Monthly Archives: July 2021

Talk about a family reunion!

This year over Labor Day weekend, the vintage classic, Bluegrass Country Soul, will be screened during the 2021 Camp Springs Bluegrass Festival – the very spot where the movie was filmed in 1971.

A lot has changed over the past 50 years. Camp Springs had fallen into disrepair and disuse, but the park was recently purchased by Cody and Donna Johnson, who have restored and updated the facility, adding a modern bathhouse, hot showers, a fishing pond, and a concession area. They have hosted a number of live music events since taking over in 2018, and are delighted to see bluegrass at the park once again.

Back in the 1970s, when the concept of bluegrass festivals was in its infancy, the great bluegrass impresario Carlton Haney held weekend shows at Camp Springs with his brother. That stage saw performances by all the creators of the music: Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley, The Osborne Brothers, The Country Gentlemen, and all the popular acts of the day.

Carlton had hosted festivals in Virginia from 1965 to 1968, and the hubbub created from his Camp Springs festivals in 1969 and ’70 stirred filmmaker Albrt Ihde to travel to North Carolina with a crew to capture live footage in 1971. The rest of the country was largely unaware of the bluegrass festival phenomenon, and Ihde presented examples of the music and the bluegrass culture in his 1972 feature-length documentary, Bluegrass Country Soul.

In the film, we are treated to music from Earl Scruggs, The Lilly Brothers, Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys, J.D. Crowe & The Kentucky Mountain Boys, Jimmy Martin & The Sunny Mountain Boys, Del McCoury & The Dixie Pals, The Country Gentlemen, The Osborne Brothers, Bluegrass 45, and The Bluegrass Alliance, which featured young superpickers Sam Bush and Tony Rice. Ihde also shot audience footage and interviews with Carlton Haney and a number of attendees.

Since 1971, the film has been carefully restored and new, high-quality prints created for theatrical viewing. A copy is in the permanent collection of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum in Owensboro, KY. It is also available on DVD in 4k HD widescreen format with Dolby surround sound.

On Friday, September 3, at 9:30 p.m., attendees at the 2021 Camp Springs Bluegrass Festival will enjoy a screening of Bluegrass Country Soul on the main stage, while they sit on the ground where the film was made fifty years ago.

Some of the same acts appearing in the film will also be performing on the festival this year, including Bobby Osborne and Doyle Lawson.

Further details and ticket information can be found online.

Mountain Home Music has dropped a third single for banjoist Tray Wellington, an ambitious cover of a jazz standard by a five stringer.

A good many bluegrass instrumentalists are drawn to jazz sounds, as that genre is where the most fearless improvisers live and breath. Bluegrass is an improvisational form as well, though typically guided by a greater degree of structure, with an audience less welcoming of harmonic adventurism. But a solo project is just the place to stretch out and experiment, and is welcome here.

Playing jazz well requires both physical dexterity and a wide knowledge of chord and scale basics. These are taught, of course, in music schools, and as we see more graduates of such programs gravitate towards bluegrass, we can expect to find them exploring applications for that understanding in their grass.

Wellington is still a young artist, a recent graduate of the bluegrass school at ETSU, and he has chosen an easygoing tune for this escapade, Strasbourg / St. Denis, by trumpeter Roy Hargrove. It was included on Roy’s 2008 album, Earfood, and named for an underground subway stop in Paris.

For Tray, cutting a version of this tune has been on his mind for some time.

“As a longtime jazz fan. I see Roy Hargrove as a staple, and a legend in the music. I knew from the first time I heard this song that I wanted to record it some day, and with this crew playing on the session, I knew this would be the perfect time to do it!”

Tray is supported by fellow jazz-inspired grassers Jon Stickley on guitar and Lyndsay Pruett on fiddle, with Wayne Benson on mandolin, and Kevin Kehrberg on bass.

Have a listen.

Strasbourg / St. Denis by Tray Wellington is available now wherever you stream or download music online. It will also be included on his upcoming full length album with Mountain Home Music.

Radio programmers can download the track at AirPlay Direct.

Natalie Tomlinson is a young fiddler from Harlan County, KY, which she has chosen as the name of her second solo project of fiddle music. And we do mean solo… she plays all the instruments except for two tracks with Sunrise Ridge, who she performs with in nearby Whitesburg.

Tomlinson is a recent graduate of the Kentucky School of Bluegrass and Traditional Music at Hazard County Technical College, where she studied mandolin with Bobby Osborne for for years. After finishing that program, she studied at the Lincoln Memorial University School of Business, where she earned a bachelor degree in business management.

Using the skills she has gathered from those two degrees, she is now a full time musician, doing guest spots with other artists in addition to shows with Sunshine Ridge.

The Harlan County album includes a dozen instrumental tracks taken from the wide repertoire of Appalachian fiddle music, along with a couple of her own contributions to that catalog. She plays fiddle, mandolin, banjo, guitar, and bass on ten of them, including the title track which she has agreed to share with our readers today.

Natalie tells us that she named it in honor of her Appalachian home.

“All of my family is from Harlan County, and I’ve lived there all of my life, so far. I love the mountains here, and I believe that it’s hard to find a prettier place. In my opinion, Harlan County doesn’t get enough credit.

I finished this tune in late April. That day, I was thinking about the ‘feel’ of a lot of 1950s/60s bluegrass and country music, (which is my favorite,) and I wanted to write a cheerful little tune with a bit of a bounce. I played around with the tune for about an hour and had it finished, and I recorded it the same evening. I had the tune finished for a couple of weeks before I decided on a title for it, but I knew that I wanted the title to reflect where I’m from.” 

Check it out.

The Harlan County CD is available for sale from the Natalie Tomlinson web site. Radio programmers will find the tracks at AirPlay Direct.

Ricky Skaggs has announced two new members of his barnstorming bluegrass group, Kentucky Thunder. Mike Rogers will come aboard as tenor singer and Billy Contreras as fiddler. Both are highly celebrated artists in their own right, and will surely add excitement and virtuosity to Ricky’s already strong touring band.

The changes were necessitated by the retirement of long time Skaggs guitarist and singer Paul Brewster, and the continued recuperation and recovery of fiddler Mike Barnett. Both Mike’s brain injury and Paul’s stepping down took place during the COVID shutdowns in 2020, but now that live music is back again in earnest, new troopers were needed for the Skaggs bluegrass army.

Brewster has been a lifelong bluegrass stalwart who first received national attention with The Knoxville Grass in the 1970s. From there he worked with The Osborne Brothers for a decade until the death of his friend Keith Whitley soured him on the touring life. He moved to Florida and worked as a golf pro but returned to Knoxville and sang at Dollywood until Skaggs called in 1995.

Ricky says it will be hard to look to his left and not see Brewster there with his guitar.

“As Paul’s been with me for more than 25 years, he made a huge impact in the sound and makeup of Kentucky Thunder. He’s one of the best tenor singers in bluegrass music, a first-class musician, and a good friend. Paul is a wonderful Christian brother as well, which has been more important to him than his great singing gift. His presence on stage and off will be missed!”

Rogers, however, is more than up to the task. Also a veteran grasser, he did his time as a member of Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, singing the high parts and playing guitar for three years. He has worked around Nashville since leaving Doyle in 2013, working as a drummer and a vocalist, and was featured prominently on a recent Gaither Music release with Jimmy Fortune, Bradley Walker, and Ben Isaacs.

Mike Barnett joined Kentucky Thunder back in 2016 and quickly earned the respect of not only his bandmates, but the wider bluegrass community, for his fiery fiddling and general good nature. Both were shocked to learn last summer that he had suffered a brain aneurysm and would require substantial therapy to return to a normal life. He and his wife, Analise, are committed to the necessary steps to complete a full recovery.

