Apr 15
Several Rounder Artists will perform at Merlefest
BlueHighway “Through the Window of a Train” (Rounder)Burlington, MA – Rounder Records is pleased to announce that many of its artists will be performing at MerleFest on April 24–27 in Wilkesboro, NC. MerleFest began in the spring of 1988 and has grown from two flat-bed trailers and 4,000 attendees to 13 stages with more than 81,500 festival participants. This “one time, one night, one man show,” according to MerleFest Executive Director B. Townes, has turned into one of the largest American roots festivals in the country. A complete list of Rounder performances is below. For more information and stage schedules, visit www.merlefest.org.
Blue Highway (Thursday & Friday, April 24 & 25)
One of the most esteemed groups in contemporary bluegrass, Blue Highway excels at every facet of the music, from instrumental dexterity to impeccable vocal interplay to literate, powerful songwriting. Individually, Jason Burleson (banjo, guitar, mandolin), Rob Ickes (Dobro), Shawn Lane (mandolin, fiddle, vocals), Tim Stafford (guitar, vocals), and Wayne Taylor (bass, vocals) are at the forefront of the genre, appearing on innumerable projects as sidemen, songwriters, and solo artists. Their latest album, Through the Window of a Train was released in February and finds the band continuing to grow and mature in all areas. Blue Highway has released eight acclaimed albums, received a Grammy nomination for their album Wondrous Love, topped the Bluegrass Unlimited radio charts, and won an astonishing 13 International Bluegrass Music Association awards (individually and collectively).
Blue Highway “Through the Window of A Train” CD Review on BluegrassJournal.com
Sierra Hull & Highway 111 (Friday & Saturday, April 25 & 26)
Beginning at eight years old, Sierra Hull has become an adored and respected young mandolin picker in bluegrass circles. Since then, the 16-year old Hull has competed in and won numerous mandolin and guitar championships, showcased at The International Bluegrass Music Association’s World of Bluegrass, and was a featured performer on the Great High Mountain Tour, which included an all-star bluegrass lineup (with Alison Krauss, Ralph Stanley, and others), that performed songs from the soundtracks of O Brother Where Art Thou and Cold Mountain. On May 6, Rounder Records will release Secrets, her national debut album. Secrets was co-produced by Hull and Ron Block (Union Station) and features Block, Dan Tyminski, Barry Bales, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Tony Rice, Jim VanCleve, Rob Ickes, Chris Jones, Jason Moore, and 17-year-old banjo whiz Cory Walker (who is also in Sierra’s band, Highway 111).
The Claire Lynch Band (Saturday & Sunday, April 26 & 27)
Claire Lynch has long been recognized as a creative influence in bluegrass music – first for her early years with Alabama’s Front Porch String Band (which was labeled as “a musical force to be reckoned with” by John Starling) and later for her superb singing and songwriting. Two of her five albums on Rounder have been nominated for a Grammy® and, among her many other nominations, she won the IBMA Award for “Female Vocalist of the Year” in 1997. Her latest album, Crowd Favorites, was released in October and is a collection of some of the most-requested songs from Claire Lynch’s impressively rich repertoire.
Claire Lynch “Crowd Favorites” CD Review on BluegrassJournal.com
Tony Rice (Friday & Saturday, April 25 & 26)
Tony Rice spans the range of acoustic music, from straight-ahead bluegrass to jazz-influenced new acoustic music, to songwriter-oriented folk. He is perhaps the greatest innovator in acoustic flatpicked guitar since Clarence White. Over the course of his career, he has played alongside J.D. Crowe and the New South, David Grisman (during the formation of “Dawg Music”), led his own groups, collaborated with fellow picker Norman Blake and recorded with his brothers. Rice remains one of bluegrass’ top instrumentalists, bringing originality and vitality to everything he plays.
The Dan Tyminski Band (Sunday, April 27)
Dynamic on stage, down to earth off stage, Dan Tyminski has the voice, instrumental chops, and charisma to be counted among the most recognizable and popular male vocalists on today’s bluegrass and country music scenes. Since 1994, his ace instrumental skill (mainly on guitar, but also on mandolin) and burnished, soulful tenor singing has been a key component of Alison Krauss and Union Station, arguably the most visible and successful bluegrass band in the modern era. Prior to that, he rose to national prominence as a member of bluegrass favorite, the Lonesome River Band. With Union Station on hiatus for most of 2008, Tyminski has formed a new incarnation of the Dan Tyminski Band, with whom he is releasing his new album Wheels on June 17. This new edition includes longtime Union Station associate Barry Bales (bass), former Union Station and Mountain Heart member Adam Steffey (mandolin), sideman extraordinaire Ron Stewart (banjo, fiddle), and newcomer Justin Moses (fiddle, dobro).
Rhonda Vincent & The Rage (Saturday, April 26)
The reigning queen of bluegrass, Rhonda Vincent, was born with music inside of her. She inherited timeless bluegrass strains from her family and the hills of her Missouri homeland. You can hear them echo every time she sings, or when she runs her hands across a mandolin, guitar, or fiddle. Yet Vincent’s music is a transformation of tradition – a very modern manifestation of her roots in classic bluegrass, refracted through her very real experiences as a bandleader, musician, songwriter, mother, wife, and woman. Rounder released her latest album Good Thing Going in January and it is Vincent’s most personal album to date. With hope, resilience, and gratitude, Vincent presents a set of songs that range from timelessly straight-ahead bluegrass to effervescent swing and heartfelt ballads.
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