Monthly Archives: September 2021

We haven’t noticed Balsam Range here at World of Bluegrass in Raleigh, though they don’t live far away in western North Carolina. But they will be here soon if they aren’t already for tonight’s IBMA Bluegrass Awards.

This past weekend they released a new music video for one of the tracks for their brand new record, Moxie and Mettle, on Mountain Home Music.

The track is one called Highway Side, written by Timothy R Carroll and David F Coleman, about life on the road, which the video captures quite nicely on the band tour bus.

Moxie and Mettle is available now from popular download and streaming sites online, and on CD directly from the band.

James Kee with East Nash Grass at World of Bluegrass 2021 – photo © Tara Lindhardt

Wednesday, September 29, at the conferences, meet and greets, and seminars, folks continue to network, educate, and inspire the attendees. The showcases continue to bring in great music from all over the country. The international bands are still at IBMA, and have been coming in on live streams from around the globe for people wanting to check them out in the designated viewing room. The Momentum Awards gave some well deserved recognition to some amazing people and bands who have been hard at work and making a real name for themselves in the industry and in helping to mentor others.

Here are some tastes of the music so you can see and hear some of the talent for yourself. There were so many really fine bands that hopefully you will get the chance to see in person if you could not make it to IBMA this year. Most of the bands showcasing also have recordings out that you can buy or stream right from your own home. So if you see anything on the livestreams or in the videos or photos from IBMA that will be circulating out there, just Google the bands and check out their music, and you can support them from wherever you are in the world. Be sure to try catch their live shows when available.

Jake Blount

East Nash Grass

Twisted Pine

World of Bluegrass 2021 has, through Wednesday, elicited a mixture of emotions and responses. In the main, the fact that the organization has managed to hold a convention this year in the face of steady headwinds is remarkable, and they deserve credit for pulling it off. But it is also true that attendance is dramatically lower than 2019 and earlier years, with many of the most defining and enjoyable aspects missing this time around.

Seeing both seminar participants and entertainers piped in virtually demonstrates the versatility and immediateness of modern digital communication, but it allows for neither the intensity of being in the room where music is happening, nor allows the performers to connect with an audience as best befits their status as selected showcase acts. One supposes that it does beat not participating at all, but having witnessed the success showcase artists have achieved in the past from their presence at WOB, those “phoning it in” are at a disadvantage. And unsurprisingly, those who are here in person are reaping the benefits.

Speaking mostly for myself, though I have heard this sentiment shared by many others, the closing off of late night unofficial showcases in the Marriott meeting rooms is a huge loss. These “low-fi” sets offered a great chance to find bands and artists just below the national radar, but completely worthy of note. It also diminishes the experience for those not interested in heading out from the hotel-convention center nexus at the heart of the event to see sponsored showcases at area watering holes.

Again, this beats not getting together at all as an industry, but conversations seem largely centered on who’s not here, and why they couldn’t or didn’t make it.

Bill Reaves did venture out last night, to The Pour Hose, where he captured images of several performers there.

Here is another gallery of images from Tuesday night at World of Bluegrass 2021, including Bluegrass Ramble showcases and other random sights.

Stillhouse Junkies accept the 2021 Momentum Band of the Year award – photo © Bill Reaves

Here are Bill Reaves’ photos taken during the Momentum Awards ceremony earlier today during the 2021 World of Bluegrass convention in Raleigh, NC.

The 2021 IBMA World of Bluegrass kicked of Tuesday with morning and afternoon seminars that were both live and virtual. The topics ranged from mentorship to sustainability to social media use.

The Keynote Address happens on the first day also. Attendees were welcomed by Raleigh organizers and dignitaries including the mayor.

IBMA board chairman Mike Simpson then welcomed everyone. He then read a board proclamation honoring past executive director Paul Schiminger, and invited Paul to say a few words.

Mike then introduced Dudley Connell as the Keynote Speaker. Dudley touched on both the negative and positive effects of the pandemic on all of the music business – artists, promoters, venues, fans, and radio stations. It was an excellent overview of the health of the industry.

The evening was filled with brief artist showcases. The sets are twenty five minutes long to give everyone a taste of each band. I stayed in one room and watched the various performers. The featured bands were The Henhouse Prowlers, Crandall Creek, The Arcadian Wild, Hillary Klug, Never Come Down, and Liam Purcell and Cane Mill Road. These groups ran the gamut from old time to traditional to progressive. All-in-all a fun evening.