Of course, from the band perspective, the show must go on, but Ricky offers him all the support he can.

“Our hearts were heavy upon hearing the news of Mike’s brain aneurysm back last summer. He has overcome so much and is working hard towards recovery. We can’t wait to see him get back to fiddling, of which he is a master at such a young age. My wife Sharon and I, along with the band and crew, look forward to seeing him perform again soon, and all of our prayers are with him at this time for God to heal him completely.”

Contreras comes in with a sterling reputation in the fiddle world, as an experienced performer, educator, arranger and producer. Known as a fearless improvisor, seeing him on stage should provide quite a thrill for audiences at Ricky Skaggs shows coming up. By day Billy teaches in the music department at Belmont University in Nashville.

Billy and Mike join other regular bandmates Russ Carson on banjo, Jake Workman on guitar, Dennis Parker on harmony vocals, and Jeff Picker on bass, Ricky, of course, primarily plays mandolin and sings lead, though you may see him grab a guitar from time to time.

Here’s a look at Kentucky Thunder doing Uncle Pen with Rogers and Contreras from a recent show, though Seth Taylor is subbing on guitar and Mark Fain on bass.

More information about Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder can be found on his official web site.

If you are involved closely with bluegrass music, you’ll be at least a bit familiar with Owensboro, KY. It was where the International Bluegrass Music Association was formed and initially located, and is currently the home of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum.

It is worth a trip to northwestern Kentucky along the Ohio River to visit the museum, or take in their annual festival, ROMP. But is there a native bluegrass music scene in Owensboro?

It turns out that the answer is yes, as evidenced by Kentucky Shine, a bluegrass quartet that calls Owensboro home. They have just released a six-song EP, Leavin’ Town, featuring original music written within the band, a taste of which we are delighted to premiere today.

The group got its start as a partnership between guitarist and singer Jordan Wood, and fiddler Steven Stewart. Wood’s original songs were the glue that held things together, and they quickly added banjo player Jordan Riehm and J.B. Miller on bass. They play a hard driving, mountain-style bluegrass with echoes of early pioneers like The Stanley Brothers and Bill Monroe.

They have selected a track written by Jordan Wood to share with our readers, Can’t Sleep. It retains the primal energy that has long attracted people to the plaintive mountain sound in a mournful story of lost love.

Wood says that the pain in the lyrics came from a real episode in his life.

“I wrote the song Can’t Sleep about a year after a really hard breakup. I wanted to write something that could express my pain and experience, while also bringing out my heavy bluegrass roots.”

Have a listen…

Leavin’ Town is available now from popular streaming and download sites.

You can learn more about Kentucky Shine by visiting their web site. They will be featured on the 2021 ROMP festival, and invite everyone to come on out in September and see them there.

When is a supergroup not a supergroup? Answer: when they eschew any serious suggestion that they are. Consequently, when a gathering of seasoned Canadian old time and bluegrass players sequestered themselves for three productive days in a cabin set in the remote reaches of Ontario’s wilderness, the intention wasn’t aimed at grabbing headlines, but rather, simply making some music. 

The musicians involved — Adrian Gross on mandolin (The Slocan Ramblers), Mark Kilianski on guitar (Golden Shoals), Sam Allison on upright bass and bass harmonica (Sheesham and Lotus), John Showman on fiddle, and Chris Coole on banjo (The Lonesome Ace Stringband), took an opportunity to join together during their bands’ respective breaks from touring due to the pandemic. Inspired by the methods used by John Hartford to make music in the old-time tradition, the group opted for sheer spontaneity in a string band setting. 

The result, an album titled Adeline, gives the group its name, although they deny whatever formality might have been involved. Indeed, as is often the case with groupings like this, the partnership evolved naturally. 

“I came up to Toronto to spend time with my partner during the pandemic touring hiatus, and essentially moved here,” Kilianski recalls. “John, Chris, and I collaborated on some cross-promotional videos, and a video for the Brooklyn, New York-based Flatfoot Flatbush event that transitioned online this year. I’d also been jamming with John and Adrian on John’s porch when the weather was warm enough. If I remember correctly, Chris pitched the idea, but I think we all collectively had the thought of creating something together as long as the pandemic was keeping us in Toronto. We all saw this as a rare moment in time to collaborate on a full-length piece of work.”

After sizing up the situation, things seemed to click fairly quickly. “We settled on the tunes beforehand, so we were all familiar with the material going in,” Kilianski explains. “None of us had played in a group or band setting for a year, so we all took some time to settle into it again. Sam and I had never even met, so we had to feel each other out. Since we play bass and guitar respectively, we were both keenly aware of how those two instruments form the foundational groove together, especially within old time music. We never really talked about it though, and after an hour or two, we were basically on the same page. Most of all, the excitement and release of finally playing music like this was palpable. We’re talking about five musicians who have been doing this as a profession and a passion for years — decades, even. The rust gets knocked off quickly. It’s like coming back to a place you’ve lived for a long time after a year abroad. You revisit all your favorite spots, see your favorite people, while taking the backstreet shortcuts and scenic routes. You get to play in ways that are not satisfying to do alone, flexing skills that you’ve spent your whole life honing. You’re creating vibrations that crash into each other, bouncing off and meshing together, and being absorbed by your body. It’s something we take for granted in normal times, much like hugging. We all hugged when we got to the cabin and that was really special.”

Naturally then, everything evolved rather naturally.

“With the exception of Chris’ song, Paul David, these are all more or less standard old time and bluegrass tunes,” Kilianski continues. “I think a big reason these five individual musicians got together is that we all love old time and bluegrass equally, and really appreciate how much the two overlap. This is a musical space that John Hartford occupied frequently. He also was open to experimenting between and outside the standard formats of these types of music. In bluegrass, you tend to have improvised solos passed around among each of the musicians. In old time, you usually have a constant melody on the fiddle, with the other instruments supporting and accentuating the inherent driving rhythm of the piece. Hartford adopted both of these, and a host of other possibilities in his ‘windows’ system of playing as a band. He’d take an old fiddle tune, and each musician could do something different every four, eight, sixteen or however many bars. We took this system as inspiration to try different things and explore different textures on our instruments. That’s really what makes the music unique here. We were basically improvising the texture of the sound the whole time.”

Not surprisingly then, the players made the most of their time making music together. Again, Kilianski picks up the narrative.

“After some set-up and a nice meal, we got right to playing,” he continues. “We only had a few days, so being holed up in this remote cabin helped us focus on playing as much as possible. It was really like being at a tiny festival. Wake up, have some coffee, play some tunes, eat a meal, play tunes, go for a walk, play tunes, etcetera. We stayed up later and later every night. Lots of stories, lots of laughs, irreverence, music talk. It’s really how old time music is meant to exist… just hanging out with friends and playing tunes. We’d choose a tune, talk briefly about the chords, do a few takes, and move on to the next. We all like getting weird, and this was our chance to get as weird as possible. In a full time band, I think there’s pressure — both internal and external — on striving for perfection. Since we were alone and not playing with our regular bands, this was an opportunity to get as weird as we wanted, without the usual nagging perfectionism.”

Unfortunately, the prospects for making this an ongoing entity appear rather small. “This ‘band’ will probably never play a gig other than one we did for the Quarantine Happy Hour page on Facebook in June,” Kilianski says. “That’s kind of the beauty of it. We have four different bands represented here. We all came together to make the best of a bad situation. I mean, if they wanna hire us for Bonnaroo, we could probably make that work, but we’re all excited to get back to touring with our regular bands.”

