessions, including the ever popular Gig Fair where artists can connect directly with event producers and show bookers for major bluegrass festivals and concerts series.

Then at 8:00 p.m., Bluegrass Ramble showcases begin, with the opportunity to check out fast rising new bands as well as established acts performing in pre-recorded, live sets from various stages and locations around the world. Don’t forget that you need the free Music Pass registration to catch these sets.

It is our understanding that some aspects of the conference will be available for viewing after the fact as well. As soon as we receive clarification from the IBMA about this question, we will update this article with details.

We will offer some coverage of the elements of the World of Bluegrass not open to all, as well as the Momentum Awards, the Industry Awards, and the IBMA Bluegrass Awards here at Bluegrass Today. Like all regular attendees, we will miss the camaraderie, the craziness, the late night jamming, and the live music everywhere at the physical conference in Raleigh, and look forward to seeing everyone in person again next year.

Bluegrass Today will be involved in a couple of seminar presentations this week. On Tuesday (September 29) I will serve on a panel with Bill Evans, Kimberly Williams, and Jeri Goldstein called What A Way To Make A Living: Turning Transitions Into A Career Strategy. We will discuss the many ways one can be involved in the music industry other than as a performer, and how we can all use the various experience we collect working in the business to create a career for ourselves. It begins at noon.

Then on Wednesday (9/30), Terry Herd will be take part in a panel discussion on Bluegrass Charts: Behind The Scenes, along with Daniel Mullins, Lee Demsey, and Rick Francis. This one also begins at noon, and will cover the importance of the charts we see in our industry, how they work, and how you can use chart position to your advantage.

Happy World of Bluegrass everyone – and don’t forget to donate what you can to support the IBMA through this difficult time!

Mountain Home Music has another single release today from their upcoming debut project for The Alex Leach Band.

Bluegrass fans have known Alex from his several years playing banjo and singing tenor with Ralph Stanley II, and from his own solo recordings. Others recognize his voice from his long service as an on-air host at WDVX in Knoxville, where he has been a popular radio personality since he was in his teens.

But now folks are recognizing Leach for the powerful sound he is generating with his own band. This first album finds him in an interesting position; known for some time as a staunch proponent of traditional mountain music, Alex teamed up in the studio with Americana icon Jim Lauderdale producing. The result shows just how wide this talented young artist’s range actually is.

This latest single, October Fall, is a song that Leach says he had been carrying with him for some time.

“I was hanging in Georgia with a fellow musician and good friend of mine, Evan Rose, about 11 or 12 years ago when he sang a song for me that he was working on. I could tell it had a deep meaning with him, but wasn’t sure of the whole story behind it. I carried the words and melody with me for many years before I brought it back out and added another verse to it. The writing of this song spans over a decade, and I hope it will hit home to listeners who may have dealt with losing a close friend in their adolescence.”

For Rose, it was a true story from his life, telling of the traumatic loss of someone dear to him in his youth, and the memories being all that remains.

“I was remembering the times I had with a good friend. She and I always hung out during the October festival in Guyton, Georgia. When we were both in our teens, her life was cut tragically short. This song reflects some of our special adventures together.”

Here’s a taste in this video preview.

October Fall is available now wherever you stream or download music online, and to radio programmers via AirPlay Direct.

Even in the midst of a pandemic, the show must go on and that is what is happening this weekend at the 40th Annual Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver Festival held at Denton FarmPark in central North Carolina.

The event has faced several challenges. Its promoter, Brown Loflin, passed away last September. The festival, normally held on Mother’s Day weekend in May, was postponed until the last weekend in September due to the Coronavirus outbreak and the mandated stay-at-home orders. Loflin’s daughter, Karen Miller, and other family members plus the host performer, Doyle Lawson, have labored to still make the musical event a success.

Musicians are eager to perform and fans are hungry for live shows. A large, socially distanced crowd assembled in and around the concert hall.

“How’s your 2020 been?” asked Christopher Malpass of the Malpass Brothers from Goldsboro, NC. “It’s good to be back at the best festival there is!”

Keeping it lighthearted, brother Taylor Malpass stated, “I had a friend who had the Bud Lite virus.”

Christopher responded, “I think you mean Coronavirus.”

“I knew it was some kind of beer,” Taylor returned.

The duo then launched into their version of Merle Haggard’s Are the Good Times Really Over?

Their special lyrics included, “It was back before Elvis and the Coronavirus came along…”

Striving to keep things positive, Fast Track bassist, Ron Spears, joked about the wearing of masks, “You can go in Walmart now and there are no ugly people.”

Spears then invited music fans, “We have a new CD. We’ll elbow bump at the record table.”

