As we head into the Halloween weekend, with all the little ones preparing to scare us out of our boots with their spooky costumes, we’ve put together a very special video for your entertainment and edification.
We have contacted a legitimate bluegrass medium, who has made contact with the spirits of some of the true legends of our music, to pass along a few questions for those off us still here below. Don’t worry, it’s not too scary, and all in good fun.
Be safe out there everybody!
Barry Waldrep, banjo picker, songwriter, and producer from Alabama, looks to be the first out of the gate with a Tony Rice tribute album since we lost the bluegrass icon last December. He has assembled a large cast of artists from the bluegrass, country, and Americana communities to honor Tony with a special 21-track project, all recorded since Rice passed on Christmas day, 2020.
Included are performances by singers Jimmy Hall, Rodney Crowell, Darrell Scott, Marty Raybon, Mike Farris, Kim Richey, Warren Haynes, Vince Gill, Radney Foster, Teresa Williams & Larry Campbell, Jim Lauderdale, John Berry, Patrick Simmons, John Paul White, Jacob Bunton, John Jorgenson, Rory Feek, Donna Hall & Kelli Johnson, and John Cowan. Supporting as instrumentalists are Barry Waldrep, Emmylou Harris, Tammy Rogers, Andrea Zonn, Aubrey Haynie, Bryan Hall, Caelan Berry, Spooner Oldham, Oteil Burbridge, James “Hutch” Hutchinson, Jason Bailey, Bryn Davies, Scott Vestal, Benji Shanks, Dillon Hodges, and Heidi Feek.
Barry Waldrep and Friends Celebrate Tony Rice is due to hit on December 24 of this year, and a first single is available today.
The overall vibe of the record is less bluegrass than country, designed to open the eyes and ears of people who may not be aware of the great music Tony created during his life, and the many varied artists he brought together during the making of it.
Among the grassier tracks is the new single, Blue Railroad Train, sung by Marty Raybon, with stellar credentials in both the bluegrass and country realms. Marty actually chose this one out of the deep catalog of songs Rice had made his own, and says that he is deeply grateful to have been included.
“I am honored to be part of this project that salutes and celebrates Tony Rice’s legacy. I can tell you, you can’t go wrong with adding this record to your collection. I loved Tony, I loved him personally, and the talent that he had.”
Marty is assisted on the track by Waldrep on guitar and mandolin, Andrea Zonn on fiddle, Bryan Hall on bass, and Caelan Berry on drums. Kelli Johnson provides the harmony vocals.
Have a listen…
Pre-orders for Barry Waldrep and Friends Celebrate Tony Rice are enabled now online, for both audio CDs and a double vinyl set. Delivery is promised on or before Christmas Eve this year.
Wayne Miller, banjo picker from Asheboro, NC, died on October 21, 2021, after a brief bout with pancreatic cancer. He was 72.
Starting in the late 1970s, Miller played in a band called the Randolph Express (named after the North Carolina County). The group featured Miller on banjo, his younger brother, Glen, on bass, Gary Callicutt on mandolin, and Richard McNeill on guitar. The musical quartet played regularly for ten years, almost every Friday night.
Callicutt, his former band mate, shared, “He was one of the best friends that I ever had. We never had a cross word.”
Miller was a frequent bluegrass festival attendee who loved to camp and jam.
Another musical crony, Teddy White, praised Miller. “Wayne was my best friend. We would go to bluegrass festivals together… camp together. He was a good musician, good singer, and one of the best people I ever met. He was kind and courteous and would do anything for you. If I needed him, I just had to call. I miss him every day.”
The banjoist was a regular at the Maness Music Barn’s Tuesday night jams.
Proprietor, Clyde Maness, reflected on his relationship with Miller… “He was one of the finest people I ever met in my life. He was a good banjo picker. He loved to come here (Maness Music Barn) and jam. He was loyal. I loved to hear him play What A Friend We Have In Jesus. He would always dedicate that song to me when he played on stage.”
Miller is survived by his wife of 46 years, Teresa Auman Miller; son, Rodney Miller (Stacey); daughter, Amber Skeen (Chris); grandsons, Davis Miller and Wyatt Skeen; father, Gilbert Miller; and brother, Glenn Miller.
He will be sorely missed by all those in the central North Carolina bluegrass community.
This week, the first Friday without our beloved Sonny Osborne, we thought we would do something a bit different. Since Sonny is no longer able to answer everyone’s questions, we instead asked several prominent people in bluegrass to share their thoughts with the Chief.
All of Sonny’s previous columns will remain online, and you can access them here.
First up is Larry Stephenson, Sonny’s longtime friend.
Thank you Sonny for your friendship, mentoring, banjo playing, baritone singing (and yes… you can sing, and that was you singing on Me And My Old Banjo on my 20th Anniversary CD), being tough on me when I needed it, all the wonderful comments the last year or so on these pages about my current band and just being you!
I will miss you forever! Love you brother!
Larry Stephenson
Now we have a message from fellow banjo icon, Kristin Scott Benson.
Hey Sonny,
Absolutely love your solos on I Wonder How the Old Folks Are at Home with Mac. Today, I learned the rolls you played over the 4. The phrase on the 2 during the 2nd break is classic Sonny. Love the backup behind Bobby’s verse, especially the lick around 1:50 that plays over the 5. Your 2-3 hammer-ons sound so good! Working all that out.
Hope you’re doing well. We’re good here. Hogan is driving, Lord help. What you told me about kids being a huge financial drain from 15-22? Remember that talk? You’re so right, as usual.
Love you, Kristin
Paul Brewster played guitar and sang harmony with The Osborne Brothers, before his career-defining role doing the same with Ricky Skaggs.
Hey Sonny. You’ve been very truthful with me, since my audition in 1979 at your house. In the middle of rehearsing Making Plans, Bobby walked out.Wide eyed I looked at you and said, “Is everything OK?” You smiled and said, “You’re in. Be at the bus at midnight.” With a sigh of relief I went home and packed, and began a 10 year learning curve I’ll never forget. Love you friend!!!
Terry Smith, now a Grascal, also did his bluegrass internship with the Osbornes, on bass.
“When I was young, I saw many Osborne Brothers shows in the ’60s. I saw you change a banjo string while Bobby hit the high note on Ruby. You finished your break, then harmonized the ending. You guys were the most amazing singers and musicians ever. I was in awe of you, and never dreamed that I would one day be part of your band. Thank you for allowing me to share the stage with the best. You and Bobby were the best, and more than that, you were like family. You will always walk in my memories and exist in my heart.
Bill Evans had a long relationship with Sonny, banjo player to banjo player, starting when Bill hosted and helped produce The Banjo of Sonny Osborne for Homespun. Bill also co-produced fifteen annual Sonny Osborne Banjo Camps with Sonny and Cindy Sinclair in the Nashville area starting in 2000, and co-hosted a pair of IBMA substance abuse educational seminars where Sonny participated as a panelist.
Sonny, I want to thank you for mentoring so many players over so many decades, and I want to thank you for your friendship and mentoring to me. I have been truly blessed knowing and spending time with you. You showed me not only a vast amount of banjo playing, but even more importantly, you talked a lot about life and what was truly important.
You once gave me this professional advice: “You can’t open every door by yourself, but when that door is opened for you, you have to be ready to walk through it.” I know that the last couple of years were difficult ones for you, but I’ve been told that you were ready to walk through that final door when God opened it. I’m not sure if you’ll be spending more time playing banjo than watching University of Kentucky basketball where you are right now, but keep a seat ready for when I drag you to teach another banjo workshop with me. I love you dearly and I miss you so much.
Larry Perkins was another of Sonny’s banjo buddies who became a close friend.
Howdy Sonny.
I can only imagine how much better you’re feeling now, and what a wonderful reunion that’s awaiting you there, with all your folks and loved ones. I bet there’s Earl, Don, Bill, Lester, Benny, Uncle Josh, John Hartford, Bill Emerson, Raymond Fairchild, Kenny Ingram, Grandpa and Mark, Oz, String, Doug Dillard, Tom T., Ralph, and Ms. Mae and Hoyt leading the adoring throng that makes up your welcoming committee – all just as happy to see you again as we are sad to see you go…
Thanks for being such a good friend, for all the beautiful music you filled our world with, and for being the inspiration you are and always will be..
Lovingly and appreciatively,
Lawrence (he always called me Lawrence) Perkins
And lastly, we hear from Daryl Mosley, now a solo bluegrass artist and songwriter, who got his start playing and singing with the Osborne Brothers before a long stint with The Farm Hands.
Dear Chief,
When you join a band, you expect to be paid for your services. But in my years with the Osborne Brothers, I don’t think I have ever really thanked you for how overpaid I was. I was given the privilege of standing on stage next to you and Bobby and singing those classic songs. But it’s so much more than that. You invested in me. There is no way to put a price tag on all I’ve learned from you. The hours and hours of conversations about the music industry, songwriting, relationships, running a band, old cars, the Bible, and dozens of other things was truly an education. Your insight, experience, and directness was invaluable and you shared it freely.
It was you who told me the bass I had wasn’t good enough. But it was also you who helped me locate and acquire a better one. You sponsored my son’s little league baseball team. And I don’t think I ever sat down for a meal with you when you let me pay. The miles and miles of stories and laughter were alone worth a million dollars. You were nothing short of wonderful to me from the very first day, and I was blessed to call you my friend from then on. That’s some serious overpayment.
Saying thank you seems so inadequate. You changed my life, Chief. You are appreciated and loved. Rest easy, friend.
Enjoy this classic video of Sonny talking about his time with Bill Monroe as a teenager.
Feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments.
Jamgrass heroes Yonder Mountain String Band have announced plans to re-release their second album, Town By Town, in a special 20th Anniversary edition on 180g vinyl.
The record features the band’s founding lineup of Adam Aijala, Ben Kaufmann, Dave Johnston, and Jeff Austin, and was produced by Tim O’Brien. Several of the tracks have since become standards in the genre, like Sorrow Is A Highway which Billy Strings is currently playing in his live shows, and Peace of Mind which pops up on live sets by Greensky Bluegrass.
With this reprinting in mind, O’Brien recalls how it was back then.
