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Monthly Archives: October 2020

Distance and Time – Becky Buller

Posted on October 31, 2020 by Azlyrics

Becky Buller needs very little introduction anymore in the bluegrass world. Over the past five years or so, she has been a radio and awards show mainstay, racking up recognition for her fiddling, singing, songwriting, and more. Indeed, at the recent 2020 IBMA Awards, she took home two trophies – Song of the Year for penning Special Consensus’s Chicago Barn Dance, and Collaborative Recording of the Year for her own fiddle extravaganza, The Barber’s Fiddle. Although COVID-related restrictions slightly delayed it, she has a brand new album out from Dark Shadow Recording, Distance and Time, packed with plenty of the story-filled originals and contemporary sounds for which she and her band have become known.

The aforementioned The Barbers Fiddle was an early single from the album, released back in March, and has earned quite a bit of recognition in the months since. Buller and co-writer Lynda Dawson tie together the stories of several fiddling barbers who gave up the dream of life on the road for a steadier income. It’s truly a collaborative piece, with Jason Carter, Kati Penn, Sam Bush, Laurie Lewis, and Shawn Camp all contributing lead vocals, and no fewer than eighteen different well-known fiddlers contributing to the instrumentation. It’s a light, cheerful song with a toe-tapping melody that will surely be caught in your mind for hours after listening.

We Let Each Other Go is a nice country-style heartbreak song that Buller and harmony vocalist Melonie Cannon infuse with plenty of emotion. You can hear a range of feelings in Buller’s vocals – pain, anger, sadness, and a bit of resignation as she realizes that the break may have been the best choice: “Well, I’m sorry you’re broken and sad, but our hearts couldn’t compromise.” You Come Around, which Buller penned with Jeff Hyde, begins with foreboding guitar and fiddle as Buller and duet partner Ronnie Bowman explore the intricacies of unrequited love and complicated relationships. It, too, has a fine acoustic country vibe for which Buller’s vocals are well-suited.

The Ride, co-written by Buller and Eric Gibson offers a nice groove courtesy of Ned Luberecki’s banjo (as well as a cool bass solo from Daniel Hardin), and a message of putting your foot down and choosing yourself. “I’ve been a loser, I’ve been a fool,” Buller realizes, “Freedom is when you decide you’re not just along for the ride.” I Dream in Technicolor takes things way into the funky side of bluegrass with Buller delving into the wild and crazy dreams she has (“space lobsters tried to steal my baby, eight mobsters tap danced through my yard”), with hand claps, echoes, vocal bends, and more. According to the liner notes, Buller had been tossing around the song’s catchy chorus for years, but finally decided to use her “real-life, completely bizarre dream sequences” in the verses.

Several numbers take on religious or spiritual themes, including Salt and Light, which seems to address God and Biblical admonitions for living the best version of life: “You ask us to give, give to each other in love, with humble abandon that seeks no reward.” Harmonies from The Isaacs, percussion from Chris Brown, and Luberecki’s gently rolling banjo give the song a peaceful, almost haunting vibe – sort of a ’90s acoustic pop meets the ’70s feel. On completely the opposite end of the Gospel spectrum is the bluesy, Southern Gospel-influenced Tell the Truth (Shame the Devil), which Buller wrote with frequent collaborator Jon Weisberger. Legendary Gospel group, The Fairfield Four, joins her for some powerful harmony vocals on what is one of the album’s best tracks.

Though Buller is joined by a number of talented guests here, her core band for the album is also her touring band – Luberecki on banjo, Hardin on bass, Dan Boner on guitar, and Nate Lee on mandolin. As is often the case when recording with a band you play with so frequently, the result here is tight, impressive musicianship. Buller runs the gamut from country to Gospel to progressive grass, but, to put it simply, it all sounds good. Buller and her band’s love for what they do shines through, resulting in yet another winner of an album.

For more information on Becky Buller, visit her website. Her new album is available from a number of music retailers.

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The Raven’s Rock video from Adam Hurt, and weekend concert

Posted on October 30, 2020 by Azlyrics

Fretless banjo master Adam Hurt has released a video this week for one of the tunes on his upcoming album, Back to the Earth.

The theme of the album is Adam’s celebration of the gourd banjo, played in a clawhammer style, and accompanied by some of the leading lights in contemporary old time music. The tunes selected include both classic numbers that have lasted for generations, alongside newer compositions, all selected for the beauty on these special banjos.

In the video, we see Hurt in the studio recording the track for the new project, with Brittany Haas on fiddle, Jordan Tice on guitar, and Paul Kowert on bass, all members of the instrumental string band, Hawktail. They are playing a tune called The Raven’s Rock, written by Cillian Vallely, piper with Celtic folk group, Lúnasa.

Tristan Scroggins shot the video at Sound Emporium in Nashville during tracking for Back to the Earth, with Dave Sinko at the board.

Adam also has a concert/discussion set for tomorrow, October 31. You can spend your Halloween afternoon enjoying an intimate banjo salon with Hurt where he will both play tunes from the upcoming record and his previous board banjo project, Earth Tones, from 2010. He will talk about the various tunes, and the idea of a gourd banjo, which is believed to bear a close relationship to the earliest banjo made in this country by enslaved Africans.

Tickets are only $20, and for $35 you get a ticket for the Gourd Banjo Salon, and an autographed copy of Back to the Earth. Tickets must be purchased in advance today for this online event, but you can watch it anytime if you aren’t free from 2:00-3:00 p.m. tomorrow.

Back to the Earth is scheduled for a November 13 release, with pre-orders for both CDs and downloads enabled online. 

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Video Premiere: You Reap What You Sow from Mara Levine

Posted on October 30, 2020 by Azlyrics

Around this time three years ago we wrote about a song from an artist new to bluegrass, Mara Levine, and her first single in our world, You Reap What You Sow. The song resonated deeply with our readers, with its simple message of doing well wherever you find yourself, and making life better for everyone by tending your own garden as best you can.

Levine has long had success as a folk artist and jewelry designer from her home in New Jersey. Delighted with the reception her music has had in the bluegrass community, she has recently signed with Bell Buckle Records, who produced a music video for You Reap What You Sow.

Mara shared a few words about how she was able to get this video made in the midst of COVID constraints, and how much she enjoyed working with Valerie Smith.

“Valerie is a talented videographer, and we’d been discussing how to shoot some quality footage of me for several months, but because I live with my elderly parents who have pre-existing conditions, as well as my own health challenges, it wasn’t safe for me to travel to Tennessee to shoot footage, and New Jersey quarantine restrictions made it difficult for her to come to NJ. Finally, we hit on the idea of meeting at a farm close to where she travels in Maryland for her business, and I found The Sunflower Garden, a wonderful pick – your own flower farm in Westminster, MD, about 40 miles from where Valerie was staying, that allowed us to videotape.

She made the trip from Nashville specifically to shoot the video at the end of August, and came up with a wonderful concept which created an absolutely beautiful video! I am deeply appreciative of the time, effort, and care she has put into this production, which was made under such difficult circumstances, and I am very grateful to be part of the Bell Buckle Records family, who are helping me to achieve my goal of getting my music out to a much broader audience.”

See if you don’t agree that this song, written by Susan Shann, has a special charm that belies its earthy style and straightforward lyrics. There’s a reason it spent better than four months on our Grassicana Weekly Airplay Chart when the song was first released.

Mara was supported in the studio by Scott Vestal on banjo, Bob Harris on guitar, Andy Leftwich on mandolin, Rob Ickes on reso-guitar, and Mark Schatz on bass. Greg Blake and Mollie O’Brien provided harmony vocals.

You Reap What You Sow, and all of Mara’s music, can be downloaded from her web site. Radio programmers can find it at AirPlay Direct.

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Bill Torbert passes

Posted on October 30, 2020 by Azlyrics

Bill Torbert Jr, former member of Jimmy Martin’s Sunny Mountain Boys, passed away on Saturday, October 24, 2020 after contracting COVID-19 in a nursing home at the age of 81.

Born in Washington, DC and raised in DC and Maryland, he started playing mandolin in the mid 1950s. Bill soon joined a band with high school friend Monte Monteith named the North Carolina Mountaineers with Chris Warner on banjo. When Monte was required to switch his day job with DC’s metro bus system to the night shift, Bill joined Jimmy Martin’s band soon afterwards.

Their first recording session took place in September 1963, and included J.D. Crowe (banjo) for four tracks – Widow Maker, I’m Thinking Tonight of my Blue Eyes, Red River Valley, and John Henry.

Their second and third recording sessions in December 1965 and January 1966 included Bill Emerson (banjo) on eight tracks – I Can’t Quit Cigarettes, Lost Highway, The Good Things Outweigh the Bad, The Summer’s Come and Gone, Fraulein, You’re Gonna Change (Or I’ma Gonna Leave), Tennessee Waltz, and Little Maggie. Bill also traveled with Jimmy playing shows and festivals including the very first multi-day bluegrass festival at Fincastle, VA in September 1965.

Bill later went on to record and play with Delmar Delaney, Jack Fincham & the Dixie Grass, and Appalachian Reign with Tom Knowles. He later rejoined his high school friend Monte Monteith in the Skystone Band, which allowed him to continue playing, recording, and performing well into his 70s. He is survived by his wife Beverly C. Torbert, and his son Bill Torbert III.

R.I.P., Bill Torbert.

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Ask Sonny Anything… did you ever work with Grandpa Jones?

Posted on October 30, 2020 by Azlyrics

Ask Sonny Anything is a recurring feature where our readers pose questions to the great Sonny Osborne, one half of the iconic Osborne Brothers who redefined bluegrass music in the 1960s, and noted banjo maven and collector of fine prewar instruments. Everyone is encouraged to pose queries of your own each week in the comments, about his history in the music, his wealth of banjo knowledge, or regarding any life advice you might be needing.