The park is taking measures to maintain a safe and enjoyable environment for everyone.

“We are providing hand sanitizer at the gates, marking off 6 feet distance around the vendors, and marking off portions of the benches under the music hall to get the 6 feet distance as much as possible, and recommending wearing masks,” Miller explained.

Afternoon emcee, Bob Webster, explained to attendees. “As you leave for the evening, take your chairs and blankets with you as we will be spraying the auditorium with disinfectant to keep everyone safe.”

The event kicked off today with performances by Remington Ryde, Trinity River Band, Fast Track, the Malpass Brothers, and the highlight of the evening, a reunion concert by the original Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver. Sitting in with Lawson, Terry Baucom, Lou Reid, and Jimmy Haley will be former Quicksilver fiddler, Stephen Burwell.

Friday’s line-up includes the Lonesome River Band, Merle Monroe, Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers, and others. The current band of Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver will be performing both Friday and Saturday. Both days begin at noon and run until 11:00 p.m.

Saturday’s show kicks off with North Carolina-based band, Drive Time, followed with performances by Williamson Branch, Deeper Shade of Blue, Sideline, and IIIrd Tyme Out.

Miller concluded, “The RV’s have rolled in for the first day of the festival! Our visitors are so excited about the festival! We at Denton FarmPark are honored that we have hosted Doyle’s festival for 40 years! We have enjoyed working with Doyle and are proud of the relationship we have built over the years.”

The event is a family style festival and no alcoholic beverages are allowed. Denton FarmPark is located at 1072 Cranford Road, Denton, NC. 

Theo & Brenna have a new single which officially releases tomorrow, and we are pleased to give everyone a sneak preview at Bluegrass Today.

And before you remark that they make a handsome couple, Theo and Brenna McMillan are a brother and sister duet team from Kentucky who made the move to Nashville to pursue their musical dreams. The two share both singing and songwriting duties, and front a band of very talented pickers there in town, but for the new single, it’s just the two of them assisted by Gaven Largent on reso-guitar and Evan Winsor on bass.

Brenna takes the lead on Let Us Breathe Again, a song they wrote together when the music stopped in Nashville – and everywhere else – when local and state authorities closed things down in reaction to the virus.

She told us that she wrote the first draft, and finished it with her brother’s help, and sees the song as a sort of shutdown diary.

“We spent the first month or so of the shutdown in our house looking out at the world, kind of in disbelief and confusion for awhile. We got to watch a robin build a nest, have eggs, and feed her babies right on Theo’s windowsill. That was a lovely distraction and encouragement for us. There was so much fear at the beginning of the virus, and so many people had to adjust their lives and finances to survive. So it’s a song of the times for the most part, just observations on what I saw happening around me.

I refer to personal situations of my friends in the song as well, but the overview is people scrambling to try to school their children or switching jobs, scraping by, not being able to see relatives, stores closing right and left. It was mayhem, as we all know!

The last verse is a hopeful mindset towards some sort of return to normalcy… and to me, that’s going to all of my favorite bars in Nashville and listen to my friends play and watch folks dancing. I was thinking about the Local, on West End, where strangers have the chance to come hang out at a real honky tonk and dance with whoever they want, to Chris Scruggs or Timbo’s music on Sunday nights. And that is just something unheard of now, everyone is afraid of strangers. So it was a grasp at people being okay with each other again after all of this.”

It’s a lovely and thoughtful song, and we second her desire to see things get back to normal soon.

On one level, Theo & Brenna are seeing some return to normalcy, as they have a number of shows this weekend in and around Nashville. You can catch them on Friday night (9/25) at The Station Inn, on Saturday at The Local, and on Sunday for a fish fry at Grace Baptist Church in Springfield.

Let Us Breathe Again will be available tomorrow wherever you stream or download music online. Radio programmers can get the track now at AirPlay Direct.

Mountain Fever Records has a new single this week from Backline, with a music video debuting today for The Farm.

We’ve been high on this young South Carolina Band since they first emerged in 2016, for their unique sound grounded in traditional bluegrass, but brought up to today with the distinctive voice and songwriting of guitarist Katelyn Ingardia.

She is supported by a strong team of bandmates – Travis Tucker on reso-guitar, Zach Carter on banjo, Milom Williams on mandolin, and Chris Williamson on bass. Together they represent the ongoing development of our music, without leaving the format and the sound first put forward 75 years ago.

Katelyn shares just how this song of determination and fortitude came to be written.

