Category: The B

…continues this week, Sunday Sept 27 with;

“TrueGrass”

with guest… Stacy Philips!!

“All out, in your face bluegrass”

5:00-8:00 PM

539 Broad St
Hartford, Ct 06106
860-246-1222

bigappleachia@gmail.com for information!

WSM Radio will once again broadcast the performance of Donna Ulisse and her band The Poor Mountain Boys from Cumberland Caverns for the Bluegrass Underground show. The broadcast will begin at 5:00 p.m. CST on Saturday, September 19, 2009 just before the Grand Ole Opry warm-up show airs.  Bluegrass music lovers from all over the world can tune in and listen online at www.wsmonline.com  or if they are in the Nashville listening area they can tune in to 650 AM on their radios.

The show was taped when Ulisse and her band played Bluegrass Underground with Russell Moore and IIIrd Tyme Out.

Bluegrass Underground is a radio show recorded live 333 feet below ground at Cumberland Caverns in McMinnville, Tn inside of what was named by the first people to behold the natural amphitheatre, The Volcano Room. Here water and time entwined 3.5 million years ago to create one of the most acoustically pure natural spaces on earth. No man-made sound reaches the Volcano Room and the living rock hued amid the eons is jagged and uneven, providing limited echo.

Watermelon Park – September 24-26, 2009 РBerryville, VA

 

Tradition runs deep at Watermelon Park Fest, as just about any current Bluegrass or Country artists could tell you. She was, according to most, the first multi-day bluegrass festival in history, happening first sometime in the early 1960’s. Since then she has been host to a staggering lineup of now legendary performers including The Carter Family, Bill Monroe, Johnny Cash, Flat & Scruggs, Patsy Cline, and The Stanley Brothers, to name but a few.

 

So the folks who come to Watermelon Park Fest are expecting to see some great traditional music; and this they shall. This year’s artists were all selected for their dedication and respect to this craft. But they were also selected because they don’t just mimic heirloom sounds from the past, but rather because they take its inspiration, and contribute something brand new to the whole. And this not only honors traditional music, it sustains its continuance in our culture.

 

This year’s Watermelon Park Fest lineup includes the bluegrass and old-time of The Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band, Tim O’Brien, Bruce Molsky, Larry Keel & Natural Bridge, Randy Waller & The Country Gentlemen, Furnace Mountain Band, Danny Knicely’s Bluegrass and Beyond, The Whiskey Rebellion, Walker’s Run, The Fox Hunt, The Speakeasy Boys, Chesham Creek, and the Acoustic Burgoo; the gypsy swing and folk jazz of The Woodshedders, and Taarka; the Cajun sounds of Cedric Watson and Bijou Creole; and the side stage always brings some great surprises.

 

New this year is the Watermelon Park Fest Band Contest, where bands will compete for a prime-time performance slot this year, paid slots for next year’s fest, and more. Additional entertainment includes The Fairbuilt Guitar Pickin’ Contest, open jams, Cajun, old-time, and freestyle dances, workshops, kid’s activities, environmental displays and films, food and craft vendors, plus tons of outdoor activities including swimming, fishing, canoeing, tubing, hiking, biking, and more.

 

Once again, Watermelon Park Fest will be powered entirely by Wind. They won’t have wind turbines onsite, but have purchased Renewable Energy Certificates from a company called Clean Currents, the same company that powers My Organic Market. It will also feature locally provided and organic food, recycling, free filtered water, and biodegradable cups and dishes made of corn.

 

Earlybird Tickets are available through August 31st at $50 for the Weekend (Thurs-Sun). On September 1st ticket prices become $70 for the Weekend (Thurs-Sun). Per day tickets are $40 each. Children 12 and under are FREE. This year’s event also offers FREE CAMPING with Admission (on ticket night only). Water and Electric Hookups available at $50 for Thursday through Sunday ‚Äì RV Reservations available online only.

