Jamgrass hero Keller Williams is partnering with the Mimi Fishman Foundation to raise money to assist the many victims of the tornadoes that devastated many areas of his home state of Virginia, and other parts of the southern US.
They are offering three different items at auction, with the winner of each not only claiming their purchase, but also determining with Keller which relief organization will receive the funds.
Several of the hard-hit areas have been denied funds from FEMA, putting an extra strain on those trying to assist the people whose homes and livelihoods have been destroyed.
Williams shared a few words about this effort…
“As I watched the dreamy royal wedding, I couldn’t help thinking of the nightmare that was happening in the southeast. The devastation from the tornadoes left me wanting to help in any way possible.
So, in addition to a couple other items, I’m auctioning off my Godin Multiac fretless guitar with synthe access. Her name is “lil’ sexy.” Please check out “Lil’ Sexy Blues” from the Dream record featuring Sanjay Mishra on guitar, Samir Chatterjee on tablas, and me playing this guitar. It has nylon strings and sounds like a warm classical that’s being played with a slide except your fingers are doing the sliding as there are no frets. The fret lines are in place so it plays easily. With a fretless, you simply press the string on the fretline for the proper note to be in tune. It’s a guitar player’s guitar. It’s not a cowboy chord guitar you sit back and strum tunes around the campfire. It’s a thin body guitar, but slightly thicker than an electric. It’s super sexy.
The pick up system is very elaborate with many options. Each string sits in its own cradle. The signal is split two ways and has two separate out puts. One is a regular quarter inch guitar cable that controls the acoustic sounds with volume, treble, mid, and bass control faders. The other is a 13 pin gk cable that goes to the Roland guitar synthesizer. This unit is not included. But it’s bad ass.
Hours of entertainment can be had with a plethora of different sounds. My favorites were the trumpet and fiddle. I would tune the guitar to chord and slide around the low notes on the trumpet patch and would sound like a sexy trombone with no spit. The fiddle is way more realistic sounding with the fretless aspect. Although it’s a thin body, there is a small acoustic port up by the controls that allows you to play and hear her in all her sexiness with out any amplification. I’m letting her go because she was a one song a show guitar. Then when I started flying so much and had to choose who goes and who stays, I obviously chose the guitars I play the most. She is a luxury, specialty that deserves to be played.”
I mean Taylor Swift is among the biggest stars in country music. Sure, she’s strumming on a six string banjo, but the video also features acoustic guitar, mandolin and fiddle.
OK… there are hay bales a’plenty and corny period costumes, but here is a pop culture icon using a bluegrass theme on a certain hit song. With banjos and fiddles! And you can see them!!
Beth Kruvant and Good Footage Productions are at work completing a documentary film on the life and artistic career of David Bromberg. And like so many independent films in the online era, they are using crowdsourcing site indiegogo to attract the necessary investors.
The project is entitled David Bromberg: Musical Maverick, and it covers what the producers describe as the untold story of this icon of the folk, bluegrass and acoustic music scene in the 1970s. Bromberg was a fixture on the festival circuit in his day, headlining shows and sharing the stage with fellow ’70s music figures Doc Watson, Norman Blake, Mike Cross and others.
He was known for his skill on multiple instruments, including fiddle and mandolin, but it was as a guitarist that he is most particularly remembered. He excels at both finger and flatpick styles, and brought a unique, rootsy voice to the table on his signature mix of blues, bluegrass, and old time music.
After an active performing and recording career, David largely disappeared in the 1980s when he undertook a serious study of violinmaking, only to reappear in 2007 with a new album, a new band, and a renewed passion for live music.
Kruvant’s film follows Bromberg through the process of recording his newest CD, Use Me, and looks back over his life in acoustic music through a series of interviews with David, and his many contemporary artists. The record has David in collaboration with John Hiatt, Levon Helm, Los Lobos, Tim O’Brien, Dr. John, Keb’ Mo’ and others.
The Good Footage folks have come up with an interesting twist on the crowdsourcing formula. Instead of just offering artist recordings and copies of the final product as premiums for online donors, they are entering all their small investors into a raffle to win a Martin D-16 guitar, autographed by David.
Here’s a precious piece of Americana to ward off the evil spirits of Friday the 13th.
A pair of good friends and professional illustrators, Guy Francis and Stacy Curtis, both took up the banjo in the Spring of 2010. Each had blogs to promote their art, and Guy – who had purchased his banjo after Stacy got his – posted a banjo picking pig on his site and declared “the duel is on!”
Curtis responded in kind, as did Francis, and before long the two banjo buddies created a web site to continue their drawing duel, and invited other artists to join in the fun. Dueling Banjo Pigs now features more than 500 illustrations and other form of pig pickin’ art.
