Breaking News Archives - Page 2 of 1022

IBMA introduces the Leadership Bluegrass class of 2025

The International Bluegrass Music Association has announced the 2025 class invited to attend their annual Leadership Bluegrass course, held March 10-12 in Nashville. This year marks the 25th anniversary of this groundbreaking course, designed to identify and facilitate future leaders in the bluegrass community

Participants are chosen in a competitive process to be a part of this educational and networking experience, where they meet and learn from existing industry leaders, and from one another.

IBMA Executive Director Ken White speaks highly of this group.

“This year’s Leadership Bluegrass class is as strong as any I’ve seen. The large number of diverse and high-quality applicants is quite a statement about the impressive qualifications of those selected, and the reputation of the program.

Our association’s mission is to connect, educate, and empower bluegrass professionals, and IBMA’s Leadership Bluegrass continues to be one of the most important professional development programs in the bluegrass music industry.

Participation in this class, and future alumni activities, is an impactful commitment to one’s career, the IBMA, and the bluegrass community. Congratulations to the Class of 2025!”

Chosen for 2025 are:

Katherine Bestwick – Appalachian Fiddle & Bluegrass Association (Zion Grove, PA)
Jennifer Brooke – Floyd Music School, LLC (Floyd, VA)
Pamela Brown – Oregon Bluegrass Association / Shaniko Music Sanctuary (Shaniko, OR)
Trudy Chandler – Nick Chandler and Delivered (Weaverville, NC)
Sofia Chiarandini – Jacob’s Ladder / Tufts University (Cambridge, MA)
Joseph Cornett – Billy Blue Music Publishing (White House, TN)
Elizabeth Dewey – International Bluegrass Music Association (Nashville, TN)
Darren Eedens – Taff Rapids / Self (Cardiff, Wales)
Donna Harrison – Chattanooga Tourism Co. (Chattanooga, TN)
Jenny Hirt – Durango Bluegrass Meltdown / KSUT Public Radio (Durango, CO)
Sara Johnson – Vivid Events / Pickin’ In The Peaches Music Festival (Augusta, GA)
Ella Jordan – Ella Jordan Music (Nashville, TN)
Kirk Kenney – China Bluegrass Network (Shanghai, China)
Crystal Lariza – Never Come Down (Hood River, OR)
Jon Lundbom – Central Texas Bluegrass Association (Austin, TX)
Erin Moorman – Syntax Creative (Franklin, TN)
Robbie Morris – Grasstime (Nashville, TN)
Caroline Owens – Billy Blue Records / Billy Blue Publishing (Denton, NC)
Aynsley Porchak – East Tennessee State University (Gate City, VA)
Nancy Posey – Music In Community Network (Brentwood, TN)
Joshua Rilko – Touring Musician (Nashville, TN)
Erin Rouse – Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum (Owensboro, KY)
Mona Salyer – IBMA Foundation Board (Bristol, VA)
Danny Stewart Jr. – U.S. Navy Band / Turtle Hill Banjo Co. / Annapolis Bluegrass (Edgewater, MD)
Zachary Taylor – Planning Stages Inc. (Hixson, TN)
Ross Willits – Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Association (Roseville, MN)

There is no fee to take part in Leadership Bluegrass, but class members pay their own room and board if they live outside Nashville.

More information about the program, and its more than 500 graduates, can be found online.

Lee Zimmerman interviewed by the Library of Congress

Our very own Lee Zimmerman, who contributes reviews, interviews, and our twice-monthly Bluegrass Beyond Borders column, was recently interviewed by the Library of Congress about his book, Americana Music – Voices, Visionaries & Pioneers of an Honest Sound, published by Texas A&M University Press in 2019.

In their first question, the interviewer asked if Lee could define the term, “Americana Music.”