“Wow, 20 years have gone by since I dove in with Yonder for a new recording. It’s a good thing to look back and see what we did and what happened since.
They were excited and determined and open-minded. I pushed them some, they pushed me some and we both learned a lot. At that time Yonder was exploding on the scene, gathering new fans like a wet snowball rolling down a black diamond slope. I doubt they knew they were carving out their own legacy. I was honored to be there with them.”
Track listing follows:
This special re-issue is set for release November 20 on the band’s indie label, Frog Pad Records. It can be pre-ordered online for $45.
Tomorrow is the release date for Something Sour, Something Sweet from Grain Thief, a Boston-based group that blurs boundaries between old time and bluegrass music. They have agreed to let our readers have an early listen this afternoon of one of the tracks.
The group is made up of Patrick Mulroy on guitar, Zach Meyer on mandolin, Michael Harmon on bass, Tom Farrell on resonator guitar, and Alex Barstow on fiddle. Together they have played all across the US, sharing their raucous stage show with music lovers of all types.
Patrick shared a few words about the track they are sharing today, one called Farewell to Trion.
“The idea to put flute on Farewell to Trion, came out of a massive jam one night at the Burren in Somerville. Anh Phung from Twisted Pine was there, and she jumped in after the first few rounds and it just hit another level. We played that tune for an eternity that night.
When we went in to record Trion, we really had no plans to do anything out of the ordinary. After laying down the core of the tune in a live take, Zach jumped on the spinet piano and added that rockin’ keys part. Then we sent the track off to Anh and she recorded her part on the flute.
The combination of instruments on this track just makes me smile. It’s not old-time; it’s not jazz; it’s definitely not bluegrass. I have no idea what to call it, but I love it!”
Have a listen…
Something Sour, Something Sweet will be available on October 29 from popular download and streaming sites online.
In more exciting Alan Bibey & Grasstowne news…
Wedding bells rang out for bandmates Justin Jenkins, who plays banjo with Grasstowne, and their fiddler, Kati Penn last weekend. The two were married on October 24 in a very small, private ceremony with only close family in attendance.
Kati and Justin met playing music together in the band, and have now united their families as well. Justin and his son, Eli, will be living with Kati and her daughter, Jessie, in Burgin, KY. The newlyweds have bought a piece of property nearby where they will build a new home.
Congratulations and a long and happy life to Kati and Justin!
Justin and Kati Penn Jenkins with their children, Eli and Jessie
Earlier this month, at the Bloomin’ Bluegrass Festival in Farmers Branch, TX, Dan Tyminski was honored with the Bluegrass Star Award from the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation. The award is given annually to an artist whose body of work respects the received traditions and character of bluegrass music, while also bringing it to audiences in the music market.
Previous recipients of the award include Rhonda Vincent, J.D. Crowe, Peter Rowan, Sierra Hull, Ricky Skaggs, Del McCoury, Jerry Douglas, and Bobby Osborne. Not bad company there, Dan.
Foundation founder Alan Tompkins presented the Bluegrass Star Award to Tyminski, assisted by Del McCoury, acknowledging his long career in bluegrass from Lonesome River Band to Alison Krauss & Union Station, including his work on the soundtrack and film, O Brother, Where Art Thou, and his current touring project, The Dan Tyminski Band.
Here’s a look at the presentation on video.
Congratulations Dan – well deserved!
The Bluegrass Heritage Foundation is a non-profit organization, run by volunteers, promoting bluegrass music in Texas. While it’s free to get in the door to many of their events, keeping the doors open isn’t free. All contributions are greatly appreciated, and can be made online.
photos by Nate Dalzell; video by David Seay
Billy Blue Records is releasing a new single and music video tomorrow from Alan Bibey & Grasstowne, and we have it a day early for our readers to enjoy.
It’s for one of the tracks on their current album, Hitchhiking To California, a grassed up arrangement of the 1979 pop hit from Supertramp, Take The Long Way Home. For ’70s and ’80s kids, this one was everywhere, and while it may initially seem like an odd choice for a bluegrass cut, it works beautifully in the hands of these seasoned pros.
Alan says that he isn’t sure how this one popped into his mind.
“We’re really excited about the release of our new single, Take The Long Way Home. I never listened to rock much as a kid but this SuperTramp song must have snuck in somewhere.
We decided to give it a try in the studio and Ron Stewart, Zak, Justin, and Kati really made this song our own deal in the studio. They’re all incredible and it was a pleasure to cut this song with them.”
Have a look/listen…
Take The Long Way Home, and the full Hitchhiking To California album, are available from popular download and streaming sites online. Radio programmers will find the tracks at AirPlay Direct.
A new music scholarship for young bluegrass artists has been launched in North Carolina in honor of the great guitarist and vocalist, Tony Rice, by Piedmont Folk Legacies and Rockingham County Education Foundation near Tony’s long time home in Reidsville, NC. These are the fine folks who run the PICK program (Piedmont Instrument Classes for Kids) in Eden, NC which offer instruction at no cost to area youngsters.
The scholarship is designed to assist high school age students further develop their passion for old time and bluegrass music. Funded by an initial private grant of $25,000, the Tony Rice Music Scholarship is seeking additional founding donations to build the endowment, with an eye towards offering their first awards in 2022.
As many of you may already understand, these sorts of scholarship awards are typically made from the interest or investment income from an endowment, allowing the administrators to retain, and hopefully grow, the cash reserves. The size of the awards they can offer in Tony’s name are dependent on the number of people willing to donate as the scholarship grows.
In their opening statement, the organizers ask everyone who has enjoyed Tony’s music over the years to consider a donation of any size to their efforts.
Tony Rice changed the course of American music, and it is our hope that we can help transform the lives of young musicians. Piedmont Folk Legacies and RCEF – with your help – will establish an endowed scholarship to aid aspiring Rockingham County high school students of music. Before now, few opportunities existed for students in our community to access traditional music programs and scholarships to help them develop their talents.
At this time, there is no way to donate online, but anyone willing to make a gift can do so one of two ways.
Text the word “Tony” (without quotes) to 24-365.
Send a check made payable to Rockingham County Education Foundation with “Tony Rice Scholarship” in the memo line to:
RCEF
123 S. Scales St.
Reidsville, NC 27320
Pam Rice, Tony’s widow, have given her blessing to this scholarship.
We are sure that many of our reader will want to become founding donors for this wonderful project. For further details please contact Louise Price or Jenny Edwards.
Trinity River Band, the bluegrass Harris family group from Callahan, FL, has officially called it quits after playing their final show last Friday, October 22, at the Northeast Florida Agriculture Fair near their home base.
The entire family had earned their living in bluegrass since 2011, and it took them places none of them thought they could ever go. Touring sent them all over the US together, playing on major festivals and stages, with 8 successful recordings to show for their time as a band.
Though there were bittersweet moments, the decision to stop performing together as a full time career was reached mutually, with the natural stresses of keeping a family band together as children become young adults intersected with reduced touring opportunities post-COVID. For the past ten years, not counting the lost time in 2020, Trinity River Band included Mike Harris on guitar and vocals, his wife, Lisa, on bass, and their three children: Sarah on mandolin and vocals, Josh on banjo and vocals, and Brianna on fiddle and vocals.
For the Harris siblings, life on the road as bluegrass artists is the only thing they’ve known. Brianna, the youngest at 19 years of age, has been performing with her family since she was 9, probably giving her more time with her parents than the average teenager.
“As of right now, it has been the biggest segment of my life, more than anyone else’s. I mean, it’s literally been my life.”
When I caught up with Mike last week, he was frantically preparing for that final concert, while the rest of the family was running over songs at their studio. He said that a number of factors combined to let them know that now was the time, particularly the fact that Sarah had married and moved to Tennessee. Just recently she let the family know that she couldn’t continue making the trek to Florida to hook up with the band for touring.
Mike told us that other signs pointed to this as an inevitable conclusion, as most family groups discover at some time.
“All of us are sweetly sad. No one is crushed, but we all know it is time.
We were doing this as our only living until COVID came along. At first we believed that it would get back to normal after a couple of months, but the cancellations kept coming in. Our whole lives were set up to do this, and by October the financial strains became severe. I went back into construction and home repair, and Lisa and I started teaching music lessons under the Orange Blossom Special company. Sarah and her husband, Bryce, moved to Knoxville for a job. Then, in May of 2020, Sarah and Bryce told us that they couldn’t keep doing shows, and we all agreed to work out the shows we had, and tonight’s show is the last one.
Now everyone is so ensconced in their new jobs, that we just couldn’t keep the band going.”
Sarah, who drew the focus of both fans and reviewers as the group’s primary lead singer, shared a few thoughts about growing up in the world of bluegrass music.
“In the beginning stages of our band, I was still a teenager in school, playing guitar and singing, and just starting to learn the mandolin. The transition to full-time in the music/entertainment industry is the point in time I look at as being the true start to my evolution as an artist and performer. Everyone has heard the phrases, ‘learn through experience’ or ‘trial by fire’ – that’s really how it happened for me, for all of us, really. I evolved from an unsure beginner and a ‘still finding-my-voice’ teenager into a seasoned and confident performer and business woman by learning, failing, and succeeding as I went. I hardly recognize that little girl anymore in the early photos of our band.
We’ve had a unique lifestyle that ‘grew me up’ in so many ways, I feel, and not just musically. This band was always centered around our faith, our family, and people. So, when we reached new heights, we did it together. To me, that is the most rewarding and fulfilling thing about anything we can say we’ve accomplished. We did it together.”
Josh has also married, and after deciding to turn down an offer to join Josh Turner’s country band in early 2020, has found a career in a new setting close to home with what he was accustomed to doing for Trinity River Band.
“Over the past year and a half, I have had the privilege to work at Callahan First Baptist Church. And though, it wasn’t something I expected, I am beyond thankful that God opened this door for me to be here. I get to use all of the skills in audio, video, graphic design, and social media that I have worked to learn over the last 15 years.
I have now been married to the most amazing woman in the world for just over a year. You could say that mine and Allie’s connection was because of the music we played. To begin our relationship, we were still touring and performing full time, and she was the most supportive partner anybody could be. She was completely prepared to travel the world with us, but God did have different plans. Now though, being able to be home every day and not have to be apart from each other is a huge blessing.
