Archive for July, 2007
Volunteer Bluegrass Pickers Association To Meet
The Volunteer Bluegrass Pickers Association will hold the monthly meeting on Saturday, August 11, 2007 at the Raccoon Valley Festival Grounds at 265 Patt Road in Powell, TN.
The meeting will begin at 7:00 pm at the Stage Area. We will be having an Ice Cream Social this month with ice cream provided, bring your favorite topping if you like. Pickin’ and jammin’ will follow. Everyone invited, pickers and listeners alike. For more information call Janice White at (865) 548-0326 or Tim Patt and (865) 548-0233.
Milan festival having 10th edition
Jim and Fay Wilder are sponsoring the 10th annual Milan Bluegrass Festival Aug. 9-11 at the KC Campground, 14048 Sherman Road, in Milan, Michigan.
The lineup is a list of bluegrass heavyweights — Rhonda Vincent, Don Rigsby and Midnight Call, IIIrd Tyme Out, Cherryholmes, the Lewis Family, David Parmley and J.D. Crowe and the New South. Several other notable acts will perform during the three days.
A full schedule is available at http://www.wilderbluegrass.com/milan.htm.
Ticket and camping information is available from Jim Wilder (248) 435-2828.
No commentsSomething special from Special C
How does Greg Cahill, leader of Special Consensus, do it? Has he ever recorded two CDs with the same band mates? Granted, I don’t have all of Special C’s albums, but I’d venture a guess every recorded project has been done with a different lineup.
If that’s the case, why do all of these CDs through the years sound so darn good? Could Greg Cahill, himself, be the reason? I’d have to think so. Besides his keen ear for great material to record, he’s been, throughout his career, a school master of sorts, a pass-through station of up and coming instrumentalists and vocalists. And, did I mention, he’s one fine banjo picker?
To say the new Special C release on Pinecastle, “The Trail of Aching Hearts,” is a winner would be an understatement. It’s Greg Cahill and Company — whoever that company may be — at its peak. It’s hard to pick out a tune here that might be considered a filler; it’s even more difficult to single out a solo, whether it be by Cahill, one of his Special C gang or a guest instrumentalist that isn’t an ear-perker. This is one well conceived CD, from the tune selection to the nitty gritty instrumental fills that can really make a recording shine.
The song list covers the gamut, from Hank Snow’s “Down the Trail of Broken Hearts;” an early Marty Robbin’s hit, “The Shoe Goes on the Other Foot Tonight;” “Branded Wherever I Go,” from Flatt and Scruggs; to Irving Berlin’s “Blue Skies.” And just some darn good bluegrass throughout.
“Blue Skies” has become one of Special C’s concert highlights, and it’s great to see it included in this project. Cahill and his merry band truly show their versatility and virtuosity on this one.
Mandolinist/vocalist Ron Spears contributes a couple of his own songs, “I’d Like to Wander Back to the Old Home” and “Lift Your Voice in Prayer.” (Spears, very definitely a driving force behind this edition of Special C, has since left the group and joined Doyle Lawson.)
A couple of other tunes deserve mention, the haunting “Rich Man’s Coal,” and “Ten Mile Tennessee,” the latter a tribute to a place we all long for, where the living is pretty darned easy and the world best viewed from a rocking chair on a front porch on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Justin Carbone’s slick guitar work and vocals shine throughout the CD.
Guest musicians are Tim Crouch on fiddle, Tres Nugent and Tim Dishman on bass, and Rob Ickes and Phil Ledbetter on Dobro.
My favorite Special C album is “Route 10,” a 2002 project. Give me a few more listens and “The Trail of Aching Hearts” just might bump “Route 10″ to No. 2.
– By Dan Tackett
1 commentValerie Smith and Liberty Pike nominated for 2007 IBMA’s
There’s plenty going on in the realm around Valerie Smith and Liberty Pike.
The whirlwind of events has to be topped by the band being nominated in the second round of the 2007 IBMA awards for Entertainers of the year. The leader of the band also picked up a nomination for Female Vocalist of the Year, and longtime band member Becky Buller was nominated for Fiddle Player of the Year.
Other Smith & Pike nuggets:
– The group has welcomed a new band member, versatile Brandon Bostic, who knows his way around guitar, mandolin, banjo and vocals. Bostic is from Pensacola, Fla.
– “The Rain,” a tune from Smith’s first all-gospel project, “Wash Away Your Troubles,” peaked on No. 2 on Bluegrass Now magazine’s Gospel Truths chart. Another song from the CD, the Louvin Brothers’ “Make Him A Soldier,” has been on Power Source magazine’s bluegrass chart for several months. That particular tune is currently at No. 6.
– Valerie and her band will be hosting the fifth annual Bell Buckle Music Cruise from Tampa, Fla., Jan. 19-24 on Carnival Cruise Lines’ Inspiration.
The cruise, sponsored by Bell Buckle Records and the Bell Buckle Café in Bell Buckle, Tenn., will also feature entertainment by the Kickin’ Grass Band, Smokey Greene, the Anita Fisher Band with Ray Deaton, the James King Band, Honi Deaton and Dream and Monroe Crossing.
The ship will head for the Grand Cayman Islands and Calica, Mexico.
Cruise details are available from bellbucklecruise.com or Bell Buckle Records,(931) 389-9694 or bellbuckle@cafes.net
1 comment“Little Mo’ McCoury” To Be Released August 21
Ronnie McCoury’s fondest childhood memories are ones he has of accompanying his father, the iconic Del McCoury, to bluegrass festivals, experiencing early on the way that music can bring parents and kids together. Now that he is a highly accomplished artist (and father) in his own right, Ronnie—joined by the Del McCoury Band has recorded an unprecedented album that will allow families everywhere to experience this quintessential American musical form. McCoury Music releases the first all-bluegrass album for kids and their parents, Little Mo’ McCoury, August 21 to stores nationwide.
It’s fitting that this album bound to bring families together comes from one of Americana’s first families. The McCoury legacy extends back 40 years to when Del was one of Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys, up through the Del McCoury Band’s 2006 GRAMMY for Best Bluegrass Album. In addition to Ronnie and Del, Little Mo’ McCoury includes contributions from Ronnie’s brother Rob and Ronnie’s wife Allison, with whom he co-wrote “My Friend, My Guitar.” It’s a song Ronnie figures is a “good way to get kids to learn how to play a G-run.” Rob’s roles on the album are numerous: He helped with song choices, takes the lead on an interpretation of Earl Scruggs’ “Mama’s Blues,” and plays banjo throughout the recording. The band’s other members, fiddler Jason Carter and bass player Alan Bartram, are also featured.