Wednesday is another day of conferences and showcases along with the Momentum Awards luncheon.

Join us for some good fellowship, music, and fun.

Support your local music venues.

Austin Scelzo with Rock Hearts at The Lincoln Theater (WOB ’21) – photo © Bill Reaves

We are delighted to introduce our readers to Bill Reaves, a professional photographer in Raleigh, NC who is shooting for us this week during World of Bluegrass. We will have his images each day, including Thursday’s Awards Show and the weekend IBMA Bluegrass Live! festival.

Here is what he saw on Tuesday, September 2021.

This afternoon in a ceremony held in the ballroom of the Raleigh Convention Center, the International Bluegrass Music Association announced the winners of their 2021 Momentum Awards. These are given to artists in the early stages of their careers who show special promise towards making a lasting impact on our music, and those who have made particular contributions assisting such young artists.

And the winners were:

Industry Involvement – Kara Kundert

Mentor – Cathy Fink

Instrumentalist

• Maddie Denton
• Julian Pinelli

Vocalist – Jaelee Roberts

Band – Stillhouse Junkies

We will have photos from the luncheon, where all of the Momentum Band nominees performed, as soon as possible.

IBMA 2021 has gotten off to a great start. The annual convention is once again in Raleigh, North Carolina (for its 9th year here). The Mayor (Mary Anne Baldwin) gave us a special welcome and thank you for coming to Raleigh at the Key Note Speaker address. It always feels like so many folks here are happy to have all of the musicians, educators, promoters, record label people, instrument builders, and of course music fans, etc. descend upon their fine town.

This year’s theme is “Refocus, Reconnect, and Reimagine,” a good theme after the highly unique and sometimes challenging year all of us have experienced since the pandemic started. You will generally see attendees to this year’s convention masked up while indoors. Everyone has shown proof of their COVID vaccinations upon arrival to register and enter the convention. I have heard a whole lot of happy folks who are excited to be back at making and listening to the music live and in person! This year the IBMA also has included live streaming of many of the events for folks who could not attend in person.

The week started off on Monday night with a Leadership Bluegrass get-together on a lovely downtown rooftop while being serenaded by the kids from Jam Pak from Chandler, Arizona, brought by the amazing Anni Beach. Anni started Jam Pak, which helps kids in her area learn to play bluegrass music. I talked to the kids in her gang and they said their music friends and Anni had really become their family and friends, as well as bringing them the joy and power of becoming musicians. They were all very excited to be here at their first IBMA.

IBMA still had their famous Gig Fair where performers and event producers can meet face to face and pitch their bands and festivals to one another in a speed dating type of format. Everyone was wearing masks, and I still could see many smiles going around under those masks and CDs, stickers, drink koozies, and the like being handed over the tables. The Convention Center day was full of great seminars aimed at helping many different people of the bluegrass and related worlds and occupations.

A highlight of Tuesday was, of course, the Keynote Address. This year that honor was bestowed upon the great Dudley Connell. Many bluegrass folks know of his work with the Johnson Mountain Boys, Longview, Hazel Dickens, and the Seldom Scene, but he also has been doing other quite impressive jobs as well. He was the manager of the Smithsonian Folkways office for 20 years, and has been working as an archivist for the National Council for the Traditional Arts, where he catalogs and digitizes their collections for the Library of Congress. In 2020, he was inducted into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame. His speech was full of humor and lively stories, as well as a recognition of how hard this last year has been on so many people, plus an inspiring message about some things we have learned as a result of the pandemic and good things to come.

Some video so folks at home can see and hear just a wee little taste of the overwhelming amount of fine music here in Raleigh for IBMA.

I’ve just arrived at the IBMA World of Bluegrass and I have a short report that mainly has to do with the check-in process.