It’s been a HUGE paradigm shift. From traveling every weekend and trying to find time to rest during the week amongst all the other business, to now attempting to find rest DURING the weekends, that right there is a big change as far as schedule. But even though a lot is different now, our family’s love and closeness is still there. Despite not being together as much, I have a feeling that that will never diminish our relationships.”
As a mom, Lisa thinks back on the wonderful good fortune that had come their way, to travel as a family and be together so much of the time.
“We never dreamed that God would allow us the opportunity to play and sing. It took a leap of faith for us to step out of our comfort zone to go full-time in 2011. We have traveled from Miami to Maine and from Idaho to Arizona. We’ve seen so many sites in this beautiful country of ours… Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon, Glacier National Park, Yellowstone, as well as all five of the Great Lakes. We have met some amazing people along the way and are so thankful!
We are in a new season with our careers and personal goals and we are excited!”
Mike said that he and Lisa always planned an eventual exit from the band, leaving their children to keep it going if that remained their passion, but fate conspired to bring it to a close even sooner.
“There’s a time to put a period on it. We did some things that no one else did… for a while there we were the most successful, all family band in bluegrass. We had two dozen top 20 hits on the Bluegrass Today charts, and won some awards. We feel fortunate that we can stand on our body of work.
Since announcing the end we have gotten some of the loveliest calls and messages from both fans and industry folks. It was a tremendous validation of what we did, making it a bit easier to let the thing go, knowing that we managed to touch some people with our music.”
A couple of those follow…
As is often the case, the youngest Harris, Brianna, is the sole family member who will be pursuing a career in music.
“I plan to delve into a singing/songwriting career. I am currently teaching beginning guitar and fiddle for Orange Blossom Music Academy. I found my new passion in music with singing and songwriting, and I just want to continue it.”
She is being a bit humble here, as her songwriting and singing has attracted the attention of Carl Jackson, Nashville star maker, who is producing an album for her. Here is Bri singing one with Carl at The Station Inn last month.
Sarah is working part time in Knoxville, where her husband works in IT and software development, and she is happy now living a “normal life,” singing only in church. She says that she is mildly apprehensive about starting a new chapter, but trusts that her faith will guide her wherever she goes.
“We wanted this last year as Trinity River Band to be a celebration of this amazing and unforgettable chapter in our lives, and it has been. Though, I’d be lying if I didn’t say it’s been bittersweet too. My husband and I are in Tennessee, my family remains in Florida, so it’s hard to let go of the closeness and life we’ve known. But God is growing us all in new ways. He never promised us growth and change would be comfortable, but His ways are above our ways, and His thoughts above our thoughts. We choose to trust Him as we always have. God has never failed us. So, we look to the new seasons and chapters with joy in our hearts for all the blessings and memories we get to take with us.”
Mike is working now with a startup firearms company in Florida called Sacred Honor Arms, and Lisa is teaching music.
So we say farewell to Trinity River Band, and wish all the Harrises the very best going forward.
After fifteen years of touring with her beloved Hot Band, Emmylou Harris formed the Nash Ramblers, a new acoustic all-star group, in 1990, featuring Sam Bush (vocals, mandolin, and fiddle), the iconic Roy Huskey Jr. (bass), Larry Atamanuik (drums), Al Perkins (vocals, reso-guitar, and banjo) and a young Jon Randall Stewart (aka Randy Stewart) (vocals, acoustic guitar, and mandolin). The band played on the road for several months before making their Nashville debut at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) on September 28, 1990.
That concert was recorded and shelved, while another concert performance at the Ryman Auditorium the following spring was released as At the Ryman to great acclaim, winning a Grammy and spurring public interest in saving the beloved music hall.
Now, more than thirty years later, Rhino’s James Austin has unearthed the 1990 TPAC recording and Nonesuch Records releases Ramble in Music City: The Lost Concert (Nonesuch 075597917406) for the first time on September 3, 2021.
To back-track a little, in 1989 Harris, exhausted after 15 years fronting The Hot Band, decided that she wanted a break. However, her friend John Starling alerted Harris to another option. At about the same time Sam Bush was on the verge of leaving New Grass Revival. Harris, on learning this, asked Bush if he wanted to join her in starting a bluegrass band. He declined but, indicated that he would be happy to be a member of any group that she set up.
That was the start of The Nash Ramblers, an all-star group of pickers and players, with great depth and diversity.
They played their public debut at the prestigious International Festival of Country Music, Wembley Arena, London, during Easter weekend, Saturday, April 14, 1990, and by the time of the TPAC appearance Emmylou Harris and the Nash Ramblers was a very tight knit unit, instrumentally and vocally.
Recorded by the famous country music producer Allen Reynolds, the pristine sound is as fresh and as vibrant as it was during the evening over 30 years ago.
It set the stage for the better-known At the Ryman performance and the Grammy award-winning album of the same name.
The TPAC set features entirely different songs from the Ryman album and includes music by Rodney Crowell; Ruth Franks; the Louvin Brothers; A.P. Carter; Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman; Paul Simon; and Townes Van Zandt, among others, as well as a couple of Harris’s own compositions.
The record label has released a few tracks one of which is A.P. Carter’s Hello Stranger ….
Track listing:
Roses In The Snow / Even Cowgirls Get The Blues / Beneath Still Waters / If I Could Only Win Your Love / Amarillo / The Other Side Of Life / If I Needed You / Two More Bottles Of Wine / Mystery Train / My Songbird / Wayfaring Stranger / Green Pastures / Blue Kentucky Girl / Hello Stranger / Remington Ride / One Of These Days / The Boxer / Born To Run / The Price I Pay / Sweet Dreams / Save The Last Dance For Me / Leaving Louisiana In The Broad Daylight / Boulder to Birmingham
The recordings are available on CD and high-performance vinyl (2LPs) formats and to download.
Another bluegrass baby! Always welcome news, especially when a community has suffered loss.
Josh Richards, guitarist and vocalist for Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, and his wife, Amy, are celebrating the birth of their third child. Dorothy Gene Richards was born on September 30, weighing in at 6lbs 15oz, and stretching out to 19 1/2 inches long.
Richards says that she came in to this world “sometime before the IBMA awards show” that day, and that “Amy is doing great and Loretta Jo and Lucas love our new addition!”
It sounds like Josh is well on his way to a Richards family band.
Congratulations to Amy and Josh, and a great big Bluegrass Today welcome to Dorothy Gene!
I’ve discussed in past columns the fact that, while bluegrass bands still get booked at weddings, there are at most three appropriate bluegrass songs to play at a wedding. Even some of the instrumentals are questionable, at least if you announce the titles: Pretty Little Widow, Farewell Blues, and Don’t Make Me Go Through With This (an obscure Kentucky fiddle tune from the 1920s).
With Halloween approaching, it occurs to me that we also have a shortage of appropriate scary/ghosty material. Sure we have the murder ballads, and if you think that’s good enough, then fine, but I have to register a protest there: Over the past decade or so, grisly murder and violence, as exemplified by horror and slasher films, have become associated with Halloween, which I think is somewhat lazy (not counting the considerable effort exerted by the serial killers) and has been detrimental to the essential innocence of Halloween.
Remember when Halloween was just about carving pumpkins and gorging on candy, and stuck mostly with the wholesome themes of ghosts, hauntings, witchcraft, and demon possession? Those were the days. Just throw in some urban legends about candy poisoning incidents and you sum up the Halloweens of our fresh-faced childhood.
Just as a side note: the fear of tainted candy (other than just handing out last year’s leftover candy to unsuspecting children) has always been vastly overblown. A recent study by the Bureau of Pointless Statistics (BPS) states that the chances of a child being a victim of Halloween candy poisoning are equal to the chances of said child perishing by a grizzly bear attack while canoeing unsupervised (the bear is canoeing).
What do we have to offer in the bluegrass repertoire for truly appropriate Halloween material? We really can’t get much further than Bringing Mary Home, Long Black Veil, Caleb Meyer, Eli Renfro, and maybe Ghost in This House. That’s a pretty short set or Halloween-themed radio show. We really need to write some more, and I do have to give praise to Billy and Marija Droze here for already jumping on this bandwagon, even before it was a wagon.
Here are a few ideas to get some creative juices flowing in the bluegrass songwriting community. Most of these are sequels to, or inspired by existing songs:
Not a 14th Time! (Bringing Mary Home Again)
Little Haunted Home on the Hill
This could contain the chorus,
Oh death has taken you from me
And yet I don’t feel all alone
I don’t think it’s just the rain upon my windowpane
In our little haunted home on the hill
Albert the Australian is Back (in which one of the Matterhorn hikers returns to haunt a small Swiss village)
The Wife of Eli Renfro
Also in the revenge category:
Rose Conley Has Returned! (From the Willow Garden)
With apologies to the late Bill Bryson:
The Ghoul at the Crossroads Bar
Dark and Spooky Hollow
A Voice From Inside
(“I hear a voice calling, it must be upstairs . . .”)
And, my personal favorite:
Hot Candy Corn, Cold Candy Corn
Happy Halloween. Please eat candy corn responsibly and don’t let your kids canoe with grizzly bears.
All the elements and advantages fell into place this past Saturday when radio station WDVX and corporate sponsor ORNL Federal Union joined forces with the city of Oak Ridge, Tennessee to present the fourth and final entry in their 2021 Summer Sessions concert series. Delayed due to the pandemic, the concert offered an exceptional double bill that found Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper teamed with The Steeldrivers. Held in the lovely environs of the city’s Bissell Park recreation area, and with a full hint of autumn in the air, there was little more that could have made it a more perfect evening….
…that is, other than the fact that it was free.
Consequently, despite competition from a football game between the University of Tennessee Volunteers and Alabama’s Crimson Tide, the concert still managed to draw a large and enthusiastic crowd. Both bands were, as always, in peak form, with Cleveland and company kicking off the festivities with a rousing display of bluegrass virtuosity that made good on the fact that Cleveland had won IBMA’s award for Fiddle Player of the Year no less than nine times, as well as a Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Album of the Year for 2016’s Fiddler’s Dream. He had won the Grammy for his most recent solo recording, Tall Fiddler, in 2019.