Jamie Grascal Johnson, formerly of The Grascals, (I bet you guessed that didn’t you) wanted to know if I knew Claude Stewart. Maybe his whereabouts. I believe he has passed from this life. But yes, I knew him around the Dayton area when I first began my Journey with the Banjo. Claude was the mandolin player in the first little band in which I played. Claude Stewart, Jerry Williams, Carl Eldredge, and me. The very first time I played on the radio…WPFB in Middletown Ohio…they were doing a remote from a clothing store in Miamisburg, Ohio, Bout 1949-51. I was scared. Funny, wonder what it is you’re scared of. Reckon I was afraid KRAKO was gonna jump out of the radio and do things???
s

—–

Sonny… I read your description about playing with the symphony and got a good laugh. My question has to do with bridging the gap between the formal music world and bluegrass. Bluegrass seems to struggle getting booked into places like Art Centers because they think it’s beneath them…except when they need your services for free for a fundraiser. Have you ever been snubbed other than that symphony experience?

Nigel W.

Nigel, come in and sit right there. If I don’t answer your question specifically, I promise I will next week. Please bear with me while I relive that San Antonio experience. I’m not proud of that, but you must understand the strain and stress we were under at the time. And when we started playing, I guess they had never heard such garbage that they were being asked to play…being downgraded…I mean with all the hours they spent learning to read what is put in front of them, and up there stands five people playing funny sounding “music” (or some would call it that), and they’re just standing there, without music…and they are going what does “that garbage” have to do with us?

The violin section was right behind me, and they laughed. All this was going through my mind and I couldn’t take it any more. A gasket in my brain blew!!

I really don’t see that gap being closed because it is really so involved. We were lucky that we knew BUDDY SPICHER, AND HE KNEW KRIS WILKENSON. The expense to do all they did for us was staggering. And before a performance are rehearsals. *80+ people get paid for that too.

So, I don’t think the bluegrass world will ever have the desire to co-exist with formal music…just that, It’s much too involved. We like to have Raymond park the bus as close to the back door as possible, he gets his “plunder” out and sets it up, we “get dressed” go do our show, (yell at the sound person) do autographs at the “Plunder table,” and while they are tearing down, I go get paid, get back on the bus and Raymond takes us to the next day. Simple.

We Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia….that type old boys…I don’t know if we want the challenge, to bridge that gap. What do you think? ‘Course, nowadays there is so much sophisticism (that ain’t a word) it might…could happen, I reckon!
s

—–

Sonny, I’m sure this happened pretty often but were there times, do you recall, when Bobby sang a note in a live performance that dropped your jaw? I thought the show in Japan (Country Gold – YouTube) was exceptional. Another example that caught me by surprise was a live performance of Ruby. Instead of hitting the high D in falsetto Bobby hit it in full voice.

Neil
Cleveland, NC

Neil, we got plenty room, thank you for taking the time to be with us today. Bobby and his voice…man, he did that to us thousands of times. He was simply the best. I know this is like me bragging … or anything else you can come up with.

Tell you what, I have approximately 70 albums that are proof. Brother was in a world of 1. Funny, when this happened, you could hear Terry Eldredge, or one of the others say Golly…(cleaned up a little) really more like “Damn,” or just a laugh. I just looked at him. Really, you know…I don’t think he had a limit.

I remember when we recorded Mule Skinner Blues, He asked me where the old man…Monroe…did it, I told him G. He said let’s do it in A. We recorded it in A. It’s higher, yes. That’s for his ego. But for reality he’s doing it higher but he isn’t losing quality, or tone…Paul Williams and Ira Louvin retained their tone. My opinion…. s

—–

Sonny, thanks so much for explaining the studio layout. You’ve got a great memory—and those have got to be some favorite memories, too! Could I ask just a few more details?

1) In the older sessions, did you use the same triangle vocal setup, and would I be right to guess in those early sessions the third singer played guitar?

2) Was a click-track used, and if so, about when did that start? Finally:

3) Were headphones used by anybody? Many thanks.

Sandy R.

—–

Sandy, Going back to the Jimmy Martin days, no we did not, Red Harley Allen, Yes we did. After that, about 1959…we started using that configuration exclusively, I don’t remember our studio setup during the time on MGM with John Slagle (Jimmy Brown) period.

When we recorded with Benny Birchfield, yes, we used it from that time, 1963 to 2005. Benny, Dale, Ronnie Reno, Paul Brewster and Terry Eldredge all played the guitar except on a difficult song. Ronnie Reno played some mandolin twin with Bobby.

I remember one thing, I believe it was on Son of a Sawmill Man, Ronnie played rhythm on the mandolin. During the mid ’60s is when we got into using the Neuman U87 microphones, for vocal, my banjo and Bobby’s mandolin. Hal Rugg on steel, Grady Martin and Leon Rhodes on electric guitars, Ray Edenton rhythm guitar, Buddy Spicher, Vassar Clements, and Willie Ackerman on drums, and Hargis (pig) Robinson on piano periodically all used head phones, but as a rule, it was all recorded live and, we never used a click track.
s

—–

Hello Mr. Sonny, my name is Jacob Pattison. I met you in Canton, Texas years ago. I know you said you worked with Stringbean years ago, did you ever work with Grandpa and if you did, do you have a Grandpa story to share? Thank you so much for sharing these stories with us! God Bless!

Jacob

Jacob….Thank you for the entering the gang of “know everything.” Was Canton the place where I had the ceiling fan ordeal???? Oh well, yes we worked some with Beans…and a few dates with Grandpa Jones.

Mark, Pa’s son, told a funny story about he and his dad putting fence up on their property. When they got it finished they discovered the Jeep was inside the fenced in area, and there was no gate. Pa was not happy.

We played a date with the Great Grandpa Jones in Watertown, Tennessee I believe at the fairgrounds. The stage was set up on the infield and the crowd was in the bleachers. A track was around the infield, which put it between the entertainment stage and the crowd. While Pa was on, a lady was exercising her horse by riding around the track. Wouldn’t you know, that horse stopped right directly in front of Grandpa Jones and relieved herself by unloading at least 5 gallons right there…you might ask, “what did Grandpa Jones say?”….so use your imagination. Oh my goodness, was he mad!!!!!!
s

If you have something you would like to ask Sonny, be sure to post it in the comments below, or send it to us directly.

Posted in Lyrics | Tags: Ask Sonny Anything, NC | Leave a comment |

Wind Gap promoter Harry Grant’s home destroyed by fire

Posted on October 30, 2020 by Azlyrics

Earlier this week, the home of Harry Grant, promoter of the Wind Gap Bluegrass Festival in Pennsylvania and a very popular figure in bluegrass, was destroyed by fire.

Fortunately, Harry was not home when the fire began, and retuned to find flames coming from an upstairs window. His life was very possibly spared by making a trip to Wal-Mart in the middle of the night on October 22, or he may have been asleep when the fire started and overcome by smoke.

The nearest fire station was just a short distance away, and trucks arrived quickly, but his historic wood frame house was quickly engulfed by flames. All was lost, and Grant reported being most affected by the loss of a hard drive containing records from years worth of festivals, and his collection of 37 years of Wind Gap t-shirts.

In addition to running the festival, Harry depended on his work as a live audio engineer for financial support, and with the prohibition on musical performances this summer, he had let his homeowners insurance lapse.

So friends in the bluegrass world have leapt to his aid, launching a GoFundMe campaign that has already come close to reaching its initial goal of $10,000, and seems certain to climb even higher. At this point nearly everything Harry owned has been reduced to ashes, and he is staying with friends until a next step is clear.

All monies raised in this campaign will be donated directly to Harry, to help him back on his feet and try to get his life back to normal.

Anyone who has enjoyed attending Wind Gap over the years, or has come to know Harry as a friend through the bluegrass community, is encouraged to give generously if you are able. It will be a difficult feat to come back from this, but Harry is in good spirits, and determined to do so.

You can find the GoFundMe Campaign online, where donations can be made using a major credit card or PayPal.

Best of luck, Harry!

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Another bluegrass wedding on the horizon – Jacob Greer and Allison Hinson

Posted on October 30, 2020 by Azlyrics

Some good news in the midst of a global pandemic! Bluegrass sweethearts, Allison Hinson, banjoist with The Hinson Girls, and Jacob Greer, guitarist with Sideline, have officially announced their plans to marry. 

Ally is the third Hinson Girl to marry a grasser. Younger sister, Katie, married Buddy Robertson of Flatt Lonesome, and Ally’s twin, Melissa, married Matt Love, former guitarist/banjoist with Darin & Brooke Aldridge.

The musical couple has been dating for almost five years. Ally from Lancaster, SC, and Jacob from Jefferson, NC, met in Raleigh at IBMA in 2013.

Ally shared, “In 2015, we hosted a Christmas jam which Jake’s family attended. I requested Jake sing Two Dozen Roses and I was head-over-heels for him ever since then. We still talk about that song being the reason I fell in love with him!”

“A few weeks after that jam, Jake’s family drove four hours to surprise me at our show in Darlington, SC. I remember leaving that show and telling my family I was going to marry him one day!”

In mid-October while in Huntsville, AL, visiting Katie and Buddy for Ally’s birthday, Jake popped the question. It came as a total surprise.

“Jake has always told me he would never propose on my birthday, so I didn’t suspect a thing. He proposed the day after and caught me completely off guard.”

“Even though we met through music, I love that we’ve found other things we can enjoy together, especially fishing. Music brought us together, but we definitely have other things in common! He really is my other half,” Ally concluded.