“We were finishing up a practice at my parents’ house, and Zach started playing the main melody riff of what became The Farm over and over again. We all were listening. I then started throwing words out there, and right then we came up with the first verse. As I headed home that night, I started to mull over what this story could be. What would we want it to say? I thought about an elderly man I worked with at the peach stand as a teenager, Mr. Jimmy. He would tell me stories of his family farm and growing up there. He told me about many great memories as a boy, but I remember one day he said, ‘Baby,’ (my nickname). ‘I remember the day so clearly when the men in suits came and told my daddy we needed to quit farming and work in the city. They made it more expensive for us to farm and make a living than it was to go on to town and work in the mills. That was the day I wasn’t a farm boy anymore.’

A story of legacy,  heritage and lots of grit, of a boy who was raised in the fields, in the shadows of the crops and his Mama. The story of a boy who turns into a man bearing the weight of continuing his families’ work and farm, of one who is told to leave the land that he so dearly loves. It’s a story of his past that holds a promise for his future generations, a story he refuses to write The End of, unless it’s with bloodshed. We hope you enjoy this piece of work that I know we had a blast writing, arranging, and recording.”

For such a strong story, the band knew they needed a music video that carried the message faithfully, so they collected a store of old photos and found actors to represent The Farm.

The Farm is available now wherever you stream or download music online. Radio programmers can find the track at AirPlay Direct.

Malin Petersen is what some folks might refer to as bi-continental. Raised in Norway by parents that considered themselves steadfast music lovers — her dad being a country musician and her mother a lover of jazz — she began her own musical career at the helm of a group called Lucky Lips, a combo that was so popular in her native Norway that it went on to record three well-received albums, and won a spot competing in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013, and eventually at AmericanaFest five years later.

Lucky Lips was initially formed while its founding members were still in still school. Then, when they begin thinking about how to take their music to a wider audience, bluegrass became their main means of expression. “We’re talking a modern kind of bluegrass, with punchy three-part harmonies, and even a full drum kit for parts of its existence,” Petersen recalls. “At the time, they had different people playing with them, depending who was free for each show, but they ended up falling in love with the genre and wanting to write their own material and to put an actual band together. After one of the founders quit, they asked me if I wanted to join, telling me they were in the process of starting to write their own material for the first time.”

The timing was ideal as far as Petersen was concerned. “I was 19 at the time and had been writing for a while, but hadn’t done much of my original stuff with a band. So it was such a great way to start merging my songwriting with actually being able to perform the songs I wrote while becoming more familiar with the band setting. When I joined, the rest of the band members had just fallen into place — Pål Emil Storm Berg on drums, Erlend Skullestad Hølland on upright bass, Even Reinsfelt Krohg played banjo, and Stian Sveen played guitar. Heidi Nyheim and Signe Marie Sørensen were the two founders who were still in the band when I joined. In 2011 Heidi and Signe left the band, and as the rest of us were considering how to move forward as a group we went to play the European World of Bluegrass event in Holland where we were named the number one European Bluegrass Band in 2011. We dropped a plan to change our name and we kept moving forward as a five-piece. We’re still going strong today, even though we’ve become a bit more amplified these past few years.”

Those efforts have served the band well. They’ve toured throughout Norway, through parts of Europe, and even managed to play some prestigious venues in the US including the Station Inn in Nashville, the site of their AmericanaFest showcase. “We’ve really played all kinds of venues, from the really tiny ones with beer-stained floors, to medium ones, up to really big stages as well. But overall, the stages we usually play are the typical venues that have a following of music enthusiasts who really like going to live shows and checking out new music as well as personal favorites. We have played some pretty big festivals in Norway, but it has taken some time to get into the really big pop/rock-oriented ones. It’s been getting a lot better the last couple of years though, and our collaboration with Norwegian guitarist Amund Maarud has also opened some doors for us.”

In addition to Lucky Lips, Petersen has also had a successful solo career. She made her initial bow courtesy of an album entitled References Pt. 1, and the effort was so successful it earned her country’s Spellemann Award, which is the equivalent of a Norwegian Grammy. She followed that with Alonesome in 2019, a mini set that reaped her any number of critical kudos and an Ameripolitan Awards nomination as well. It also lured her to Nashville where she recorded het upcoming album Wildhorse, due out in October. 

Yet, while Petersen has expanded her template, her initial influences made her a bluegrass devotee early on, and the seminal sounds she listened to growing up still hold sway. Its primary appeal informed her early on, and, she says, became part of her listening library even in her early teens.