Kilianski is also quick to note that Canadians have a similar affinity for bluegrass, roots, and folk music as those living south of the border, and for good reason. “They’re almost as popular in Canada as in the US, by my estimation, perhaps, even more popular,” he suggests. “There’s a lot of support for the arts here. Culturally, these two countries are pretty similar. They share the continued effects of European colonization. Alongside a lot of grim realities, you have the mixing of European, African, and Indigenous musical traditions. Bluegrass is a prime example of this, and Canada’s own traditional musics are very similar, with a different flavor. As with so many other elements of humanity, music does not adhere to the arbitrary borders of nations. Toronto specifically has a thriving bluegrass and old time scene, and the musicians here are less preoccupied with the lines of genre. I find a lot of folks here might have one primary style, and will dabble in many others, as well as be open to mixing and experimenting across genres. This goes for bluegrass, old time, and any other style really, traditional or otherwise.”

Kilianski’s own influences reflect that sort of timeless trajectory as well. “When I was learning about the guitar, and about music, I was really into the blues rock bands of the ’60s and ’70s, particularly Led Zeppelin,” he explains. “That stuff introduced me to elements of Delta and Chicago blues, Celtic, and bluegrass music. Growing up in New Jersey, I didn’t know anybody who played that stuff. Then in college at Berklee, I met a ton of fiddle, mandolin, and banjo players. The sound and the feel drew me in, and the ethos of jamming anywhere, anytime sealed the deal.”

Mountain Fever Records has released another single from Mississippi’s Magnolia Drive, a real crackerjack of a song from the early catalog of the great Buck Owens.

You can tell by the title, The Girl on Sugar Pie Lane, that this one is a lighthearted number, and the guys in Magnolia Drive give it a perfect bluegrass sendup. They capture all the fun and frivolity of Buck’s 1968 release, and even the vocal harmonies from the original cut, songwriter Tommy Collins’ recording from 1966.

Bluegrass fans surely know some of Collins’ work, as he also wrote High On A Hilltop, famously recorded by Merle Haggard, and done up grass style by several artists including The Osborne Brothers, Seldom Scene, and The Grascals.

Through their decade-long career, Magnolia Drive has specialized in a clean throwback sound, referencing the classic bluegrass from the 1960s and ’70s. But they truly have their own distinct sound, as you can clearly hear on this latest single.

The band consists of Don Robinson on banjo, Mike Nowell on guitar, his brother Steve “Speed” Nowell on bass, and Cory Burton on mandolin. All four share the vocal duties, with Don taking the lead on this one, jumping to tenor on the choruses. Glen Harrell adds fiddle and Tim Hathorn reso-guitar.

Steve offered a few words about the new track.

“The Girl on Sugar Pie Lane is a great song. Tommy Collins wrote many fantastic tunes, with some becoming instant hits. This one is on the lighter side of love but no less a hit to us. Some of Buck’s recordings did not receive as much notoriety as others, but this one was certainly a chart-topper to us when we first heard this song. With the upbeat bounce of the music and the beckoning cry for love in the lyrics, it just checked all the boxes for a fine Magnolia Drive bluegrass recording! It’s a fun song to perform, and we can’t wait for everyone to hear it on the radio and other platforms.”

If this doesn’t make you smile, you’ve got the lonesome mighty bad.

The Girl on Sugar Pie Lane from Magnolia Drive is available now wherever you stream or download music online. Radio programmers will find the track at AirPlay Direct.

On July 12th, Austin Scelzo, a Connecticut native and professional fiddle player, launched the Connecticut Bluegrass Association (CTBA) web site. Scelzo shared his idea to create the state’s first bluegrass association with the already thriving bluegrass associations in the state, as well as every Connecticut contact he has made in the bluegrass community over the years. They unanimously supported his desire to create a central location to share and spread news, events, and information about their active state bluegrass scene.

Unfortunately, most of those people just haven’t found time to put one together. Scelzo decided that between gigs, festivals, bluegrass camps, and teaching fiddle, he would make time to get the CTBA website up and running.

The site, still in its infancy, currently maintains an active calendar of all statewide jams, concerts, festivals, and performances, as well as a contact list for Connecticut bluegrass bands. Future additions to the site will include a Learner Loaner Program like the one offered by the Rhode Island Bluegrass Alliance where folks can loan out bluegrass instruments to try them out for 6 months at a time. The association also plans to expand Podunk’s Kids Academy and to offer year-long bluegrass instruction for interested young musicians. CTBA hopes to one day sponsor and host events like the Podunk sponsored event, A Taste of Bluegrass, which brought Michael Cleveland to Connecticut for a concert this past spring. 

While the CTBA online presence has begun, Scelzo plans to launch the Connecticut Bluegrass Association in person at the Podunk Bluegrass Festival in Goshen, Connecticut this August. The Podunk organizers, huge supporters of the CTBA, have provided Scelzo with a booth where he can begin to spread the news. He is thrilled about the support he has received from the state’s bluegrass fans and other New England bluegrass associations. 

Scelzo grew up in Wallingford, CT and says that attending a Berklee and Mark O’Connor Summer String Camp during high school opened a whole new world of music to him, one which he loves. He currently works in the Darian Public School system, teaching students of all ages instruments, ranging from strings to brass. He also offers on-line courses in creative string playing, harmony vocals, and country/bluegrass fiddle, and hosts Wernick Method group jam classes. In what little time he has left, he sings and plays fiddle in the bluegrass groups The Rock Hearts, the Angry O’Hara’s, and On the Trail. You can check him out online.

To see what is happening in Connecticut Bluegrass scene or list your band, visit the CTBA website. You can also see what is happening in Connecticut’s bluegrass scene by visiting the CTBA Facebook page. If, however you are one of those people who prefer speaking with someone in person, and you are in Connecticut between August 11-15, you can meet Austin at his Podunk booth and see for yourself what is happening in bluegrass here in Connecticut!

Banjo maestro Béla Fleck started his professional music career in bluegrass music, and though he has swept through many other regions of contemporary music over the years – jazz, funk, classical, and world music among them – at heart, he still retains a special fondness for the sound of bluegrass banjo. And he has a new release and tour in 2022 that celebrates it, My Bluegrass Heart.

Despite being a serious student and aficionado of the playing Earl Scruggs and J.D. Crowe, Béla’s sort of grass has a different type of flavor, blending in elements of the many stylistic adventures he has traversed during a 45 year career. It’s still primarily three-finger picking, with some single-string deviations, but the melody and harmony of the music he writes encompasses a wider range of sounds.

We all saw it during his time with New Grass Revival, when a fresh faced young Béla wowed us all with stunning runs and tasteful accompaniment behind the singing of John Cowan and Sam Bush. He expanded the limits of bluegrass banjo on his classic Drive album in 1988, recorded with fellow trailblazers Mark O’Connor, Jerry Douglas, Tony Rice, and Stuart Duncan, and again with The Bluegrass Sessions in 1999 with a similar cast, also including vocalists like Ricky Skaggs, Tim O’Brien, and John Hartford.

Of course these projects had been interspersed between records with The Flecktones, his own classical compositions, work with The Sparrow Quartet, collaborations with Chick Corea, Edgar Meyer, and Tony Trischka, and solo projects.

Even with these deviations, Béla has retained a solid core of admirers in the bluegrass world, among banjo pickers in particular, and his sporadic returns to his roots are genuinely celebrated by his followers.

Simply put, Béla has taken the banjo places that Earl Scruggs never imagined, and played it before audiences who might never have heard it otherwise, who had no appreciation or even willingness to consider bluegrass music. I recall even meeting one man who was horrified and disappointed to discover after being a fan of Béla’s jazz and funk music with The Flecktones, that he also played bluegrass on his banjo.