And he responded…

“Well, that’s an excellent question to begin with. In writing this book, I had to tackle that question because Americana tends to mean different things to different people. Some people think of it as another form of country music and they say, “I don’t like country music.” But I would say that Americana is a very, very wide umbrella, and Americana can encompass roots music, music from the Heartland, R&B, gospel. It’s a very wide umbrella. I would say as well, that Americana’s roots go back to the beginnings of this nation’s history. I mean, to me, Stephen Foster was the essence of Americana. The early settlers who came here and had these songs, for example, from the Civil War—When Johnny Comes Marching Home to The Battle Hymn of the Republic—those were undoubtedly Americana music. So, I think to sum it up, I would say that Americana music is a sound that reflects the essence of our nation’s history and culture.

Now, in a broader sense, Americana has also been adopted and adapted by musicians from other countries. In the UK, there’s a Americana association [Americana Music Association UK]. I do a column for a publication called Bluegrass Today, and the column is called Bluegrass Beyond Borders. That’s a regular column that I do. I look beyond our shores—to England, to France, to Japan, to Australia, and at the musicians that are making music.

I’ll say that how it began, if you really want to look at it, Americana began in the British Isles, in Ireland, in Scotland. When the settlers came over here and settled in Appalachia, they brought those musical traditions with them. So, we can’t say that Americana is strictly an American genre because, like everything, it came from somewhere else. It even came from Africa. The people that came over here on the slave ships brought the banjo. The banjo is an African instrument. So, [Americana] is a very complex and multi-hued form of music, which took its influence and essence from afar, and yet made it something that we can claim here, and which has now been exported overseas.

So, to answer your question, there’s really no succinct answer. There really isn’t. You can see examples of what Americana is now. You look at people like the War and Treaty or Billy Strings, or the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. In the book, I go back even further to the Everly Brothers and Elvis and Johnny Cash. They were more or less the pioneers of modern Americana, all of those people.

So, it’s a very wide umbrella. When I have friends who say, “I don’t like country music,” I say, “Well, you’re not really listening. You like blues, it’s blues. You like gospel, you like soul. It’s all in the mix in Americana.”

The entire interview is transcribed online.

Banjo jewelry just in time for Valentine’s Day

The good folks with Landis Studios in Arkansas, the skilled silversmiths who offer the custom engraved sterling silver finger picks, have brought out new jewelry for your favorite banjo Valentines.

First up is a silver-plated brass banjo pendant, an exquisitely-detailed miniature with visible frets, inlay markers, bridge, tailpiece, armrest, resonator, tuners, and hooks. There is even a Landis script in the headstock. It can be purchased for $30 from the Studios’ web site on either satin cord to be worn around the neck, or on a key chain.

Also new are their micro banjo sterling silver earrings, slightly less detailed given their tiny size, but still clearly identifiable as five strings. Each banjo comes on an ear wire, but they will soon also have them on split rings and latch back ear loops. They sell for $30 each, or $55 for a pair online.

Landis also has pewter miniatures for mandolin, guitar, reso-guitar, and fiddle, plus a wide range of other designs struck in metal.

You can see all they have available by visiting them online.

I Still Believe in the Blood from Mark Houser & Bluegrass Drive

The genesis of Gospel Train, the latest release from Mark Houser & Bluegrass Drive, is a story in itself, quite separate from the fine music it contains.

Houser, a talented songwriter and singer, was rocked last spring by a diagnosis of Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer. As we all would, he surrounded himself with his family, made his peace with God, and headed into treatment. With cancer this advanced, the future can look bleak indeed, but Mark felt he had a promise to keep.

Some years ago, when he signed with Rural Rhythm Records, Houser made a pledge that his third album would be a gospel project. But would he be able to hold to his word? So he set quickly to work with his producer, Rick Herring, to get started on Gospel Train. They worked backwards, so to speak, cutting guitar and vocal tracks first, as Mark was unsure of how well his health would stand up, but they finished the record, and Houser is still standing.

They recorded with some top flight Nashville artists: Wanda Vick on fiddle, viola, reso-guitar and banjo; Shaun Richardson on guitar, mandolin, and banjo; Andy Leftwich on mandolin and fiddle, and Mark Fain on bass. Herring added guitar and background vocals, as did Keith Sewell. Rhonda Vincent and Darin & Brooke Aldridge make guest appearances.