Jake added, “I wouldn’t want anyone else to be by my side. I love you so much, Ally!!! I can’t wait for you to be my wife.”

A wedding date has not yet been set.

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Track Premiere: That’s Life from Lonesome River Band

Posted on October 29, 2020 by Azlyrics

Here’s another new single this week from Mountain Home Music, this time for perennial bluegrass headliners, Lonesome River Band.

LRB has been touring and recording now for almost 40 years, and despite occasional personnel changes along the way, band leader Sammy Shelor just keeps chugging right along. Over the decades, they have released a number of landmark albums, and many of their songs have become jam sessions standards while the band writes their names in the bluegrass history books.

This latest release comes via guitarist Brandon Rickman, a thoughtful love song called That’s Life, which he says he’s been holding on to for some time.

“I wrote this song years ago with my friend Billy Droze. I wanted it to be an authentic telling of losing and finding love. There is a lot of my own story in there, but it’s also a story I hope folks can relate to as a realistic one about the struggles that we all go through. Many of us experience a long road to love, with many ups, downs, twists and turns — but as we all know, that’s life.”

Have a listen…

Lonesome River Band is completed by Mike Hartgrove on fiddle, Jesse Smathers on mandolin, and Barry Reed on bass.

That’s Life officially releases tomorrow, October 30, when it will be available wherever you stream or download music online. Radio programmers can get the track now via AirPlay Direct.

Posted in Lyrics | Tags: Lonesome River Band | Leave a comment |

Good news from IBMA following the 2020 Virtual World of Bluegrass

Posted on October 29, 2020 by Azlyrics

The staff and many volunteers with the International Bluegrass Music Association faced a lot of late nights and strained nerves in September, leading up to their first ever all virtual presentation of their annual World of Bluegrass convention. Not only is this event, in its multiple component parts, their major organizational effort each year, its also their primary funding mechanism for both their ongoing expenses and for the IBMA Trust Fund.

Could they get everything ready to take these events online for the first time, would they satisfy the membership who look forward to getting together in person for World of Bluegrass in the fall, and could they make the sort of positive impression that is their raison d’être to the much larger audience anticipated since anyone, anywhere would be able to watch?

With the information and numbers announced this morning, it turns out that the answers were yes, yes, and yes – with another big yes in that all the fundraising goals for 2020 were also achieved, thanks in part to a generous donation from naming sponsor PNC Bank, which has been a strong supporter since World of Bluegrass moved to Raleigh some years ago.

Attendance and registration were handled differently this year, with a much lower fee charged to industry professionals to attend the many seminars and sessions in career development and the like, with all of the live music (actually pre-recorded live), the awards show, and the weekend IBMA Bluegrass Live! festival free to the public.

But in the end, the numbers were tremendous, with a total of 101,636 individual participants over the week watching content online. Across the multiple channels – IBMA’s official event platform, IBMA social media (Facebook and YouTube), and outlets (web, app, Roku, and other OTT), 189,325 views were recorded for WOB streams.

IBMA Executive Director Paul Schiminger spoke for the entire organization in expressing gratitude for the support of the wider bluegrass community.

“We are grateful for the success of this year’s IBMA Virtual World of Bluegrass for many reasons. Delivering a week of education and entertainment was important to our bluegrass community in this tough year, and doing so in a brand new way was extremely daunting. And I have no words to adequately express our appreciation for the generosity of PNC and everyone who donated to help the IBMA and the IBMA Trust Fund. Our generous supporters have demonstrated how the bluegrass family sticks together with passion and resilience.”

At the same time as they announce the 2020 numbers, IBMA has also shared plans for World of Bluegrass 2021 to take place in person, September 29-October 2 in Raleigh, NC. The primary convention activities will be centered around the Raleigh Convention Center, with Bluegrass Ramble concerts occurring at a number of downtown venues, the IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards held at the Duke Energy Performing Arts Center, and the IBMA Bluegrass Live! Festival taking place at the Red Hat Amphitheater.

Which was received as great news by David Brower, Executive Director of PineCone and a Tri-Chair of the Local Organizing Committee.

“We were excited to see the City of Raleigh shine once again as the host city for IBMA’s World of Bluegrass and festival. Sure we wish the bluegrass world was here in person, but what happened online this year was still kind of magical in the way it brought people together. From the Mayor’s welcome to the bands performing on location in Raleigh, the partnership between IBMA and the Local Organizing Committee contributed to the success of this year’s virtual festival. Raleigh looks forward to welcoming the global bluegrass community back to North Carolina in 2021.”

Let’s all keep positive thoughts about assembling again in Raleigh next September. Bluegrass music is at its best when played by real musicians in front of real people.

See you all there in 2021!

Posted in Lyrics | Tags: IBMA | Leave a comment |

American Dream finds Larry Keel taking a rare solo sojourn

Posted on October 29, 2020 by Azlyrics

Modesty is a rare commodity these days. So credit Larry Keel with having a humble attitude when a well-deserved complement is directed his way. Of course, anyone who’s made a career out of making music for nearly 45 years ought to be used to a certain amount of affirmation, but when Keel’s told that his new album, appropriately dubbed American Dream, is inspired and uplifting, he seems genuinely appreciative. And certainly for good reason as well.

“It’s heartfelt and very sincere. It’s all me, every bit of me,” he reflects. “I’ve had some time off the road to slow everything down, clear my head and get my mind right, and all kinds of ideas came to me…These songs were definitely influenced and inspired by all the turbulence we’re seeing today. It’s a world I never expected to see during my lifetime. I was trying to put a good positive spin on it all. There’s so much negativity out there, so I don’t want to spread any of that. I want to lift people up rather than bring them down.”

Recorded while in lock-down during the pandemic, American Dream is a rallying cry of sorts, one that eschews any casting of blame on either side. Instead, it encourages its listeners to find a positive perspective by leaning on their own optimistic instincts. The songs are upbeat, uplifting, and flush with a series of rich arrangements that make the material practically leap from the grooves.

These days, of course, it’s a narrow divide between offering encouragement and pontificating one’s political views. So credit Keel with simply speaking from his heart while managing to avoid any partisan pitfalls.

“I’m the kind of guy that thinks you have to march to the beat of your own drum, and listen to your own voice,” Keel explains. “It’s too much for everybody these days. Everybody’s exhausted with politics, exhausted with covid, and so I wanted to put a positive message out versus a message that’s deliberately one-sided. I’m not talking about anybody specifically. I didn’t mention one side or the other. I’m talking about all of us helping each other and simply being better Americans.”

One song on the new album, descriptively titled The Best of Man, shines the spotlight on one person in particular, his brother Gary, who Keel describes as “one of the greatest, most empathetic and wonderful people I’ve ever met. He taught me how to play guitar and just be a good person, think about other people, and do the best you can.”

Indeed, all these songs are decidedly near and dear to him, and a definitive representation of values and ideals that he holds with such reverence. It’s significant that the title track begins the record with a lyric that’s particularly prophetic (“I don’t wanna grow up to be another angry old white guy/Self-important and all wrapped up in his white lie”). Yet, the album is personal in another way as well, given that Keel opted to record it at home entirely on his own. 

“I’ve toured for the last three years as my original namesake, the Larry Keel Experience,” Keel notes. “We played Seattle at the very end of February, and then they turned off the lights on everything. It had been one of the biggest years we had ever booked, but then everything went away. So I had time to write a lot of songs. There are four songs that I had written before the pandemic, and several of the others were written during the pandemic — Mars Cry, Old Man Kelsey’s and Long Way Round, among them. Try was written a couple years ago, but I never really found a place for it. It seemed like more of a relevant song now.”

With the material ready to go, Keel then determined that he would record the tracks solo, sans support from any of the other musicians. Consequently, he overdubbed each track using acoustic and electric guitars, banjo, bass, and mandolin. “I play a lot of banjo around the house, and I ended up writing the majority of my songs on the banjo,” he notes. “So after I had written these songs, my road manager and longtime friend, Steve Hevener, said that he could come to my home and record these songs with me. I liked the idea, but I didn’t know if I wanted to get him out of his safe environment to do this. Everybody was gun-shy, and they still are for very good reasons, especially having to do with the covid. I ended up telling him that I needed two or three more weeks to polish up my mandolin chops, and hone my banjo skills, and do everything I could to get it sounding recordable. I was rough on all those instruments, but I brushed up on everything and did it track by track. I started out on guitar and by singing the songs, and then I just added everything to it.”

Still, he admits that the task still felt a bit intimidating at the same time.

“It was a very big challenge, but I was willing to meet it because I had lost all my live work for an indefinite period at that point,” Keel recalls. “Yet I knew I had to expend my energies somehow, so I decided I was going to get better on the mandolin, I’m going to get better on the banjo, I was going to get better on the bass. I was going to create these songs and see how they come out. At that point, it was something I could get into at a very trying time but not knowing what would happen.”

As Keel admits, it was a decidedly different tack from his usual recording technique, when he’s surrounded by a band. 

“When I used to write a song, I’d present it on acoustic guitar and it was like, ‘Okay, here’s the song, learn it,’” he explains. “Then they would create all they’d create, and that’s how the song would come about. In the past, I’d sit and practice leads that I had heard in my head, so when it came time to put a lead in, I’d put my lead mandolin in and I’d do the same with a banjo. But I never got a chance to hear how it all came to fruition until after the song was recorded. I never really knew how it was going to come out until that point. It was like, ‘Wow, that’s what I sound like!’ It was very interesting.”

Likewise, the entire process of  working up his material was now radically different from before. He says that in the past, he would develop the song live in from of his audience in order to gauge how it was going over. If he got a good reaction, he’d then go into the studio and record it. 