But as Fleck has said…

“I don’t come from the South, and I always felt like there were people who were more truly focused on doing that bluegrass thing really well. What I tended to want to do more was expand the banjo’s role and look for new things to do with it. Despite that, I was always a bluegrass guy first and foremost. That was certainly the root of my musical soul.”

This year, he lays out another all-star alliance for a set of new bluegrass and bluegrass-flavored tunes, featuring a new generation of youthful string pioneers who grew up on Béla Fleck records. There are some other veterans here on My Bluegrass Heart, like David Grisman, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Mark Schatz, and Tony Trischka, but many are of today’s class of enfant terribles – Molly Tuttle, Sierra Hull, Billy Strings, Justin Moses, and Billy Contreras. Several established artists can also be found, among them Michael Cleveland, Bryan Sutton, Edgar Meyer, Mark Schatz, and Chris Thile.

Fleck says not to expect Foggy Mountain Banjo on this two-disc set, but a modern interpretation of what the ensemble can produce.

“This is not a straight bluegrass album, but it’s written for a bluegrass band. I like taking that instrumentation, and seeing what I can do with it – how I can stretch it, what I can take from what I’ve learned from other kinds of music, and what can apply for this combination of musicians, the very particularly ‘bluegrass’ idea of how music works, and what can be accomplished that might be unexpected, but still has deep connections to the origins.” 

A first listen is available today, in the form of Charm School, where Béla is supported by Chris Thile on mandolin, Billy Strings on guitar, Billy Contreras on fiddle, and Royal mast on bass.

Buckle up…

There will be a pair of My Bluegrass Heart tours this year, in September and December, the first with Michael Cleveland, Sierra Hull, Justin Moses, Mark Schatz, and Bryan Sutton, and the second with Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, and Bryan Sutton. The tour will conclude at The Ryman in Nashville on January 7, 2022 with the whole Hee-Haw gang. Tickets for many of these shows are available now online, and more dates are still to be added.

My Bluegrass Heart is scheduled for a September 10 release on Renew Records, a BMG property. Pre-orders are enabled now online for the two CD or two LP sets.

Bluegrass is one of the unheralded stars of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, thanks to 17-year-old Alaskan, Lydia Jacoby.

After she was a surprise winner of the gold medal in the 100-yard breaststroke, reporters clamored to know more about the new US star. So, there she was in the interview room with reporters, talking about her love of bluegrass.

“In my town (Seward), we used to have a bluegrass camp for kids every summer,” she said. “There’s a group of us that really enjoyed it, so our parents kind of brought us together.”

The result was the Snow River String Band, with Lydia playing upright bass and singing. She also plays guitar. The band’s videos lived quietly on YouTube for several years before some of them went viral this week when Lydia became an overnight sensation.

“We played together for five or six years at different festivals in Alaska,” the Olympic champion said. Alas, as different members of the Snow River String Band drifted off to college, the band dissolved.

Her success in the pool, after becoming the first swimmer from Alaska to qualify for an Olympic berth, led to prominent mentions of her bluegrass experience on a multitude of platforms, including in The Washington Post and on National Public Radio.

Jacoby will head to college after her senior year in high school, attending the University of Texas on a scholarship. Despite the crazy schedule that comes with being part of a powerhouse college team, Lydia told reporters that music will remain a part of her life.

“I still enjoy playing music,” she told reporters. “It’s a great thing to do.”

One think seems certain: After a swimming performance in front of millions of television viewers, and after swimming for one of the most competitive collegiate swimming programs in the United States, Lydia is unlikely to experience stage fright the next time she steps onto the stage at a bluegrass festival, whenever and wherever that may be.

Travis Stewart at Capitol City Sound Studios in Baton Rouge (May 24, 1969) – photo © Fred Robbins

Louisiana bluegrass music pioneer Travis Stewart passed away on July 21, 2021, at Sabine Medical Center in Many, Louisiana. He was 86 years old. 

Obie Travis Stewart, Sr. was born in Many on April 19, 1935, and was best known for his talent as a guitar player (although he played bass also), his high-lonesome tenor voice, and ability to tell a beautiful story in singing ballads.

During his long music career Stewart played with The Country Cut-Ups, helped form The Southern Bluegrass Boys and fronted a group with his own children, The New Crop of Grass.

The highlight was playing with Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys at Bean Blossom (June 1971)…

(Bill Monroe mandolin, Travis Stewart guitar, Kenny Baker fiddle
Jack Hicks banjo, Monroe Fields bass. Audio courtesy of Fred Robbins.)

Additionally, he has played with Byron Berline, Allen Shelton, Luke Thompson, Mitchell Land, Tootie Williams and Lonnie Craft in an active Louisiana bluegrass scene. 

He devoted his life to cabinet making, being notable for his craftsmanship in wood working.

He will be remembered for his storytelling and the ability to make everyone around him laugh.

R.I.P. Travis Stewart.

A Discography 

Country Cut-Ups

• The Country Cut-Ups Go To College (Towne House THLP-1000, 1967) 

The Traditional Grass

• Haulin’ Grass (Jaa Cee Records TG-142, 1978) 

Funeral services for Obie Travis Stewart, Sr. took place on Friday, July 23, 2021, at Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Colmesneil, Texas. 

Is your five-string ailing? If so, contact the doctor.

Charlie Cushman, banjoist with the Earls of Leicester and an Earl Scruggs devotee, is a top-notch banjo set-up man as well. Working out of his north Tennessee home, Cush has a shop filled with antique radios, vintage microphones, and everything that he needs to get banjos sounding their absolute best. His clientele includes current bluegrass A-listers such as Ron Block, Billy Strings, and Vince Gill, plus the banjos of past greats like Earl Scruggs and Uncle Dave Macon.

“I’ve played an old Mastertone since I was 21, and know what the sound is. I use that as my measuring stick. I have owned many fine original pre-war flathead Mastertones and have learned a great deal about their tonal abilities, and more importantly, how to achieve and retrieve the tone from the instrument.”

“Your banjo should be adjusted to perform in harmony with your current ability as a player. After 35 years of playing the banjo, I personally can say that as your ability to play progresses, the set-up of your instrument will become an extremely important component in your quest to be the musician you want to be,” stressed Cushman. 

‘I got interested when I was four years old,” the TN native explained. “Watching Flatt and Scruggs’ TV show made me want to play the banjo.”

He took a few lessons when he was seven to “get off the ground,” but is basically self-taught. 

“I started dissecting records, slowing 33 1/3 down to 16 to learn the licks.”

The professional musician began his career performing six days a week on Nashville’s Carl Tipton Bluegrass TV show when he was just 14 years old. He held the steady gig for five years.

As a young man, Cushman hit the road. First, he played a year with James Monroe, then a year with Jimmy Martin. Next, he performed for country singer, Mel Tillis.

“I started doing numerous banjo recording sessions. It got me off the road.”

During this time period, Cush also held a day job and partnered with fellow banjoist, Stan Brown (Wilma Lee Cooper), running a carpet cleaning business. He became a member of the Opryland Theme Park’s bluegrass band, performing five years on the Martin stage.

Cushman then joined Mike Snider’s Band, playing guitar alongside him for 14 years on the Grand Ole Opry. During the holiday season, the band also played the Ryman Auditorium.

“It’s the best stage in the country for acoustic music,” he readily affirmed.

Vince Gill petitioned the five string picker to record on his These Days boxed-set album and then tour. Cush performed on the bluegrass portion of the recorded and live productions.

“Vince had a monstrous touring band of 17 people. We played 115 dates. It was a great experience,” he fondly recalled.