The band’s live set naturally drew heavily from those two albums, although to his credit, Cleveland allowed his fellow musicians in Flamekeeper — vocalist/guitarist Josh Richards, banjo player Jasiah Shrode, bassist/vocalist Chris Douglas, and mandolin player/vocalist Nathan Livers — share center stage. Cleveland himself is, of course, an integral part of that ensemble and a jocular presence at center stage, but he also eschews any attempt at extroverted showmanship. Other than a nimble duet with Shrode once the other musicians briefly depart the stage, the instrumentation was well balanced, with Douglas and Richards sharing the vocals between them.
The pacing was varied as well — although not necessarily dramatically — from the mid-tempo tapestry of Son of a Ramblin’ Man to the double-time frenzy of the most recent record’s driving title track.
To their credit, the band also parlayed a couple of covers into their setlist — a sprightly take on John Hiatt’s Tennessee’s Plates, and a reflective read of Wayfaring Stranger that found Livers taking the lead. It was somewhat shocking when towards the end of the set, Richards introduced a song called Mescaline that extolled the advantages of certain herbal substances once favored by Native Americans for engagement and enlightenment. Drugs are bad, Richards cautioned with some half-serious scolding, but the song held sway regardless.
That said, Mountain Heartache, a caressing ballad written by Alex Leach, an added highlight from Tall Fiddler allowed the group to offer a fine finale. Given its somewhat heartbreaking narrative, it ended the performance in a decidedly down-to-earth manner.
Nevertheless, the energy level was further elevated once the Steeldrivers took the stage, and judging by several Steeldrivers branded hats and tee-shirts that adorned folks in the crowd, it was clear that fans had turned out in force. The loyalty wasn’t misplaced; not only are they one of the best bands operating within the grassicana environs these days, but fiddler and singer Tammy Rogers happens to hail from East Tennessee, a fact she alluded to numerous times during their performance. She noted that the band made one of their first appearances on WDVX’s popular noontime concert series, The Blue Plate Special, and proudly pointed out members of her family that were in attendance. Referring to the delays caused by COVID, she also made mention that she felt assured that things were now safe and secure.
“As far as I know, none of our shows have been super spreader events,” she maintained while garnering the approval of the crowd.
Regardless of the circumstances, the Steeldrivers certainly proved that their show might, in fact, have been worth the risk regardless. Generally known as the band that birthed the career of a current superstar, Chris Stapleton, they’ve overcome that distinction based on a combined skillset that finds each member of the band a superb soloist each in his or her own right. Rogers, Richard Bailey (banjo), Mike Fleming (bass), and Brent Truitt (mandolin) share a lengthy history, both as band members and as musicians with accredited individual careers as well. Their performance reflected both their status and stamina, courtesy of songs that have long been staples of their setlist — with Stapleton and without.
Consequently, there were any number of offerings from all phases of their collective career that were warmly received — Reckless Side of Me, Drinkin’ Dark Whiskey, I Chose You, Long Way Down, Good Corn Liquor, Ghosts of Mississippi, Blue Side of the Mountain, Load the Gun, and Rainbows Never Die among them.
Nevertheless, Rogers felt the need to point out that while several of their songs may deal with decidedly dark subjects, none of the people in the band have ever killed anyone, been to prison, or rank as hopeless alcoholics. On the other hand, she did take pains to mention that at least one of their tunes was about “our favorite people — bartenders.”
Indeed, Rogers added an amiable presence to the proceedings overall. She introduced When You Don’t Come Home by describing it as a reverse power play, one in which the girl wields a weapon. “My husband’s been on his best behavior ever since I wrote that song,” she said to the crowd’s obvious amusement. She noted that original member Mike Henderson’s composition, If It Hadn’t Been For Love, had earned so many plays on Spotify that it earned its composer enough money to go on a shopping spree… at Dollar General.
By the time they came back for an encore with their ever-popular anthem Where Rainbows Never Die, it was clear that the band had won the audience over. It made for an ideal end to an extraordinary evening, while summing up the fact that the crowd had been witness to a true bluegrass bonanza.
Valerie Smith is known in the bluegrass world as both a premier vocalist and songwriter. On her newest release, Renaissance, Smith has given us a collection of songs that focus on varying life themes, such as love, regret, and acceptance.
While several of the tracks were recorded with Valerie’s touring band, Liberty Pike, Smith utilized an incredible array of talent on this project, such as Andy Leftwich, Stephen Burwell, Bob Minner, Cody Kilby, Rob Ickes, Donna Ulisse, and Jerry Salley, among many others. Having different configurations of musicians and vocalists on each song was one of the elements that made Renaissance an enjoyable listening experience. Because each participant has their own style and approach, there’s not an ounce of monotony to be found here.
Although Valerie Smith is recognized for her exceptional songwriting, she only wrote two of this album’s fourteen songs. I’m Fine Bein’ Me is centered around coming to a place of self-worth in one’s individual life path. A Dollar Looked Mighty Good, co-written with Ashley Lewis, is a powerful composition which tells the true story of Smith’s great grandmother, Maggie Brooks, who escaped a violent marriage and ultimately became a successful businesswoman in Plattsburgh, MO. This song in particular does a marvelous job of conveying the sense of pride and accomplishment that a person can experience.
Like the abundant cast of musicians on Renaissance, the majority of the tracks were written by a host of different songwriters. On That Train by Jude Johnstone is a song that captures the feeling of regret in an astute manner. Dancin’ With the Stars, co-written by David Lauver, Bobby Johnston, and Jerry Salley, is a composition that displays the sense of contentment, love and, carefreeness wonderfully. The Great I Am, written by Pastor Mike Lane, is a cheery Gospel song which pairs Valerie Smith with the McCrary sisters, adding even greater variety to this diverse project. With each of these aforementioned songs, Smith interprets them in her own captivating manner.
Renaissance is a recording which explores emotions that more than likely we have all experienced, such as joy, sorrow, and hope. Emotionally speaking, you won’t be able to stay in one place too long as you’re listening.
Bluegrass radio personality Steve Martin summed it up best in the opening paragraph of the liner notes, “Renaissance is humanity in songs.” Though this project largely relates to Valerie Smith’s life journey, it can definitely hit home for any listener regardless of their personal background or life circumstances.
Mason Via, newest member of the Old Crowe Medicine Show and 2021 American Idol contestant, has a new single out today on Mountain Fever Records.
The song, Colorado, written by Via and Thomas Cassel (mandolinist with Circus No. 9), is a high energy tune about leaving the Blue Ridge Mountains and heading to the Rockies.
Colorado features Via on guitar, Cassel on mandolin, Alex Genova (Fireside Collective) on banjo, Sam Weiss on fiddle, and Ben Somerville on bass. The instrumental portion of the song was recorded at Bee Hive Recording Studio in Johnson City, TN.
Joining lead vocalist, Via, with harmony vocals is Nick Goad (Sideline) and Jacob Harbour (formerly of Rich In Tradition). The vocal tracks were laid down at Eastwood Studio in Cana, VA.
It is the second single (Big City was the first) from his forthcoming Mountain Fever album, Poverty Line, due to be released in 2022.
The North Carolina native, who now makes his home in Nashville, shared, “It’s my favorite song on the album. I’ve been to Colorado a couple of times. I just returned from playing Red Rocks Amphitheater. It was surreal!”
Doors continue to open for the emerging artist. Via will be performing with OCMS at the Ryman auditorium, the mother church of country music, on December 30-31.
Here’s a listen to Colorado…
The single is available now from popular download and streaming sites online. Radio programmers can find the track at AirPlay Direct.
Many thanks to Brooks Burris for sharing this gallery of images from last weekend’s Old Settlers Music Festival in Tilmon, TX.
The festival has been held in October since 1987 with a combination of bluegrass, old time, alternative, and Americana music. They also host music competitions for young artists during the festival.
For his appearance last night as musical guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Billy Strings cowboyed up in full western gear and played a heartfelt version of Red Daisy from his current Renewal album on Rounder Records.
Both their appearance and the performance of a hard driving, Stanleyesque number on national TV seemed like a “so there” to all the people who say that Billy and his crew don’t play bluegrass. Lester and Earl would have been proud of these boys, and I dare say, even our dear departed Sonny Osborne would have approved had he been watching.
Well done all – Billy Strings on guitar and lead vocal, Billy Failing on banjo and harmony vocal, Royal Masat on bass, and Jarrod Walker on mandolin.
Have a look/listen…
Keep taking bluegrass music to new audiences, Billy!
Melton & Miller Music has a new single for Shannon Wright, who though she may be new to the bluegrass market, is an experienced singer and songwriter of nearly twenty years’ tenure.
Living now in Nashville, Shannon is a Georgia native who released a couple of records of original country music written with her husband, Adam Wright. The pair met cute, when Adam filled in on a show with her band back home in Georgia. Adam is also a cousin of country superstar Alan Jackson, who has recorded a number of their songs on his projects. Shannon’s songs have also been cut by Balsam Range and Special Consensus.
Her new bluegrass single is also a Wright and Wright composition, Sincerely Blue, a lonesome, mid-tempo grasser of lost love and heartbreak which she sings with a distinctly mountain sound. Wright is supported here by Milan Miller on guitar, Seth Taylor on mandolin and banjo, Tim Crouch on fiddle, and Buddy Melton on bass. Miller adds the harmony vocals on the track.
It’s a fine introduction to the world of bluegrass.
Have a listen in this lyric video.
Sincerely Blue is available now from popular download and streaming sites online. The single is available to radio programmers via AirPlay Direct.
Bluegrass and old-time fiddle player Arvil Freeman passed away peacefully during the early hours of Thursday morning, October 21, 2021, at 89 years of age. He is known for his distinctively personal style, with a smooth and melodic long bow style, which apparently attracted job offers from Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley, Mac Wiseman, and Grandpa Jones during his professional life.
A native of Madison County in western North Carolina, Freeman was born on April 14, 1932, and lived in Buncombe County most of his life. He inherited some Cherokee Indian blood from his maternal grandmother.
Freeman’s grandfather and father, both named Zeb, were fiddle players. Otherwise, his early influences came from his two of his siblings, particularly older brother Gordon, who graduated from guitar to fiddle. The close-knit family lived on his grandparents’ farm on Pawpaw Creek in Madison County, and were mostly self-sufficient.