Here’s a listen to the opening track, one called I Still Believe in the Blood, which Mark wrote with Jimmy Bilbrey. It recalls singing with his family growing up, and the many old songs that still bring comfort and peace.

Houser says that he and his wife were traveling out west when the notion first popped up.

“It was in Colorado that the idea came to me for this song. I held on to it for a few days, then called my long-time songwriting buddy, Jimmy Bilbrey, to share the idea. He nailed the choruses with the names of all of these old hymns, and changed them with each verse making this one a really fun song.”

Have a listen…

Gospel Train is available from the popular download and streaming services online, and as an autographed audio CD or vinyl LP directly from the artist.

Radio programmers will find the tracks at AirPlay Direct.

Attend a Blue Highway live album taping in March

Blue Highway will be celebrating their 30th anniversary as a bluegrass band, and recording a live album, over the course of two nights at the end of March.

These very special concerts will be held at the Martin Center for the Arts on the campus of East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, TN, sponsored in part by the ETSU Bluegrass, Old Time, and Roots Music Studies program.

Like most university theaters, the site of the Powell Recital Hall where the shows will be held are not large, but well equipped for recording. Therefore, ticket availability is low, so those interested in attending and being part of a live recording should act quickly.

A number of very special guests will also be featured during the shows, which are scheduled for March 27-28. Blue Highway will perform songs from across their three decade career for this retrospective project. They are sure to be night’s to remember!

Tickets are available now online.

Bayla Davis, newest Gold Tone endorser

Bayla Davis with her new custom Gold Tone open back banjo

Gold Tone Music Group has announced their newest endorser, and perhaps their youngest, in the person of Bayla Davis, a 17-year-old old time player from western North Carolina. In just a few years time, this talented young lady has turned heads all across the music world for her skillful playing, and her full-on embrace of traditional mountain music.

Last spring she was chosen to be featured on From The Top, a television show and podcast that highlights exceptionally talented teen musicians. For years the show focused on classical artists, but has only recently begun to showcase traditional music players like Davis and Wyatt Ellis.

Bayla says that she is delighted with her new banjo, one that was custom built for her unique stylistic preferences as a clawhammer picker who also plays bluegrass, and by having one made just for her.

“I am really excited to be endorsed by a banjo company! I actually thought only really famous instrumentalists could be endorsed, but I was really excited when some of my friends recently got endorsed, and then I got asked a couple weeks following! It really seems like the music world is beginning to take the younger generation seriously and professionally, and I am really thankful.

I’ve only ever played Gold Tone banjos, but the ones I currently have are only banjos that I have won or never picked out personally. I was invited to Titusville, Florida during my Christmas break from school to check out a custom banjo they had begun to work on for me, and to show me around the factory. I visited Mr. Justin and Mr. Wayne, who I’ve known for years at various festivals, but it was amazing to see them in their working environment, and to meet the luthiers

When I was asked what type of banjo I would be interested in, they were very surprised that I wanted something exactly like a resonator banjo (I play clawhammer, so that isn’t very common); however, I wanted an open back to promote my style and the culture of old time music.

They put together an open back Tubaphone banjo, with three rings, and very low action for a loud and bright sound. They put on an Ome armrest, and they used a gorgeous Gold Tone neck with all the frets and no scoop (usually something only resonators have). I played it for the first time with my siblings in Mr. Justin’s office, and the only thing that was changed was the string gauge sizes: I like to have different weird sizes for the strings specifically so nothing buzzes. I’ve found that clawhammer is a rougher style that can hit the strings in a certain way that promotes annoying pick noise and a ring – and the luthier was able to adjust them in minutes.

I have officially named my new baby banjo “Frankenstein,” because it is a banjo made up of many other parts of different banjos. I feel like average open back banjos are muffled and softer, but because I play more bluegrass and contemporary on clawhammer than I do old time, I wanted to be able to be heard just as loud and clear as other players, but with my own style.”

Well done Gold Tone!

Young Ms. Davis is currently absorbed in applying to music colleges, looking for the best fit for her particular interests.

Hey music schools… time to reach out to this talented artist!