Set aside a few minutes and peruse these many clever illustrations, and if you want a piece of the action, Guy and Stacy are always looking for new submissions.
From October 1, 2010 through to the end of September 2011, we will, each day, celebrate the life of Bill Monroe by sharing information about him and those people who are associated with his life and music career. This information will include births and deaths; recording sessions; single, LP and CD release dates; and other interesting tidbits. Richard F. Thompson is responsible for the research and compilation of this information. We invite readers to share any tidbits, photos or memories you would like us to include.
May 12, 1949 Joseph Calvin ‘Butch’ Robins was born in Lebanon, southwest Virginia. *
May 12, 1967 Doug Dillard played, as fill-in on banjo, with the Blue Grass Boys.
May 12, 2006 Book published – Bean Blossom: Its People and Its Music [Jim Peva] Infinity Publishing **
* Banjoist Butch Robins was a Blue Grass Boy briefly in June 1967, then from September 1977 to July 1981.
He participated in several recording sessions while with Bill Monroe. The first few of these produced cuts for the album Bill & James Monroe: Together Again (MCA 2367). Robins also played on Bean Blossom ’79 (MCA 3209) and back in the studio during three sessions for the Master of Bluegrass LP (MCA 5214).
In addition to working for Bill Monroe, Robins has had a mixture of jobs, including playing guitar with Snuffy Jenkins and Pappy Sherrill, banjo with Charlie Moore and the Dixie Partners, taking on the bass duties for New Grass Revival, a spell with Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper, and another with Jim & Jesse, before leading the Bluegrass Band and recording a few albums for the Hay Holler label.
He recorded three solo albums for Rounder Records. Another solo album, Grounded Centered Focused, also for Hay Holler Records, features some of Bill Monroe’s last studio recordings.
Robins’ autobiography, What I Know ‘Bout What I Know: The Musical Life of an Itinerant Banjo Player, published in 2003, relates many of his experiences while a Blue Grass Boy.
** Bean Blossom: Its People and Its Music ISBN: 0-7414-3210-2
This photographic history of tiny Bean Blossom Indiana highlights many of the interesting people, including Bill Monroe, who have contributed to its success as a venue for the performance of music, including bluegrass, since 1940. The oldest continuous annual bluegrass music festival in the world is held here every year in the month of June. Now played all over the world, bluegrass music has become a unifying force between people of very different backgrounds and Bean Blossom is an important center of this unifying force. The author includes a short story about the friendship between his family and Bill Monroe. (Product description)
Nechville Musical Products will celebrate Tom Nechville’s 25 years of building innovative banjos with a special, limited-edition version of their popular Phantom model.
Only 25 of these instruments will be built, which will be called the Nechville XXV. Tom says that the idea was to incorporate all of the most requested features he has received from his loyal customers, and create what he calls his own ultimate banjo.
Like all the Phantoms, the XXV will incorporate the Nechville Heli-Mount pot assembly, tunneled 5th string and compound radius fingerboard. It will be made with their new Timbr-Tronic block cocobolo tone ring, and hydraulically mounted Renaissance head. Tom likes both the way the wooden tone ring looks beneath the translucent head, and feels that it also accentuates the sound with this combination.
The neck and resonator will be made with figured maple, finished in a natural stain, with a cocobolo fingerboard. The price for the Nechville XXV is quoted at $4350.
Orders will be started on a first come, first served basis. Contact Nechville for more details.
Gone Beserk, written by Lee Marcus and performed by Dan Menzone on his Frostbite CD, took the top prize. Dan was assisted on this track by Adam Steffey on mandolin, Rob Ickes on reso, Rickie Simpkins on fiddle, Ronnie Simpkins on bass, and Wyatt Rice (who also produced) on guitar.
Cherryholmes has had quite a run of late. Over the past ten years, we’ve watched them go from a cute family bluegrass band of teen siblings, to a writing, touring and recording powerhouse of serious pickers and singers with their own ideas about how the music should be played.
The group formed in 1999 as a family-bonding exercise after Jere and Sandy Cherryholmes lost their oldest daughter Shelly when she was only 20 years old. Before long they found themselves performing informally around southern California, and by 2003 they had their first guest spot on the Grand Ole Opry.
In January of 2011, after 7 albums, 4 Grammy nominations, an IBMA Entertainer of the Year award, and thousands of miles on the road, they announced that Cherryholmes would disband in the Spring.
Our buddy Tim White spent a few minutes with Jere and Sandy this past Saturday at HoustonFest in Galax, VA, the site of their final performance. Tim had featured the band previously on Song Of The Mountains, the nationally syndicated PBS program he hosts from nearby Marion, and asked Sandy if they had ever anticipated such a run of success when they started up.