“Early on, we would record live on four or five microphones, and press cassette tapes or albums,” Keel remembers. “At first, I would put people in different rooms of the studio and everybody would play together, so you’d create a live feeling. For an engineer, that’s the ideal way of mixing. They want one person at a time doing one track at a time. That’s going to be your best recording quality. But I wanted to keep a live feel, and keep the music from sounding stale or affected by the environment. I wanted it to have the feel it had when I played it in front of an audience. Then I read about how George Martin did the Beatles’ recordings, and how they would do one track at a time which allowed them to edit things out. That started making a lot of sense to me, and that’s the way I started doing it. When you’re in a studio, you have edits that need to happen and adjustments that make the instruments sound fuller. They’re things you do that affect the overall sound. When you do it track by track, you can mesh everything together and so it sounds fuller. Plus, there’s no outside noise. It’s just very clean that way. It’s been an amazing process, learning how to do that and picking up different tricks of the trade.”

Then again, Keel has never expressed any doubts about venturing outside the box. Having worked with everyone from Bill Monroe to Billy Strings to Leftover Salmon, while detouring in rock, country, jazz, and jam band situations, he’s always been open to navigating the various twists, turns and diversions that music has offered him ever since he began playing semi-professionally in the mid ’70s. It’s clearly paid off. Keel’s extensive list of accomplishments include the several awards accorded him at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in the early to mid ’90s, a documentary detailing his work alongside his bass-playing wife, Jenny, numerous high profile festival appearances, and consistent top placement on the national bluegrass charts.

Keel’s formal career took flight when he was in his late 20s, courtesy of his first professional band, Magraw. “We would play fraternity parties and sorority parties,” he remembers. “We’d cover a wide gamut of things, and while it could be strange, it was also very positive. We developed a thing where we could toss in a couple of Bob Marley songs, or a tune like Call Me the Breeze, a song the crowd would absolutely know, and then we’d sneak in your Bill Monroe tune or your Jimmy Martin song and the crowd would love it. You give them a little something they know, and they’ll listen to the other stuff if it’s pumped up or whatever. So you’re turning them on to the music in a weird way, sort of subliminally almost. It was really funny to see people turn around and say, ‘Wow, so this is bluegrass?! Cool! I can jam to this!’ Leftover Salmon, when they started touring, they knew so many cover songs, and the following they developed would party and dance because they actually knew a few of the songs. Then they’d throw a Bill Monroe song in, and it was probably the first time a lot of those fans ever heard a song by Bill Monroe.”

Consequently Keel deserves the kudos that this album is bound to reap. When that prediction is shared, he gratefully accepts that complement accorded him. 

“It’s an album about the things that have influenced me,” he muses modestly. “Nothing else you could say would make me happier.”

It’s bound to make those that hear it happy as well.

American Dream will be released on November 6. For pre-order information, visit Larry Keel online.

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Track Premiere: Lonesome Leaving Train from Amanda Cook

Posted on October 28, 2020 by Azlyrics

Mountain Fever Records has released a new single from Amanda Cook, one that will be included on her next album with the label.

Amanda tells us it’s one that she started working on more than a decade ago, and just finished up in time to cut it for the next record.

“I started writing Lonesome Leaving Train at a festival in 2009. That night, after seeing some incredible bands and jamming late into the evening, I couldn’t get the story of the song off my mind. I was wide awake in the camper until I finished writing out the lyrics.

I held Lonesome Leaving Train in my notebook for 9 years until we started pulling material for the new album. I worked on it a little more and decided that I needed some help. I reached out to Thomm Jutz, one of my favorite current writers. He’s such a great writer and knows my voice and what I look for in songs for my albums. He put the finishing touches on the lyrics and worked up an incredible melody! The arrangement in the studio brought it all together and now, Lonesome Leaving Train is my favorite track off the new album Narrowing the Gap.”

She is supported by her touring band: Carolyne VanLierop-Boone on banjo, Joshua Faul on bass, George Mason on fiddle, Aaron “Frosty” Foster on guitar, and Troy Boone on mandolin.

It’s a highly melodic driver that tells a tragic story. See what you think…

You can find Lonesome Leaving Train wherever you stream or download music online. Radio programmers  can get the track via AirPlay Direct.

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Gary Brewer Day in Shepherdsville, KY

Posted on October 28, 2020 by Azlyrics

Monday, October 26 was a big day for bluegrass singer and songwriter Gary Brewer. His hometown of Shepherdsville, in the bluegrass state of Kentucky, had proclaimed that date as Gary Brewer Day. A high honor indeed!

Gary Brewer Day was declared in recognition of his 40th anniversary as a professional bluegrass entertainer, and the ongoing success of his current record, 40th Anniversary Celebration. It features Gary with his sons, Wayne and Mason, along with many of Brewer’s friends from his long career including Sam Bush, The Travelin’ McCourys, Russell Moore, Dale Ann Bradley, Doug Phelps of The Kentucky Headhunters, T. Graham Brown, Ron Stewart, and Ralph Stanley II.

Gary was invited to city council chambers with his sons, where he met with Mayor Curtis Hockenbury and City Attorney Tammy Baker, who read the following proclamation:

Kentucky’s own Gary Brewer and the Kentucky Ramblers is a legendary 6 generation, 2-time GRAMMY-nominated bluegrass and Americana/roots band that celebrates their 40th Anniversary in the music in 2020. With a lot of ups and downs throughout the year —both personally and globally—their silver lining for this year has been the success of their newly-released monumental album, 40th Anniversary Celebration.

Since before its release in the early summer, the project has propelled Brewer and his band, The Kentucky Ramblers, to new heights. 40th Anniversary Celebration has been covered and praised by top publications including Medium, American Songwriter, Music Row Magazine, Thrive Global (Huffington Post), and many more. It’s being helmed by Roots Music Report, Midwest Record Entertainment, and others as, “The biggest bluegrass record since Dueling Banjos!“

The collection has been a runaway success for the bluegrass troubadour, hitting #1 in the nation twice on the Billboard Bluegrass Albums Chart (the most prestigious chart in the world), and spending a total of 16 weeks (and counting) in the top 5; Gary is critically acclaimed and has received great recognition from his peers in the industry as well.

The record serves as a full-circle moment for Brewer. After garnering attention and gaining respect from some of the biggest names of all-time across multiple music genres, he has no plans in stopping any time soon. With a lifetime of experience and dedication to the music, Gary Brewer & The Kentucky Ramblers will take that inspiration on the road for the 40th Anniversary Celebration Tour, which will resume as soon as venues begin to open again following the COVID-19 outbreak cancellations and postponements.

In accepting, Gary noted how all this has come their way during a time when their touring has been restricted.

“We were very honored. Perhaps the success of this record is even more impressive to us personally since it is has reached these new heights for the group during a global pandemic.”

Congratulations to Gary and all his Kentucky Ramblers!

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Recording King introduces parlor size metal body reso-guitar

Posted on October 28, 2020 by Azlyrics

Recording King has announced the introduction of their new small sized, short scale, metal body resonator guitar.

Called simply the Parlor Metal Body Resonator, this round neck guitar is made to offer a distinctive voice in the Recording King reso family. Even with the smaller body, they are utilizing a full 9.5” cone, the same hand-spun ones that go into their pricier full size models.

The body is made from bell brass, nickel plated, with a 24.25” scale V-shaped mahogany neck attached, and a rosewood fingerboard. Neck width at the nut is 1.75”, and the bridge is a maple/ebony biscuit.

Recording King created this video to show how well the Parlor Metal Body Resonator guitar sounds in an open tuning.

They are offering this new guitar for $699.99 through their worldwide network of dealers.

Here are a few additional photos supplied by the manufacturer.

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Video Premiere: Ready For The Times To Get Better from Carolina Road

Posted on October 28, 2020 by Azlyrics

Pinecastle Records has a new music video this week for Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road, featuring one of the songs from their current project, Bill Monroe’s Ol’ Mandolin.

Like so much of their music, this one looks back to an earlier time with a remake of a country hit from Crystal Gayle called Ready For The Times To Get Better. First released more than 40 years ago, Jordan says that it conveys a message that resonates just as clearly today.

“I’m very excited about the release of the Ready for the Times video. The footage is real life situations that have happened during a really hard time in our present life. Ready for the Times to Get Better is the perfect song for the times. I’m so proud of our producer, Mickey Stroud, for producing and putting together a great video. Also to Melanie Wilson for photos of disaster events, and Donna Newton for photos of where I live, and where IBMA is held in downtown Raleigh, NC which was recently vandalized.”

Stroud picked up that same theme, saying that setting all these images to the track proved cathartic for him.

“Crystal Gayle released the big hit, Ready For The Times in 1976. While inflation was a problem, it was a relatively good year. Microsoft and Apple were formed, Nadia Comaneci scored the first perfect 10 in gymnastics and the first Rocky movie was released.

Contrast that year with the craziness of 2020, and the song becomes even more relevant, taking on a most impactful meaning. Lorraine Jordan realized that and re-released the song with a powerful video that utilizes story-telling images from a group of photographers with Unsplash.com, Donna Newton, and Melanie Wilson. Creating the video was a release of heartfelt emotions.”

With Lorraine on mandolin, Carolina Road is Ben Greene on banjo, Randy Graham and Allen Dyer on guitar, Matt Hooper on fiddle, and Kevin Lamm on bass.

Bill Monroe’s Ol’ Mandolin is widely available wherever you stream or download music online, and on CD directly from the band.

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From The Side of the Road… studio budgets in the bluegrass world

Posted on October 28, 2020 by Azlyrics

If this week’s column seems at all disjointed, it’s only because The Night Drivers and I are in the studio all this week, and I’m writing this in between takes of our new medley of Next Sunday Darling is My Birthday and One Night in Bangkok.

