Skaggs CD pays homage to Monroe, music’s roots
Ricky Skaggs “Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass Tribute to 1946 and 1947″Over the past several years, it would be difficult to read a Ricky Skaggs interview without him paying homage to “Mr. Monroe.” Yes, that would be Bill, as in the Father of Bluegrass music.
Now, Skaggs is immortalizing his love and great respect for Monroe — as well as bluegrass music in general — in a new CD, “Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and 1947.”
It’s due for release on March 25 on the Skaggs Family Records label, but pre-orders at a special price and the prospects of obtaining a copy with Skaggs’ autograph are spelled out on the label’s Web site, SkaggsFamilyRecords.com.
The CD is Skaggs’ tribute to Bill Monroe’s first trail-blazing bluegrass band, which included a couple of guys by the name of Flatt and Scruggs, fiddler Chubby Wise and bass player Howard Watts. In the two-year span that Skaggs’ CD covers, Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys literally forged the foundation of the genre.
Skaggs’ own head-turning group of musicians, known collectively as Kentucky Thunder, are featured throughout the album. It also includes two former Bluegrass Boys — that fellow named Scruggs playing banjo on “Going Back to Old Kentucky” and Del McCoury on “The Old Crossroads.”
The CD package also includes a booklet with several vintage photographs.
Here’s the track lineup:
- Going Back to Old Kentucky (with Earl Scruggs)
- When You’re Lonely
- Toy Heart
- It’s Mighty Dark to Travel
- Mother’s Only Sleeping
- Bluegrass Breakdown
- Little Cabin Home On the Hill
- Mansions for Me
- Sweetheart You Done Me Wrong
- Why Did You Wander
- Remember the Cross
- The Old Crossroads (with Del McCoury)
The Isaacs are serving dinners
The Isaacs “Live From Norway”Fans of The Isaacs can enjoy a meal with the family this week. Not only that, the Isaacs are serving dinner and dessert. Twice in fact
The events — pasta buffet dinners — are taking place Tuesday at Gaither Family Resources in Alexandria, Ind. The dinner parties are in celebration of The Isaac’s new DVD, “The Isaacs … Live in Norway.”
It features Lily, Becky, Sonya and Ben Isaacs.
Tuesday’s dinners will include a preview of the DVD, drawings for prizes and time set aside for autographs and photos.
Seating times are at 1 and 6 p.m. Reservations are still available and can be made by calling 1-800-520-4664 or (765)724-8405.
On a related note, this month’s issue of Power Source magazine features Sonya Isaacs on the cover. Copies can be obtained at www.powersourcemagazine.com.
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No commentsThe Chapmans to have new home on Web
The ChapmansThe Chapmans, a Missouri-based family band, will launch a new Web site, http://www.thechapmansonline.com, on March 1.
The band consists of brothers Jeremy, Jason and John and their father Bill. They were the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Emerging Artist of the Year in 2001. They have three albums out on the Pinecastle Label, including “Simple Man,” the latest released in 2005.
According to The Chapman’s MySpace page, “the band’s musical journey begins in the early 1990s in Colorado where young fiddler John Chapman won a statewide junior division championship in his early teens. Inspired by his son’s interest in music, Bill took up the banjo and the two started a bluegrass band with some family friends. Eventually John would switch to guitar and begin singing lead vocals. When younger brothers Jeremy and Jason took up mandolin and bass respectively, a hobby turned into a full-on family passion.
“The Chapmans honed their skills through shows at county fairs and bluegrass festivals throughout the 1990s,” the MySpace biography continues. “They moved to the Missouri Ozarks in 1995 to make nationwide travel easier. In 1998 the Chapmans jumped into the national spotlight when they won the International Bluegrass Band Championship held by the Society For the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America (SPBGMA). Along with the critical success of the band’s first independent album, ‘Love’s Gonna Live Here,’ the win paved the way for the Chapmans to sign a record contract with independent roots and bluegrass label Pinecastle Records.”
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