“When I was 14 or 15, my dad gave me a bag of CDs he thought I should hear,” Petersen recalls. “And in there was everything from Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris and other great country and Americana artists, to Alison Krauss and Union Station, The Chicks, and Dolly Parton’s bluegrass album The Grass Is Blue. I was amazed by the harmonies and how the melody and the rhythm seemed to be so intertwined, especially on the bluegrass-related albums. And I was definitely very drawn to the vocal style and the phrasing. When I got the call from Lucky Lips — whom I had heard live only weeks earlier — and they said they were looking for someone to join their bluegrass-inspired band, it was easy to say yes. Working with them would introduce me to bluegrass in a bigger sense, and I was soon working my way through Bill Monroe, The Stanley Brothers, Flatt & Scruggs, The Seldom Scene, The Lonesome River Band, The Infamous Stringdusters, and Hazel and Alice, amongst many more. Brennen Leigh has also been a huge influence on me since I was 17, and she taught me a lot through her own music and the music she would listen to and talk about. These days I’m listening to Rhiannon Giddens’ different projects, and I’m having a love affair again with I’m With Her’s album from 2018.”

Petersen says there is an audience for bluegrass in her native Norway and though it’s modest, it’s still enthusiastic. “A cool thing about the bluegrass audience here —  just like in the rest of the world — is that they meet up, they’re engaged, they support their favorite bands, and share the same enthusiasm for the music as the bands do. I also think the actual bluegrass audience is bigger than those who would define themselves as being into bluegrass. I think there are many fans of bands like Mandolin Orange here who could definitely find more bands with bluegrass related music that they could like, only they might not know about them because they are not presented to them on a lot of the bigger music platforms. I seem to meet people all the time who get really excited when meeting someone else who also likes bluegrass because they don’t know anyone else who does. But we are not many enough — yet — to be considered a significantly big audience. We do have some pretty huge country festivals here though, where bluegrass also gets a platform.”

It’s significant, then, that Petersen finds a special connection between bluegrass and the folk music found in her country. Much of it has to do with the use of the fiddle as primary instrumentation.

“We have long and deep traditions with the fiddle,” she notes. “I’ve heard stories told of old fiddle tunes from Norway that have traveled the sea, been passed on, and can be found played in the US today. I wish I had details, and I bet the versions have changed over time, but one of the things I love about American music is that it carries so much history and tradition from all over the world. We can find pieces of our own history across the Atlantic.”

She says that there are various other ties as well. “Storytelling is also a very important part of the Norwegian folk tradition,” Petersen reflects. “Factual stories of tragic events, love stories and feuds… just like the music that traveled to the US from places like England, and would eventually become the framework of old-time music… and which would become forever welded together with the music that traveled from central and western Africa and create the groundwork of the music that we love so much.”

Petersen cites a number of other groups from Norway that have taken a similar stance. “We have bands like the fantastic Strengeplukk and Ila Auto, who sing in Norwegian, and great groups like Buster Sledge, Earlybird Stringband, and Winding Road. We also have artists like Jonas Fjeld who has recorded albums with both Chatham County Line and Judy Collins. Jeff Wasserman is an American living in Norway who has released old-time music. And there are bands like Darling West who have expanded their sound on their newer album, but who definitely have a bluegrass/old-time feel to several of their albums and songs. The scene isn’t that big, so it’s difficult to get the bigger gigs in this genre, but I love that we still have new bands popping up, and other bands use elements of bluegrass in their sound while helping to spread the word about its existence. Hopefully, it will just keep going.”

Indeed, Petersen finds plenty of reasons to relate to bluegrass, all of which she believes contribute to its ongoing international popularity. 

“I think the reason it came into being explains a lot of why it’s become so popular,” she muses. “It tells our story. It makes us feel like we are related to the past, and thus make us feel like people in the future will feel a relation to us. That makes it feel like it still matters. And no matter where you are from, I think you can relate to many of the stories being told about situations and events and feelings that, in some form or shape, are repeated all over the world. It’s also such a social form of music, just like our folk music is here in Norway. It can be passed down through the generations. You can sit and play together in small and large groups, and people are encouraged to play solos, even when they’re not great at playing because everyone else knows that it’s such an important part of developing skill and timing.”

In that regard, Petersen believes that are important lessons to be learned as well.

“As I explored the history of bluegrass more and more while growing up, I learned things that I think are under-communicated in the wider bluegrass community, such as the banjo being of African origin,” she surmises. “There are things we need to do to make sure we do not repeat themselves as we move forward in time – such as recognizing that mid-century bluegrass festivals and venues were often segregated, which made it difficult, not only for black bluegrass fans to attend or black bands to play, but also for black and white musicians to play in bands together. It resulted in the white musicians being able to prevail and go out on tours all over the US, while black fans and musicians never got those same opportunities. As a result, people today might think bluegrass is a white genre, which is a shame since it is so intertwined with music that originated in Africa, and with black American musicians and the collaboration that existed between black and white musicians. We need bluegrass to be the thing that created it – a space where the love of music overshadows any other movement in society trying to keep people apart. When I look at my early influences it’s almost only white men, and they are amazing, but they are also the ones who were the easiest to sell and those who were the freest to leave their homes to go touring. The bluegrass of today needs to be for everyone, and it needs to be aware of its history.”