It got me thinking about the whole recording process, though, and how different that process can be, depending on what kind of budget you usually work with. 

We in the bluegrass music world tend to work with budgets that shock people in other genres of music for their austerity. In Nashville, if I mention our typical recording budget to someone in the country or Christian music business, they either laugh openly, or they say something like, “I don’t mean your photography budget, what do you spend on the recording.” Other times I just get a pitying kind of look, similar to the look I’d get if I just described how my dog “Squiggles” was run over by a furniture truck. It’s the “I’m so glad I’m not you” look.

Even within bluegrass music, there’s a wide range in recording budgets, literally ranging from $100,000 + at the top end to, well, zero at the bottom end.

I have to confess that I kind of like smaller budgets for recording (please don’t tell my record label I said that), partly because I don’t like recording projects to drag on. I’m also not a fan of the “perfect” record, and perfection is sometimes what you end up striving for if you have a lot of money to spend on a lot of studio time. 

Some of my most favorite bluegrass recordings were done very quickly and cheaply, some recorded in a single day. On the other hand, I’ve heard a lot of high-budget, “perfect” bluegrass albums that were very impressive on first listen, but that I never really had a desire to listen to again. There are exceptions, naturally. We’ve all heard recordings that clearly would have benefited from one more take on a song or two (one in which the bass player was playing in the same key as the guitar player, for example).

Many with little or no experience in the studio might wonder how there could be that big a difference in time and money spent from one recording project to another, and further, how that difference would manifest itself in the recording process.

I thought it might be helpful to describe a typical day in the studio during low and high budget recordings:

Low Budget Recording, Day One:

Studio: Their studio of choice costs $25/hour including engineer (the mandolin player’s cousin) and is in the back room of a barn.

10:00- 10:30 a.m.: The band arrives at the studio, after yesterday’s rehearsal, making sure arrangements are set for the day’s recording. 

The engineer gets set up and gets tones set for the various instruments. 

10:30-11:00 a.m.: The band plays its first take of the album’s first song. A goat walks through the session and begins chewing on the banjo player’s shirt. A second take is necessary.

11:00 a.m.-noon: After a couple of minor bass retakes, the first rhythm track and lead parts are done. It’s on to the second song.

12:00 noon: Two more tracks are done. The mandolin player feels he had a few chops out of place. The producer (everyone in the band) decides it’s fine and everyone moves on.

1:00-2:00 p.m.: Pizza is delivered and eaten. Everyone chips in except the mysteriously absent fiddle player.

2:00-5:00 p.m. Five more songs are tracked, with lead vocals recorded live.

The recording day is over. Plans are made to return tomorrow morning to do four more songs and record all harmony vocals. Mixing will be completed by the end of the week.

Totals for session:

Eight songs recorded with lead vocals and some instrument fixes and overdubs

Money spent, excluding pizza: $150

A guest dobro player was also used, but he has agreed to play in trade for two dozen eggs and some goat’s milk.

High Budget Recording, Day One:

10:30 – 11:00: Four of the band members arrive at the studio. The producer was there but has run out for more coffee. The lead singer is outside smoking a cigarette.

The studio is on Music Row in Nashville and costs $125/hour including engineer (the friends and family rate). There are a lot of framed platinum records on the wall, and the engineer does a lot of name-dropping.

11:00 – noon: The engineer works on bass tones. The producer and two of the band members discuss the demise of the Cardinals in the playoffs last fall. The engineer, while running the bass through a different processor, mentions going to a Mets game two years ago with “Tim and Faith” (“We got luxury box seats thanks to the connection with Tug,” he adds).

12:00 noon – 1:00 p.m.: The bass player takes a coffee break, while the mandolin player starts playing into a microphone. The engineer is somewhere else in the building. The guitar player is looking over the chart for the first song.

1:00 – 2:00 p.m.: Sushi is delivered and charged to the recording tab.

2:00 – 3:00 p.m.: Tones are set for most instruments, although the fiddle player has left to run an errand.

3:00 – 4:00 p.m.: Several takes are done on the first rhythm track. The producer expresses second thoughts about the arrangement, and a discussion ensues with the lead singer who wrote the song. An adjustment is made and they do three more takes.

5:00 – 6:30 p.m.: They settle on a take they like and spend the rest of the day on rhythm guitar and bass punches in the fourth line of the third verse.

6:30 – 7:00 p.m.: The rest of the band leaves, while the lead singer puts several takes of a scratch vocal down on the track

Totals for session:

One rhythm track partially completed, without any lead instruments. Plans are made to recut all the rhythm guitar the next day.

Money spent, including sushi: $1,190

If we check in on these two projects one month later, we find that the band recording in the barn already has the shrink-wrapped product in hand and has spent $2,500, including mastering, photos, and the catering for their album release party.

The band working with the large budget is doing fixes of the baritone part on the chorus of one of the five songs they have partially finished. The banjo player has quit and moved to Australia. They’re discussing replacing his parts. They’ve run through $22,000 of their budget so far.

I wonder if anyone’s ever thought of trying to get a $75,000 budget, then recording the whole thing in one day like Jimmy Martin would do anyway, then putting $74,000 down on a house by the lake (with a good room for a recording studio and/or a goat pen).

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Taxland – twin mandolin instrumental from Justin Moses and Sierra Hull

Posted on October 28, 2020 by Azlyrics

Bluegrass music’s favorite young married couple, Sierra Hull and Justin Moses, is back with another hot mandolin instrumental, Taxland. It’s one Justin wrote which appears on his upcoming Mountain Fever album, Fall Like Rain.

The tune falls into the contemporary gypsy jazz style that David Grisman introduced into bluegrass in the 1980s, and which now maintains a solid corner of the sound, especially among mandolinists and guitarists.

Justin and Sierra start it off with twin mandolins, then trade fiery solos, along with Bryan Sutton and Michael Cleveland, leading up to a harmony mandolin ending. Anyone who loves fiery picking will get a charge out of Taxland.

Here’s a taste.

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

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Ophelia drops for Bill and Billy Emerson

Posted on October 28, 2020 by Azlyrics

615 Hideaway Records has announced the signing of banjo legend Bill Emerson to the label, with plans for a new album with Bill and his son Billy in the works for the near future.

A first single has just been released, featuring Bill on banjo and Billy on lead vocals recutting Ophelia, the classic Robbie Robertson song from The Band, initially recorded in 1975. Fans of the original might not hear it as a bluegrass number, but speed it up a bit, and it works remarkably well in this setting.

The Emersons are supported by Tom Adams on guitar, Wayne Lanham on mandolin, Shelby Gold on fiddle, and Teri Chism on bass.

Here’s the track…

Sammy Passamano, label head for 615 Hideaway, says that while they are delighted with this single, recorded at Phoenix Productions in Browntown, VA, they aren’t rushing to get the Emersons back in the studio until virus concerns are reduced.

“Bill Emerson is a living legend and still has that magic touch. We are working around some 2020 blues, and not rushing the music. When we can get Bill in the studio to record, we will.”

Ophelia is available now for download purchase through Amazon. Radio programmers can find it at AirPlay Direct.

The full album which will hopefully be completed next year will be titled simply, Emerson.

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2020 South Carolina State Fiddling Championship winners

Posted on October 27, 2020 by Azlyrics

Earlier this month, the 2020 South Carolina State Fiddling Championship was held at the Hagood Mills Historic Site in Pickens, SC. Even with COVID-19 restrictions in place, the organizers were delighted with the turnout, both among competitors and audience alike.

Prizes were awarded in five different categories, for both a junior and an adult division. The junior division was for those 16 and under.

This year for the first time, the October 16-17 event was live-streamed online, and video from all of the competitions can be viewed on YouTube.

And the winners of the 24th annual South Carolina State Fiddling Championship were:

Adult Fiddle

  • Madelin Dieauf – Pisgah Forest, NC
  • Lilian Chase – Weaverville, NC
  • Ella Thomas – N. Columbia, SC
  • Junior Fiddle

  • Ryn Riley – Mills River, NC
  • Amelia Tebalt – Seneca, SC
  • Sara Nell Chase – Weaverville, NC
  • Adult Guitar

  • Swanagan Ray – Johns Island, SC
  • Ali Kafka – Marshall, NC
  • Shea Kennedy – – Seneca, SC
  • Junior Guitar

  • Lilly Surlinga – Pickens, SC
  • Emily Drake – Flectcher, NC
  • Adult Old Time Banjo

  • Justin Parrish – Goose Creek, SC
  • Bo Wilkey – Athens, GA
  • Conner Steven Vliestra – Johnson City, TN
  • Junior Old Time Banjo

  • River Riley – Mills River, NC
  • Arthur Bruce – Taylors, SC
  • Molly Johnson – Pickens, SC
  • Adult Wildcat

  • Madelin Dieauf – Pisgah Forest, NC
  • Lisa Deakins – Mt. Pleasant, SC
  • Eric Deakins – Mt. Pleasant, SC
  • Junior Wildcat

  • Ryan Drake – Mills River, SC
  • Amelia Tebalt – Seneca, SC
  • Arthur Bruce – Taylors, SC
  • Adult Old Time String Band

  • Josh Johnson Family Band – Pickens, SC
  • Sawtooth Ridge – Mt. Pleasant, SC
  • Bar H Prize Pigs – Marshall, NC
  • Junior Old Time String Band

  • Riley Family Band – Mills River, NC
  • Bruce Family band – Taylors, SC
  • The adult categories were judged by Michele Turner (Taylors, SC), Steve McGaha (Easley, SC), Carol Rifkin (Asheville, NC), and Dan Wood (Travelers Rest, SC). In the junior categories, judges were Daniel Yother, Peyton O’Kelley and Emily Brazinski, all from Pickens, SC.