If you’ve kept up with social media discussions (something I don’t recommend), you may recall there was some disagreement and pushback when it was announced that there would be a vaccine mandate to attend this year’s WOB and that masks would be required for all indoor events. It seems that the IBMA board was concerned about the potential for the WOB to become a “super-spreader” event. Sound thinking, of course, but what they failed to realize was that a number of people—with some justification—believe that it always was a super-spreader event, just with less dangerous viruses. In fact, being sick for a week or two following the big week is as much a part of the World of Bluegrass tradition as the awards show or tacking up flyers on elevator walls. We always blamed the hotel ventilation (for spreading viruses, not for the elevator flyers) until we got to the fourth hotel since the IBMA’s creation, and realized they can’t all be to blame. In short, those objecting to the 2021 admission policy believe that willingly spreading viruses amongst attendees is a decades-long tradition that shouldn’t be tampered with, even if this particular virus can hospitalize and kill people.

In any event (our event, in fact), those mitigating measures are in place. The argument about these requirements may have obscured the fact that there is also a less-publicized admission hurdle this year, even for those who have their vaccine ducks in a row (an admittedly stupid metaphor/cliche): in order to keep outsiders who have absolutely no familiarity with bluegrass from crashing the event, making social distancing that much more difficult, and requesting Wagon Wheel, all attendees must first answer a short quiz about bluegrass music, and 7 out of 10 correct answers are required.

Since it’s already Wednesday, and I find this policy just a little bit exclusive, I am providing you with the answers to all ten questions. If you’d like to refer to the questions themselves, I’ve included those below, but it’s not really necessary. Just put these down in the following order on the form when you check in:

• Bessie Lee Mauldin
• Nashville
• Tone ring
• Weird but cool
• Shortstop
• Hot and Cold
• Delivering mail
• The elevator
• Sad
• Yes

Congratulations! You’re in.

The questions:

• What is the most mispronounced last name in bluegrass music?
• Name the most disappointing host city for the IBMA World of Bluegrass.
• Name a part of the banjo that no member of the general public cares about.
• How would you best describe the mandolin tuning used by Bill Monroe for Get Up John?
• After 1947, what was it no longer necessary for one of Bill Monroe’s fiddle players to play?
• What is the preferred temperature of corn?
• In Down the Road, Old Man Flatt owned a farm but also needed a day job. What was it?
• By Friday of this week, what will be the most frustrating mode of transportation?
• What word best describes the average full time bluegrass musician’s income?
• Do most people attend the IBMA World of Bluegrass for business or pleasure?

It’s fairly obvious that bluegrass is a crowded field these days. New bands, old bands, solo performers and varied ensembles — all compete for attention and, in the process, make music that really matters

Balsam Range is right up there with those artists that are tops in the field, evidenced by the fact that the North Carolina-based band has garnered a baker’s dozen awards from the IBMA since their formation 14 years ago. And while it would likely be easy for them to settle into some sort of formula-fed approach, their latest album, Moxie and Mettle, like all that have come before, proves that they’re not content to merely follow the tried and true. In that regard, opening track Highway Side reflects the casual optimism that’s been a hallmark of their sound since early on. So too, the lighthearted Rooster Rock shares a jaunty, old-time, glad-handed approach that’s well in keeping with their eclectic MO.

Still, even in the midst of the joy and jubilation, Balsam Range still manages to share songs with deeper meaning. The tirelessly steadfast Rivers, Rains and Runaway Trains finds the singer pondering new possibilities once he finds real romance for the very first time. The heartfelt Until I See You Again continues that theme of love and longing. On the other hand, the upbeat exhortation of Richest Man is a timely reminder that all the wealth in the world can’t buy immortality, and ultimately means little more than having earned the distinction of being the wealthiest person in the cemetery. So too, His Tomb Is Empty Now is a fine example of the great Gospel music that’s always played an essential role in their music making.

That said, the most meaningful offering of all comes in the form of the resolute Grit and Grace, the track that bears a line about “one part moxie, another part mettle,” and gives the album its title. It’s a song that could well serve as a life lesson in these troubling times, one that encourages the listener to persevere even in the face of the most pressing adversity. It’s a theme that’s also echoed in the rapid-fire revelry of Santa Barbara, a tale of yearning and desire that culminates in the realization that accomplishment is ultimately left to each individual alone. 

With Moxie and Mettle, Balsam Range set a mighty fine example for us all.

Hogslop String Band are a decidedly unusual bunch. Manic, off-kilter, flippant, and funny, their portrayal of classic old time and grassicana music is stirred with punk precepts, an approach that puts the emphasis on absolute irreverence and full-blown frenzy. Setting the stage for headliner Jim Lauderdale in an exclusive performance that took place on Friday, September 24th during AmericanaFest at Nashville’s popular venue, 3rd & Lindsley, they clearly took those who were unaware wholly by surprise.