His grandfather used to play records by the Skillet Lickers, the Delmore Brothers, and The Carter Family, among others.
Freeman picked up the fiddle as a seven-year-old and he became aware of two well-respected fiddlers from the region, Tommy Hunter and Byard Ray, with the latter including an old-time version of Sourwood Mountain, and a minor key rendition of Polly Put The Kettle On, in his repertoire.
While his earliest influences played old-time fiddle, Freeman played somewhere “in between” that style and bluegrass, and he respected the traditions’ shared repertoire. “Those tunes have always been around,” he once said.
Freeman’s introduction to professional music came in 1946, when Bascom Lamar Lunsford recruited him for a tour of colleges in Texas and Oklahoma with the Bailey Mountain Cloggers and the Hunter Brothers Band.
After leaving school he moved to Michigan, where his brothers were working. There they met Carl and J.P. Sauceman, and on moving back east Arvil and Carmon Freeman joined the Sauceman Brothers and the Green Valley Boys, based in Bristol, Tennessee. They performed twice a day on Radio WCYB’s Farm and Fun Time Show as well as going out to do four or five live shows a week.
After a year with the Sauceman Brothers, Freeman toured with Reno & Smiley for six months, before doing two years Army service in Korea. On returning to his homeland he became more serious about his fiddle playing, collecting records by the well-established professionals of the day, notably Tommy Magness, Benny Martin, Chubby Wise, and Kenny Baker.
For a while Freeman had day jobs, then he resumed playing professionally doing weekend shows at the Folkway Center in Hendersonville, North Carolina, and then in Arlene Kesterson’s New Day Country Band, staying with them until the late 1970s.
Arvil Freeman – Dance Around Molly (circa 1978)
Thereafter he joined Marc Pruett in setting up his band, and from October 1979 until 1988 Freeman played several nights a week in the Marc Pruett Band at Bill Stanley’s Barbecue and Bluegrass in downtown Asheville. Although they performed for a week at the World’s Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee, and made an appearance at a bluegrass festival in Las Vegas, they rarely strayed away from their home turf.
The band recorded a handful of albums with a few releases on the Skyline label, which was organized by Marc Pruett and the band’s bass player, former Blue Grass Boy Randy Davis.
Subsequently, Freeman formed The 40 West Band, a group that featured Pruett, Buddy Davis (bass), the talented singer-songwriter/guitarist Marty Lewis – who contributed some original songs to their repertoire – and Don Lewis (mandolin).
He won countless fiddling competitions, including the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival (in 1974, 1993, 1994, and 1995); Union Grove; and Georgia’s Official State Fiddlers’ Convention.
Freeman was one of five fiddlers (with Benton Flippen, Audrey Hash Ham, Red Wilson, and Josh Goforth) chosen to represent the variety of traditional fiddle styles in North Carolina on UNC-TV’s Folkways series.
He has appeared on more than 40 different albums, including some with Raymond Fairchild and three with the Crowe Brothers.
For the past 40 years Freeman devoted much of his time to teaching rather than performing, instructing his students by ear, the old-time way. Pupils have praised his calm and patient teaching style and demeanor. Many of them, including Josh Goforth, Emma and Bryan McDowell, and Danielle Bishop, used the knowledge and skills they gained from him to become professional musicians and well-known contest winners themselves.
He was proudest of his work as a teacher, which filmmaker Rodrigo Dorfman captured beautifully in this short film.
As well as continuing to give fiddle lessons, Freeman performed regularly as a member of the Stoney Creek Boys, the house band for Asheville’s Shindig on the Green.
The North Carolina Arts Council honored Arvil Freeman with the prestigious North Carolina Heritage Award in May 2018.
R.I.P., Arvil Freeman
His funeral service was held on Sunday, October 24, in the Chapel of West Funeral Home in Weaverville, NC. Hi body was interred in the Nina Freeman Roberts Cemetery, in Marshall.
In lieu of flowers, the family request that donations be given to Folk Heritage for the preservation of “Arvil’s Heritage” at the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival.
A Discography
Arvil Freeman
With Carl and J.P. Sauceman
The Asheville Bluegrass Band
The Marc Pruett Band / Marc Pruett
The 40 West Band
The Crowe Brothers
Raymond Fairchild
Raymond Fairchild & Bruce Moody
Buddy Davis
Wayne Erbsen
Buncombe Turnpike
Another bluegrass wedding is on the horizon with more members from the same bands! Sweet Potato Pie mandolinist, Tori Jones, and Drive Time banjoist, Tyler Jackson, have officially announced their engagement. This comes just a month after Drive Time/Sweet Potato Pie fiddler, Katie Springer wed Drive Time mandolinist, Austin Koerner.
Jackson, who survived a brain aneurysm just about a year ago, shared, “Tori and I officially met on a group trip to SPBGMA in January of 2020. Katie Springer and Maddie Baucom (of Sweet Potato Pie) introduced us, but we really didn’t talk much until October of last year, right before I went into the hospital with the ruptured aneurysm. While I was still there we started talking just about every day, and the support she showed me throughout that time had a large part to play in my recovery, more than she realizes. I’ve told her this before, but she has been the answer to countless prayers and I’m so very thankful the Lord has led me to her.”
Jones added, “As Tyler mentioned, we officially met on a trip to SPBGMA in 2020 with our bandmates, Katie Springer and Maddie Baucom Carnes. However, we didn’t start talking until right before the aneurysm in October 2020. As he was in the hospital, we began talking more and realized how much we had in common. He played bluegrass AND was a big nerd…so I knew I’d found a keeper.”
“We started dating in early January 2021, and on September 17 while we were at MerleFest, he asked me to marry him. It’s been so cool to see how the Lord has shaped our lives this past year. Tyler and I balance each other out in so many ways…I am beyond blessed to get to marry my best friend.”
Jackson concluded, “We haven’t set a date officially, but we are looking at October of 2022.”
There’s ample reason why Chris Jones and his erstwhile ensemble, The Night Drivers, have been hailed as one of the best bluegrass bands making a presence today. Yet, at the same time, that description doesn’t entail the totality of all they have to offer. While bluegrass may be the foundation for their songs, the fact is, they’re a band that has an extended reach, one that goes to the very core of full expression and assured intentions, all manifest in ways that ensure a complete connection.
Coming on the heels of three highly acclaimed albums — Run Away Tonight (2015), Made To Move (2017), and The Choosing Road (2019) — the band’s latest, Make Each Second Last, is their most expressive effort yet, not only in terms of the memorable melodies, but also with respect to themes that resonate and revolve around essential questions which are easy to embrace. Some songs deal with life on the open road (the decidedly determined We Needed This Ride, an upbeat Whither You Roam, and a spry Riding the Chief), while others celebrate the joys of home and hearth (via the steadfast strains of Leave It At the Gate and the tender trappings of Silver City).
That said, their musings run even deeper, especially on songs that offer compassion and consolation for anyone who feels adrift during these tumultuous times. The reflective They’re Lost Too speaks to those that are often forgotten when it comes to considering a collective consciousness. On the other hand, Everybody’s Got a Line and We Need To Hear From You offer well-considered thoughts on the need for all of us to speak up and state their case, even in the face of opposition and dissension, for better or for worse.
Of course, there’s no negating the musical prowess that underscores each of these entries, whether its the effusive instrumental Groundhog’s Retreat or the articulate arrangements that enliven every other song in this set. The newest members of the band — bassist and vocalist Marshall Wilborn and multi-instrumentalist Grace van’t Hof — have found a fine fit, one that’s enabled the group to reach an even higher peak of perfection than they’ve managed to achieve before.
Considering the stature they’ve already attained, that ought to be considered a remarkable feat in itself.
Sonny Osborne (left) at Darrington in 1987 – photo © Barry Brower/The Osborne Brothers
Most musicians hope to leave a mark on the world through their art: a particularly well-written lyric, a ferocious banjo lick, perhaps even a style of playing named after them. Sonny Osborne will surely be remembered for all of those things by the thousands of bluegrass fans and artists who have viewed him as an inspiration for decades. However, Osborne himself wished to be remembered for more than just his innovations in bluegrass. In a 2009 interview with Tom Riggs, Osborne expressed his desire to be known as an “honest, fair, human,” and a “good person” even though he felt it was a “stretch of the imagination.”
The banjo playing of Osborne, who passed away this afternoon around 1:30 p.m. at the age of 84, has perhaps been heard more than any other bluegrass picker (save possibly Earl Scruggs), thanks to the worldwide fame and enduring presence of the Osborne Brothers’ hit, Rocky Top. However, there was certainly much more to Osborne than what was basically a novelty song at the time. Born in 1937 in the mountains of southeastern Kentucky’s Leslie County, Osborne first picked up the banjo around the age of 11 and began pursuing music professionally just a few years later at 14 while living in Dayton, Ohio. He was hired by Bill Monroe in the summer of 1952, at the end of his freshman year of high school, and went on to both record and perform on the Grand Ole Opry with Monroe over the summer. Though he returned to Ohio to begin 10th grade, he quickly returned to Monroe and stayed on as a Blue Grass Boy until his brother Bobby returned home from the service in 1953. Bluegrass history was certainly made when the Osborne Brothers premiered on WROL in Knoxville, TN, on November 8, 1953.
Throughout the 1950s, the Osbornes worked at a series of radio and television stations, including the Wheeling Jamboree, and recorded now classic collaborations with artists like Jimmy Martin and Red Allen. Though Bobby’s voice was often most prominently in the spotlight, one might argue that it was Sonny who truly brought the Osborne Brothers to legendary status. His work to turn the group into a commercial success included incredibly innovative sounds for the time – plugging in instruments at a time when that was basically forbidden in bluegrass, creating banjo licks from the sounds of other genres, and completely reinventing bluegrass harmonies with the famous stacked trio vocals. He marketed the Osborne Brothers to venues and audiences that often ignored bluegrass in favor of country or even rock music, and became the first bluegrass group to appear on a college campus with their 1960 performance at Antioch College.