    Congratulations and well done all!

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    Video Premiere: In This House from Thomm Jutz

    Posted on October 27, 2020 by Azlyrics

    Mountain Home Music has released a new music video for Thomm Jutz, one from his current album, To Live In Two Worlds, Vol 2.

    It’s a song that Jutz wrote with his frequent collaborator, Tammy Rogers of The Steeldrivers, called In This House. In it we hear the voice of a man telling how his mother kept a brave face for her children when he was young, while she suffered abuse at the hands of her husband.

    Thomm explains how this one came together. It’s quite a tale.

    “Tammy Rogers and I write about once a week, typically on Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m. We’ve been doing so for over two years and have probably 100 plus songs at this point.

    Tammy had the original idea for this. It was just a title. We often write like that, just starting with a title or a line instead of a whole story or concept. It’s fun to start with little more than an image that’s inspired by a title.

    Stuff we’d heard and read about, that we had observed, and a good amount of fiction make up this song.

    I remember a book turned into a TV series called Via Mala when I was a kid in Germany. A whole family conspiring to kill their paternal oppressor. It scared the hell out of me back then. 

    On a vacation with my parents we drove through Via Mala, a mountain gorge in Northern Italy. It was easy to see how secluded that area was 100 years ago, which is when the novel took place. The setting was very similar to the isolated hollers of Appalachia. 

    Since Appalachia, especially Western North Carolina, is on my mind so much these days, it makes sense that Via Mala found its way from my subconsciousness onto the page, 40 years later, and connected with Tammy’s title, In This House.

    It took us about an hour to write this song and I immediately knew that I’d want to record it for one of my own albums. That’s what we did in May of 2019, and it will be the first single of my new record To Live In Two Worlds, Volume 2.”

    Watch and listen…

    Jutz is supported on this recording by Mike Compton on mandolin, Justin Moses on banjo, Tammy Rogers on fiddle, and Mark Fain on bass.

    In This House and To Live In Two Worlds, Vol. 2 are available now wherever you stream or download music online. Radio programmers can get the tracks via AirPlay Direct.

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    Tristan Scroggins adds Carrying The Tradition tabs to Patreon

    Posted on October 27, 2020 by Azlyrics

    Nashville mandolinist Tristan Scroggins has released another book of transcriptions, this time featuring the playing of Dan Tyminski with Lonesome River Band. Tristan has transcribed all of Dan’s solos from LRB’s breakout album, Carrying The Tradition, which set the bluegrass world on fire back in 1991.

    Prior to the release of this record, Lonesome River Band was not a readily familiar name in bluegrass circles, other than in and around southwestern Virginia. Neither were the names Dan Tyminski, Sammy Shelor, or Ronnie Bowman, though many people knew Tim Austin through his studio and live audio work. But Carrying The Tradition demonstrated a new, youthful, and muscular sound that dominated our music for several years.

    Our Mr. Scroggins was likely not even born when this album was released, but he is quick to realize the powerful mandolin playing that Tyminski brought to bear. It might be hard to believe that Dan had only been playing the mandolin for a few years at the time it was cut, having been a transplanted banjo player brought down to Ferrum, Virginia to play with Lonesome River Band. Tales in this area abound of Dan finding every jam session he could to perk up his mando skills before LRB started touring for real once Carrying The Tradition hit.

    Instead of simply offering this book for sale, Tristan is taking a different route, distributing his tab books and instructional videos through Patreon. By offering it all through a subscription/membership service, mandolin students and players can make a recurring donation of as little as $5/month, and have access to most of the content he has archived, and what is added each month. Higher membership levels of $10 or $20/month unlock even more.

    The Carrying The Tradition tab book and the earlier book of solos from Manzanita are offered to $20 monthly contributors. Both are presented in both standard notation and tablature.

    Tristan demonstrates a couple of solos in this video.

    Patreon has become an important resource for creative artists and teachers in every imaginable format. The membership model ensures that the artist has a reliable source of monthly income, and students/fans are given access to a great deal of instructional material and/or music for a fraction of the cost of private lessons or concert tickets.

    Visit Tristan on Patreon here. You can also see a list of everything that is available from him online.

    Posted in Lyrics | Tags: Tristan Scroggins | Leave a comment |

    The Farm Hands – new look, new sound, same bluegrass focus

    Posted on October 27, 2020 by Azlyrics

    The Farm Hands have been through a lot in 2020, as we all have, and they are back as strong ever with some new members, an updated sound, and even a new web site. But they are still playing the same mix of traditional bluegrass and Gospel music that has kept this bunch on the road for a decade.

    Co-founder and reso-guitarist Tim Graves told us today that this has been a tough year, with several band members leaving, including Daryl Mosley, who started the group with Tim about ten years ago. It was Daryl’s plan to start his own group and function as a solo artist, which he has done, but that was all set before the virus struck.

    Graves says that it didn’t take long to reconfigure a touring band.

    “The other guys quit when the pandemic hit. We had a full year on the books, but they left when we were shut down. We started working again some in June, and are booked pretty regular now through the end of the year.

    So we have three new members. Bryan Graves is on bass, my cousin, who played with Uncle Josh for some time before he died. Kelsey Crews is on banjo, David Mansfield is on guitar, and Kimberly Bibb is still with us on fiddle.”

    Even while gigs were slow this summer, the new edition of The Farm Hands were plenty busy in the studio. A new record from Pinecastle is expected in January.

    And Tim says that he can’t wait for all their fans to see and hear what they have in store.

    “Everybody in the band can sing all the parts, so we can split all the vocals among us. Plus they all play multiple instruments, giving us a chance to mix it up, even having twin fiddles on some songs.”

    Graves says that 2021 looks good for The Farm Hands, officially shortened from The Farm Hands Quartet since they have gone to five members.

    Keep an eye on their web site for a chance to catch them live somewhere near you.

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    Flatt & Scruggs tribute video from Billy Troy and OMS Records

    Posted on October 27, 2020 by Azlyrics

    High Moore and OMS Records have created another wonderful socially-distanced video featuring lead singer Billy Troy, along with Moore and several other talented bluegrass pickers, this time for a dead-on tribute to the great Flatt & Scruggs.

    Previous videos from this team have featured Bobby Osborne doing I Can’t Stop Loving You, and Billy Troy leading a bluegrass version of Never Ending Song of Love. Even though the audio was captured separately by each performer, it was all recorded in bona fide studios, and sent to Hugh to put in final form. The end results have been powerful musical statements, and Moore says he has a few more up his sleeve.

    Today’s new video is a remake of the Lester and Earl classic, I’ll Go Stepping Too, originally released in 1953 as a single, backed by Earl’s cut of Foggy Mountain Chimes. That first release of the Jerry Organ and Tom James song featured the great Benny Martin on fiddle, supporting Lester Flatt on lead and Curly Seckler on harmony vocals.

    For this tribute cover, Troy takes the lead, with John Cloyd Miller playing mandolin and singing tenor. Chris Sharp is on guitar, playing in the Flatt-inspired thumbpick style, Ray Legere on fiddle recreating all of Benny’s solos and fills, Zack Mondry on bass, and Hugh pulling all the Scruggs licks on the banjo.

    These guys have some legit connections to The Foggy Mountain Boys. Troy is the son of Josh Graves who played reso-guitar for many years with the band, and Miller is the grandson of Jim Shumate, who played fiddle on the early F&S records. Moore was great friends with Benny Martin, and produced and recorded a number of his albums in the 1990s. Sharp had also performed and recorded with the various members of The Foggy Mountain Boys after that group dissolved.

    They know how this vintage sound was made, and they do a fine job bringing it forward into 2020, using green screen video.

    Hugh says that this track of I’ll Go Stepping Too will be available soon on the popular download and streaming sites, and on AirPlay Direct for radio programmers.

    He also hinted that at least one more of these Flatt & Scruggs remakes are in the offing before the end of the year.

    Great job everyone!

    Posted in Lyrics | Tags: Billy Troy, Flatt Scruggs | Leave a comment |

    Let’s All Do Some Living – Cane Mill Road (Live)

    Posted on October 26, 2020 by Azlyrics

    They say that youth is often wasted on the young. That may be true at times, but when the young folks in question show a reverence for the roots and offer a salute to their seniors, you have to give them credit for their appreciation. Cane Mill Road is one such outfit, and while some might question their broad-minded intents and their efforts to glean material that’s beyond the normal bluegrass boundaries, they manage to make it all work. In so doing, they instill a verve and vitality that affirms the fact that agility and ability are both essential additives as far as their ongoing efforts are concerned.

    Recorded live in concert, Let’s All Do Some Living lives up to its title by confirming both their creativity and credibility all at the same time. They start their set with a rollicking cover of Townes Van Zandt’s White Freightliner Blues, a song that could have been written precisely for this purpose. That sets up a sound that freely reverberates throughout the entire album, one that emphasizes the instrumental acumen of each of these young musicians — fiddler, singer and mandolin player Liam Purcell, banjo player Tray Wellington, singer and guitarist Casey Lewis, and bassist Eliot Smith — offering each ample opportunity to solo and bring their musical skills solidly to the fore.

    That said, Cane Mill Road is more than a band of skilled soloists, and the fact that they’ve not only melded their talents into a cohesive whole, but also expanded their musical possibilities at the same time makes these performances all the more impressive. A medley that combines a pair of disparate standards — Summertime and The Thrill Is Gone — might seem surprising at first, but they pull it off with ease and aplomb. Likewise, a revisit to the Rolling Stone’s oft-covered classic, Wild Horses, might seem somewhat risky given the variety of versions that precede it, but here again they adapt it to their parameters rather than the other way around.