“You came here to see Jim Lauderdale,” bassist Pickle surmised. “So you weren’t ready for this. If you have alcohol or drugs, take them now. It only gets weirder from here.”

He wasn’t kidding. With a set of songs that mainly focused on what it takes to get wholly inebriated (“We have high hopes and hopes of getting high,” guitarist and harmonica player Gabriel Kelley insisted), they paraded about like a band unhinged, with Pickle flopping about as if terminally intoxicated while alternately mounting and coddling his stand-up bass. Kelley, a big burley mountain of a man, was also unrestrained, rallying the crowd to share in the revelry even while touting their merch.

“We’ve got CDs, shirts, all kind of shit,” he declared. “Buy ’em if you want. We don’t care.”

Still, despite that demonstrative attitude, they showed that in fact they did care, offering up a series of songs that were of a positively celebratory nature. Eschewing what Kelley referred to as “minor key songs about heartache,” they proved to be a tight ensemble, thanks in large part to singer and fiddle player Kevin Martin’s tender, high-register vocals, the nimble flourishes of guitarist and mandolin player Will Harrison, and the adept banjo playing and occasional vocals of Daniel Binkley, all of whom served to balance the demonstrative designs that dominated the band’s performance overall. Indeed, were it not for their outrageous antics, Hogslop String Band could be considered a well-seasoned old-time ensemble, given their tight-knit instrumentation and clearly defined harmonies. So too, when they dipped into a reservoir of vintage oldies — The Band’s Rag Mama Rag, John Prine’s Knockin’ On Your Screen Door, and the Grateful Dead’s New Speedway Boogie, their reverence for their roots was in plain sight. The latter song shared a coda that referenced the dire times we’ve all recently witnessed — “One way or another, this darkness got to give” — which made their rowdy, rambunctious, goofy, and gregarious approach all the more exhilarating.

“Live music is back,” Pickle proclaimed, and indeed, the band’s performance was as lively as anyone might hope.

That said, the group doesn’t refrain from speaking its mind, even in the midst of a somewhat subdued crowd. “They call this Americana, but who even knows what that means,” Kelley mused, tossing a jab at the organization that was sponsoring the evening’s performance. So too, they appeared to have no constraints; Greasy Coat, a song thought to be about aversion to condoms (“I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t wear no greasy coat”) might have made a few people twitch, though it was clearly of no concern to the performers. Even Martin, the seemingly sanest one of the bunch, seemed perfectly content to join his crazy compatriots when it came to letting loose.

For that reason alone, Hogslop String Band might have been a hard act to follow. And indeed, while Lauderdale was enough of a professional to reclaim the stage, his warm-up certainly made their mark. Suffice it to say, your pappy’s string band music was never as effusive as this.

Billy Strings at the Renewal Festival in Colorado, September 2021 – photo © Chad Zellner

The Billy Strings phenomenon is something that must be seen to be believed, something many bluegrass lovers have not yet been able to do. A very talented young guitarist and vocalist, with a tight band of professional pickers, has managed to combine bluegrass music with headbanging and a rock n roll attitude, and attracted a huge and loyal audience to his music. There is nothing sedate or ‘traditional’ about his presentation, but he is entertaining his zealous fans with acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin, and upright bass, playing in a bluegrass style.

And he is selling out large venues all over the United States, and headlining jamgrass festivals, bringing in a young, raucous, and dedicated fan base that wouldn’t know Ralph Stanley from a hole in the ground. But we can’t all come into bluegrass through Flatt & Scruggs and The Stanley Brothers, and Billy is winning over a new audience for the music we all love, doing it his way.

Who could have predicted it?

This past weekend a two-day outdoor festival was held in conjunction of the release of the latest Billy Strings album on Rounder Records, Renewal. Billed as the Billy Strings Renewal Festival, it was held in the Rocky Mountains near Beuna Vista, CO on The Meadows Farm, a 100 acre facility with beautiful natural vistas and a creek running through, a perfect space for rough camping and a concert area with 360° views of the 14,000 foot Collegiate Peaks.

