Kentucky
June 20-21 — Renfro Valley Bluegrass Festival - Renfro Valley KY. Bluegrass artists to appear include: Grasstowne, Dale Ann Bradley, All American Bluegrass Band, Rhonda Vincent & the Rage, Ronnie Reno & the Reno Tradition, The Grascals and more. For ticket information call (800) 765-7464.

Maryland
June 21 - 10:00 AM — Béla Fleck - Throw Down Your Heart - Movie Screening.
Directed by Sascha Paladino (who is also Fleck’s younger brother), Throw Down Your Heart documents Fleck’s enthralling journey through Uganda, Tanzania, The Gambia, and Mali to uncover the roots of the banjo, an instrument that is now regarded as quintessentially American. Tickets are $10.00. More information can be found at http://silverdocs.com/festival/films/2008/throw-down-your-heart/

New York
June 21 — Tug Hill Bluegrass Festival - Lowville, NY.

Ohio
June 20-21 — Poston Lake Bluegrass Festival - Guysville, OH. Bluegrass acts schedule to take the stage include: J.D. Crowe & the New South, Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers, Bluegrass Strangers, Bluegrass Mountaineers, The Hart Brothers, Dailey & Vincent, Dan Paisley & Southern Grass, IIIrd Tyme Out and more. Tickets run $25 (Fri) and $30 (Sat) or a festival pass for $50. Free camping is also available (no hookups).

Tennessee
June 20 - 9:00 PM — Williams & Clark Expedition plays the Station Inn in Nashville Tenn.

June 20-21 — Earhart Music Festival, Bristol TN. Bluegrass artists scheduled to perform over 2 days include: The Steeldrivers, The Charlie Sizemore Band, Kenny and Amanda Smith, Red Stick Ramblers, Mark Johnson & Emory Lester, Old Line Skiffle, The Grascals, Bluegrass Addiction and more. Single Day tickets are $25 (Fri) and $30 (Sat) or a weekend festival pass good for both days is $45 at the gate.

Virginia
June 21 — Wayne Henderson Music Festival & Guitar Competition - Mouth of Wilson, VA. Artists scheduled to appear include: George Hamilton IV, The Kruger Brothers, Robin Kessinger, The Harris Brothers, Wayne Henderson and Friends and more. festival admission is $10 each with children 12 and under free with paid adult.

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Muddy Sunshine recording artist Billy Smith will perform at a CD release party Thursday, May 22 at The Station Inn in Nashville, Tenn. The celebration is in honor “Five Flat Rocks,” Smith’s newest CD. The band will kick off the music at 9:00 pm and cover charge is $10.00 at the door.

Chris Henry (mandolin), Matt Combs (fiddle), Dave Talbot (banjo), Jon Weisberger (bass) and Marilyn Smith (vocals) will be backing Smith.

Fellow label mate Rocky Alvey (”Blackberry Jam” & Muddy “Coal Mine”) will join Smith as well.

Billy Smith carries the repertoire of most of the first generation bluegrass music pioneers around in his head and heart. The natural result of growing up onstage and performing with artists like the Father of Bluegrass Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs, Lester Flatt and Jimmy Martin. Billy’s mother, Hazel Smith is a well-known country music journalist and television cooking show host and brother Terry Smith plays bass for The Grascals, IBMA’s reigning Entertainers of the Year, but Billy himself is most known for his soulful, impassioned live performances, as well as being an award-winning songwriter. Muddy Sunshine

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Shannon Whitworth plays a June 11 show at the Station Inn in Nashville, Tenn.

Shannon Whitworth, one of the co-founders of The Biscuit Burners, will perform at the Station Inn on June 11 at 9:00 pm in Nashville, Tenn. in support of her recent solo release No Expectations.

Shannon Whitworth’s music is something one would imagine to hear on a front porch in the hills of Appalachia. Combining a love for old-time banjo with a voice sounding like a younger Gillian Welch, Shannon Whitworth defines mountain music. She has spent the last ten years focusing on bluegrass and country music. Her talent as a singer and songwriter enabled her to spend the last four years touring the United States with acclaimed bluegrass band, The Biscuit Burners, which she co-founded. On clawhammer banjo and guitar, Shannon’s compositions contributed depth to the band’s material and have helped her gain respect as a truly talented singer and songwriter.

No Expectations features ten of Shannon’s most recent compositions accompanied by an all-star cast of musicians. Great singing, great writing, and great picking makes Shannon Whitworth’s first solo project unforgettable.

You can sample Shannon Whitworth’s music on her MySpace page.

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The Infamous Stringdusters

Make your plans now. The Infamous Stringdusters along with Sugar Hill Records have announced that the ‘Dusters will play an album release party in honor of the band’s self titled, sophomore release at the Station Inn, in Nashville, Tenn. on June 6th. Showtime starts at 9:00 PM and cover charge is $12.00. “The Infamous Stringdusters” will be released on June 10.

When “The Infamous Stringdusters” comes out on Sugar Hill Records, some may assume from the title that it’s a debut recording. Those already aware of the Stringdusters phenomenon will know differently. That 2007’s “Fork in the Road” was the album that boldly introduced this daring, disciplined band to the world of bluegrass and a wider world of music enthusiasts who heard it and decided, “if that’s bluegrass, then I love bluegrass.” “Fork in the Road” was named Album of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA). Its title track was named Song of the Year, and the band itself earned the honor of best emerging artist in a competitive field. It was a stunning cap to an amazing 2007.

