“Lovin’ Pretty Women”
Steep Canyon Rangers

“Lovin’ Pretty Women”, the Steep Canyon Rangers’ fourth release, reveals a dynamic cohesive outfit, steeped in tradition and ready to set the bluegrass world on fire. With one foot squarely planted in tradition and the other dabbling in the nuances of new grass, the band puts forth a sonic landscape that will be instantly familiar and comfortable to the die-hard traditionalists, yet as fresh and new as anything you’ve heard.

The group’s banjo picker, Graham Sharp, had a hand in writing eight of the 12 cuts on the project and may very well be the Steep Canyon Ranger’s ace in the hole.

To the uninitiated, a top to bottom listen will leave the listener wondering if Monroe or some other luminary of the genre originally released these songs years ago. Sharp has a real gift for penning tunes that sound like instant classics.

The instrumental work on the disc showcases a group of musicians who’ve honed their craft from years of playing together on the road.

The tight interplay of Nicky Sanders (fiddle), Mike Guggino (mandolin) and Graham Sharp show a well seasoned and confident mentality… never over playing but continuously dancing around the vocal and playing perfectly to each song.

Charles Humphrey III’s bass lines are solid and in the pocket pushing and pulling the beat as needed.

Woody Platt’s vocals are a big part of this band and its instantly memorable sound. Platt has a vocal quality that brings a real honesty to the material. Never sounding contrived and forced, Platt is as at ease singing the title track, pondering the thoughts of a life chasin’ those pretty women as he is singing the starkly contrasting and somber “Be Still Moses.”

The title cut, “Lovin’ Pretty Women,” could have been a banjo/fiddle hoe-down, played in some cleared-out barn on a Saturday night at the turn of the century. Yet the feel of the tune still fits well with some of the contemporary grass being tossed around these days.

If “Lovin’ Pretty Women” is sign of things yet to come from the Steep Canyon Ranger’s, bluegrass as a genre is in more than capable hands with this next generation group. This record should put the Steep Canyon Rangers in the spotlight of the bluegrass community at large.

Top to bottom there isn’t a filler song on the project and I’d venture to say that the cutting room floor probably ended up with a couple of gems that didn’t make the record.

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Ricky Skaggs

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum,’s Ford Theater will host Ricky Skaggs and Randy Scruggs on Tuesday, Oct. 2, for a special interview during the International Bluegrass Music Association’s annual convention in Nashville.

In the program, which will be moderated by 650 WSM and Grand Ole Opry announcer Eddie Stubbs, Skaggs and Scruggs will recall their experiences as bluegrass prodigies and their television appearances (at ages seven and eight, respectively) on the Flatt & Scruggs Grand Ole Opry TV show.

Those appearances can be seen on the new DVDs Best of the Flatt & Scruggs TV Show, Volume Three and Volume Four, which will be released by the Museum and Shanachie Entertainment on Oct.9. Admission to this program, which begins at noon, is included with Museum admission and free to Museum members and IBMA conference registrants with badges. Following the program, Scruggs will autograph copies of the DVDs in the Museum Store. (DVDs are available for advance purchase Oct. 2 - 8 exclusively in the Museum Store and on the Museum’s website.)

More information about this show and other shows at the Hall of Fame are available at http://www.countrymusichalloffame.com

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Bluegrass Rhythm
Guitar Vol. 1

Responding to customer requests, the Murphy Method has put “Bluegrass Runs on Guitar Volume 1″ on DVD.Now re-titled Bluegrass Rhythm Guitar Volume 1 it is designed to add embellishments to the beginning rhythm guitarist’s work. This DVD teaches runs between G, C, and D chords, shows the F chord with the “rocking bass” and also includes some runs in the key of C.

Also added to the DVD format is Murphy Method’s Intermediate Bass, which is a follow-up to the Beginning Bass DVD. It introduces runs, shows players how to put them into songs, talks about waltz time, explains how to play in the key of B, and even teaches the “boogie woogie” on the bass.

The new DVDs and Murphy’s entire catalog of instructional videos can be viewed online at www.murphymethod.com

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