Dr. Ralph Stanley has received quite a few awards during his distinguished career. Stanley has been awarded four Grammys. He was named the 2004 Virginian of the Year. He received a National Medal of Arts in 2006. In early 2008 he was cited by the Virginia General Assembly for lifetime achievements. This September 17th in Richmond, VA he will receive yet another honor.
Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine recently announced 10 winners for the Governor’s Award for the Arts this year and Dr. Ralph was the only individual musician among them. The presentation ceremony will take place at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond.
Governor Kaine explains the purpose of the awards.
These awards recognize outstanding achievement and excellence in the arts. They call attention to the creative spirit that contributes to the quality of life throughout the Commonwealth.
Ralph Stanley has been performing since 1946 when he, and brother Carter, began touring as The Stanley Brothers.
Congratulations Dr. Ralph, for a well deserved honor!
Darren Beachley has written in to give us an update concerning the production of the second Country Gentlemen Tribute CD from Bill Yates. Darren and Bill are co-producing this new recording.
The first CD was released in December of 2006. We first brought you news of volume 2 in December of 2007. Darren tells me a December 2008 release is planned for this second tribute CD.
Work is about 75 percent finished. Songs include “Traveling Kind”, “Dark As A Dungeon”, “Joe’s Last Train”, “Darbys Castle” and “Willow Creek Dam”. The lineup includes Bill Yates, Darren Beachley (DL&Q), Mike Phipps, Dave Propst, Kevin Church (former country gent) and Mark Clifton.
Yates and company are currently putting together their tour schedule for early next year in support of this new recording.
In December of 2007 we told you the story of Bluegrass FM. An FM radio station that was starting a second station and pursuing an unusual business model. General Manager, Pete Stover, contacted us recently with an update and some more news.
The FCC has approved a request to increase the original station’s (WWED 89.5 in Fredericksburg, VA) power from 380 watts to 16,000 watts. Together with its sister station, WWEM 91.7 in Lynchburg, VA, Bluegrass FM broadcasts bluegrass music 24 hours a day in a non-commerical format.
The two stations are run as a private business, broadcast commercial free, and depend on corporate/business underwriting and listener support in a way similar to public radio.
This power increase is not without associated costs.
WWED will need to replace its current transmitter, antenna and antenna cable before the power increase can take effect. The project will cost an estimated $100,000 and will need to be raised from donations from listeners and corporate sponsors. Once the project funds are received, equipment can be ordered and installed.
Such changes will increase the station’s coverage dramatically toward Richmond, Charlottesville and Culpeper, as well as providing a denser and more listenable signal into portions of Northern Virginia south of Washington, D.C.
Completion of the power increase is anticipated in mid-2009.
I asked Pete how the new station in Lynchburg was fairing and he stared this report.
Our Lynchburg station WWEM 91.7 which went on the air December 8, 2008 simulcasts WWED 89.5 in Fredericksburg and is gaining listenership and sponsorship. It seems that anywhere we go in the listening area, bluegrass people have either heard of us or say that they listen to us all of the time. Recently, at the Roanoke Fiddlefest, a dozen people noticed the station T-shirt that I was wearing and approached me and asked if I was affiliated with the station. Even though most of Roanoke is currently in our fringe coverage area and the station had no official role in the event, people still recognized us and knew who we were. We’re working on stronger coverage along the I-81 corridor between Staunton and Roanoke and may have some good news to report for signal coverage there by the end of the year. We continue to work on business partner contacts and support and engaging more listener support. We’re progressing but not quite where we need to be financially but there’s every indication that in another 12-15 months, we’ll be on even more solid ground as the word spreads and more listeners tune-in.
Also of interest should be a planned concert series the station is organizing.