We are delighted to announce the engagement of a new bluegrass power couple, Kathleen Burnett and Colin Ray.

Kathleen has performed with her family for several years as The Burnett Sisters, and Colin partners with established bluegrass entertainer Jeff Parker as Jeff Parker & Colin Ray.

The two lovebirds met in college, studying bluegrass at East Tennessee State University. “We met at school… he held the door for me when I was entering Sam Wilson Hall,” says Kathleen. “I don’t really remember it, but that was when he says we first met.”

During their years at ETSU, Colin and Kathleen had classes together, and became friends long before they were a couple. “My sisters and I had regular get togethers, and we invited Colin all the time,” Kathleen tells us. “I had been dating someone else, but I always thought a lot of Colin, and thought that any woman would love to have a man like him… extremely kind, very chivalrous.”

Colin said that since they sang together often, with him playing banjo with the Burnett Sisters many times, lots of people thought that they were already a couple. “It just sort of happened,” he said. “A lot of people thought we were together, but we really weren’t.”

But they are now. A wedding is planned for the summer of 2021, but in talking with them this morning, it quickly became clear that the details had not yet been set. Some advice for Colin… your input really doesn’t matter.

Ray and Burnett currently live in Johnson City, TN and plan to remain there after they are married. “We both just stayed there after school,” said Colin. “It’s very easy for travel, two hours to everywhere.” “We’re thinking of moving back to North Carolin at some point,” said Kathleen. “We’re both from there.”

For now they intend to continue on with their current professional music plans, but Colin suggested that they may pick up some shows as a duet.

Here’s the two of them singing the country classic, My Kind of Woman, My Kind of Man.

Congratulations to Kathleen and Colin!

Margaret Louise Bell Moore, better known to television audiences in the 1960s as Bonnie Lou Moore, died on September 21. She was 93 years of age.

Together with her husband, Hubert, they performed as Bonnie Lou & Buster Moore, finding a long-running regular spot on the Jim Walters Jubilee television program starting in 1963. This show was aired extensively across the southern US until the early ’80s, and the pair’s country, Gospel, and bluegrass sound was popular with audiences throughout the region. They recorded and released a number of LPs and toured from home bases in Knoxville and Pigeon Forge, TN.

Margaret loved to tell about how she was accidentally thrust into singing on radio. Buster had a gig on the Cas Walker Farm and Home Hour on WROL in Knoxville, and when one of the band members got sick, he arranged for her to fill in. At that point the die was cast, and the two became a recognized act through radio and television shows in cities like Greenville, Raleigh, Memphis, Harrisburg, and Bristol.

In 1972 the Moores launched their own show, the Smoky Mountain Hayride, in Pigeon Forge, just as the region was coming into its own as a visitor destination. During the tourist season, the show aired nightly from the city’s Coliseum, and continued to run for more than 20 years. On each television program they would talk up Pigeon Forge, with some local historians suggesting that the strength of their show may have played a part in convincing Dolly Parton to invest there heavily in the 1980s.

Margaret is warmly remembered by people in Morristown, TN where she had lived since Buster passed in 1996. She was very active in her church, the First Baptist Church of Morristown.

This Friday (September 25) the family will hold a graveside service to honor her at White Pine Cemetery.

R.I.P., Margaret ‘Bonnie Lou’ Moore.

The Ray Cardwell profile is a contribution by Dale McCurry with Bambi Grinder, founders of NoteWorthy Music in Springfield, MO.

“I’m doing a little happy dance around the house right now,” says Ray Cardwell. He has texted me at 7:30 in the a.m. — a little early for dancing at mi casa — to let me know that his latest single, Born to Do, has debuted at #1 on Bluegrass Today’s Grassicana chart. This is particularly good news because the drop of his all-important third album, Just a Little Rain, is scheduled to take place very soon — September 25. Rain was produced by bluegrass mainstay and Grascals mandolinist Danny Roberts, and boasts a number of well-established Nashville players and writers.

Street Cred

Ray has done these dances before. The drop is not a Hail-Mary, “Let’s fulfill the contract” release; it’s a much anticipated album following his highly successful debut and sophomore releases.

His debut CD, Tennessee Moon, was produced by guitarist Pat Flynn (a former member of New Grass Revival, 2020 inductee into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame). The album was received with high praise while charting 10 songs on bluegrass, Americana, and folk charts.

