Here is another set of reflections on Leadership Bluegrass 2010, this time from Carol Beaugard, host of Lonesome Pine RFD, heard on both WFDU-FM in the New York City metro market and on WAMU’s Bluegrass Country online. Her show airs from 6:00-9:00 a.m. each Thursday, and from 9:00 a.m. ’till noon on Fridays (listen online).
Carol [.....]
Kindred Records has just signed Ronnie King to the label and will release his new CD, Free of Guilt, on May 1.
Ronnie performed with New River Line from 2001-2006, where he played mandolin, sang and contributed original material to the band’s first two albums. He left in ‘07 to focus on songwriting, and that same [.....]
Who needs a will when you can write a country song instead? Turns out that country singers are pretty specific about the way they want to be laid to rest, whether it’s being propped up beside jukeboxes or having their stillhouses torn down or not being buried at all.
6. “Bury Me With My Car” – [...]
Miley Cyrus on country music:
“It scares me[...] It feels contrived on so many levels. Unless you’re wearing a cowboy hat and cowboy boots and singing and whining about your girlfriend or boyfriend leaving you it’s not going to sell. I think that’s why my dad finally got out of it. You have to wear those [...]
We’ve written before about Ed Helms (of The Office) and his love for bluegrass music. Not content merely to be a lone banjo player in L.A., Helms decided it was time to put together a bluegrass music event in Hollywood. Partnering with a venue in West Hollywood called Largo, Helms has put together the L.A. Bluegrass [.....]
Phil Bankester, pére of the pickin’ and singin’ Bankester Family, was among the participants in the 2010 Leadership Bluegrass class.
He passed along these thoughts about his time in Nashville last week.
“Leadership Bluegrass was an incredible experience. It was three days of total immersion into the depth and breadth of the bluegrass industry. Fred Bartenstein, along with [.....]
Songwriters: Randy Montana and Josh Ragsdale.
In a landscape of predictable country radio formulas, newcomer Randy Montana offers up a surprising recipe for success: One part The Wallflowers, two parts Music Row legacy and a dash of George Jones. This unlikely combination works together to form “Ain’t Much Left of Lovin’ You,” Montana’s first single off [...]
Songwriters: Karyn Rochelle, James T. Slater and Shane Stevens.
Kellie Pickler may be yet another blonde American Idol castoff harboring thick dreams and thin technical talent, but there’s more to her growing stature as a genuine country star than her bombshell looks and bubbly personality. Indeed, Picker’s approach to selecting music has, with only a couple [...]
IBMA’s 2010 Leadership Bluegrass class has recently concluded, and we will be posting comments from some of the participants, as we have done in the past.
Each year 25 participants are selected from those who apply for this 3-day workshop in Nashville that focuses on the business aspects of the bluegrass world. An emphasis is placed [.....]
We have written several times about the Bean Blossom Foundation, and their work to preserve the Bill Monroe Music Park in Indiana. This is the park previously owned by Mr. Monroe, and the site of the festival he hosted there from 1967 until his death in 1996. That festival continues at the park to this [.....]
Nashville is invading Austin during SXSW, planning to defend the title of “Music City, USA.”
“It’s very clear from seeing how aggressive some of these other cities are working on this, that we can’t just sit back and say ‘we’re Music City’ and that’s that.” [Janet Miller of the Nashville-area Chamber of Commerce, via WPLN Radio]
The [...]
Takeoff is a fitting title for the debut release from Darren Beachley & Legends of the Potomac. There has been great interest in this assembly of bluegrass veterans since they first got together just over a year ago, and their first CD is due to take off March 27 on Patuxent Music.
As we commented last [.....]
The rumor mill has been working over time, and our greatest fears have been confirmed. David Archuleta has been working on a new country album. Is David’s new slogan “Those that can, do, those that can’t, turn to country music?” I am not being derogatory. Country is and will always be my first love, but…
There was a ton of country music released in February, a great deal of which never found its way onto the pages of The 9513. Here are abbreviated album reviews of last month’s under-the-radar music.
Lightning From The North – .357 String Band
The third release from this scrappy Milwaukee quartet is bursting at the seams with [...]
The Chapmans are spending this week doing radio publicity for their new CD, Grown Up (A Revisionist History), recently released on Compass Records.
The boys will be on live tomorrow morning (3/17) with Bill Cody on WSM 650 AM from Nashville to talk about the new album, and then again Wednesday evening to perform live on [.....]
It’s easy to think of Bucky Covington only as the crazy-haired blonde guy who finished in 8th place on Season 5 of American Idol. But after Covington signed a recording contract with Lyric Street Records, his self-titled debut became the best-selling debut artist from the country music class of 2007, opening at #1 on the [...]
Composite Acoustics, commonly known as CA Guitars, has closed its doors.
The Louisiana-based company that manufactured steel-string acoustic guitars made from a carbon fiber material had found adherents among both hobby and professional pickers worldwide, including Blue Highway guitarist Tim Stafford. CA had created a Tim Stafford signature model which Tim had been using on stage [.....]
This past Friday night (3/12/2010) was a big night in Roanoke, VA. Bluegrass supergroup Blue Highway, performed their 15th anniversary show at the Jefferson Center in downtown Roanoke. This band has been an inspiration to many bluegrass fans and pickers, and it was an honor to be part of their 15th anniversary celebration.
The concert was [.....]
Lou Reid is also in the studio this month, recording a new Gospel project with his trusty band, Carolina. They are tracking at Eastwood Recording Studio with Wes Easter engineering and Lou producing.
Lou tells us that they are just getting started, and still choosing material, but expect to include some traditional Gospel songs, a couple [.....]
A recurring frustration for performers who sell merchandise at shows is their inability to accept credit card payments.
There are portable card scanners, but they often require AC power or online access to operate – typically unavailable to merch vendors at bluegrass festivals. Computer-based systems also suffer from power and internet availability issues, not to mention [.....]
Sierra Hull is having an eventful freshman year in college.
She entered the Berklee College of Music last fall with the promise and pressure that comes with Berklee’s prestigious Presidential Scholarship, and found herself juggling the arduous first year class load with a busy touring schedule. She was gone for 25 days in October/November on the [.....]
Slate.com recently ran an article about Steve Martin entitled: Late-Period Steve Martin. The subtitle proves helpful in understanding what the piece is about: How to understand the actor, novelist, essayist, playwright, banjo player, crotch-centric variety show performer, and Oscar co-host.
The author’s concern is to answer the question of how? While his more recent efforts in film, music, [.....]
Chris Pandolfi, the multi-talented banjo picker with The Infamous Stringdusters, has added yet another clever stop action video to his oeuvre.
This one is plugging the band’s next CD, Things That Fly, set for an April 20 release on Sugar Hill. You’ll hear a few pieces of audio and find out how the new album will [.....]
Bill Miller, host and producer of Bluegrass Gospel USA!, is pleased to announce several new affiliates for his weekly radio show. It is offered at no charge to commercial and non-commercial stations looking for non-denominational Gospel music programming.
Miller has worked in radio most of his life and also hosts The Bill Miller Show each week [.....]