Ralph II does the Opry with the Clinch Mountain Boys

Ralph Stanley II on the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium (1/17/25)

January 17 was a special night for Ralph Stanley II. After many years of playing the Grand Ole Opry as a member of the Clinch Mountain Boys, alongside his father, the great Dr. Ralph Stanley, he had his first opportunity to play the Opry under his own name, leading The Clinch Mountain Boys as his father and uncle had done in the past.

To make it even sweeter, the show was at The Ryman Auditorium, where it all began, and it was in honor of Dr. Ralph’s induction as an Opry member on January 15, 2000, the first member of the new millennium!

So II brought the band to Nashville, and tells us that he really felt the thread that runs through the multi-generational Stanley sound.

“Being back on the Ryman stage where I had stood many times with my dad, but now as a solo headliner meant the world to me. There were so many emotions that night! I was proud and honored to represent my dad, and also show the world that the Stanley sound is alive and well!!!”

With him were regular members of the Clinch Mountain Boys Alex Leach on guitar, Curtis Coleman on banjo, Stanley Efaw on fiddle, and Randall Hibbitts on bass, along with special guest Wyatt Ellis on mandolin.

II shared a number of photos of his big night, along with this behind-the-scenes video of their time at the Ryman.

Well done, Ralph! Your dad would be proud.

Looks Like The End Of The Road from Alison Krauss & Union Station

Alison Krauss & Union Station have announced the March 28 release of Arcadia on Down The Road Records. At the same time, the band has released a debut single, Looks Like The End Of The Road.

Arcadia marks a number of firsts for Alison and the boys. It’s their first album in 14 years, the first to feature new guitarist and vocalist Russell Moore, and their first not on Rounder Records, though the new label is one recently launched by the founders of Rounder, Ken Irwin, Marian Leighton Levy, and Bill Nowlin, as well as John Virant. In another numerical convergence, Rounder first signed a young Alison when she was 14 years of age.

The rest of AKUS remains the same. Ron Block is on banjo and guitar, Jerry Douglas on reso-guitar, and Barry Bales on bass along with Alison on fiddle and lead vocals. They sound as good as they ever have, if not better. Krauss is in fine voice, and she has chosen strong material, and arranged and recorded it to sonic perfection.

As evidence, see this first single, which Alison says was another first… the first one she picked for the album.

“Usually, I find something that’s a first song, and then things fall into place. That song was Looks Like The End Of The Road. Jeremy Lister wrote it, and it just felt so alive – and as always, I could hear the guys already playing it.”

It’s dreamy ballad, very much in the AKUS tradition, sure to be a welcome relief to fans of the band who have waited so long for a new recording.

Have a listen…

Looks Like The End Of The Road is available now from popular download and streaming services online. Pre-orders and pre-saves for Arcadia are likewise enabled.

Alison Krauss & Union Station will be touring in support of Arcadia, starting on April 17 with two nights in Louisville, KY, and running through a total of 75 dates finishing up at the end of September. More details and ticket information can be found online.

Through These Trees – Broken Compass Bluegrass

California-based Broken Compass Bluegrass is a band that specializes in original, inventive jamgrass music. Their second studio release, Through These Trees, demonstrates even more growth through nine songs, all of which were written within the group.

The opening track, Alien Song, really defines not only who Broken Compass Bluegrass is as a band, but also the general theme of this album. Written by Kyle Ledson, this composition carries a sense of oddity and uncertainty about what someone has seen. Along with Ledson on mandolin, octave mandolin, guitar, banjo, and vocals, the group also consists of Django Ruckrich on guitar, slide guitar, mandolin, and vocals, Mei Lin Heirendt on fiddle and vocals, and Sam Jacobs on bass and synth.

Fairies and Lightning by Heirendt also captures the uncertainties of life through mystical metaphors about nature. Set In Stone by Ledson brings things back to a somewhat lighter mood with a song about one’s longing for the person they love.

Try by Ledson is a song of motivation, its lyrics carrying a message of perseverance. This track also features percussion from Adam Steckley.

Trails of Home by Heirendt speaks of the passage of time and the nostalgia that comes with that. It’s one of those songs that subtly reminds the listener that going back home may not be what it once was.