“Tennessee Moon will remain one of 2017’s best of bluegrass,” wrote Mike Smith, reviewing the album for the Wires and the Wood magazine. Mike is host and founder of KSMU’s Seldom Heard Music — at 38 years, the longest-running bluegrass radio show in Missouri.

Time To Drive was the first single from Ray’s sophomore album, Stand On My Own, released in May 2019. The song debuted at #1 on Bluegrass Today’s Grassicana chart and remained in the top-15 for 37 consecutive weeks. Also from Stand, Alright debuted at #1 and Hurricane Rain at #2 before making its way to #1.

“There’s no arguing about the strength of his voice, a powerful force of nature that can tackle anything he wants to try.” ~ HK, Bluegrass Unlimited reviewing Stand On My Own.

“Just a Little Rain was produced by my longtime friend and writing pal Danny Roberts,” Ray says. “I am proud of this project, not only musically but creatively, and in its clear response to circumstances never before experienced. The human spirit endures as we love each other and grow to adapt in new ways to be artists and 21st-century troubadours.

“I’m so excited to get this project out to everyone! I had a great time recording it and co-writing with my friends.”

A Family Tradition

Ray didn’t exactly choose bluegrass; it was more like bluegrass chose him. He grew up in a family bluegrass band. His father, Marvin Cardwell, was a talented multi-instrumentalist who fronted one of the first live music shows in Branson, Missouri, in the ’60s.

In the ’70s, The Cardwell Family bluegrass band — Ray and Marvin, with mother, Wanda and sisters Nancy and Susan — played on the Branson Strip. They became a regular attraction at Silver Dollar City in 1976. Sister Nancy has spent the past several years as Administrator at the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Foundation.

“Many of the bluegrass players I know grew up in a family band,” says Ray. “As a teacher and musician, I see it in other genres as well. You know, you see families, and they all played jazz or they all played classical. But it is certainly prevalent in bluegrass. You know, kids are traditionally going to be somewhat like their parents. Additionally, with mountain-and-hill-music folks we didn’t have a lot of distractions. We didn’t have multi-channels and the internet. We had to keep ourselves entertained, and we played music. We found out we could sing and that we could sing harmonies.

“As a singer and songwriter it influenced me,” he continues, discussing the family music dynamic. “Dad would say, ‘If you aren’t going to sing it like you mean it, don’t sing it.’ Maybe the best advice I ever got about this business. The family gig broadened my range of instruments. I played banjo because it was the instrument we needed; it wasn’t really by choice. I wish I could have been better. When I listen to those records, I’m not sure I would have kept me in the band,” he says, laughing.

“But it was just a cool way to grow up.”

Mama Played Bass

“If you think about it, yeah, my family has produced some good bass players,” Ray says. His mother played bass in the family band, Nancy is a well-established Nashville bass player, and Ray made it to the second round in this year’s nomination process for IBMA Bass Player of the Year.

“Mom was a good timekeeper, and that’s what bass is all about, you know. You’ve got to be the metronome,” Ray says, love-of-subject resonating in his voice. “I always say that in bluegrass, the band is a drum machine. The bass is the kick drum, the mandolin the snare, and the banjo is a lot like the hi-hat. So the bassline is the no frills foundation that the song is built on … And it’s all about the song.”

“I’ve always been a bottom dweller,” says Ray with a laugh, when asked about his favorite instrument. “I started out on guitar and banjo and I played saxophone in school, but I’ve gravitated to the bass. When I write a song, it’s almost always written on the bassline. So yes, definitely bass is my favorite.”

Ray then proceeds to talk himself out of his answer. “But my voice [all four-and-a-half octaves of it] has always been the one constant through all the bands and styles. Whether it was me at keyboards or sax, guitar or bass, it has always been, ‘and sings.’ So I guess, I have to retract my answer and say my voice is my favorite instrument.”

Rebel with a Cause

It was not a straight line from the family band to hit bluegrass records. “When I left the family band in the ’80s — which was not easy to do — I was a huge rebel,” says Ray. “I was into new wave and punk, rock and reggae.” He was working out of Springfield, Missouri, and throughout the Midwest as a musician and front man, keyboardist and sax player. He relocated for a time to Hollywood, California, with the Springfield-based Resonance. “I turned 20 living a block off of Hollywood Boulevard,” he adds.

While in LA, Ray also played saxophone for celebrated songwriter Jack Lee (The Nerves, and writer for Blondie, Pat Benatar, and Paul Young). “I met Jack playing saxophone outside Frederick’s of Hollywood — busking. He liked what I was doing and hired me. He tried to get me to stay, but the band wanted to go home [to the Ozarks], so I did, as well.”

