Herb Pederson

This past year was a grand year for bluegrass. A couple of the peak shows I caught were Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen playing acoustic gigs in the Midwest. With pen in hand I pestered these two guys a few times to get an interview, which, incidentally, is shortly coming as an exclusive to this web site. Both men were happy to oblige me with wonderful stories. The history in music these gentlemen have had the last 40-some years is phenomenal.

Herb Pedersen has made music with Hillman in Desert Rose Band. He is a member of the Laurel Canyon Ramblers. He did a stint in the Dillards. He also played with Vern and Ray as well as the Pine Valley Boys. The albums he has played on are a who’s who in the music business: Linda Ronstadt, Gram Parsons, Sonny Landreth, John Prine, Jimmy Webb, Emmylou Harris, John Denver, Doc Watson…when do you want me to stop?

Herb, being the amiable guy he is, was invited by yours truly to send us a Christmas memory. He sent a fantastic one, especially on short notice. The following is the message I received for Herb.

“Hey Rickey! Happy Holidays to you and yours. “Well, ONE of my favorites is when I lived in Nashville back in the 60’s, I was about 23, and it was around Christmas time.

“I had just come back from a road trip with Flatt & The Foggy Mt. Boys, and I got a call from Dean Webb, asking if I’d like to join The Dillards, after an audition with them out in L.A.

“I was looking for a way back to California, and this seemed a perfect way to pay for it. Vern & Ray & I were scheduled to play The Ash Grove in L.A. right around then, so it all worked out great.

“I joined The Dillards in 1967, just before “Wheatstraw Suite” came out on Elektra. Merry Christmas to me. Boy oh boy!”

Herb

What a fantastic musician, a wonderful man and a great bluegrass Christmas memory!

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Charlie Sizemore photo by Señor McGuire

Burlington, MA — Did you hear the good news? Good News is #1 on XM Radio’s Bluegrass Junction and the single “Alison’s Band” is the #1 single on Sirius Radio’s Count Down Yonder: Weekly Top 17 Songs of Sirius Bluegrass. Good News, Sizemore’s first studio album in five years, was released in August on Rounder Records and was produced by Sizemore and acclaimed country producer/songwriter Buddy Cannon (Kenny Chesney, George Jones, Reba McEntire). The L.A. Daily News calls Good News “…one of the year’s best bluegrass releases,” while CMT.com says, “…if you like easygoing bluegrass music with smart, clever lyrics, this one will make you feel pretty darn good.”

“Alison’s Band,” Sizemore’s lighthearted hit single about yearning to be a member of Union Station, continues its ascent at #12 on Bluegrass Unlimited’s Top 30 Single Chart and #6 on Bluegrass Music Profile’s Top 20 Hot Singles while Good News is #3 on Bluegrass Unlimited’s National Bluegrass Top 15 Album Chart and #3 on Bluegrass Music Profile’s Top 10 Bluegrass CDs.

The Charlie Sizemore Band have announced their spring 2008 tour schedule (below). The Charlie Sizemore Band is Charlie Sizemore (lead vocals, guitar), Danny Barnes (mandolin, vocals), Matt DeSpain (Dobro), John Pennell (bass) and Wayne Fields (banjo).In addition to being one of bluegrass music’s most distinctive and expressive vocal stylists, Charlie Sizemore is also recognized as being one of its most literate and thoughtful songwriters, with impeccable taste in choosing lesser-known, under-appreciated, well-written tunes by other writers. Based in Nashville, where he runs a successful law practice, Sizemore has moved a long way from his roots in eastern Kentucky, on Puncheon Creek, in the state’s quintessentially Appalachian county, Magoffin. In other ways, however, he is as deeply close as ever, as connected to the sources of his musical inspiration as when he joined Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys at age seventeen, replacing the late Keith Whitley, for the next nine and a half years.

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The Grascals photo by Joe Hardwick

Nashville, Tenn. –The Grascals, IBMA’s reigning Entertainers of the Year, are taking advantage of some rare time off the road to begin recording new songs for their next Rounder release, coming in 2008.

“We’re having a great time in the studio; it’s been very relaxed,” said Grascals lead vocalist and guitarist Jamie Johnson. “We’ve been listening to songs since the last album came out, and we’re thrilled with what we found. We’ve been playing some of these songs on the road, and the crowds seem to love them.”

The group also launched a completely revamped version of their Web site, http://www.grascals.com/, featuring greater interactivity and quicker access to new photos, tour dates, the latest news, and audio files.

The year 2007 brought many career achievements and new experiences for The Grascals. They received two SPBGMA Bluegrass Awards-Bluegrass Band of the Year and Instrumental Group of the Year-and earned their first Dove Award nomination for Bluegrass Recorded Song of the Year for “Did You Forget God Today,” which they recorded with the Jordanaires. They performed at the first Stagecoach Festival in Indio, California, and participated in CMA Music Festival for the fourth straight year. The group watched Long List of Heartaches, their Grammy^®-nominated 2006 release, top the Billboard Bluegrass Albums chart in September, shortly before winning their second consecutive IBMA Entertainer of the Year Award.

In August The Grascals locked in a sponsorship agreement with Mayberry’s Finest, a line of Southern-seasoned stews, chilis, vegetables and baking mixes inspired by The Andy Griffith Show. They wrote and recorded the Mayberry’s Finest jingle and have recorded radio and Web commercials for the product line, with television spots to follow. They travel to the shows on their Mayberry’s Finest tour in a Prevost XL2 bus wrapped with the brand’s logo. As part of their relationship with Mayberry’s Finest, the band performed at the Mayberry Days festival in Mt. Airy, North Carolina, and made their debut guest appearance on the nationally syndicated John Boy & Billy Big Show.

Throughout the year The Grascals continued to make regular guest appearances on the Grand Ole Opry and also made their first foray into late-night television, performing “Prodigal Son’s Prayer” with Dierks Bentley on The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson in February. The song is on Bentley’s Long Trip Alone CD, which was recently nominated for a Grammy for Best Country Album. Finally, the band was honored to film a performance for the latest Gaither Homecoming DVD from Bill Gaither and friends, which will be released in the fall of 2008.

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