Then the picker became involved in the mechanics of the banjo. He found his second calling.

“I worked for Gibson in 2004-05 as set-up guy in their factory. I was the banjo inspector and did all the set-ups.”

In January 2006, he started working in the repair shop of Gruhn Guitars for George Gruhn.

“It was a 60 mile round trip. That was when gas prices went so high. In 2007, I went into business for myself.”

That leap of faith proved profitable. Pickers began to seek out the banjo repairman at his Cottontown address.

“I got a lot of referrals from word-of-mouth. The best advertising is when someone hears a banjo and asks, ‘How did you get it to sound that way?’ Then in 2010-2011, social media (Facebook, Banjo Hangout) gave us an opportunity to create our own image. I learned how to build interest in my set-ups.”

The banjo technician outlined his process for improving a banjo’s sound.

“The term ‘Set-Up’ refers partially to the adjustment of string height, neck pitch, bridge height, proper alignment of strings, and several other key tolerance issues that result in correct intonation, ease of playing the instrument, and the maximum output of volume and tone.”

Another service Cushman provides is tone chamber tuning. “I have earned an income performing on a number of vintage 1930s Gibson flathead banjos. I am of the opinion that even the newer banjos of this quality and design are capable of producing vintage sound, similar to what we all want, through this process of tuning the tone chamber. I have seen very favorable results from new banjos time and time again. I have developed a methodical approach to achieve those results from most any new high quality Mastertone-style banjo.”

The 61 year old explained the term “Pre-War Sound” that many banjo enthusiasts strive to achieve in their instruments.

“The ‘Pre-War’ sound of these ‘acoustic marvels from old Kalamazoo’ must first ‘live’ and ‘be’ in your mind and memory before you can truly acquire the ability to recognize ‘Pre-War’ sound when you hear it. We have the luxury today to buy tone-rings to try this new pre-war formula and go for the ‘pre-war’ sound. The reality of the matter is until you have heard in person, the many different voices (actual pre-war flathead banjos) of this tonal phenomenon, for many years, day in and day out, as I have, you may not be grasping the full understanding of the of ‘Pre-War Sound.’ A common thread these banjos possess is in their tone and sheer power.”

 This Tonal Awareness is the unmistakable sound that Cushman has developed a trained ear for, and strives to replicate.

“It is my desire to further explore and bring forth a similar tone and power found in these vintage banjos to others’ banjos. This is the most time consuming aspect of the service I render. Working in a consistent, clean, smoke-free/pet-free environment, I know I can improve the performance of a banjo. I have standing of most products on the market today that relate to pre-war banjo specs such as tone-rings, etc.”

“I am devoting my time to build this business to go along with my present musical career. I am looking forward to helping folks achieve their desires which lie from within their banjo. I am very fortunate to have this knowledge, to have owned several great pre-war flathead Gibson banjos in the past, and to have learned this aspect of the Gibson banjo from the many great banjo players and innovators who have carved out their careers on these special instruments.”

“If I sound like I’m some kind of privileged character, you’d better believe that I am! To be in the same community with so many of these legendary masters of the banjo, and to share with them in the interest of these old flatheads, I am truly privileged.”

Here is a brief video of Charlie playing my RB-150 after completing his set up.

To set up an appointment for banjo work with Charlie Cushman, call (615) 708-5075, email him directly, or send him a Facebook message.

The doctor is in.

Don Rigsby has been a major actor in bluegrass music for three decades now. During that time he has been a part of several of the top acts in our business, from The Bluegrass Cardinals and Lonesome River Band, to J.D. Crowe & The New South to Longview, and his current assignment as a founding member of Flashback with other Crowe alums Richard Bennett and Curt Chapman.

While there have been notable solo projects from Rigsby along the way, most of his output has been in ensemble settings. A first single is available this week from a new project for RBR Entertainment with Don out front, and it finds the singer and mandolinist in an uncharacteristic position.

These Days I Stand Alone, co-written with Billy Droze, is the story of Don’s life in song, and an announcement of his career as a front man and solo artist. For most of this past thirty years he has been focused on older music and the traditions of bluegrass, with hardly a peek into his private life which, like all of ours, has had its up and downs.

Rigsby is supported on the track by Jason Roller on guitar, Greg Martin on bass, Tim Crouch on fiddle, and Elmer Burchett on banjo. Larry Cordle and Billy Droze provide vocal harmonies.

It’s a truly thoughtful and engaging song with a powerful and positive message, sung and played beautifully by this veteran grasser.

These Days I Stand Alone by Don Rigsby is available now wherever you stream or download music online. Radio programmers will find the track at AirPlay Direct.

Tony Rice with his Accutron (on right) – photo © Scott Simontacchi

There are many avid fans of the late Tony Rice who knew about his passion for vintage Accutron timepieces, one as deep and enduring as his love for bluegrass music, and playing it as it should be played. Though typically a very private person, this was something he shared freely with his friends and associates in the music business, which led to finding these classics on the wrists of many bluegrass artists from the 1980s forward.

When you consider the fact that Tony was quite literally a master of time in his music, and the fact that the Accutron series from Bulova maintained accuracy using a tiny tuning fork built into the mechanism of an early electronic watch design, it begins to make perfect sense. Users who wear these watches regularly become accustomed to the faint audible hum the watch emits, a pitch just below an F# on the musical scale.

This very aspect of the legendary flatpicker is the subject of a lengthy article by Mark Kauzlarich in HODINKEE, a web site devoted to all things chronograph, as well as to horology, the study of time and the instruments that measure it. Titled Tony Rice’s Hands: How the Bulova Accutron Spaceview Became the Watch of Bluegrass, covers the subject in great depth, including discussions with a number of Tony’ peers in the music business who adopted the Spaceview through evangelization by Rice.

In one snippet, Mark quotes Richard Bennet explaining how the master first came across one of these watches while living in Lexington, working for J.D. Crowe & The New South. Tony initially learned about Accutrons in discussion with John Hartford backstage in 1973.

“Tony was just intrigued by the whole look of the watch and the fact that it was operated by a tuning fork,” says Richard Bennett, a bluegrass guitarist whose playing and Accutron collecting and repair work was influenced heavily by his friendship with Rice. “He carried a tuning fork with him everywhere when he was playing,” so it naturally caught his eye. But then there was the accuracy of the watch.

He endured ribbing from his bandmates at the time, working at the Holiday Inn in Lexington during 1974, including Crowe, for spending $135 for a watch back then. But it was only the start of a relationship with the Spaceview that lasted the rest of his life, which included becoming a widely-recognized expert on this series of timepieces, and a sought-after restorer and repairman.

Any fan of Tony Rice – or Accutron watches – should really read this entire piece, published online. This excerpt nicely captures the tone of the story.

One morning in the 1980s, he told Burleson, “I got up and looked at it and thought, ‘I have no idea how this sonofabitch works, but I’m gonna find out.’”

There was a limited amount of information available on the watch, which had stopped being made in 1977, and it was no small feat to learn the intricacies of a timepiece that was far more electric than mechanical. Rice sought out factory-certified technicians and hunted down the only available manual.

The manual is basic, says Kenny Smith, the International Bluegrass Music Association’s two-time Guitar Player of the Year. “It’s vague, at most. But what’s really incredible about what he did, he took that book and learned everything.”

We reached out to Kauzlarich last week to discuss this carefully-researched article in preparation for recommending it to our readers, which we do unreservedly. That exchange uncovered the fact that while he was a guitarist himself, Mark had never even listened to Tony’s music until he started delving into details for this piece. He readily admitted his diligence in running down particulars, with an eye towards not offending Rice-heads with the final product.