In 1992, Ray joined some bluegrass players from Columbia, Missouri, and started his return to bluegrass with the regional band, Slick Nickel. He moved to Nashville in 1994 as a member of the critically acclaimed, nationally touring bluegrass gospel band, New Tradition. Ray recorded two albums and played 230 shows a year with them for three years.

In mid-’96 Ray left Nashville and moved back to Missouri to raise a family and return to college to finish a degree in music education. While attending Lincoln University, he performed with National Honor Choirs in New York City at both Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.

During his teaching days, Ray also played with an indie band called Squigglefish — a popular rock/blues/reggae power trio in Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks region.

Passing it On

Ray gets animated talking about teaching, about passing on a love. “What I enjoyed was getting kids excited about music,” he says. “I love music history. I love to talk about where it all came from, how it evolved, its importance to society.”

“When I toured with New Tradition, it was nice to see my buddies from the stage and to play with them — sometimes in spontaneous situations. But what made it fun for me, was the old timers who would come out of the woodwork, out of the hills — singers and fiddle players, guys who would never play on a stage, but they would follow the band and they would play, and they would keep up and they wanted to pass it on. They always impressed me.

“When I got a chance to teach, that’s what I wanted to do. I mean I love being on stage; I love to shine. I’m very animated, and I love to sing with passion. And to write music. I do. But passing that on is something very important to me. That’s how I tried to approach teaching, and it remains important to me, today.”

As a high school band and choral director, Ray led students to several national competitions, receiving high markings. He took them on trips abroad and to bowl games where they would sweep competitions. “I don’t know a band director who doesn’t love his trophies,” Ray says with a smile in his voice, “but getting the kids excited … passing it on: That’s the aspect of it that I like.”

Nashville Calling

Ray’s return to bluegrass came when Pat Flynn (New Grass Revival), heard a demo of his originals and gave Ray a call. After meeting with Pat, Ray decided that it was time to return to his roots.

“I loved the kids and I won’t deny crying when I told them I was going to leave teaching, but Pat Flynn was going to get me a shot at my dreams. I was gone.”

“Here’s my analogy — New Grass Revival: They’re my Beatles. I mean they sang so well and wrote such great songs. And suddenly it’s like I get to sing with my Beatles — John Cowan, Curtis Burch and Pat, all of New Grass. To hang out and be friends with musicians who influenced me so deeply. Pat is responsible for me coming out of retirement musically. He helped me get my record deal. Who gets that kind of opportunity at 52?

“The Dillards, The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, and New Grass Revival. Those are my influences. My top influences. Without a doubt.”

“I love teaching, but I promptly left,” he laughs.

Rustling the Grass

“Bill Monroe’s style of music was revolutionary,” Ray says when asked about appropriate boundaries of bluegrass. “None of the stringband music of the time had that drive, that forward clip, that forward motion. Bill brought that change. And people resist change and that’s human nature. That’s fine.”

“I am a living melting pot of influences,” he continues, “and I think to deny influences is a crime. Especially now with the instant availability of music and all of its sounds and styles. So you’re going to have Nickel Creek, and out of that Chris Thile who has been immersed in all of these available sounds — jazz and blues and classical — and who has a mandolin in his formidable hands.”

“I really like Motown. I like the blues. I like funk and reggae. It’s going to come out in my music. A fan told me one of my songs sounded like Bob Marley with The Police singing it—naming two of my influences—and I’m thinking: ‘Well, I guess he heard it.’”

“I love the music traditions. I mean, playing with Jesse McReynolds on the Opry at the Ryman was just beyond belief, you know …” a pregnant pause offering space and homage. “But I have my own voice to sing. I’m passionate about what I am doing, and I like to have fun with it.”

“When it comes down to it, I’m just a dreamer from the Ozarks.”

Writer bios:

Following years as a reporter and editor of a handful of weekly newspapers, Dale McCurry was co-founder and publisher, writer and managing editor of High Notes Magazine on the Western Slope of Colorado and The Wires and the Wood in his native Ozarks. Today, he wears all of those hats for NoteWorthy Music as well.

Co-founder/owner of NoteWorthy Music, Bambi Grinder has spent many years as a shaper of words — writing novels and short fiction (which she prefers in first-person present tense). Bambi is delighted to make this foray into the digital landscape with NoteWorthy Music as publisher, editor, writer, and web designer and developer.

Pinecastle Records has a new music video today from Flashback, for one of the songs on their current release, Blues Around My Cabin. We are delighted to premiere it here for our Bluegrass Today readers.