“No… we had no plans on having a band. That’s probably the part of our experience that’s different from most family groups. We took these little kids we had, and tried to teach them bluegrass because we thought that they could actually play it. We figured that if they could all learn a chord or two, we could have a family jam.
We just wanted to do something that would bring them closer to us, and help them get over some of the rough spots back then, when they lost their sister. We never dreamed of anything more than that.”
So why bring it all to an end?
Sandy: “We talked about all this a while back, and it was a mutual decision. We are a traditional family. I’m a stay-at-home mom; we are home schoolers. We raised our kids to be family people, and we realized along the way that we were going to have a conflict in values within our own family. As our family grows, we can’t make them do something we felt was not right.
I mean if you have girls that end up getting married at some point, you can’t tell them that they are going to tour with you and their husbands are going to have to stay home, because I would never have done it.
And we also realized that they may have a different vision. They were children when we signed on to this, and now they’re adults. One of them is married, one is getting married in a couple of weeks, and Jere just got the idea that we need to put this on the table for them and ask ‘What do you guys want? We can’t just keep tying you guys up year after year if it’s not what you really want to do.’
He went and talked to them and said ‘I think we need to rethink this,’ and they all ended up agreeing with him. So we set a date.
They’re excited – they get to go off and be on their own. And were excited – we get to be alone for the first time in years and years.”
Tim: How do you feel about it, honestly. How does it make you feel?
Jere: “It’s bittersweet. It’s been totally engulfing for Sandy and I this past 8 years, especially managing a business. I drive the bus, and have put 675,000 miles on it. We had to always be planning a year and a half out, making all the arrangements, and then having the anxiety of knowing that you can’t replace band members. Our sound is our sound, and it can only be played by us. Nobody wants to pay for the Cherryholmes with a whole bunch of other people in the band!
It’s a shocker in a way, that we’re not going to have this to do, but we’re at peace with it. Everybody’s going to be involved in music in some way, shape or form. Even Sandy and I are going to find people to play with us just for fun.”
Tim reminded them that “just for fun” what they said the last time he and Sandy started playing.
Sandy: “Who knows? This could get exciting! There are a lot of artists who were doing the pop stuff back in the ’80s, and now they’re our age and are doing Americana. So we’re going to hunt them out! You never know what we’ll do.”
And what about younger members of the clan?
Sandy: “They all have their own things. Molly’s working on a different kind of music she’s trying to promote. She has some connections back in California she might pursue, and she’s gung ho. She wants to do music.
BJ may be going to work in one of those theaters in Myrtle Beach. They’ve called him and he’s going out there this week. If it works out, he may end up getting a job in a really nice theater.
Cia doesn’t really have any set plans, and Skip is getting married and doing construction, but he may do some bluegrass on the side.”
But all of this could change. Every week when I talk to them they have a different thing they’re doing.”
Tim: Any last thoughts or comments as you bring Cherryholmes to a close?
Jere: “I just want to take time to sincerely thank people. Fans are hard to come by, and we have so many. We actually call them friends – we don’t like to call them fans. They’ve been so supportive… given their love to us. And energy… If there is energy flowing from the audience onto you, it energizes you, and you can put out even more. I’m sure that most of the inspirational performances we’ve ever done were because we had such a great audience.
We do appreciate everyone in the industry and in our fan base that have been such a friend and a support. We are deeply thankful for that.”
Sandy: “I just want to say thank you to everyone who has encouraged the family along the way. And the professionals who have had faith in us and encouraged us – not the least of which Ricky Skaggs, and Skaggs Family Records. He’s been wonderful, wonderful to us.”
Jere: “And Allen Mills!”
Sandy: “Allen Mills is who got us here. He’s the one who got us to Galax the first time. Him and Dempsey back in 2000, 2001… they met us here both years. And he’s the one who planted the seed and said in ’02 that if you decide to leave and come out east, you call me and I’ll help you, and this is one of the places he brought us, in Galax.
Jere: “I know in some kinds of music it’s kind of cutthroat, and people don’t want to see you succeed. In this kind of music, everybody wants everybody to do the best. And so the professionals we met along the way – Rhonda Vincent, James King, Larry Cordle, and people like that – have always been so encouraging. If they have something, they want to share it with you, and then you can take it and do what you do with it. I think that’s a real tribute to this kind of music.”
Tim: What about reunion shows in the future?
Sandy: “We’ve had a lot of requests already. We will have an active web site to keep everyone updated about what we are all doing, and any shows we might do together.”