The series will start November 1 and run through March 14 at the 1,100 seat Massaponax High School auditorium. Five concerts will be presented in the first fall-winter concert series of its kind along the I-95 corridor between DC and Richmond. The season lineup features:
Carrie Hassler & Hard Rain, IIIrd Tyme Out – November 1
Balsam Range, Larry Stephenson Band – December 6
Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice (tentative), Kenny & Amanda Smith – January 10
Gold Heart, Lonesome River Band – February 14
Sierra Hull, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver – March 14
The fundraiser concert series is for ongoing operations for Bluegrass FM and to help the Fine Arts Department at Massaponax High School as well. We want to encourage the talented students to consider bluegrass as they get to “rub shoulders” with the artists that will be appearing. We plan to have a mentor/artist gatherings with students in interactive sessions starting with this series. So, it goes beyond just raising funds for the radio station operation and for the high school’s fine arts department. We will have opportunities for people to support the capital project during the concert series but that’s not the primary reason for the event. Our design is for the concert series to be an ongoing annual activity at the same venue.
Corporate sponsors are being sought for the concert series. Companies which are interested should contact www.BluegrassFm.org.
Big Al Johnson has gone postal. No, not like that. He’s working for the US Postal Service. That doesn’t mean he’s not playing music though.
Alan has a solid background as a fiddle player and bass singer, having toured with a number of bluegrass and country artists, including Doyle Lawson, BlueRidge, Larry Cordle, Lorrie Morgan, Pam Tillis, Terry Clark, and Doug Stone. After leaving Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Johnson took a job at the post office, while quietly getting involved in bluegrass music in new ways.
He’s been filling in with various artists who need a fiddle player when touring the Western part of North Carolina and Eastern part of Tennessee. He’s been teaching fiddle workshops at regional festivals. He’s also been helping his brother Kenny Johnson with the promotion of the High Country Bluegrass Festival in Boone, NC. The festival is coming up in early September. They have a stellar line up of bluegrass artists, including a fiddle workshop taught by, you guessed it, Big Al Johnson, along with Adam Haynes.
In addition to his work with the festival, Alan tells me he’s putting together his own band. This is something new for him since he’s always played the part of the sideman previously. He’s considering band names and players at this time, but expect an announcement soon, and look for them next summer at your favorite bluegrass venue.
In the meantime, you can keep up with Alan on his MySpace page.
Rural Rhythm Records has been releasing some really good bluegrass in the last few years. They’ve also been working hard to make sure we all get to hear this great music. One of their efforts in that regard has been the creation of Fresh Cuts & Key Tracks, a radio sampler featuring singles from current and upcoming releases.
The second edition of this radio release was sent to Bluegrass Radio at the end of last week, so you DJs should be receiving it sometime soon. Rural Rhythm was kind enough to give us a sneak peek of the new tracks on the disc.
The disc contains five tracks, three of which are new tracks from upcoming releases.
Them Blues is the first single to be released from the new Lonesome River Band CD, No Turning Back. The CD is scheduled for release early next month. Fans of the LRB signature sound will certainly enjoy this new cut. I’ve embedded a YouTube video of them performing the track live on stage, at the end of this post. The audio doesn’t compare with the studio cut, but you’ll get the idea. Be listening for this one on your favorite bluegrass radio station later this week!
I Call It Gone is from the upcoming second album from Melonie Cannon, And The Wheels Turn. The album was co-produced by Ronnie Bowman and Buddy Cannon and features a very impressive line up of musicians. The CD is scheduled for release in early October.
Cindy Mae is an uptempo bluegrass number in the tradition of brother duets such as the Stanley Brothers. The Crowe Brothers (Josh and Wayne) deliver on this one. This track is from a newly recorded CD, Brothers-N-Harmony, scheduled for release in late September of 2008. The song was written by Cody Shuler of Pine Mountain Railroad. Anyone who likes good traditional brother harmony style bluegrass will want to have this CD I’m sure.
The other two tracsk are The Road From Rosine and Fox Run The Henhouse. Fox Run The Henhouse is from the previously released Tim Hensley CD, Long Monday. The Road From Rosine is an instrumental written by Jim VanCleve and debuted at the 2007 IBMA Award Show.
Radio DJs should be on the lookout for this CD, and fans of good bluegrass should be listening for these tracks.
Here’s the live video of LRB performing Them Blues. Enjoy!