Only 5,000 tickets were made available, in keeping with the wishes of the property owners and the desire of the promoters to respect this lovely natural place.

Photographer Chad Zellmer was on hand, and shared some terrific images from the festival. It would seem a good time was had by all.

Here is the first single from the Renewal album, one called Fire Line.

Punch Brothers have announced a new album recorded as a tribute to the late Tony Rice, who had served as a major influence on each of them, and to the group as a whole. Hell on Church Street is set for a January 14, 2022 release on Nonesuch Records, which will be followed by a US tour running through early March.

Hell on Church Street is a reimagining of the entire Church Street Blues record, Rice’s 1983 classic believed by many fans to be his finest and most definitive work, largely because it was Tony in its purest form, on solo guitar and vocal. Punch Brothers have recut each of the album’s 11 tracks, and sequenced them in the same order, very important to serious aficionados.

It was recorded in November 2020, presaging Tony’s passing a month later, and making its imminent release all the more poignant.

Speaking jointly, the band issued this statement…

“No record (or musician) has had a greater impact on us, and we felt compelled to cover it in its entirety, with the objective of interacting with it in the same spirit of respect-fueled adventure that Tony brought to each of its pre-existing songs.”

Here’s a first look and listen, Punch Brothers in the studio with their arrangement of Church Street Blues.

Punch Brothers are Chris Thile on mandolin, Chris Eldridge on guitar, Noam Pikelny on banjo, Gabe Witcher on fiddle, and Paul Kowert on bass.

Pre-orders for Hell on Church Street can be placed on the Punch Brothers web site. Tickets for the 2022 tour dates go on sale October 1 at 10:00 a.m. online.

Bailey Coe at the 2019 Nothin’ Fancy Festival – photo © Susie Neel

Central North Carolina-based bluegrass band, Drive Time, has added a new member to their roster, Bailey Coe, formally with Sideline. He played his first shows with the band this past weekend at Lorraine’s Coffee House and Music in Garner on Friday, and at Recovery Road Bluegrass Festival in Albemarle on Saturday.

The Four Oaks resident stated, “I’m very excited to come on board with Drive Time. All of them have been some of my best friends for years, and I could not pass up the opportunity to play in a band with them. After leaving Sideline due to some vocal chord and throat issues, I knew I wouldn’t be able to sing full time again. Drive Time provides the perfect opportunity of playing a relaxed and light schedule to scratch some of that itch of being part of a band again. I am very excited and cannot wait to get started!”

Drive Time guitarist Austyn Howell elaborated, “Bailey has always been very close to Tyler, Austin, Gray, and me, playing in little variations of bands with us before he took the Grass Cats gig and then Sideline. With his voice problems, the doctor basically told him his vocal chords would heal if he went six months without singing or talking above a whisper and he did that. (Was the reason he came off the road). And there was no permanent solution as the doctor told him basically he wouldn’t be able to sing night in and out (100-200 shows a year) like he was doing or he would permanently damage his vocal chords. So it has been well over a year since all that transpired and a couple weeks ago we were together hanging out and we were talking about picking.”

“I said, ‘Look man, come play with us, we only pick 20-30 shows a year because everyone has full-time jobs. Sing a few tunes on our second album we’re recording right now, and just come and hang out and have fun.’ He agreed and said we were a perfect fit for his situation, being able to stay somewhat active performing, but not have the heavy workload on his voice. In addition, being best friends with us all, that was just a plus!”

This is not Coe’s first time on stage with Drive Time. He guested with the band at Doyle Lawson’s festival at Denton in 2020.

Drive Time consists of Austyn Howell on guitar, Tyler Jackson on banjo, Austin Koerner on mandolin, Grayson Tuttle on bass, and Katie Springer on fiddle. They are happy to welcome Bailey Coe to the band.

Ken Seaman, an integral part of the bluegrass community in Colorado died on Thursday, September 23. He passed quietly in his sleep, and was 79 years of age.

Ken had been a founding member of The Bluegrass Patriots, who entertained bluegrass lovers in Colorado and all across the US for more than 30 years. He was the banjo player with the group, and before they disbanded in 2011, Seaman had become the spokesman for the band. To the very end they championed a traditional bluegrass sound, through six studio recordings including ones for the Copper Creek and Turquoise labels.