The playing of Sonny Osborne was far from today’s popular “1-4-5 drive” and “mash in B.” He took the basic elements of bluegrass banjo and elevated them to new heights while still maintaining a strongly traditional feel. Listen to Osborne Brothers songs from the 1960s and ’70s and you may hear bits and pieces of what might as well be horn and pedal steel solos – just played on the banjo. For a number of years, he played six-string banjo both on recordings and on stage, adding another new layer to what was acceptable in bluegrass music. His playing was both tasteful and complex – just listen to his solo rendition of America the Beautiful, a performance of which brought the audience to tears at the 2001 IBMA Awards, held just days after the 9/11 attacks.
Though he always played it down, Sonny was also a fine singer, complimenting Bobby’s soaring tenor with his own baritone voice, and their sibling harmony was always a major part of their appeal.
Many of today’s younger musicians never had the chance to hear Osborne perform live, due to his retirement in the early 2000s after issues following rotator cuff surgery. However, he stayed involved in the bluegrass world through his promotion of the Osborne Chief banjos, mentorship of younger and up-and-coming musicians, and most recently, the development of the Krako banjo line. He also entertained and enlightened Bluegrass Today audiences for the past several years with his weekly question-and-answer column, Ask Sonny Anything. Through the column, Osborne was outspoken in his promotion of traditional bluegrass, as well as his respect for fellow musicians, promoters, and the like.
The Osborne Brothers were made members of the Grand Ole Opry in 1964, and inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 1994.
Sonny loved life like few others, cherished a laugh with his good friends, and had more stories to relate than you could tell in a week. He remembered almost every detail of his professional life, which he shared gladly with those who wrote him here. He didn’t merely tolerate the questions, he was deeply grateful to receive them, and answered them all to the best of his ability. Even when he suffered a stroke about two months ago, he tried his hardest to fulfill people’s expectations for his weekly column, dictating answers to his wife, Judy, or his good friend, Lincoln Hensley, until it was impossible for him to continue.
Just as there won’t be another bluegrass banjoist anytime soon who will equal his impact on our music, there won’t be another personality as large and broad as Sonny Osborne for quite some time. His stage antics with The Osborne Brothers are legendary, from playing pranks on Little Roy Lewis of The Lewis Family – and having them played on him in return – to loudly berating sound crews if their work wasn’t to his liking, few would ever forget seeing Sonny Osborne on stage. His laugh could be easily triggered, even in the middle of a song, and led to many a special moment with Bobby.
One of his favorite tricks was repeating any “off note” he might hit by mistake repeatedly in a song, so everyone understood that he “meant to do that.” He and Bobby worked an audience as well as anyone who ever played bluegrass, often earning multiple encores with their dozens of hit songs. Kentucky, Once More, Georgia Mules and Country Boys, Roll Muddy River, Fastest Grass Alive, Ruby, Making Plans, and many other popular Osborne Brothers songs filled their live sets with fan favorites.
The family has not yet announced any information about funeral arrangements.
R.I.P., Sonny Osborne. We have lost a true giant in bluegrass music.
Last night a red carpet event was held at the historic Gem Theater in Kannapolis, NC, to induct the newest members into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. Two of those inductees were Tony Rice for 2021 and the Briarhoppers for 2020. Inductees from both years were being honored since no ceremony was held in 2020 due to the global pandemic.
Though Rice was inducted posthumously since his death on December 25, 2020, three generations of his family were present to walk the red carpet. Rice’s wife, Pam, their daughter, India, and grandson, Talbott, represented their beloved patriarch. His widow, Pam Hodges Rice, accepted her husband’s award following a video presentation on the guitar wizard’s life.
“God bless you all. Thank you so much,” was Pam Rice’s brief, but emotional and heartfelt words.
The program read, “Tony Rice did for the acoustic guitar what Jimi Hendrix did for the electric guitar-make it express itself in ways that it hadn’t been known beforehand to be capable of.” A page long bio (with an accompanying picture of a smiling Tony Rice with guitar) appeared in the booklet given to attendees.
The video depicted Rice’s career with scenes from his early performances at Camp Springs Bluegrass Festival with the Bluegrass Alliance and JD Crowe & the New South to his time with the David Grisman Quintet and the Bluegrass Album Band, plus his stints with Jerry Garcia and Grisman; Peter Rowan, Bryn and Billy Bright; and Rice, Rice, Hillman & Peterson (Tony, Larry, Chris, and Herb).
In addition to his unique flat-picking style, Rice had a distinctive baritone voice and was known for his lead singing. In the early ’90s, he was diagnosed with Muscle Tension Dysphonia which constricted the muscles around his voice box and ended his singing career. He continued as an instrumentalist until he developed “tennis elbow” in 2014. Rice then made the decision to stop performing.
The other bluegrass artists to be inducted during the Thursday night ceremony were the legendary Briarhoppers. Formed in 1934 to perform on Charlotte’s WBT radio, they are the longest continuously performing band in the United States. Throughout the years, key members of the band have included Arval Hogan (Kristin Scott Benson’s grandfather), Arthur Smith, Fred Kirby, and for a short time, Earl Scruggs (already a North Carolina HOF member) substituted on banjo.
Since their first radio show, the band always asks the crowd “Do you know what ‘hit it’?” and the audience responds, “Hit’s Briarhopper time!”
Following the presentation of their award, the current Briarhoppers (Don Murray/rhythm guitar, Allen Shadd/lead guitar, Zach Lemhouse/fiddle, Erik Svenson/banjo, and Tom Warlick/bass) took to the stage for a performance.
Warlick enthusiastically welcomed all. “Howdy neighbors! We’re here to play some music!” Then he asked the iconic question and the audience responded on cue.
Featuring their traditional string music and folksy humor, the quintet launched into Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie, their theme song since 1934.
Warlick spun yards such as, “We were one of the most popular shows on the radio because we came on after the Lone Ranger.” He also teased, “Here’s an instrumental you may not have heard because our CDs aren’t selling much.”
The bassist, who has also penned a book on the Briarhoppers, commanded the stage even though he is currently undergoing dialysis while awaiting a second kidney transplant.
Tony Rice and the Briarhoppers join other notable Tarheel bluegrass musicians such as Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson and Merle Watson, and the Steep Canyon Rangers.
The North Carolina Music Hall of Fame is located at 600 Dale Earnhardt Blvd, Kannapolis, NC.
The Black Swamp Arts Council and the Archbold Music Commission presented an evening of history and music at the Founders Hall in Sauder Village in Archbold, Ohio on Thursday evening, following on the release of the recent book and album, Industrial Strength Bluegrass.
Doug Gilliland organized the show that brought in Daniel Mullins presenting the history of bluegrass music in southwest Ohio, and Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers providing the music.
Daniel brought the history to life with stories passed down from generation to generation. His presentation was based on the Industrial Strength Bluegrass book written by Fred Bartenstein and Curtis Ellison. Daniel’s family is a significant part of the musical legacy built in Ohio. His grandfather, Paul “Moon” Mullins, was both a prominent DJ and musician for many years. His father, Joe, continues that legacy with the Radio Ramblers bluegrass band and a number of radio stations. Daniel has become an integral part of both the radio stations and the Industrial Strength Bluegrass Festival – formerly The Southern Ohio Indoor Music Festival. The festival is November 11, 12, and 13 at the Roberts Centre in Wilmington, Ohio.
The book is accompanied by the album Industrial Strength Bluegrass that Joe Mullins produced for Smithsonian Folkways. It is the musical legacy of the area, as performed by several top contemporary bluegrass artists.
The Radio Ramblers put on a show for a packed house. The band has become one of Ohio’s treasures. They sing songs about the state and show great respect for the people.
They have gone from a regional band that helped promote the radio stations to an internationally known force in bluegrass music, winning their share awards along the way.
When that big red bus pulls into your local festival, you will know you are in for a treat!
Support your local music venues.
New music from Del McCoury always makes it a red letter day for bluegrass lovers, and today is no exception.
A brand new single from an upcoming album by The Del McCoury Band is now available, one Del wrote called Running Wild. It features McCoury’s distinctive lead singing as well as his stratospheric tenor on a fast paced, hard driving bluegrass number.
The story goes that Del started writing this one some years ago, recorded an unfinished demo, and completely forgot about it until his son, Ronnie, dug up the tape and pressed his dad to complete the lyrics. Now they have a certain hit song and a great introduction to the next album, Almost Proud, set for a February release by McCoury Music.
Supported by some of the best in the business, Del sings this one with Ronnie on mandolin, Rob McCoury on banjo, Jason Carter on fiddle, and Alan Bartram on bass.
Buckle in for this one.
Running Wild from The Del McCoury Band is available now as a single from popular download and streaming sites. Pre-orders and pre-saves for Almost Proud are also enabled online, ahead of its February 18 release.
Del and the boys are touring now through the end of the year. You can find all the show dates on the band web site.
Like many of their peers, Colebrook Road cull from tradition while also paying heed to the contemporary sounds of modern bluegrass, as proffered by the likes of Steep Canyon Rangers, Punch Brothers, and all the other outfits that have become festival favorites of late. They’ve shored up popularity with bluegrass devotees while also opening up the possibilities for bringing new enthusiasts into the fold. The band — lead vocalist, and main songwriter Jesse Eisenbise, banjo and dobro player Mark Rast, mandolin player Wade Yankey, fiddler Joe McAnulty, and bassist Jeff Campbell — combine their individual strengths in tandem, making them one of the most distinctive ensembles in the entirety of today’s grassicana/newgrass genre.
As its title implies, Hindsight is 2020 marks a belated return. Initial sessions took place in February and March 2020, but the completed project was delayed due to the pandemic. Notably, all the songs are original compositions, which, in itself, helps distinguish Colebrook Road from those contemporaries who tend to lean mostly on material from outside sources. And yet, every entry sounds like a standard, even at the outset. The call and response chorus of the celebratory-sounding road song, Back To Where We’ve Been, is clearly drawn from a personal perspective. So too, Mountainside and The Carolina Side share the joy of the journey with picturesque soundscapes that detail the places that weigh in with a familiarity factor. The entire album exudes a similar sense of optimism and satisfaction found in sharing stories and making music that’s obviously inspired.
Of course, words alone aren’t necessarily needed. The upbeat and effusive title track details their delight by shoring up the same sentiment. So too, the a cappella offering, All Of Our Days, comes across as a powerful prayer for peace and prosperity.