Yet “The Infamous Stringdusters” feels like an introduction of a sort. Whereas “Fork in the Road” was made during their first potent months together, the new CD represents all the band has become during two years of intense touring, meticulous woodshedding and brotherly jamming. It’s their first record with accomplished guitarist Andy Falco, whose blues-infused licks and stunning virtuosity has added a new facet to the band’s musical personality. It’s the first with the band’s dream producer Tim O’Brien, a Grammy-winning musician who has pioneered and embodied the progressive school of roots and bluegrass that underlies the Stringdusters sound. And of course it’s the first with these songs - nine band originals supplemented by a few carefully chosen tunes from colleagues in the acoustic music community.

Dobroist Andy Hall’s “Well, Well” captures a character in limbo between desperation and optimism. Bassist Travis Book contributed several songs, including the sentimental “Bound For Tennessee.” Fiddler and singer Jeremy Garrett lends layers of lonesome to his song “When Silence is the Only Sound.” Meanwhile, “Loving You” by Grammy nominated writer Sarah Siskind is a signature example of what sets the Stringdusters apart, with its off-kilter groove and dark-hued melody. The bluesy and slightly demented “Get It While You Can” was composed by Bad Livers mad genius Danny Barnes. And rippling newgrass instrumentals from the hands of mandolinist Jesse Cobb (”Golden Ticket”), banjo master Chris Pandolfi (”Glass Elevator”) and Hall (”Black Rock”) complement the album with flawless examples of the band’s trademark instrumental virtuosity.

In their breakout year of 2007, The Infamous Stringdusters played over 150 dates, including the biggest festivals in acoustic music, jammed on major stages with heroes like David Grisman and Sam Bush, and landed a development deal for motion picture music with Lions Gate Entertainment. With the release of “The Infamous Stringdusters,” 2008 promises more roads and more new fans in bluegrass and beyond.

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Kenny and Amanda Smith kick off Collings Guitar Tour April 20th - May 1st

Award winning Kenny and Amanda Smith will be doing their second Collings Guitar tour from April 20th-May 1st. Each stop on the tour is a product information and performance clinic featuring Collings guitars. Participating dealers are Fretted Instruments, Olde Town Pickin’ Parlor, Telluride Music, Lidgett Music, and Morgan Music.

• Apr 20 — Birmingham, AL - Fretted Instruments 2906 Linden Avenue Homewood, Alabama 35209 - Phone (205) 879-6489
• Apr 24 — Arvada, CO - Olde Town Pickin Parlor 7515 Grandview Ave. Arvada, CO 80002 - Phone (303) 421-2304
• Apr 28 — Teluride, CO Telluride Music Company 201 East Colorado Avenue Telluride, CO 81435 - Phone (970) 728-9592
• May 1 — Lebanon, MO - Morgan Music 689 N. Washington Ave. Lebanon, MO - Phone (800) 869-5559

Bluegrass on the Blueplate

Thurs, April 17, The Carolina Chocolate Drops will be playing their brand of fiddle and banjo music on the blueplate.

“The nuances of piedmont stringband music stem from the demographics of the piedmont and thereby its focus on the banjo as the lead instrument. Among black ensembles, the banjo often set the pace and if a fiddle was present and it often was not, it served as accompaniment and not as the lead instrument as is more common in the Appalachian tradition. A guitar or mandolin would have been rare, but not unheard of, in these bands but the foundation of this tradition lies rooted in the antebellum combination of fiddle and banjo.” The Carolina Chocolate Drops Website

Tuesday, April 22, Bill Mize, a former winner in the National Finger style guitar Competition in Winfield, Kansas, splits the bill withBoogertown Gap, a husband and wife team, will bring to you some Old-Time Appalachian music.

Dale Ann Bradley and Charlie Sizemore drop in on Friday, April 25th for performances on WDVX’s popular “Live in the Studio” lunch hour.

East Tennessee’s Own® WDVX will host several great Bluegrass bands on the Blue Plate Special, an hour long program featuring bands playing live on air, during the month of Arpil. Locals are encouraged to be part of the WDVX studio audience weekdays at noon (Eastern Time) for free performances in downtown Knoxville, Tenn. at the WDVX studios and for those who can’t make it down for a show, listen live on-line.

The WDVX studios are located in the Knoxville Visitor’s Center at the corner of Gay Street and Summit Hill Avenue in downtown Knoxville, Tenn.

Dale Ann Bradley playing Station Inn

Dale Ann Bradley, the reigning 2007 IBMA’s Female Vocalist of the Year will bring her brand of bluegrass to the Station Inn in Nashville, Tenn. on Saturday, April 19. Bradley and company will kick off the show around 9:00pm and cover at the door will run $10 a head. To sample audio clips of Bradley’s latest release, “Catch Tomorrow” visit Compass Records online.

Upcoming Bluegrass Shows at the Station Inn

• Fri. May 2 — Chris Hillman and Herb Pederson - $20
• Sat. May 3 — The Steeldrivers - $12
• Wed. May 14 — Sierra Hull CD Release Party for “Secrets” - $10
• Fri. May 16 — Bradley Walker - $10
• Thu. May 22 — Billy Smith CD Release Show w/Shad Cobb, Dave Talbot, Jon Weisberger, Chris Henry - $10
• Frid. May 23 — 3 Fox Drive - $10
• Sat. May 23 — Jeff White Band - $10
• Wed. May 28 — The Biscuit Burners CD Release Party - $10
• Fri. May 30 — Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time - $10

The Station Inn, located in downtown Nashville, Tenn., is the premier Bluegrass and Acoustic music venue in Music City. Their address is 402 12th Avenue S. Nashville, TN 37203.

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