Born in Missouri, Ken never lost his Ozark drawl, even after spending most of his life in Colorado. But prior to the move, he had been active in bluegrass there. His father ran the Current River Opry, which brought all sorts of bluegrass music to town, and by the time he was 16, Seaman had his first banjo. From there he never looked back

Ken and his wife, Mary, ran the popular Midwinter Bluegrass Festival, starting out in Ft. Collins and later moving to Denver where it is currently held. Most preparation for the February 2022 event had already been finalized, and there is no word yet about the future of this beloved event. While in Ft. Collins, he also ran the Red Garter Bar in the Old Town section of the city, but before long returned to his chosen career, and became a teacher in the local schools, instructing elementary schoolers at Gleneyre, Red Feather Lakes, and Livermore.

After retirement, he took on every grandparent’s dream of taking care of his granddaughters, and helping to coach them in music.

His many friends in and out of bluegrass will recall Seaman’s gentle nature, and his willingness to help anyone learn to love and play the music. Ken was surely the most enthusiastic evangelists for bluegrass in the state.

Fellow Colorado banjo picker Pete Wernick says that Ken was an indispensable man in the region.

“Ken was deeply engaged in bluegrass fellowship, always in evidence at his festivals. As much as anyone, he represented the spirit of Colorado bluegrass.”

A memorial service is scheduled for September 30 at Foundations Church in Loveland, CO at 3:00 p.m. The family will also host a musical Celebration of Life in Ft. Collins at some point. Those details have not been announced.

R.I.P., Ken Seaman.

Here is a video of The Bluegrass Patriots performing at Ireland’s Athy Bluegrass Festival in 2003.

This past Saturday night the current members of Seldom Scene assembled at Mount Airy Farm near Warsaw, VA to reenact the performance from 1974 that was released as the classic album, Live at the Cellar Door, on Rebel Records. The album is among the top sellers in the history of bluegrass music, and had been recently reissued in 2019 as a CD box set with a 12-page booklet and several unpublished photographs.

The 2-LP album original introduced thousands of new fans to the music of John Starling, John Duffey, Ben Eldridge, Mike Auldridge, and Tom Gray, and is viewed as one of the most important of the 20th century in bluegrass music.

Today’s Seldom Scene consists of Dudley Connell on guitar, Lou Reid on mandolin, Fred Travers on reso-guitar, Ronnie Simpkins on bass, and Ron Stewart on fiddle and banjo.

Show promoter Tayloe Emery tells us that the concert on September 25 was a complete sellout, with 1200 attendees on the farm seated on a grassy hillside enjoying the band perform all of the songs from the album, in order, in as close a replica of the original as they could manage. Most of the concertgoers came from outside the area, with some traveling from as far as Louisiana, California, Illinois, and New York. A few in the audience had also been in the audience for the 1974 concert at the Cellar Door in Washington, DC.

After an opening set from Shannon Bielsky and Moonlight Drive, the Scene played two sets, earning standing ovations for both Rider and Wait A Minute.

Seeing the reaction from the audience, Dudley said, “I realized tonight fully what this album means to our fans.”

Also at the show was drone photographer Bill Dedo, who shared these overhead shots of the farm.

The 2021 Hoppin’ John Fiddlers’ Convention was held over the weekend of September 17-18 in Pittsboro, NC. Proceeds from the annual competitions are donated to the Shakori Hills Community Arts Center, who sponsor and administer the Chatham County chapter of Junior Appalachian Musicians.

A total of $3400 was on the line in the various old time and bluegrass instrumental contests, for youth and adults, plus an adult dance category and folk song (vocal). While the contests are running, the festival also offers a number of workshops and a dance tent.

The band contest typically allows competitors in three categories – Bluegrass, Old Time, and Other Traditional. Since there were no bands this year who qualified in the Other Traditional category, two prizes were offered in each place for Bluegrass and Old Time.