 

Advance Tickets are available at JV Music in Berryville, VA; The Guitar Studio in Winchester, VA; Melodee Music in Leesburg, VA; and at Watermelon Park in Berryville, VA; and online at www.watermelonparkfest.com.

 

For more information please call 540-955-1621 or email mail@shepherdsford.com.

Come join this unique and exciting bluegrass event which raises money for the wildlife refuge in Ridgefield, Washington.
The event features bluegrass shows, bluegrass jams, good food and good times, all in the name of protecting wildlife.

The music starts at 11 AM and continues non-stop until 10 PM. Bands include the Urban Monroes, Deadwood Revival, the Puddletown Ramblers, Small Town Bluegrass and more.  Several venues in town will host bluegrass jams as well. It will be a blast! Hope you can make it!
Date: Oct 10th, 2009 Ridgefield, Washington
Event-Bluegrass and Birdfest
Place-The Old Liberty Theater and other venues in town
Time-11 AM to 10 PM
Address-Old Liberty Theater -115 N Main Ave Ridgefield WA
Website- http://www.ridgefieldfriends.org/bluegrass.html

"Amy Gallatin and Stillwaters "

"Acoustic Country and Folk, with a touch of Bluegrass"

Sunday. Sept 20, 2009, 5:00 PM
At THE FIREBOX RESTAURANT
539 Broad St., Hartford, CT. 5:00-8:30 PM.
Sunday Night Bluegrass Series
860-246-1222
With your hosts: Nick Novia-Joe DeLillo

http://www.amygallatin.com

The powerhouse duo of Amy Gallatin and renowned resophonic guitarist Roger Williams joined forces a few years ago to explore their mutual love of country standards, served up with an acoustic treatment in the bluegrass vein. The result is a toe-tapping blend of heartfelt vocals, soaring harmonies and red-hot picking, traditional yet modern and distinct.

Americana radio host Ed McKeon says: “Amy’s vocals, with the power and tone of her voice, are tempered by Roger’s baritone which has been sanded smooth by cigarettes and, shall we say, maturity. The song selections are perfect, the harmonies glorious, the sentiments wonderfully maudlin (like any good old country song).”

The two are enhanced by the recent addition of Roger’s son J.D., who–in the time-honored tradition of musical consanguinity–complements his father’s style perfectly, and by veteran bassist John Urbanik, who provides an additional texture to the vocal harmonies.

The Firebox Restaurant
"The friendliest room in bluegrass!"

It’s free‚Ķbut we "strongly encourage “pass the hat/boot.”

http://www.fireboxrestaurant.com/

Half price bottled wine!
The Firebox features specials…$4.00 pints of locally brewed
drafts! $15.00 “growlers”‚Ķthat’s a ¬? gallon of beer!!!

There is a “special discounted “bar” menu for Sunday
nights…and the foods are fresh and delicious!
Bands…wanna play the Firebox?? Contact us!

Updated coming events:

Sep 20-Amy Gallatin and Stillwaters-CT
Sep 27-TrueGrass-CT

Oct 04-Too Blue-CT/NY
Oct 11-North by Northeast-VT/CT
Oct 18-BigApple’achia-NYC
Oct 25-No bluegrass-wedding

Nov 01-HOE
Nov 08-TrueGrass-CT
Nov 15-Stillhouse Jammers-NH
Nov 22-Birch Benders-NH
Nov 29-BigApple’achia-NYC

Dec 06-TrueGrass-CT
Dec 13-Appalachian Still-MA

16^th Annual East Troy, WI Bluegrass Festival

Sept 12-13, 2009

  After wanting to attend this festival for the last three years, I was finally able to go. What a weekend it was. Everything was in place: the weather, the crowd, the music and the musicians. Plus being able to hand out WAMU cards and stickers let me start more conversations than I normally would have.

     It was a Norman Rockwell setting or as close to one as you could find for a September day in Wisconsin. East Troy still has the old school charm about it with the town square right smack in the center of the town. Bring your lawn chairs and kick back for a whole weekend of music, food and family fun with free admission.