Circustown captures the group’s instrumental abilities, particularly the fiddling of Mei Lin Heirendt, who penned the tune. With a strong joyous melody, this tune demonstrates Heirendt’s refined, commanding approach to the instrument.

Through These Trees is a release filled with uniqueness. With their abilities as vocalists, instrumentalists, and lyricists, Broken Compass Bluegrass is continuing to explore varying musical territory and break new ground in the process, a combination that will further cement their place in the jamgrass world.

From The Side of the Road… Auditions, part 1

If you’re playing bluegrass music professionally, or even semi-professionally, at some point you’re going to have to endure that dreaded pre-hiring ritual called the audition.

Mind you I don’t mean to assume that everyone will go through the process of being a side musician first before becoming a band leader. Some go straight to the owner/manager position, without pausing to apprentice for Leroy Crank and His Underpaid Mountain Boys. Some start their careers playing with the brother they can’t stand before becoming a band leader (there are so many examples of this in bluegrass music, I don’t have the time or space to list them here). In this case, too, the process of auditioning for someone else is avoided.

In these cases, you will spend a lot of time on the judging and hiring (or not) end of the audition, so I plan to discuss both sides of this often nerve-wracking process, since I’ve experienced plenty of both.

When it comes to auditioning for someone else’s band, there are times when you’re simply in over your head and can’t “cut the gig,” but if you have some natural ability and musical chops at least close to those of the person you’re replacing, the rest is relatively simple, and yet people so often go wrong. My opinion is that if you arrive at your audition having followed these two simple guidelines, I think you’ll be in pretty good shape:

Learn the material
Don’t act crazy

Is that so hard? History tells us that apparently it is.

Note that for some band leaders who are more lenient and pride themselves on being able to work with a range of personality types, you might get by modifying number 2 by inserting the word “too” in front of “crazy.” Still, I think it’s good to aim high.

Beyond these two major principles, there are some more subtle ones that may improve your cause, like not looking like a slob or an ex-con or both, not showing up drunk or under the influence of hallucinogens, not hitting on the band leader’s spouse, not announcing plans to take over the band once you’re hired, etc. I consider these fine points that can be worked on after you’ve covered the essentials.

First, to the matter of learning the material, this would seem to obviously be Assignment One, and yet the number of people who show up to an audition first announcing that they “didn’t have time” to learn everything they were supposed to is way larger than you might think. Jimmy Martin used to complain that musicians would come to him not having learned the songs, and he felt, rightly I think, that it showed him a lack of respect. “They would learn George Jones’s material, wouldn’t they?” he used to say, and he had a point.

Why would a musician do this? I think the answer lies perhaps not so much in disrespect for any particular band leader, but more in disrespect for, and a lack of understanding of bluegrass music itself. There are a certain number of musicians who believe in their own ability to just fake their way through the material, because it has a limited number of chords and also “how hard could it be?”

I’ve had musicians show up to a gig fully believing they didn’t need to learn the stuff because they thought it “sounded pretty simple.” At that point I felt like Jimmy Martin, and was never more tempted to own a pair of white boots.

As for not acting crazy, note that I didn’t say, “don’t be crazy.” Those of us playing music for a living are all just a little off, if we’re honest, (not just fiddle players) but we do what we need to to function in society, and this includes not acting overly weird in an audition. Not every band leader is ready for alarmingly loud spontaneous laughter or dramatic crying for no apparent reason. Also, staring intently and saying, “Ole Slewfoot is THE GREATEST song EVER WRITTEN! EVER!!! DID YOU HEAR ME?!” or “I don’t believe Carl Story is really dead. Ricky Skaggs knows a LOT MORE than he’s letting on about this, believe me!” Just do your best to appear as level-headed as possible.

If you can nail down these two major requirements, you can get to work on some of the subtleties mentioned above. To those I would add that showing up with your own instrument is a plus, unless it was stolen from you en route (as happened to Vassar Clements before auditioning for Bill Monroe).

I would also discourage brandishing a weapon of any kind at the audition.

Next week we’ll discuss auditions from the band leader’s perspective.