Remarkably then, with only three albums to their credit, Colebrook Road have already risen to the top ranks of today’s most erstwhile ensembles. Hindsight is easily achieved, but it takes the kind of taste and talent shown here to assure some measure of foresight as well.
Sonny,
Who came up with the Gitjo? The pickin that you did on that was great! Also, when you worked for Bill Monroe, I was wondering In those days if they had you to do any of the driving?
Thanks, Mark K.
Driving Mister Bill. I did quite a lot as a matter of fact. A story goes with that, as I am sure you know or you wouldn’t have asked about driving specifically. So, I was 14 and had been driving since about 9 years old. My Aunt Cynthia had a ’46 Oldsmobile with a form of automatic transmission. She taught me to drive that car. Bill had a ’52 Chrysler and I was driving. Jimmy Martin, Charlie Cline, and I were in the front seat, Bill and Bessie Mauldin were in the back seat, and Bill was telling me every 5 minutes that we were going to be late. Two lane road between Burlington, NC, and on the way to Raleigh to play at the “Number one Drive In Theatre.” I was doing about 90 when I saw the red light flashing on a car about 500 yards behind us and I knew it was a police car, and he had me for speeding. He came up to the drivers window and asked for my drivers license. I politely told him I didn’t have one and he asked my age, I told him 14.
The nice policeman asked Bill if he knew I didn’t have a drivers license, Bill replied, “Ah, no sir I didn’t know!” Which we all knew was not true. The policeman? He told me to get out of the car, I did, and he politely informed me that I would be accompanying him to the police station. Going 90 MPH and having no drivers license was against the law, so, I was going to jail. Was I scared? Naw. Not a bit. Scared to death is more like it. He took me to the Burlington police station and told me if I would promise not to run, he wouldn’t put me in a cell. When it came time for him to go home, I went into a cell then! Man, when I heard that lock turn, it’s a feeling I won’t ever forget…not in this life. Kinda like hearing Earl start Flint Hill, or Tommy Jackson play Fraulein on Bobby Helm’s recording in 1956…nothing like it and something you will not soon forget. CLUNK!!!! Bill sent Jimmy and Charlie back to get me after their show… My fine was $65 which was supposed to be my per week salary… which I never once received. He didn’t give me any money the next week. Made me pay for the fine after telling me to go faster. Mr. Monroe at his finest!
The Guitjo was built by Greg Rich for Larry McNeely to use on the Glen Campbell TV show. I was told that it was never used because of the lack of volume. So when Larry moved back to Nashville he put it on consignment with George Gruhn. George showed it to me and I bought it. For my use, it worked perfectly. I loved the sound. What is it? It’s a copy of the Maccaferry, which is a copy of the great SELMER, a French classical guitar. I still have it. Joe Mullins used it once on a recording, and Aaron McDaris used it on a Rhonda Vincent song. It has an interesting inlay design created specifically for this guitar by Greg Rich. One of a kind.
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Hi Sonny. Thank You and Bobby for all the years of beautiful music.I loved all of your catalog, but Bluegrass Melodies rocked my world. never heard a prettier tune in bluegrass. Thank you again!
Dan S.
Hey Dan’l. Thank you for sharing your time with us!
I appreciate the kind words. It’s always nice to hear someone say they have enjoyed something you did. Bluegrass Melodies was written by Richard Stadler, a student at the University of Texas at the time. He also wrote Up This Hill and Down, My Favorite Memory, When You Wind Down… and more that other artists recorded. My Favorite Memory was the back side of Rocky Top so ole Rich made a pretty good haul that day.
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Hi Sonny, in my opinion, besides the banjo, you were also one of the great baritone singers. How did you learn that part and how would you tell someone how to sing it? When you listen to records, it’s easy to pick out the lead and tenor, but you can’t hear the baritone part well enough to tell what he’s doing. But, you can tell when there is no baritone singing also. Just wondering. Thanks for all you and Bobby have done for bluegrass. You guys had the best harmony!!
Roger A.
Roger, Thank you for coming right on in h’yer!
Most recording engineers, when they remix harmony singers, they mix the lead vocal a bit out front and the two harmony parts a click below that. I couldn’t see it that way. We mixed our trio so the parts were all equal in volume. We were so used to singing together that it was all equal values, and we knew how to make it sound that way on live shows. The best way for equality on vocal parts is a U87 or RE16. It’s been so long I might have those mics wrong. Good mics go a long way.
Singing, or just hearing parts is something that I’m NOT SURE CAN BE TAUGHT. A teacher can make one aware of the different parts, and the person is awakened to the fact that they hear and understand what the teacher is trying to get across, or it’s like a foreign language to them. Country/bluegrass harmony consists of 4 parts. (Or at least it does in my world) Tenor, Lead, Baritone, and Bass. Top to bottom. Lead being the absolute melody of the song. Tenor is one step above lead, baritone being one step below and bass below baritone. Now, here is where it can become tricky to the student. Imagine there are 4 lines, each being a part. Harmony is just what it implies, each part depends on another….it’s in harmony with another part. WOW…The Chief thinks he’s in over his head. If you want anything more I might have to enlist someone who knows more than I. I think I can do this but I will study on it and get back to you….😚 !
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Hi Sonny,
How DID your dad charge the battery on that old radio? Thanks a lot!
Mike R.
Mike. I’ve been thinking about this and I don’t really know. But I have friends in weird places who don’t know as much as I, and I have friends in stranger places who did know more. Jim Smith, whose folks had one of those radios which he has now. He was able to give me some insight on this radio subject. It appears that those radios had a dry cell battery which you didn’t charge, you got your Sears catalog from the out house and ordered a new battery. Problem solved.
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Sonny, Back in the day of the skin head, how did the banjo setup differ from then to the day of the plastic head…and what gauge strings did banjo players use.
Paul Thompson, Ohio
Paul, thanks for your time.
In the ’50s, the days of the skin head, the Rogers 3 star was considered the top of the line. Others were made but I don’t have a clue as to what the were. Cost about $25 and there was no guarantee, so when it split, good luck finding a head on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Best was to buy two or three at once. You had to master the art of mounting the thing too. Lots of times you had to settle for unmounted. And I clue you, if this was the case, you had better have someone show you how to do it. I ruined more than one with a razor blade. Then you had to worry about the tension. NO DRUM DIAL. You had to brush or tap the head and find out what tone the aforementioned brush or tap emitted. I have ridden for miles trying to dry a head… banjo out of the case laid to rest in the back window of the car… so the sun would hit it… Oh wait though…must not let the sun get it too tight or the —- thing would break. Voila…. you got to start all over again. Keeping a banjo sounding good was an everyday job. If you were playing Sunset Park, or New River Ranch and it was raining you got the head as tight as possible and hurried to the stage AND ALONG ABOUT HALFWAY THROUGH YOUR SHOW THE BOTTYOM WOULD DROP OUT. You’re playing Cumberland Gap and suddenly your right hand feels sorta spongy. This signals half a show of tuning.
String gauge? 1949…what was that. Black Diamond was small. Gibson was very big. Mapes, Bell Brand, Marlin. Black Diamond was good sounding and playing, but sometimes you could get one complete show out of them…and when they died, THEY DIED!
S
If you have something you would like to ask Sonny, be sure to post it in the comments below, or send it to us directly.
The history of California bluegrass runs right through Butch Waller, and the award-winning band High Country he has lead for over half a century. Butch has played his Monroe-style mandolin in many influential bands, and alongside friends and bluegrass legends such as Herb Pedersen, Richard Green, Rick Shubb, David Nelson, Keith Little, Pete Wernick, Larry Cohea, Pat Enright, Greg Spatz, and many others. Additional information on High Country can be found at the High Country website, the Bluegrass Signal Bay Area Bluegrass timeline, and the Hooterollin’ Around blog.
Thanks for your time Butch. Did you grow up listening to bluegrass?
I grew up in Berkeley. When I was 11 or 12 or so, I pestered my parents for a guitar, and that Christmas I got a brand new Stella. My friend Herb Pedersen taught me some chords, and during grammar school and high school we played and sang stuff we heard on the radio, our favorites being the Everly Brothers and Buddy Holly. When the “folk scare” came along and grabbed the country, we gradually developed an interest in traditional music. Herb bought a banjo, and with another high school friend we became a folk group, calling ourselves The Westport Singers. The pivotal bluegrass moment came in the early ’60s when we happened upon the Redwood Canyon Ramblers (Northern California’s first bluegrass band) playing at a local shopping center. We got bit by the bluegrass bug, as have so many others, and that was that. I started playing mandolin sometime in that time period. As time went by, we became the Pine Valley Boys, and the final composition of the band was David Nelson (now of the New Riders) on guitar, Richard Green, (who would fly up from LA for gigs) on fiddle, Geoff Levin on bass, Herb Pedersen on banjo, and me on mandolin.
How long did that lineup stay together?
That band broke up in ’65 or so when Herb went to Nashville with Vern and Ray. I enrolled in art school and didn’t do much playing for a couple of years until my friend Mylos Sonka called me to do some picking one day in 1968—and that led to playing coffee houses and such under the name High Country. We had a gig booked at the (first) Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse when Mylos got pretty banged up in a car accident and was likely to be laid up for awhile. I got some other folks involved and we played the gig. I’d met Rich Wilbur at art school and he became High Country’s guitar man. Bruce Nemerov (banjo), Ed Neff (fiddle), and Chuck Wiley (bass) joined a year or so later. Lonnie Feiner replaced Chuck soon after. Rich left in ‘71, but not before our first record was in the can. Chris Boutwell came on board and was on our first record (High Country) and the second (Dreams). At this point in time, over 30 people have been members of High Country.
I was approached by Banana (Lowell Levinger of the Youngbloods) in 1970, who said that they were starting a record label called Racoon Records, to be distributed by Warner Bros. People in this country and Europe have told me that it was the first bluegrass album they’d ever heard. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing, but there you go.
What music do you remember growing up?
I remember my mom bringing home a 78(!) of Hound Dog and not being able to sit still when I heard it. My dad played the harmonica and loved to sing. Buffalo Gals and She’ll Be Comin’ Around the Mountain were familiar songs. He also could sing all the words to the fiddle tune Little Beggar Man—I don’t know where he learned it, but he studied law in Virginia and his family was from Kentucky.
