The title may suggest dreariness, but it’s a high-energy, minor key screamer sung by mandolinist Anneli Burnett about the emotions felt when your true love moves on. Support comes from sisters Anissa on fiddle and Sophia on bass, with Allen playing guitar and banjo. Geary and Anissa provide the harmony vocals and Dan Boner joins them on second fiddle.
In the accompanying music video we see the band playing this one out amidst their beloved western North Carolina mountains.
Check it out.
Sorrow, Grief and Pain is available now from popular download and streaming services online, and to radio programmers via AirPlay Direct.
The Roan Street Ramblers, a young family bluegrass group from Johnson City, TN, have written and recorded a song about the devastating floods that followed Hurricane Helene back in September.
Titled A Long Ways Past A Preacher, it’s sung by River Smith, who plays banjo, with support from older sister Lucy on fiddle, and little brother Sawyer on mandolin. Their mom, Linda, plays guitar with lead guitar from family friend Gary Taylor.
All the youngsters in the group have been studying their instruments since they were quite young, and have participated in the Junior Appalachian Musicians program at their school. Lucy, River, and Gary are in their teens, and Roan Street Ramblers already performing before audiences near their home.
A music video for their song was filmed in the studio, showing that these young pickers and singers have come quite a long way before they can even drive a car, predicting a great future if they stick with their music.
Have a look/listen…
A Long Ways Past A Preacher is available from popular download and streaming services online. The Smiths are looking now for a way to donate money from the song’s streaming and download revenue to the various organizations helping out in the Appalachian regions affected by the flooding.
Here’s some wonderful news for fans of the inimitable John Hartford, one of the giants of bluegrass and old time music, who left us with a wealth of songs and tunes when he died in 2011. Thankfully his daughter, Katie Harford Hogue, collaborated with fiddler Matt Combs to produce a book of John’s unrecorded music, John Hartford’s Mammoth Collection of Fiddle Tunes, and an all-star record, The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project Volume 1.
Today we have news of a follow up, Julia Belle: The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project Volume 2, which includes 13 more Hartford fiddle tunes, as well as five covers of his vocal contributions. The difference with Volume 2 is that all the featured artists are drawn from within the female community of old time and bluegrass players.
Co-produced by Hogue with Sharon Gilchrist and Megan Lynch Chowning, Julia Belle offers newly-recorded music from Rachel Baiman, Phoebe Hunt, Ginger Boatwright, Brittany Haas, Deanie Richardson, Allison de Groot, Della Mae, The Price Sisters, Uncle Earl, and Vickie Vaughn, among many others.
One of those others is country star Kathy Mattea, who has always shown respect and admiration for traditional music styles. She is highlighted in the album’s first single and music video, John’s classic Steam Powered Aereo Plane, supported by Sierra Hull on guitar, Alison Brown on banjo, Brittany Haas on fiddle, Megan Lovell on reso-guitar, and Missy Raines on bass.
Long time Hartford lovers known this song as the more-or-less title track to John’s 1971 album, Aereo-Plain, which cemented his reputation as a player and songwriter of particular merit in bluegrass, acoustic, and old time music.
Mattea says that she was among the many young people excited by this new strain of bluegrass John had created.
““I was one of those college kids, you know, when the bluegrass kind of crossed that line into ‘newgrass,’ on this record (Aereo-Plain), really, and so I was one of those kids that was just eaten up by it. And I learned most of these songs across a song circle, but it was a moment in my life when I began to realize that music and these songs, and the way they connected people, I felt them much deeper than…the physics and chemistry I was studding in college, and it’s really, this record is kind of…what finally got me to Nashville; it started that process for me, so it’s an honor to be here singing this song today.”
The ladies recorded this music video of the single, shot and edited by Kaitlyn Raitz and Dani Dimmel.