1st – Appalachian Thunder
1st – StringUp PickBand
2nd – Carolina Songbirds
2nd – Yelling Degenerates
3rd – Firing Line String Band
3rd – Big Okra

And the other winners were:

Fiddle

1st – Sophie Wellington
2nd – Nokosee Fields
3rd – Ella Thomas
4th – Kristin Harris
5th – Sophie Nachman

Banjo

1st – Eli Winken Werder
2nd – Dusty Rider
3rd – Rachel Dunaway
4th – Courtney Clapp
5th – Jeff Ward

Mandolin

1st – Zeb Gambill
2nd – Alex Meredith
3rd – Julia Illana

Guitar

1st – Marshall Brown
2nd – Brad Farmer
3rd – Zeb Gambill

Other Stringed Instrument

1st – Bob Stepno
2nd – Marsha Harris
3rd – Tim Litchfield

Folk Song

1st – Lightnin Wells
2nd – Andre Gruber
3rd – Iris Newlin

Youth Fiddle

1st – Claire Dawson
2nd – Samuel Hayes
3rd – Banyan Perdue

Youth Other Instrument

1st – Carter Patterson
2nd – Kira Lynn
3rd – Jack Venters and Avery Clapp (tie)

Adult Dance

1st – Sophie Wellington
2nd – Aaron Ratcliffe
3rd – Thom Worm

Congratulations to all the winners!

Mountain Home Music has released a music video for their current single with Jaelee Roberts, Think Again.

This song is very much in the style Jaelee has adopted, an acoustic country vibe with bluegrass backing. It’s the sound that convinced Sister Sadie to bring her into the group when Dale Ann Bradley stepped away, and which has won over radio hosts all across the country who play her music. Written by Marla Cannon-Goodman and Shane Stockton, the lyrics have the narrator putting on a strong face in response to an unfaithful and undependable lover, letting him know she’s not crying her eyes out when he’s not around.

Roberts is supported on the track by Alan Bibey on mandolin, Kristin Scott Benson on banjo, Jimmy Mattingly on fiddle, Tony Wray on guitar, and producer Tim Surrett on bass. None of them are shown in the video, which focuses on Jaelee driving through the country while singing this bittersweet song.

The track is available as a single wherever you stream or download music online. It will also be included on Roberts’ upcoming album with Mountain Home Music.

Paul Sgroi, Jason Shaw, and Holten Doucette – winners at the 2021 National Flat-Picking Championship

After being unable to host their 2020 competitions, the Walnut Valley Festival held its National Flat-Picking Championships this past weekend in Winfield, KS. Though named for the prestigious guitar contest, highly selective competitions are held for other common folk and bluegrass instruments as well.

Everything was back to normal this year, and entrants came from all across the country to go head to head against the best of the best.

And the 2021 Winfield winners are:

National Flat Pick Guitar Championship

National Bluegrass Banjo Championship

National Mandolin Championship

Walnut Valley Old Time Fiddle Championship

International Finger Style Guitar Championship

International Autoharp Championship

National Mountain Dulcimer Championship

National Hammer Dulcimer Championship

Congratulations all!

Austria’s Loser Mountain Boys have announced a new member, the youngest in the band’s 40 year tenure.

Patrick Schut, the 12 year old son of co-founder Denis Schut, has joined the group on lead guitar. He is taking the spot filled by Johannes Pressl, who started the band with Dennis in the early ’80s. Johannes was fiddler with the group, and is being forced to step aside due his many other career responsibilities.

Young Patrick is also a fine banjo and mandolin player, as well as a strong singer, who had grown up performing with the Schut Family Bluegrass Band since he was old enough to hold a guitar.

Dennis has been a figure in European bluegrass for quite some time, having brought Charlie Moore over for tours in 1976 and 1979, while playing guitar with him on stage. Schut’s earlier band, Spruce Pine, had toured throughout Europe at that time, and supported Jim Eanes on three visits to the continent.

While the band name strikes a humorous note to English speakers, they are actually named for Der Loser, a mountain that looks down on the town of Bad Aussee in the Styria province of Austria where they live. There they are known as Die Loser Mountain Boys.

Though Patrick will surely hate this, here is a video of him with the Schut Family Bluegrass Band when he was about 8 years old.

What a natural performer! We look forward to seeing more of The Loser Mountain Boys with Patrick on lead guitar.

It took the Swiss bluegrass band The Long John Brothers only a few years to get to the stage they’re on now. First formed in 2012, their present line-up coalesced three years later, and remains the same today. The group consists of Sylvain Demierre on guitar and lead vocal, Jean-Michel Pache sharing lead vocals and playing the fiddle and mandolin, Olivier Uldry on redo-guitar and banjo, and Sylvain Merminod on bass. 