Our giveaway includes two prize packages that will be given away later this week. Each prize package includes two t-shirts. We just received the new t-shirts designs and they were so cool looking I thought I’d share them with you. The shirt comes in two colors, blue and brown.
This afternoon at 1PM EST, BluegrassRadio.org will broadcast the just released Dan Tyminski Radio Special.
Produced by Rounder Records and hosted by Brad Paul, the special includes a full hour of interview conversation with Dan Tyminski. Dan and Brad discuss the new CD Wheels, how Dan first became interested in bluegrass music, how he was invited to join AKUS, working on the O Brother soundtrack, and lots more.
So tune in this afternoon at 1PM. Online at BluegrassRadio.org. In South Georgia at 105.1 FM.
Kevin Richardson has left the band to pursue a full-time gig with the Larry Stephenson Band. Lou, Christy and Trevor have expressed their best wishes for Kevin as he makes this change.
Kevin had been with the band for the last six years, holding down the guitar gig and contributing to the vocals. It’s always a challenge to find someone new who fits your band’s style and vision, but Lou is excited about Shannon Slaughter, former guitarist and lead singer for the Lonesome River Band, joining the band.
Shannon will be singing some lead as well as harmony, including the bass vocal part on Lou’s trademark quartet numbers. Lou commented on the vocals after rehearsing with Shannon.
[Singing with Shannon is] a delight, Shannon sings with power, passion and his range is incredible, he is one of the best.
This isn’t the first time the two have sung together. Back in 2001 the two jammed together at the Galax Fiddler’s Convention.
I knew then that this guy could cut his gig, he could hold his own with anybody.
In addition to his vocal contributions, Lou is looking forward to taking advantage of Shannon’s excellent song writing skills when the band begins recording another band project later this year.
Carolina banjo player Trevor Watson has known Shannon for years and is excited about his joining the band.
Shannon and I have been friends for over 15 years, and we have played in many jams together. It’s great to finally be in a full time band together on the road, he is a powerful singer and guitar player who compliments our sound perfectly.
Shannon has been in a number of different bands, but he’s looking forward to performing with Lou Reid & Carolina.
Lou is on a very short list of my favorite vocalists and influences from very early on in my career. Trevor is one my absolute favorite banjo players and best friends. Combine that with Christy’s timing on the bass and excellent singjng‚Ķ.I’m just excited to be a part of Carolina and to play this music that I have listened to for the past 16 years! I look forward to traveling the road and I hope I can bring something to their stage show that everyone enjoys.
Check the band’s website for a show near you. And keep an eye out for them later this fall as they are scheduled to perform as part of an hour long episode of PBS’ Song of the Mountains, to be recorded on November 15 in Marion, VA.
Yesterday we started the Carrie Hassler & Hard Rain promotional in coordination with the release of their latest recording CHHR2.
Mark Roberts of WearBluegrass.com pointed out that one of the prize packages included tickets to a festival this Saturday, while the promotion won’t end until next Wednesday.
We checked with Wichita about borrowing his Time Machine for the winner to use, but it’s scheduled for some maintenance time in the shop. Apparently Smarty drools a lot…
Accordingly, we updated the promotional prize package with tickets to a festival that ends after the promotion ends.
The two festivals included in the prize packages are now:
Cumberland County Fair – Crossville, TN – Aug 22, 2008, at 8:00 PM
Pickin’ in the Panhandle – Hedgesville, WV – Sep 6, 2008, All Day
The original post has been updated to reflect this change. Check there for details about other prizes included in the giveaway, and instructions for entering to win.
The piece is essentially a short biographical work about Noam. It begins with Noam as a young child, his first experiences with the banjo, his first banjo teacher is briefly interviewed, and follows his career through the latest recording by Punch Brothers.
Chris Thile is interviewed as well and my favorite line from the news piece is uttered by Chris in regards to his writing of The Blind Leaving The Blind knowing that Noam was the banjo player he intended to perform the piece.
I didn’t really have to take what I perceived as the limits of the banjo into consideration.
I’ve embedded their video piece here on Bluegrass Today for easy viewing.