And so it ends. So long, Cherryholmes. It was great while it lasted.
David Morris will be on the ground this weekend at the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival, reporting back on the 62nd iteration of this popular Pennsylvania event.
The festival has been going since 1979 when it was founded by Joe Cornett and his wife Lil. Now run by their daughter and her husband, Rich and Cyndie Cornett Winkelmann, Gettysburg has been a destination for bluegrass lovers Spring and Fall for more than 30 years.
David will give us his impressions of the fest, and of what we hope will be JD Crowe’s triumphant return to the stage after a serious fall put him out of commission back in February. Gettysburg will also mark the first performance of Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper since the lineup was reshuffled earlier this week and, if all goes well, David will try to speak to him about his plans going forward.
There’s quite a roster of talent and everything get’s started on Thursday (5/12). Let’s hope the weather is good!
From October 1, 2010 through to the end of September 2011, we will, each day, celebrate the life of Bill Monroe by sharing information about him and those people who are associated with his life and music career. This information will include births and deaths; recording sessions; single, LP and CD release dates; and other interesting tidbits. Richard F. Thompson is responsible for the research and compilation of this information. We invite readers to share any tidbits, photos or memories you would like us to include.
May 11, 1896 Orville H Gibson applied for a patent for his new style mandolins. *
May 11, 1979 Lester Flatt died of cerebral haemorrhage, in the Baptist Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, age 64. **
May 11, 1985 Bill Monroe was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Kentucky, Lexington, in recognition of his life’s work.
May 11, 1989 Recorded event – Live From Mountain Stage, Charleston, West Virginia, was broadcast. ***
May 11, 1999 CD released – Bill Monroe – Bill Monroe: Live From Mountain Stage (Blue Plate Music BPM 400) ***
* Gibson, who was born in 1856 near Chateaugay, New York, lent his name to the archetypal, flatback bluegrass mandolin.
Later developments at Gibson brought forth the F-5 model which Bill Monroe used in his music that redefined the role of the instrument.
** Guitarist and singer Lester Flatt was a member of the ‘classic’ Blue Grass Boys band that cast the bluegrass mould in 1946.
Later, he enjoyed a long association with another former Blue Grass Boy, banjo ace Earl Scruggs. From 1948 through to 1969 Flatt and Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys were one of the most popular and successful bands in bluegrass music, bringing a considerable repertoire of great new songs and superb instrumentals.
When Scruggs went on to work with his sons in a progressive bluegrass band, Lester Flatt took most of the Foggy Mountain Boys and started the Nashville Grass. His role as the lead singer and rhythm guitar player in each of these seminal groups helped define the sound of traditional bluegrass music. Flatt’s rich voice is unmistakable on hundreds of recordings.
Among the many songs that Lester Flatt composed are My Cabin in Caroline, I’ll Never Shed Another Tear, Down the Road, Head Over Heels in Love with You, Why Did You Wander, I’m Gonna Sleep with One Eye Open, God Loves His Children, Get in Line, Brother, I’m Going to Make Heaven My Home, I’m Working on a Road to Gloryland, Be Ready for Tomorrow May Never Come, Little Girl [of Mine] in Tennessee, Don’t Get Above Your Raisin’, Cabin on the Hill and The Old Home Town.
He also co-wrote No Mother or Dad with Curly Seckler.
In 1985 Flatt and Scruggs were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and in 1991 they were inaugural inductees into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.
He is remembered in his home town with the Lester Flatt Memorial Bluegrass Day being part of Sparta’s annual Liberty Square Celebration, and is buried in the city’s Oaklawn Memorial Cemetery.
*** Bill Monroe – Bill Monroe: Live From Mountain Stage, 13 tracks
This rousing May 1989 date from Charleston, West Virginia, features the wily veteran Clarence ‘Tater’ Tate on fiddle and hits all the essential stops of a Monroe show: glorious gospel harmonies (Beautiful Life, Working on a Building), fierce mandolin showcases for the master (Southern Flavor, Raw Hide), and a selection of Monroe’s signature tunes (Uncle Pen, Blue Moon of Kentucky). Sure, Monroe’s high tenor may not be what it was in his heyday–he was nearly 78 years old for god’s sake–but try listening to his falsetto moans and wails on Mule Skinner Blues without getting the gooseflesh.
Marc Greilsamer
Track listing – My Sweet Blue-Eyed Darlin’, Mule Skinner Blues, Southern Flavor, Beautiful Life, My Blue Eyes from Heaven, Northern White Clouds, Uncle Pen, Blue Moon of Kentucky, Sugar Loaf Mountain, Old Home Town, I’m Working on a Building, Raw Hide and Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms.