The day started with a fiddle contest and then lead to the first band Cream City Bluegrass followed by Sparetime Bluegrass. The next event was the band scramble that I threw my name in for the first time. I made some new friends and got to perform in front about 500 or more people. I figured I could slide by and just play rhythm while somebody else sang. Didn’t happen, no one else wanted to sing so up I went and had a greattime doing it. Right after the band scramble was the WAMI award wining bluegrass band from Milwaukee called the Liberty Bluegrass Band. By the end of their set, their table was almost cleared of every CD they had brought with to sell. Their new album called "Going Burlap" sold out fast. One of the songs that the crowd really loved was called "Black Lung". It was transposed from a poem by Hazel Dickens. With the way things are going for them, I expect to see them starting a tour very soon.

Next up was the headliner, Charlie Sizemore. If this could have been filmed in black and white it would have looked like one of the old time caravans as their tour bus pulled up to the town square. They dressed, prepped, and tuned on the sidewalk next to the bus and then walked the 40 yards right to the stage. And what a great show they put on. My favorite was the song "Silver Bugle". To hear that done live adds such a ghostly affect it captivated the audience. To close their show they did their big hit "I want to be in Alison’s Band" This finished out a great Saturday.

One thing I should also mention is the constant jam sessions that go on in the opposite side of the park. When the bands are changing on stage you can always stroll through the square and listen to quality music all day long.

    Sunday started out with a blessed gospel service by the Burie family. The crowd looked like it never left from Saturday with the amount of people there so early on a Sunday morning. The Buries have the whole package going for them: an 11 year old mandolin player that can be seen in an earlier piucture playing a dog house bass three times his size. Two very talented daughters that along with their mother have great three part harmony, a bass player and a talented banjo/dobro player that are all under 16 years old.

Up next was the banjo, mandolin, and guitar contests. This was the first time I ever was able to sit and enjoy one of these up close. And what a treat it was. I will cut right to the star of this contest that I found out lives just up the road from my home town. Her name is Macyn Taylor who is just fifteen years old. She stunned the crowd with her skills on the guitar and by all rights, took the guitar competition hands down. Not to take anything away from any of the other people who competed against her, but to say this girl has got mad skills is an under statement! Remember her name, Macyn Taylor.

 

Macyn Taylor

    The band line up for the rest of the day was as follows: On Eagles Wings, Roller Mills, Front Porch Boys, and New Pioneers. Who all played to a max crowd that was starting to fill up the street that was closed just to accommodate the over flow crowd. The headliner on Sunday was GrassTowne. But being called away, I was not able to make the last show. As I was leaving, the sidewalk flow was going the other way to the stage area for Grasstowne. I was even questioned by several people as to why I was leaving? What could I do, it was time to go.

    In closing this was a great family friendly time that one should plan trip to Wisconsin for. Weather is the only factor that could throw a wrench in the whole thing. But they do have a back up plan to move to an indoor venue if need be. The show must go on!

By Sunday afternoon I felt like he looked.

www.easttroybluegrass.com

Thank you

Jim Bergles

WAMU Street team

Time for Three

Performance Dates

Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. @ The Meyerhoff

Friday, September 25, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. @ The Meyerhoff

Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. @ Strathmore

Marin Alsop, conductor

Time for Three:

Zachary De Pue, violin

Nicolas Kendall, violin

Ranaan Meyer, double bass

Brahms – Hungarian Dances
Higdon – Concerto 4-3
Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 4

Symphony meets bluegrass in this effervescent program of charm and fancy. Jennifer Higdon’s groundbreaking concerto, written for the oh-so-much-fun trio Time for Three, builds on one of America’s great folk-country traditions, with a symphonic hoe-down that will leave you smiling. The concert also features some of Brahms’ most delightful Hungarian Dances and concludes with the energetic and triumphant music of Tchaikovsky’s fate-filled Symphony No. 4.