Do you remember when you knew you had to play bluegrass and Monroe-style mandolin?
I knew I’d be playing bluegrass the first time I heard it—I sure wanted to. Like a lot of city folk I was slower to appreciate the vocals, but I was totally excited about the picking. I first listened a lot to Bobby Osborne and tried to copy his style, which I still love. But over time I came to appreciate the subtlety and power of Bill’s playing. I think mine is influenced by both.
What was your first instrument?
I had a bunch of guitars that changed with my taste in music. I had two or three bowl-back mandolins and a couple of cheap flat-backs. I eventually got a Gibson A model, but I don’t have any of those instruments now. I got my Gibson F5 in 1964, and I also have a Miller I like a lot.
You mentioned that you’re retired. Did you have a day job?
I worked for 20 years in the addiction treatment field.
How many different bands have you been in?
Six, I guess, but High Country has always been my main squeeze.
Care to elaborate?
You’ve kept that band going over fifty years now. What’s the key to that longevity?
There are a lot of qualities that make a good band member—good musicianship is certainly number one—but things like being dependable and committed, and the ability to just get along with other people are some of the others. I’ve been mostly lucky on all counts.
High Country’s first album High Country circa 1971
Did players at Paul’s Saloon realize how special and pivotal that scene would be to the history of California bluegrass?
Not so much. You’d be fortunate these days to land a steady bar gig that paid as well as Paul’s did. We didn’t know then that it paid better than any bar gig would in the foreseeable future. So it helped support a lot of bands through the years. That having been said, it was a mellow scene and an actual hangout for musicians. I remember it with a lot of affection. Like they say, you don’t miss your water ’til the well runs dry, and that’s been too apparent since Paul’s closed. It ran from 1971 until ’90 or so, and hasn’t been replaced.
Why do you suppose Northern California skews more towards traditional bluegrass?
I’m not so sure it does anymore, but it did. Things change, and that’s certainly true for bluegrass—I’m sure there were people who worried for old time and folk music when Bill Monroe came on the scene. So nothing stays the same and music evolves, always has. But that said, there are still lots of traditional players around, though none of us are getting any younger. But there are several good younger players interested in the traditional style. I played Laurie Lewis’s celebration of Monroe’s birthday at the Freight earlier this month, and Jasper Manning tore it up on the mandolin.
Have you been performing recently, and any plans to get back out there?
No, not much. We’ve had one gig since COVID hit. We’re all a little gun-shy with regard to the pandemic, so I really haven’t tried to book anything. I’ll be playing with the band Ol’ Pals in Monterey on November 16.
When did you first see Bill Monroe and do you recall what went through your mind?
I think it was at the Monterey Folk Festival, where we’d gone to see Bill Monroe and Doc Watson, probably 1964. Sometime during the day, whether before or after the show I don’t remember, we were playing together sitting on the grass with some folks gathered around … and up strolls Bill. I don’t remember a whole lot about it, but he had on a white suit and he stood there and listened to us. It was your total “Oh s***!” moment. I was 20 years old and trying to learn the mandolin, and here was Bill Monroe. I don’t remember what we were playing, but at the end, and on the last beat Bill gives a little stamp with his foot. That was encouraging.
Bill Monroe and Doc Watson Paddy on the Turnpike
Why do you think Monroe is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
I don’t know what their reasons were, but he deserves to be, for helping to build the foundation. Listen to early rock ‘n’ roll and rockabilly, then listen to Bill’s Bluegrass Stomp or Bluegrass Part 1 (aka Bluegrass Twist, as it was named later by the record company, obviously hoping to break into the R&R market). Although it never happened, as far as I know, I can envision Bill jamming with Chuck Berry. Blue Moon of Kentucky was covered by Elvis Presley and the Beatles. And when you think of the music that influenced both bluegrass and rock, you find an awful lot that they share. They’re relatives.
What Monroe tunes/songs do you just never get tired of and why.
My faves are any duets with Jimmy Martin or Lester Flatt and particularly, Little Cabin Home on the Hill (perfectly matched and totally sweet but with bluesy jagged mandolin break), The Old Kentucky Shore (spooky and powerful), and Can’t You Hear Me Calling with Mac Wiseman (Bill’s tenor is hair-raising—like who would have thought of THAT?). Bill’s songwriting never gets the attention it deserves, but what he called his “true songs”—ones that he wrote from his own life experiences—are beautifully written in raw emotion. I never get tired of Rawhide—makes my heart race every time I hear it. The tunes on Bill’s Master of Bluegrass album show a mature and still highly creative musician. Bill talked about his songs and tunes telling stories. His My Last Days on Earth certainly does that with composing and playing so poignant it hits me in the gut every time.
To your ears, who are some of the more interesting interpreters of Bill’s music.
Chris Henry has really makes a study of Bill’s music and is a fine player. Anyone trying to learn the Monroe style would do well to check out his instructional videos. Skip Gorman is another good one, and Mike Compton is particularly good with the tunes Bill wrote later in life. Lauren Napier Price has a wonderful touch. She is maybe not as well known as the guys but she can bring it.
What periods of his music do you connect with the most and least?
I love the stuff with Lester and Earl because it’s just great, period. That band was the template for everything that came after. The ’50s had Bill at his in-your-face bluesiest in his playing and his writing… I’m fascinated by his entire career. After the hard times for country and bluegrass with the advent of rock ‘n’ roll, Bill seemed to have a renewal of energy, helped I think by the young city musicians Rowan, Green, and Greer. During that time it seemed to me he got a lift from their enthusiasm. The band that included Baker, Robins, and Lewis was really exceptional in the ’80s. The first time I saw Bill and the Blue Grass Boys was at a concert in Berkeley in 1964, I think. That band with Del McCoury on guitar, Bill Keith on banjo, and Kenny Baker on fiddle was, well, you can imagine! At that show I was sitting near the aisle during intermission and happen to hear Bill say as he walked by while speaking to someone else, “Well you know, I like anything with a little blues in it.” I also heard a local banjo player quip regarding Keith, “We’re having a banjo burning party after the show.”
Which of his bands do you think are the most underrated?
I don’t know—the stuff that we didn’t get to hear enough of, either on recordings or tapes of live shows, with Edd Mayfield or Jack Cooke on guitar. That ’80s band I mentioned was underrated I think. There were so many wonderful sidemen who worked for Bill it’s hard to choose.
Do you have a feeling what it was like for him reinventing the music when Earl and Lester left his band?
I would think it was tough losing two of the best at the same time. But it certainly wasn’t the end of the line. I think “reinventing” may be the wrong word. Bill defined bluegrass, and he kept on doing it with many other great musicians who in turn would leave to start their own bands.
Which duet songs are among your favorites?
Monroe Brothers – Where is My Sailor Boy
Do you have any lesser known interesting insights/stories you can share?
His mandolin was the best and most responsive I’ve ever played. I’ve played a few Gibson F5s from that era and most were great mandolins, but not that good.
Here’s how I met Bill… When I was really just learning to play, and living in LA with the Pine Valley Boys, we went to see Bill at the Ash Grove. We had no money then and couldn’t afford more than one show, but the owner, Ed Pearl, (bless his heart) allowed us to hang out in the lobby every night where we could hear the music. My friend Sandy Rothman was there as well, and he knew Bill Keith, who was playing banjo with Monroe at the time. He met up with Keith, and one night in the course of things, told him about my new old Gibson mandolin and asked me to bring it in. Keith had a look and went backstage, returning with Monroe. Bill played on it a bit, handed it back to me, and told me to play something. I fumbled through a fiddle tune, way too nervous to summon whatever skill I had at that point. I asked him about Rawhide and he showed me some things that went in one ear and out the other, but he took time, was nice if intimidating…and patient. Later we were backstage, the whole lot of us, and the subject of mandolins came up again. I’ll never forget— Monroe’s bass player and girlfriend, Bessie Lee Mauldin, said, “Ira Louvin use to ask Bill to play his mandolins; said he put the tone in them.” Mine too.
Are your vocals and duet harmonies as influenced by Monroe as your playing?
Yeah, I think so. The Monroe duets that my brother Bob and I do—well that’s the fun of it, trying to get that sound. It’s fun.
I remember a CBA Father’s Day Festival workshop with six different mandolinists, all unique players but heavily influenced by Monroe (you, Ed Neff, Mike Compton, David Grisman, Roland White, and Chris Henry). How many styles did Bill play and how much did his playing evolve?
He only played one style, but there were different periods of emphasis. But from the early days of his career with his brother, Charlie you can hear hints of what’s coming, and the blues were always part of it.
Mando Madness CBA 2015 Fathers Day Festival Workshop
When did you start writing your own material?
I guess it was the early ’80s. I’m not a prolific writer, and am completely dependent on when the muse decides to visit. My friend Ed Neff once said to me with regard to my starting to write, “You can only play this stuff for so long before it starts to leak out.” That pretty much covers it.
You’ve had success getting well-known players to record your work. How did that come about?
The first song I ever wrote was Blues for Your Own, which Sally Van Meter liked and recorded with her brother, Danny. As luck would have it, the producer of the TV show, Northern Exposure, heard it and used it in the show. That paid the rent for a while. In the summer of 1969 Sandy Rothman introduced me to Peter Wernick, who was in town for a while, and he and I and Rich Wilbur played some shows (don’t ask about the audition at the topless bar). So fast forward to the early ’90s when I asked Peter to write the notes for a High Country album. My song, A Voice on the Wind, was on it, and Peter liked it well enough to bring it to the rest of the Hot Rize gang and they recorded it.
What are some ways that you know when a piece is done?
I’m not sure. Sometimes it’s obvious, but sometimes you can work on something so much it gets stale. I like when I stop before that.
Any favorites?
Obviously, the two I mentioned, Blues for Your Own and A Voice on the Wind, but I also like Left Here Alone and Sunset on the Prairie a lot.
Thanks for your time Butch. Is there anything else you’d like to say?
Doing this really sent me down memory lane. Thanks for the opportunity
Here is a list of players who have been in High Country
Additional Listening…
The Last Days of Paul’s Saloon
Copy editing by Jeanie Poling