    Cane Mill Road may still be working their way towards the realms of greater recognition, but they’ve accomplished quite a bit so far, as evidenced by a list of accolades that include the IBMA’s 2019 Momentum Award for Band of the Year, as well as two other awards and five additional nominations from IBMA that they’ve accumulated over the past two years. Likewise, if Let’s All Do Some Living is any indication, Cane Mill Road has clearly found the right route to stardom.

    Posted in Lyrics | Leave a comment |

    D’Addario introduces new pick material and Chris Thile signature pick

    Posted on October 26, 2020 by Azlyrics

    D’Addario has added a new item to its accessory line which should attract a good bit of interest from bluegrass players. 

    If you have spent any time in the company of grassers, you will have heard stories about the wonder of natural tortoise shell as a plectrum material. Prized by both guitarists and mandolinists, and even some banjo players, for its warmth of tone, true organic shell products have become largely unavailable and quite expensive since laws protecting the hawksbill tortoise have been passed around the world, and the supply of antique items made of shell has dwindled.

    A number of companies have risen up producing synthetic materials that are said to mimic the feel, response, and tone of natural shell, with many players singing the praises of this or that pick.

    Now D’Addario has entered the competition for a shell replacement with a material derived from dairy proteins called casein. It has been utilized for a number of applications, from paint additives to glue production. Based on phosphoproteins found in the milk of most mammalian species, designers with D’Addario wondered whether these organic origins might offer a sound similar to shell when shaped for picks, and so the process was begun.

    At roughly the same time, the company had been approached by mando-master Chris Thile about developing a mandolin pick that could meet his demands. That collaboration has resulted in a new line of picks, including the Casein Chris Thile Signature Pick, a rounded triangle shape with beveled edges which Thile says he is honored to have share his name.

    “I’ve been frustrated by my pick options as a mandolinist… I went to D’Addario with my conundrum and we went to work on a solution together. The result is the first pick I’ve ever used that combines a balanced, full-spectrum tone with speed and precision, edge-to-edge, pick-to-pick. This pick does it all! I couldn’t be more proud. HALLELUJAH!!!”

    Now available from music retailers worldwide, the Chris Thile pick is made to a thickness of 1.4 mm and sells for $24.99. There is also a 2.0 mm teardrop shaped pick made of casein offered for $21.99.

    Thile is donating all of his royalties from this project to the D’Addario Foundation, a non-profit that supplies both funding and products to further music education in primary schools all over the world.

    Visit your favorite music store to see and try this new pick for yourself.

    Posted in Lyrics | Leave a comment |

    Matterhorn drops from Chopped Liver

    Posted on October 26, 2020 by Azlyrics

    Ontario’s Chopped Liver, a contemporary bluegrass trio based in Toronto and Hamilton, is preparing to release their second album in November called D.B. Cooper, with a second single available today in advance of the full project.

    The band typically focuses on their original material, but for this one they have reached back for a reworking of the Mel Tillis classic, Matterhorn, so indelibly recorded by The Country Gentlemen in the early 1970s. You might wonder how anyone could hope to improve on the Gentlemen’s version, and you could be right, but the three players that make up Chopped Liver simply offer this tribute after their own fashion.

    As a northern, urban-based band, their singing immediately takes on a different flavor, but guitarist and lead vocalist Andrew Ivens says that wanted to further mold the song to their distinctive sound.

    “The Country Gentlemen are gigantic for all of us. The way they approach storytelling, along with their style of vocal harmony have always been a huge influence on our playing and writing. We’ve played Matterhorn the way they did it on all those records live for a while now, but wanted to change it up and put our own spin on it for the studio. We settled on adding a few chords here and there, and altering the drive with the clawhammer banjo. Since we recorded this album live-off-the-floor, there are a lot of playful and improvised musical interactions between us in the group. That really exemplifies what I love so much about playing with these guys.”

    Have a listen and see what you think.

    Andrew is supported in Chopped Liver by Victor Vrankulj on banjo and Adam Vrankulj on bass. All three share vocal duties.

    The next record is expected on November 24, the anniversary of the 1971 hijacking where a man identified as Dan Cooper took control of a Northwest Orient Airlines flight, demanded and received $200,000 in cash, and leapt from the plane with the money and a parachute, never to be seen again.

    Andrew says that the band took the audacious nature of Cooper’s feat as their inspiration for this new project, including a song about his daring escapade 50 years ago.

    “The title track D.B. Cooper, tells the story of one of the band’s favorite fugitive folk heroes who eluded the FBI with a suitcase full of money, and jumped from a commercial airplane in the middle of a stormy night above the Pacific Northwest in 1971. To this day, his identity has not been discovered and whether or not he survived the jump has remained a mystery. We tried to tap into that outrageously brazen attitude that this heist would have taken as a ‘jumping off’ point for a lot of the writing on this album.”

    D.B. Cooper will be available on November 24 wherever you stream or download music online, and on CD directly from the band’s web site.

    Posted in Lyrics | Leave a comment |

    Mark’s Reel from Alan Sibley & Anthony Howell

    Posted on October 24, 2020 by Azlyrics

    Here’s one for everyone who thinks that young people are abandoning traditional bluegrass.

    Alan Sibley, noted Mississippi mandolinist, vocalist, and bandleader, has united with Anthony Howell, banjo and mandolin man with Williamson Branch, to record an album of new instrumental music. Its title, Time To Pick, is something every bluegrass lover can identify with, and expresses the sentiment that this pair of pro grassers wanted to convey.

    Sibley, still a fairly young man himself, started teaching Howell the ways of the bluegrass as a youngster, and watched him blossom into a first rate musician. Something of a celebrity in the deep south, Alan hosts The Bluegrass Trail program on RFD-TV, along with his band, The Magnolia Ramblers, and special musical guests each Sunday evening.

    He tells us that he has known young Mr. Howell since he was knee high.

    “Anthony is from Zama, MS, a little town about fifty miles from me. His parents brought him to me for mandolin lessons when he was 11 years old, and it wasn’t long before I started teaching him guitar and banjo as well.”

    A debut single from their album, Mark’s Reel, is out today, one Anthony wrote in memory of master luthier Mark Gresham from Bloomingdale, GA who passed away in September of last year. It’s a nice medium tempo number in the fiddle tune form, starting out with Alan on the mandolin. Howell is on banjo and guitar, Melody Williamson on fiddle, and Mark Tribble on bass.

    Here’s a taste.

    You can find Mark’s Reel now wherever you stream or download music online. Radio programmers can get a copy via AirPlay Direct.

    Look for Time To Pick to hit on December 1.

    Posted in Lyrics | Leave a comment |

    DCBU accepting entries for 2021 Hazel Dickens Song Contest

    Posted on October 24, 2020 by Azlyrics

    It’s that time of year again…

    Time for all you bluegrass songwriters to sharpen your pencils and get ready to submit your latest creations to the DC Bluegrass Union and their 2021 Hazel Dickens Song Contest. This annual event is held in honor of one of bluegrass music’s most compelling writers, who lived most of her life in the greater Washington, DC area.

    Entries are only $30 each with a chance to win a $500 first prize. The entire submission process can be completed online, and the competition is open to any bluegrass songwriter that does not earn more than 50% of their annual income from songwriting or music publishing royalties.

    The contest will be judged by a panel of three professional writers, who will consider all the submitted songs, and choose three winners. They don’t consider the quality of the performance on your entry audio, just the melody and lyrics of your song.

    As we mentioned, the top prize earns $500, with an award of $250 for second place, and $100 for third.

    In addition, the winning songs are promoted online by the DCBU, where they can be heard by artists hungry for good new material.

    All entries must be received by January 5, 2021 to be considered, with winners announced on February 15.

    Complete contest rules and submission information can be found online.

    Posted in Lyrics | Leave a comment |

    Innocent Man video from The Steeldrivers

    Posted on October 23, 2020 by Azlyrics

    Rounder Records has released a music video for Innocent Man, a track included on their current album for The Steeldrivers, Bad For You.

    The video, created by Grant Claire, captures nicely the eerie and somewhat ominous vibe of the track, a co-write by Steeldrivers fiddler Tammy Rogers and John Paul White, formerly of The Civil Wars, who also co-produced the song.

    Rogers says that while this is the first time White has worked with them in the studio – he sings harmony on this one – he has been a long time friend of the band.

    “I’m so excited to have both the song AND video for Innocent Man out in the world! I remember the day I wrote it with John Paul White…I felt like it was such a strong statement, but still perfectly styled for the SteelDrivers. John Paul has been like ‘the 6th SteelDriver’ for years, with his co-writing some of our most popular songs.”

    Lead vocals on this one come from the newest Steeldriver, Kelvin Damrell, who joined up on guitar in 2018.

    Have a look/listen…

    Along with Rogers and Damrell, The Steeldrivers are Richard Bailey on banjo, Brent Truitt on mandolin, and Mike Fleming on bass.

    Innocent Man, and the full Bad For You album, are available now wherever you stream or download music online.

    Posted in Lyrics | Leave a comment |

    Ben Eldridge banjo book coming in 2021

    Posted on October 23, 2020 by Azlyrics

    Finally! Banjo players rejoice… a book on the stylings of Seldom Scene banjo player Ben Eldridge is in the works.

    Though now retired from the band, Ben was with the Scene from their first jams in his basement in 1971, through their most iconic recordings, which left an indelible mark on bluegrass. Acts I, II, and III, Live at the Cellar Door, and Old Train changed the way we look at the music, and Ben was on board for those and a dozen more albums until he stepped away in 2016.