That said, their roots go back much further. Pache and Demierre have known each other since childhood, and played in various local rock bands throughout their adolescence. In late 2012 they started their first grassicana outfit, but were forced to take a two-year hiatus while Pache spent some time in the US. Uldry was the next to join after first being recruited to play mandolin. However once Pache returned from the States, he took over the mandolin duties, Uldry switched to banjo and reso, and the band initiated a basic bluegrass approach. Once Epiney was added, the group was complete. 

“Generally speaking, we all come from a rock background,” Uldry explains. “The influences range from ’60s and ’70s rock and roll to an aggressive style of extreme heavy metal. I played in a country band in the very late ’90s and early 2000s, but at the same time I found myself dabbling in bluegrass as well.”

Initially the Long John Brothers culled its repertoire from the music of Bill Monroe, The Stanley Brothers, Chris Thile and Michael Daves, and the Kentucky Colonels, among others. In due time, however, they began writing and performing their own songs, drawing on such eclectic influences as the Beatles, The Country Gentleman, the Beach Boys, Tony Rice, and Ricky Skaggs.

That said, they now have a sound that’s distinctly their own. “We have an acoustic and natural tone, with a very powerful and dynamic range,” Uldry notes. “We often play acoustically, but even in a packed bar or a crowded live venue where there’s no PA, we can still be heard in the very last row. I credit the powerful loud voices of Jean-Michel and Sylvain, as well as the fierce and aggressive playing style that’s shared by the rest of us. Still, we always favor the dynamics and nuances found in each song, and that allows us to sometimes play three hours in a row without feeling like we’re boring the audience. When we plug in, our rig is really simple — one mic stand with four microphones mounted on it. We all stand in front of it and the result is as natural as it gets, even on a small stage.”

Up until now, touring has mainly been confined to Switzerland and France. “We organized a few tours of our own, but these were usually limited to between five and ten dates in a row over the course of ten days to two weeks,” Uldry says.”This summer we played a total of 27 shows between mid-June and late July, and we could have played eight or nine more, but we were already very busy when those dates were offered to us. It was a really busy summer for us!”

The band’s schedule also brought them to several festivals. This past summer, they performed at La Roche Bluegrass Festival and Zermatt Unplugged, as well as various Swiss music gatherings such as Festicheyres and Chapel Festival. Uldry says that they’ve previously played at several other local festivals as well. “We all have a dream that someday we’ll be able to head to the US for a tour,” he adds. “I’m hoping some headline acts will read this interview and bring us over as their support.”

That’s already happened to a limited extent. The Long John Brothers opened for the Colorado based-band, Rapidgrass, in 2018 and then got the opportunity to jam with them and IBMA Momentum Award winner Chris Luquette at La Roche.

Uldry also says that the group’s music has been well received back home. “We always sell merchandise, CDs and vinyl at the end of our shows, and we get the feeling that our music meets the audience’s expectations,” he maintains. 

In the meantime, the group is doing quite well as far as securing wider recognition. Their first album, Lost Forty-Niners, was released in September 2019 and they weren’t out promoting it live for long before COVID forced them to pause a few months later. “We were unable to play until mid 2020, but then only for a few weeks until everything was locked down again,” Uldry recalls. “However from this past June until now, gigs were once again allowed in our country, so we really feel like we can now treat this album as still fresh and new. We also put the album on a few platforms, including Spotify, Deezer, and Youtube. We’ve been emphasizing our own original songs, but we still play many covers, including Fox on the Run, Whiskey Before Breakfast, Black Eyed Suzy, The Weight, Panama Red, Rank Stranger, and Little Maggie, among them.”

Uldry also has his own thoughts as to why bluegrass enjoys such worldwide popularity. “It’s probably because the music is true and played without any artifice or complex gear, and the audience understands that and clearly sees what’s happening on stage,” he muses. “The melodies are catchy and the tunes are short, which means it’s definitely a super efficient style of music. There are so many elements that are reminiscent of traditional music and even various themes that bring back memories of almost everyone’s childhood. The Long John Brothers play for so many different types of audiences, from metal headbangers, to elderly people, to young people in their 20s, and when we play, we always have the feeling that there are no boundaries. So wherever they come from, or whatever languages they speak, everyone seems to find a common connection in bluegrass and a reason to enjoy our shows.”