“One of the great challenges of the article was that both subjects, Tony Rice the man and Accutron watches, are so esoteric, and yet the acolytes of each are so fanatical that any missteps accounting for the broader strokes of their history would be easily apparent to a number of passionate readers. That was made even more difficult by the fact that I actually had never heard Tony Rice play until his death.”

Sometime around Christmas I decided to look Tony up on YouTube, and was captivated by a live performance of Wayfaring Stranger in 2011, and how it wasn’t the driving banjo-heavy bluegrass that I guess I had stereotyped all bluegrass as being. I heard influences from the jazz greats that I grew up listening to and admired, but done on an instrument that I had always felt more comfortable with (the acoustic guitar) than the electric I played throughout high school in my own jazz bands. My only exposure to bluegrass prior to that was an affinity for Nickel Creek, and Chris Thile’s genre-bending as well.”

Mark received a crash course in Tony Rice through his investigations for the article, and says that he has developed a personal fascination for his playing along the way.

“In a way, researching this story was a twofold effort that I think and hope Tony would have appreciated. I got to call some of the greatest living bluegrass legends, a lot of them guitarists, and the friend that told me that Tony was an Accutron guy would somewhat exasperatedly respond how cool it was I was talking to all these great players. To me, they were just people who were also passionate about watches and, like I said in the article, it seemed like those are the friendships he really cherished, so it seemed appropriate.

Meanwhile I was picking up my guitar every day, never having flatpicked in my life, and learned Tony’s version of Church Street Blues when I needed to take a break from writing. Since then I’ve been working on trying to understand the ‘language’ of Tony, despite lacking the speed and dexterity, working my way through the freeform intros to Wayfaring Stranger and Manzanita, and even using them to go back to the jazz phrasings I never could understand as a teenager. I probably won’t ever play at a jam; I’ll never be quick enough on my feet for that. But in a way it feels like Tony was helping me through the process of the story in a lot of ways.”

Well said. That’s a sentiment a good many bluegrass guitarists know well.

Congratulations to Mark Kauzarlich and HODINKEE for this timely piece. Read the full article online.

Sometimes titles can be misleading, or even a misnomer. That’s clearly the case with Bill & The Belles’ deceptively titled sophomore set, Happy Again. At first, the discrepancy isn’t very obvious other than the fact that it’s in parenthesis; the group’s giddy saunter and retro ragtime — similar in style to an old-time string band with banjo, fiddle, and some perky piano playing — is generally conveyed with what appears to be an irreverent attitude.

The sway and swoon of the campy and contrived Make It Look Easy, the nonsensical nursery rhyme imbued in The Corn Shuckin’ Song, and the fiddling finesse of Taking Back My Yesterday add to the impression that this quintet is an upbeat bunch. So too, the folksy faux weeping on Sobbin’ the Blues (think Alice Guthrie reciting Alice’s Restaurant), and faux yodeling heard on Blue So Blues, also add a mix of kitsch and catchiness. 

Still, there’s a dark demeanor present at the heart of these songs which seem to suggest that the happiness they strive for is well beyond reach. Leader Kris Truelsen wrote these songs in the aftermath of his divorce, and for all the confidence and clarity that seems to shine on the surface, depression and disappointment are predominant themes. 

“I need to be happy, I used to be gay, the sun used to shine down upon me each day,” Truelsen laments on the title track, before continuing, “…now I am lonesome, and lost in a daze, cuz she’s gone, she’s gone away.”

There’s no shortage of songs that echo those sentiments. “I’m indifferent, I don’t care,” he insists on the deceptively simple Make It Look Easy, while Sobbin’ the Blues, Blue So Blue, and People Gonna Talk add to a litany of sad circumstance. While a song such as Bye Bye Bill — a fanciful tale of a man’s drinking date with a whale (!?) — provides a rare carefree caress, but it’s an exception rather than a rule as far as the overall theme is concerned. Indeed, Happy Again revolves around contradiction. Delightfully giddy on the surface, it’s an album mired in sorrowful circumstance, and as a result, that despair can’t be dismissed. 

Happily, there’s at least some mirth in the music that prevents Happy Again from belying its title entirely, and producer Teddy Thompson is careful to ensure that’s evident. “Get up and give it one more try,” the group urges on the song of the same name.  They then end the set with the otherwise optimistic Good Friends Are Hard To Find, a genuine ode to friendship and fidelity. The lesson offered is this — life may not be easy, but it’s worth any price in perseverance.

The Del McCoury Band at RockyGrass 2021 – photo by Kevin Slick

This RockyGrass 2021 report is a contribution from Kevin Slick, President of The Colorado Bluegrass Music Society, and an avid picker and photographer in the region.

RockyGrass returned to Lyons, Colorado with an incredible weekend that, while having smaller crowds (by design) featured all the things that “Festavarians” have come to expect from this iconic event.

RockyGrass is known for it’s all star jams, usually at the end of the night where musicians tear through old standards and while that happened on schedule this year, two of the highlights featured all star ensembles that didn’t jam but rather played carefully arranged works.

Friday night was the Tony Rice Tribute that put Chris Eldridge, Béla Fleck, Sam Bush, Mark Schatz, David Grisman, Jerry Douglas, Bryan Sutton, and Michael Cleveland on stage to honor the music and life of Tony Rice. Several of the musicians on stage shared memories of Rice and it was the event people were talking about all weekend. The festival closed with Béla Fleck’s new project, “My Bluegrass Heart,” with a similar all star line up: Sierra Hull, Justin Moses, Michael Cleveland, Bryan Sutton, and Mark Schatz. Justin Moses gets the MVP award as he played dobro, fiddle, mandolin, and banjo during the set, at one point even putting down his dobro after a break and running to the other side of the stage mid-song to pick up a fiddle and join Michael Cleveland in some twin fiddle work.

Dewey & Leslie Brown have released a third single from their upcoming sophomore album, Jealousy. The married couple from North Carolina specialize in traditional bluegrass and mountain music, of the type Dewey learned playing fiddle for Ralph Stanley as a Clinch Mountain Boy for more than a decade.

With Dewey handling the bow work, and harmony vocals, Leslie plays bass and serves as primary lead vocalist for their band, The Carolina Gentlemen. Her voice is as powerful as her hubby’s fiddling, offering a high-impact bluegrass sound wherever they perform.

This latest single is one Leslie wrote, Maybe I’m Crazy, which she sings supported by harmony vocals from Donna Ulisse and Valerie Smith. Dewey lays down rhythm guitar along with his fiddle, Kendall Gales plays mandolin, Brandon Henson is on banjo, and Tim Spence adds lead guitar.

Brown describes this furious lament thusly…

“I have experienced heartbreak in my life, and have watched many of my loved ones also struggle with relationships. I wrote this song to express the stressful and unsure feelings that one may go through when love does not go the right way.

The lyrics describe a soul longing for love and attention from someone who has pulled away their love, time and time again. The back and forth attention and rejection can eventually drive both people involved in this tumultuous relationship crazy, hence the title. Love can cause people to act out crazy behaviors and sometimes feel the helplessness of wanting to die. I think this song really expresses that struggle.

I hope you enjoy Maybe I’m Crazy! I’m honored to have two amazingly talented legends in the music industry singing with me on this track, Valerie Smith and Donna Ulisse; they really made this song and the lyrics come to life.”

Have a listen…

Maybe I’m Crazy is available now from popular download and streaming sites online. Radio programmers will find the track at AirPlay Direct.