    Countless banjo players labored over those records to learn his stuff – long before slow down software, or even computers, were around to assist in the effort! His impact is difficult to overstate. In 1981, I bought a Stelling Staghorn primarily because he, and Alan Munde, were playing one.

    Tentatively titled Ben Eldridge on Banjo, the book is being written by DC-area banjoist and all-around bluegrass promoter, Randy Barrett. He tells us that it will be formatted as a tab book, but with extensive input from Ben, both about the solos and songs included, and about his life and career in bluegrass music.

    “I’ve been a Ben Eldridge superfan for more than 40 years. Ben’s elegant and tasteful playing has formed the stylistic bedrock of a generation of banjo players, including me. Somehow, he manages to combine both drive and bounce, and his ballad playing is simply otherworldly. And yet Ben is underrated in the pantheon of banjo greats. It’s my hope that this book will help change that.

    This will be a combination of Ben’s musical history and influences, and his philosophy about how banjo fits into bluegrass. And there will be lots of tabs of his iconic breaks and back-up, and more. It’s a real honor to be working with him on the project.”

    Randy has already put a lot of work into the book, completing transcriptions of many of the pieces he will feature in the book, and consulting with Eldridge at some length. Both Ben and his son, Chris, will be involved, as the younger Eldridge spent a great deal of his youth traveling with the band, and has some important memories that Barrett wants to work into the narrative.

    The author says that his goal is to capture the mindset that led to such memorable banjo playing.

    “I’m most interested in getting into Ben’s process in fashioning his solos. In talking about the book with Ben, he says of his time with the Scene, ‘I was just a helper.’ That says volumes about his banjo philosophy.”

    Wonderful news for the banjo community. I’ll be first in line for one of these!

    Posted in Lyrics | Leave a comment |

    Ask Sonny Anything… tell us about working with the symphony

    Posted on October 23, 2020 by Azlyrics

    Ask Sonny Anything is a recurring feature where our readers pose questions to the great Sonny Osborne, one half of the iconic Osborne Brothers who redefined bluegrass music in the 1960s, and noted banjo maven and collector of fine prewar instruments. Everyone is encouraged to pose queries of your own each week in the comments, about his history in the music, his wealth of banjo knowledge, or regarding any life advice you might be needing.

    Chief,

    Can you tell us about the recording of Gal You’ve Got A Job to Do? How did the song come about?

    Jarrod C

    Jarrod…come on in hyer boy…who wrote Gal You Got A Job To Do? Sorry to say I don’t know and couldn’t find out. I can tell you it was recorded in 1968 at Bradley’s Barn Studio and it was sent to, and given to us by Teddy Wilburn. I was asked to use a sort of black dialect which I regretted. It’s poking fun at someone for the way they talk, if you’ve ever heard me talk, my God they oughta be making fun of me.

    I got to thinking about that after it was recorded, however, once it goes on tape you don’t have any more to say about it, or at least that’s how it was inn 1968. Consequently, we never performed that song. I’m sorry I did it the way I did!

    S

    —–

    Sonny, I’m from Georgia but living in Breathitt Co, KY. I noticed you always call your close friends “Brother.” Just curious, is that a Masonic reference? Love y’all’s music. It’s a part of my life.

    Tommy

    Tommy….come in and park right over here…Thank you for asking. Calling friends Brother came originally from a great friend and follower named “Cadillac Jack Collins.” Always drove a sharp Cadillac and followed us around. He called Bobby brother…always referred to Bobby as “BROTHER.” It just started with Jack and eventually everyone in our band started referring to Bobby as Brother. Including me. It’s not a Masonic, or anything else related to anything. I kinda like it, so I’ll keep right on as long as no one is offended….in that case, I’ll just keep on doing it.

    S

    —–

    Sonny:

    In the modern era of banjo equipment a player has the choice of hundreds of different products from bridges, to strings, to capos, to heads, etc. Could you comment on what was available when you started to play professionally? I have heard that playing with a hide head makes it difficult to keep the banjo in tune. What kind of banjo equipment did you use back then, and what was available? I have heard that you could even buy banjo strings in drug stores back in the day. Did you ever struggle to find strings or break a string and not have a replacement and have to use one of Bobby’s mandolin strings?

    Thanks, Mike

    Mike. Thank you for joining us. You are correct, this day and time, people who want to learn to play have everything a person would need to become a great player, if they want to apply the time. Back in the day, not so. We had nothing but Gibson ropes and Rogers 3 star heads…which were a complete pain to even try and have your banjo sound half way decent.

    It seemed as though one degree of temp change would have an astounding affect on that very expensive 3 star head. Grover bridges was about it, until Silvio Feretti in Italy (builds great banjo bridges), Remo and KRAKO, saved the day. Don’t laugh, Derek Vaden (Larry Stephenson Band,) Lincoln Hensley, Lizzy (Elizebeth) Long (Little Roy and Lizzy). They’re playing Krako. They are good banjos. Don’t look like much but will sound better than anything since 1934. I just had to say that.

    I digress…sorry. The plastic head arrived…must be ’60 or ’61. Earl told me that a feller would never have to buy another head, which was about the truth. We had Gibson, Black Diamond, Mapes, and a couple more for strings. On Sunday if you broke one and couldn’t tie it back, you got out to find a drug store and get a set of Bell Brand Strings. Yep, a drug store. We guessed at the tightness (No drum Dial) of that $26.00 Rogers head, sometimes lay the banjo in the back window so it could get dry from the sun. Gibson Mastertones were selling for as much as $75.00…that’s true, I paid (my Dad) $125 for one…later Butch paid $5700 for an RB 4. I’ve heard of one now priced at 1.2 mil. The times they are a changing.

    —–

    Hi there Sonny.

    I remember a while back you had said you’d get into discussing the symphony work that the band did at some other time. …is now a good time? I’m curious as to how that all started and any other bits of info you’d like to pass on.

    It’s always a pleasure hearing what you have to say.

    Ayns

    Ayns…thank you for your time. Folks…Aynsley Porchak is a great fiddle player. Ayns, Lincoln Hensley, and Lieutenant Dan Boner are playing some great East Tennessee Bluegrass Music.

    Now is as good as any to tell my gruesome story. It all started back in ‘22, yep it’s all coming back to me now…. I was born in ‘37…no, forget all that. The whole orchestra idea came from The McClain Family Band. They were to do a date in Indianapolis with the symphony, and I was just full of curiosity on just how that worked, and how I could apply that to The Brothers. Understand though, I had NO idea of the amount of protocol that was involved…but it was so intriguing to me, and a huge challenge, that after seeing the crowd and the response they received, I just had to check it out.

    I called Raymond and set up a meeting with the McClains, and off I went to their home in Berea Kentucky, with about 100 questions. They were kind enough to tell me what I needed to know. I contacted Buddy Spicher, and he in turn contacted Chris Wilkenson, both who were former members of the Nashville Symphony. I’m making a very long story into a much shorter one. We had a meeting in which all was explained to them both, and they agreed to write the music for 7 songs…actually it’s called The Score. This is such a complex ordeal…if I told you all of it you wouldn’t continue reading…I would venture to say that half of you have already went about doing something else. Oh well. IT says ASK ANYTHING.

    Then, I called Geoff Berne and asked him to be our “Symphony Agent.” So, a bunch of rehearsals with our band and Buddy/Chris and dozens of problems solved. All except one monster…. None of us read music…Bad news…so you improvise…right? So I did. It was at this point that it dawned on me just how sharp the conductor had to be. See, each member has what he plays…and we’re talking about 50-100 people. The conductor guy must know all the parts and be able to ….never mind that…just ..Keep in mind that if you make one blunder then you have what they call “A Train Wreck!” So we had a deal.

    I devised a system where I counted the number of banjo licks between line one and two, nodded to Bobby, he watched me so he would come in at the right time, the other guys watched Bobby and so they knew when to come in. So, we’re ready to try it out though scared shitless! (I bet you know how that is.)

    We did about 20 of these dates from children’s orchestras to San Antonio, Texas. The real deal. Man, they were good. James Saderas was the MAN. Conductor. The violin section was right behind me. In rehearsal, when we started playing, they giggled. I took it as long as could. I stopped and verbally unloaded on them. I ended the profanity laced tirade by saying “when you make a record that becomes a state song and 6 million people buy the record, then you M….f…..ers may laugh, until then, shut the f…up and work at doing your jobs!” They looked at Mr. Saderas and he said, “Don’t look at me…shut the f… up and do your jobs…tap tap..LINE 21!”

    When Blaine Sprouse and JD Brock finished their rendition of an electric bass solo, and then Blaine killed ‘em with The Orange Blossom Special, this bunch that giggled…. and the audience, stood…the next night at the performance. So we figured that was a good place, there in sight of The Alamo, to call a close to that experiment.

    Wait, we had one more on the books to do. That would be Owensboro, Kentucky. Heavily promoted. I was told that we had 18,000 souls there that night. I know that standing on the stage you could look left and see people, look in front of us and you could see more people, then look to the right and you saw more people. I know, there was a bunch of folks there that night. Wish you could have been there! Hit was a site, brother…I sware hit wuz!!!!!

    Oh, one other thing I wanted to tell you is how we did our show. We were to do 45 minutes. We had 7 songs written. We went on and played a few, then did one or two with the orchestra…then a couple more alone. And more of the same ending with Rocky Top. Man, I was glad that phase was over.

    S

    If you have something you would like to ask Sonny, be sure to post it in the comments below, or send it to us directly

    Posted in Lyrics | Tags: Ask Sonny Anything, Georgia, KY | Leave a comment |
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