It’s the album’s opening track, a song written by guitarist and vocalist Richard Bennet with a old west theme called John Henry Holiday. Most folks these days know the subject by his nickname, Doc Holiday, earned by nature of having studied and worked as a dentist before moving to the southwest in the latter part of the 19th century.

His life is best remembered for having stood alongside Wyatt Earp during the notorious shootout at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, AZ in 1881.

Bennet tells us that the old west holds a special charm for him.

“This is one of my favorite songs I have written. I have always been interested in the life and times of Doc Holiday.”

In the video, we see the band performing the song in the Bonfire Studio as it lays out the short career of John Henry Holiday. Richard is supported by bandmates Don Rigsby on mandolin, Stuart Wyrick on banjo, and Curt Chapman on bass.

Blues Around My Cabin is widely available wherever you stream or download music online, and on CD directly from the band.

In the radio work I do I get to hear a lot of current bluegrass releases, and I have to say that bluegrass songwriters may be in a bit of a subject rut. Our genre now seems dominated by songs about coal mining and the moonshine trade. Songs like that made the occasional appearance in earlier days of the music, but they were by no means the norm. Ironically it comes at a time when very few bluegrass singers and songwriters have ever been in a coal mine or had much experience with moonshine production (consumption of the finished product is another matter which we’ll go into some other time). The fact is that due to changes in our society and the gradual urbanization of areas of the country where bluegrass music is most popular, many younger professional bluegrass artists have grown up with a much more suburban experience than the older generations did. It’s a world of SUVs, outlet malls, Sriracha sauce, and even dobros. Isn’t it time the music reflected those changes? 

Nostalgia has always been a part of the music, but it was nostalgia often grounded in real life experience. The late Randall Hylton was a songwriter who had a flair for incorporating modern concepts into bluegrass songwriting (he wrote Lee Berry Rye, the only bluegrass song I know about road construction). He advised me once to “write what you know about.” He said, “I don’t know about you, but I’ve never ridden a train. I’d rather write about planes.” I had to tell him that in fact I’d ridden a lot of trains, but his point was still well-taken. He also told me my taxes were a mess, but that’s not relevant to the subject (Randall was also a CPA).

In memory of Randall Hylton, I thought I would give songwriters a few ideas for songs that reflect the 21st century suburban experience. As a few examples, and as a way to bridge the gap, we can still write nostalgic songs about our parents and grandparents but be perhaps more realistic about their lifestyle and the kinds of jobs they do or did:

Papaw Was a Walmart Greeter

Daddy’s Microbrewery

Mama’s at the Call Center

Grandma Ordered Takeout

Here are some more that are more obviously inspired by some of our bluegrass classics:

The Waves in the Pool

Me and Target (Got Our Own Thing Going)

Changing Passwords

Mall on the Hill

Gold Watch and Chain From Zales

Text From My Darling

Megachurch in the Wildwood

Food Court of Love

My Native Subdivision

Panera in my Heart

Cold Cold Air Conditioning

Two Dollar PayPal Purchase

One Loaf of Sourdough

I’m Using My iPhone for a Roadmap

I’m Breaking in a Brand New Operating System

Darling Netflix Across the Sea (that might need work)

Even our instrumentals, like Big Mon or Big Sciota could stand some updating:

Big Salad

Chicken Breast Reel

Golf Cart Wheel Hoss

Guitarist Jordan Tice also has a new album releasing this week, Motivational Speakeasy, which comes as something of a departure from his earlier efforts. Growing up in a Maryland bluegrass family, his earliest training was as a grasser, and his first album came out when he was 17. But study in college opened him up to new musical vistas, and subsequent projects showed him entering more progressive acoustic territory.

He now performs with experimental string quartet Hawktail, with Paul Kowert, Brittany Hass, and Dominick Leslie. Their milieu is modern instrumental acoustic music, with strong bluegrass and old time influences.

For his fifth solo record, Jordan has moved from the ensemble environment to a singer/songwriter/guitarist mode, featuring just he and his trusty six string. It finds him playing delta blues and folky finger style as well as employing the flatpick. All eleven tracks are his original songs.

Tice introduces today’s premiere, which almost didn’t make it to the final product.

“Ready to Go… Just a peppy bluegrassy kinda number with some musings on life and human nature thrown in for good measure. This song started with the turn around, ‘tell me you’re alright.. Ready to go,’ which I had stuck in my head for a good while before I crafted the rest of the song around it. This was almost cut from the record, but figured an uptempo tune would provide a nice pick-me-up later on in the record.”

Motivational Speakeasy will be widely available on Friday, September 25 wherever you stream or download music online. Pre-order links can be found on Jordan’s web site.