Gospel bluegrass has been very good to Alan Bibey & Grasstowne this past few years, probably because they are so good at playing and singing it. Their cut of Gonna Rise and Shine won the Gospel Recording of the Year in 2020 at the IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards, and it sat atop our Bluegrass Today Gospel Weekly airplay chart for much of the year.

They have been nominated again this year in that same category for a cut from their first album with Billy Blue Records, Hitchhiking To California. The track in question is When He Calls My Name, and the band has a new music video we are happy to debut today.

Bibey tells us that he feels a bit overwhelmed seeing their name on the list of Gospel nominees again in 2021.

“Having just won the Gospel Recording of the Year award last year for Gonna Rise and Shine, we feel so honored to be included in the final round again this year. We are just humbled to be mentioned alongside some of our dear friends and labelmates in a category that means so much to us.

We had a lot of fun shooting this video for When He Calls My Name, and we are grateful for all the help we had on it from Jerry Salley and everyone at Billy Blue Records, as well as my cousin, co-writer Ronnie Bowman. We are really pleased with how well it turned out and we hope it’ll be a blessing to folks out there.”

The video finds Bibey on mandolin and lead vocal, supported by his Grasstowne bandmates Justin Jenkins on banjo, Zak McLamb on bass, Tony Watt on guitar, and Kati Penn on fiddle. Watch as they play through the song in a old barn. How perfectly bluegrass!

Alan and Grasstowne are nominated in the prestigious Song Of The Year category as well this year for the title track, another that spent considerable time at #1 on our Bluegrass Today weekly airplay chart.

“We are also so thankful to have been included in the Song Of The Year category this year with the title track of our latest album, Hitchhiking to California. It’s truly just an honor to have made it to the final five for such a competitive award, and we thank the IBMA voters for supporting this song. We are really excited for Wes Golding, who originally wrote this tune. He has long been a hero of ours. We are also very proud of the video for Hitchhiking to California. It’s more of a story-type than a straight performance-type video, and we are just tickled with how well it came out!”

Here’s a look back at that one as well.

Best of luck to Grasstowne and all the other nominees for 2021!

We’ve mentioned many times how hard the people behind the scenes in the bluegrass music industry work, putting in long hours and many weekends promoting, recording, and publicizing the artists and the events where its played. Every year the IBMA honors these folks through their Industry Awards, giving extra note to five such with the Distinguished Achievement Awards.

Certainly among the most diligent worked are publicists, toiling long and hard far from the limelight so that you know about a new album or video, or a festival you would enjoy attending. One among them, to whose assiduity I can attest personally, is Penni McDaniel of Hope River Entertainment, who is this year celebrating 20 years in the business of bluegrass publicity.

Despite a brief period working directly with another larger management company, Penni has worked on her own for a long list of clients that includes artists and labels we all know well. Her current artist roster boasts of names like Larry Cordle, Larry Stephenson, Volume Five, Donna Hughes, Dave Adkins, and Shannon Slaughter.

She has just signed her latest client, James Reams, who will work with Hope River for consulting, media, and booking representation. His long career in bluegrass has included recording, touring, film, songwriting, podcasting, and leading a band, The Barnstormers, for nearly three decades. His film, Pioneers of Bluegrass, has been praised for its interviews with Jimmy Martin, Mac Wiseman, and Jesse McReynolds about how bluegrass music developed and grew from Bill Monroe onward.

He tells us that he is delighted with this new partnership.

“I am so excited to be working with Penni. She is dedicated to the people she works with and has worked with for many years. We are already busy, including preparing for the upcoming release of James Reams Like a Flowing River & Soundtrack Album, so we hope you stay tuned.”

McDaniel accepts the challenge of another client with a commendation of his work to date.

“James is going into his 30th year as a true bluegrass balladeer. I am happy to celebrate this milestone with him as I celebrate the 20th anniversary of Hope River Entertainment. Not only is he an acclaimed songwriter and performer, but he is a talented storyteller and hardworking ambassador for bluegrass music. I highly recommend watching his documentary on Amazon to learn more about his music and his life. In addition, the film leaves viewers with a deeper appreciation of James Reams and his band, the Barnstormers.”

For more information on Hope River Entertainment and their client services, visit them online. You can learn much more about James Reams James Reams.

Back in the day, when 78 and then 45 rpm vinyl disks were the way new music was made available to fans and radio alike, each would typically include two new songs. Record labels would mark them as the A and B sides, with the track of primary interest being the A side, and the B basically there because the technology allowed two sides, so why not put something there.

On rare occasions, artists and labels would be caught by surprise when a B side took off with fans, and would have to quickly pivot their promotional efforts in a different direction. But as a rule, disk jockeys played the A side and everything went exactly as planned.

Notable exceptions include Elvis Presley’s Hound Dog, which was the B side on his Don’t Be Cruel single, as well as his recording of Blue Moon of Kentucky, which was the flip side of his debut single, That’s All Right. The same happened for The Beach Boys in 1964 when Don’t Worry Baby charted higher than the intended focus track, I Get Around.

It seems that nostalgia for the old ways has struck Rick Faris and Dark Shadow Recording, who have released a two-song single today which they are calling a Dark Shadow Double. Both tracks are to be included on Rick’s next album with the label, See You On The Other Side, a new project with a bevy of guest performers.

First up (the A side?) is the album’s title track, written by Faris and Rick Lang, which comes in hot and fast. An old time quartet marks the choruses, sung by Rick, Sam Bush, Stephen Mougin, and Jason Carter, with a band consisting of Faris on guitar, Bush on mandolin, Carter on fiddle, Russ Carson on banjo, and Mike Bub on bass.

Rick tells us that having these guys in the studio was enchanting.

“I am beyond thrilled to have some of my heros on these two cuts. Sam Bush has formed the way the mandolin and bluegrass groove is supposed to sound to me. He brings energy and drive that is enhanced by Mike Bub, Jason Carter, Russ Carson and Stephen Mougin. Having these legends and monster pickers on a song I co-wrote with fellow DSR artist Rick Lang was just the icing atop this bluegrass cake!”

Have a listen.

The second track out today is Can’t Build A Bridge To Glory, a Rick Faris/Becky Buller cowrite. This one has more of a funky groove, with Rick on slack key, finger style guitar, accompanied by Laura Orshaw on fiddle and Zak McLamb on bass. Again a quartet number, but this time one made up of Faris, Ronnie Bowman, Eddie Faris, and Dale Perry.

For Rick, singing this one brought back memories from his youth.

“Ronnie Bowman’s singing has been in my ear since age 13 and seeing him at Poppy Mountain, just a couple years later, forever cemented him at the pinnacle of bluegrass cool. Here’s a guy who’s not only an incredible singer but also a world class songwriter, and has been on so many of my formative album collection stalwarts. Dale Perry, also on Ronnie’s records and Lonesome River Band’s early Gospel cuts featuring his demonstrative bass vocals. Brother Eddie Faris perfectly rounded out this amazing vocal trio that is set in the swampy groove laid down by Zak McLamb and Laura Orshaw.”

Check it out.

Both tracks are available today from the popular streaming and download sites. Radio programmers can get both via AirPlay Direct.

Hugh Moore, an accomplished banjo picker from Raleigh, NC, learned how to utilize modern technology, to pick with friends, and share their collaborative music with others while doing it all safely and tastefully during the midst of a global pandemic. 

“I wanted to play music, but like everyone, we were serious about social distancing so we made it work,” stated the retired portfolio manager.

First, he developed a plan. “I decided if I’m going to do recordings and videos, I need to have people with their own in-home recording studios. I wanted the videos to look good, but most importantly, the audio needed to be as good as our studio recordings.”

So the 62-year-old reached out to his musical cronies across the continent to meet that requirement.