Click here to watch Time for Three performing an excerpt from Concerto 4-3 during an interview with Jennifer Higdon.

www.bsomusic.org

I listen to as many bluegrass songs and artists as I can, usually on YouTube.  I got frustrated with the search functions on YouTube so I created a website to make it easier to find “the best” of bluegrass music that is available.  It is designed for bluegrass fans and “friends” of bluegrass fans.

 

Check out www.bluegrassonthetube.com  It is a free site, plus there is a subscriber service (also free) that sends a new bluegrass music video each day.

 

Currently there are over 650 videos in the library and over 190 artists.  In the six months I’ve had the site up it has been used by visitors from over 60 countries worldwide.  (
Bluegrass is truly international).

 

www.bluegrassonthetube.com

The Back Creek Valley Boys have posted blogs on their MySpace page with updates about Pickin’ in the Panhandle and the addition of fiddle player Wayne Masters.  Here are excerpts from the blog updates:

The Back Creek Valley Boys had a GREAT time Saturday at Pickin’ in the Panhandle – the West Virginia State BBQ & Bluegrass Festival. The event was handled very professionally and was well promoted. The festival drew a big crowd, but the atmosphere was very friendly and perfect for a weekend of bluegrass music.

We played on the Pickin’ Porch stage twice on Saturday. We tended to hang out there most of the time when we weren’t playing – because the other bands there were excellent. We heard some very impressive traditional bluegrass, as well as some young kids who were almost too good on their instruments. It was great to hear.

We visited the main stage a few times to check out the bands there. We preferred the more traditional groups that played straight-up bluegrass on the main stage, but they all seemed to put on a great show. The crowd loved it.

Earlier in the day, there was a pretty good crowd at the festival. It was crowded in certain areas, but there was still open spaces to go and listen to the music from a distance. As evening approached, the grounds filled up in anticipation of the more well-known acts and headliners. Still, the crowd was very friendly from what we encountered.

The food was excellent, and the vendors were great. In addition to doing an excellent job of promoting bluegrass, the Convention & Visitors Bureau also provided a great outlet for the vendors and sponsors who support bluegrass music and festivals. You couldn’t ask for better.

The Back Creek Valley Boys also were proud to introduce our new fiddle player at the festival… WAYNE MASTERS.

Wayne jammed with us at Cactus Flats last Sunday, and we welcomed him into the band on Friday.  The next day, Wayne joined us for his first official show – at our biggest show yet – Pickin’ in the Panhandle!

Between shows on Saturday, Wayne entered the fiddle contest and won second place.  We told him that he should go to school and become a classically-trained violinist so that he can take first prize at festival competitions.   But until then, we’re happy with second place out of the entire festival.  Not too bad…

We ended our second set by featuring Wayne on “The Orange Blossom Special”.  Wayne won over the crowd effortlessly!

Wayne is an old-time fiddle player from Bakersville, North Carolina.  He now makes his home in Clear Spring, Maryland.

We hope you’ll come out to our upcoming shows and join us in welcoming Wayne!

Come and join us for our 9th annual Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion, September 18th – 20th in down town Bristol Virginia/Tennessee.  Three outdoor main stages and 17 indoor stages. We are Honored to be named the “Best Destination Event of the Year for 2009” for the State of Virginia by the Virginia Association of Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Here are just a few of the artist performing at this years festival …. The Dan Tyminski Band, Michael Cleveland & Flame Keeper, Cadillac Sky, Dailey & Vincent, Dale Ann Bradley, Kim Fox, Darrell Scott, Jim Lauderdale, John Cowan, Larry Keel & Natural Bridge, Peter Rowan, The Roan Mountain Hilltoppers, Sierra Hull & Highway 111, The Steeldrivers, Tim O’Brien, Patty Loveless, Gene Watson and Many, Many More.

Please visit us on the web at Bristolrhythm.com and see the complete list of artist performing at this year’s Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion. Weekend passes are only $40!