“My first project was Never Ending Love for You, a popular 1970’s hit by Delaney and Bonnie. I started out with a click to establish the timing track. I then played scratch guitar and vocal to the click track, and left spaces for the breaks as I worked out the musical format of the song.”

Next, Moore contacted Chris Sharp (John Hartford String Band) from Durham, to be guitarist, and Canadian Ray Legere (Tony Rice Unit) to play fiddle. Then he petitioned Raleigh resident, Allyn Love ( Steve Wariner Band), to play pedal steel, and Billy Troy, Josh Graves’ son, who lives in Nebraska, to sing the lead vocals. As the song began to come together, Moore had an epiphany.

“I was talking to Bobby Osborne and said I had this crazy idea that I wanted him to sing high tenor. He said he’d love to do it. I had learned that his son, Boj, had a studio, and I knew he could play upright bass on the project.”

Moore elected to pick the five-string to complete the on-line ensemble. “I didn’t want to promote me, but I wanted to be involved in it.”

His brainchild took two months to come to fruition. He released it on his OMS Records YouTube channel in April 2020.

“There was, of course, no profit motive for this or any of the other videos. That’s not what it’s about. It was about making good music with friends,” the creative picker stressed.

Since that first project, there have been numerous others. 

“I did one, I Still Miss Someone, with my nephew, Joseph Terrell, of Mipsoas as the lead singer. Billy Troy was featured on Someone Took My Place With You. I did a black and white video which features a re-creation of the August 29, 1953 recording by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. Probably the most popular videos have been: I Can’t Stop Loving You with Bobby Osborne, Ronnie Reno, and Glen Duncan, with over 300,000 views on Facebook, and I’ll Go Stepping Too, with over 50,000 views on Youtube.

The latter is a good example of the enterprising business man and his associates gradually becoming higher tech. Moore, Legere, Sharp, and Troy acquired green screens and began to utilize the magic of technology so that even though the musicians recorded in separate locations, they appeared to be together on the screen.

Troy expressed, “I love what we’re doing. We did these videos because of COVID,” but their friendship spans decades. “My dad (Josh Graves) hooked me up with Hugh in 1999.”

Graves’ son had been recording remotely, including producing audio files with Moore. “We got to talking. I give Hugh a lot of credit. He took the pieces and put it together.”

Another musician on the video was bassist, Zack Mondry, a longtime friend and former bandmate of Moore. “Around 2009, we formed the classic bluegrass band, Rye Mountain Boys. That was a fun band that really studied the sounds of Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, and the Stanleys, and audiences seemed to appreciate that.”

“When Hugh asked if I wanted to play on some of his COVID sessions, I had just been listening to some recordings of Ray Legere, and was excited to get to play with him virtually! He sounds absolutely fabulous on I’ll Go Steppin Too and Someone Took My Place With You, as does Hugh and the rest of the pickers and singers. Leave it to Hugh Moore to dream up and create something cool and fun out of the pandemic lockdown!”

As Moore gradually became more a techno nerd, the Raleigh native decided to tackle a creative exploit with the green screen, which allows objects or actors in a video to be removed from the backdrop, using his own dock as the background with just himself, singing all the parts and playing all the instruments.

“I videoed about three minutes of my dock to use as the background. Then I sat in front of a microphone in my studio, using Pro Tools for the audio, and started with the guitar and sang the lead. I’d say, ‘banjo break here’ while the click track was going, then mandolin break here. I added the bass and harmonies.”

Under spotlights, the married father of two performed in front of the camera on his iPhone, wearing ear buds, and gradually recorded each segment. Using an Apple product, Final Cut, he formulated his own one man band. The end product was a 2 minute, 11 second version of Jonathan Edwards How Long Have I Been Waiting For You featuring Moore playing guitar, banjo, mandolin, and bass, and singing three part harmony on his own dock.

His comments on the YouTube production, posted on April 30 of this year include: “Hugh Moore (me) on all instruments and vocals, utilizing lots of modern technology. Personally, it’s too much me, even for me. This is just a fun experiment by me as I hone my pandemic video skills. Again, it’s too much me for me, but I hope you enjoy it in the context it is presented.”

The North Carolina musician was not born into a musical family. In his mid-teens, he heard Earl Scruggs on a banjo compilation record, A Bushel of Banjos, and was smitten.

“I told my parents that I wanted a banjo. I took lessons from Tom Garren in Cary. He did tablature in a really different way,” but Moore soaked it up like a sponge. 

Moore and Linda, his wife of 34 years, started their own independently-owned and operated recording production company, OMS Records, with a studio in their Raleigh home. The acronym derives from the “Original Music Showcase” concert series that Moore started in Durham. It began with audio productions and recently expanded to video projects.

“I got into recording through Benny Martin,” the CEO of OMS Records explained. “I became friends with him through the concert series. He had a speech disorder, spasmodic dysphonia. I learned about his disease and took him to the Vanderbilt speech clinic to get him Botox treatment for his voice. It helped him. Linda and I started OMS Records and recorded 18 releases over 20 years. Two of the first were Benny’s: Big Tiger Roars Again (Parts 1 and 2).”

With an impressive stable of national artists, OMS has produced and released a portfolio of creative acoustic and classic country music. His company sports recordings by country and bluegrass music greats such as Vassar Clements, Buddy Spicher, Josh Graves, Bobby Osborne, Jeannie Seely, Glen Duncan, Johnny Russell, Benny Martin, Jesse McReynolds, Pam Gadd, and Billy Troy. Guests included people like Dolly Parton, Earl Scruggs, Ricky Skaggs, Vince Gill, Tom T. Hall, Béla Fleck, Alison Krauss, Buck Owens, Rhonda Vincent, and many others.

“One song I had a lot of fun with was the 2000 OMS recording of Act Naturally with Johnny Russell (who wrote the song) singing with Buck Owens, and Marty Stuart on mandolin, Benny Martin on fiddle, and Earl Scruggs on banjo. Those were all personal heroes.” The full CD, Actin’ Naturally, had an impressive line-up of well-known artists that also included Parton, Crystal Gayle, Bobby Bare, and the Whites.

“We more or less stopped releasing new CD in about 2006. With the changing of the industry towards streaming, it just wasn’t sustainable or profitable. Some of the artists who were on our roster didn’t do much touring since they were late in their careers. Benny Martin, Kenny Baker, Vassar Clements, Johnny Russell, Josh Graves, and Jesse McReynolds had all slowed down a lot. Bobby Osborne and some of the others were still touring.”

After living on Wild Goose, their sailboat, for four years and traveling the world visiting 28 countries, Hugh and Linda returned to their Raleigh residence, their home since 1990. Just as they were learning to be landlubbers again, COVID-19 hit. With their recording studio being dormant, the pandemic seemed the perfect time to resume production. Through the aid of modern technology and the accessibility to social media, a whole new world of music recording opened up for the Moores.

“There’s no deadline. That’s the beauty of it. There isn’t a rush and we all just wanted to make music and prove the remote concept. All I did was post it on Facebook and Youtube.”

As the world reopens and life returns to normal, Hugh and Linda are enjoying retired life and becoming grandparents for the first time. They welcomed a granddaughter, Georgia Everett, into the Moore fold on June 20, but that doesn’t mean the music or the creative projects will cease.

“We’ve probably just scratched the surface,” he readily admitted.

The musical entrepreneur concluded, “I wasn’t trying to make any kind of big splash. I was just trying to find a way to continue to play music through the pandemic, and it has been a lot of fun.”

To learn more about his projects, visit the web site or subscribe to his YouTube channels: OMS Records (collaborative sessions) and Hugh M (all him).