Check it out…
A complete track listing for Julia Belle: The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project Volume 2 follows:
Irish Familiarity
The Julia Belle Swain
Grant Marsh & Joseph La Barge/Little Pig/Entertainment Tonight (medley)
Spirit of the South
Availability
I’m Still Here
Kenny and Mac
Merry Christmas
Learning To Smile All Over Again
Royal Box Waltz
Takes Her Clothes Off
Gasoline Alley No. 1
No End of Love
Living Up Stairs
Not Soft Enough
Don’t Throw Her Down
Steam Powered Aereo Plane
Champagne Blues
Katie Harford Hogue shared a few words about the song/tune selections.
“I realize there’s a lot of instrumental music in this recording, but here’s the thing; Dad knew this, every fiddler knows it, people who listen to fiddle and instrumental music probably know it… You can say profound things without using words. And I think that’s what’s happening here, so I would encourage folks to sit with it and see what it says to them.”
Julia Belle is set for a February 28 release, and pre-orders are enabled now online.
Bronwyn Keith-Hynes and Jason Carter have released a music video from their October 15 performance on the Grand Ole Opry, filmed on their wedding day. The fiddling newlyweds were actually married at the Opry earlier that day, and returned in their nuptial attire to perform later that day.
Together they sing The Likes of Me from Jason’s 2022 album, Lowdown Hoedown, with members of their wedding party in tow. Bryan Sutton is on guitar, Cory Walker on banjo, Michael Cleveland (as Jake Blues) on mandolin, and Shelby Means on bass.
They all look perfectly natural on the Opry stage in their wedding duds, and of course, pick and sing brilliantly. The Opry audience got a kick out of the whole thing, especially knowing that Jason and Brownyn had been married there just a few hours earlier.
Check it out…
Well done all, and best wishes to Bronwyn and Jason as they celebrate their first Christmas together as husband and wife!
Bronwyn is also up for a Grammy next month for Best Bluegrass album for her current release, I Built A World.
Zoe & Cloyd, i.e., Natalya Zoe Weinstein and John Cloyd Miller, have shared a video for a deeply personal song, drawn from what they and the people around them endured in the aftermath of the hurricane flooding in western North Carolina three months ago.
Linemen focuses on the difficulties of restoring power to a mountainous region, which almost all the affected area is. It’s hard for most of us to imagine waiting days and weeks just to get back to some semblance of “normal life.” But for many people in the states affected, they are still waiting.
John tells it well here as he describes the genesis of the song.
“Linemen was born from an honest, immediate experience. After 16 days with no power in our Fairview neighborhood following Hurricane Helene, we heard that linemen had been up on the narrow, washed out backside dirt road near our homes assessing the situation. This road is still the only way into our neighborhood after flooding destroyed our shared road and bridge over Cane Creek on September 27. On the night of October 12 there was much anticipation and anxiety regarding the feasibility of power restoration amid so much damage. Our neighbor down on the creek, Doug Norton, a songwriter himself, sent us some lyrics that came to him, in his own words, after a ‘muse visit.’ We were all ‘sharing the same moment’ to quote Doug.
Like many others during this time, Natalya and I were consumed with almost anything and everything except creating new music, but this lyrical gift from Doug was just the respite we didn’t realize we needed. We worked on the verse lyrics a bit, and added music that we felt reflected the urgency and tension of that particular night, as well as the days prior and ones that still lie ahead. To us though, this brilliant, powerful chorus that Doug wrote spoke perfectly to the experience:
What if the linemen can’t get through They said power in a day or two But there’s mountains in the way And the hillside is sliding away
Amid all the challenges that we continue to face in our region in the wake of the storm, it is possible to find moments of peace and solace in community and, for us, in music. We hope that you enjoy the song; it is not about reliving struggle but rather acknowledging loss and moving forward with hope. We are truly sharing the same moment here.
We would like to dedicate this song to all the linemen and women who worked tirelessly to restore power after the storm, as well as all of the first responders and volunteers who selflessly give of themselves to help their communities. We’d also like to thank Bob Peck at Mountainwater Films for donating his time and energy to share this story.”
The music video includes images of the devastation experienced in their part of the state, as John and Natalya perform the song, just the two of them, up against a heap of debris the creek had washed along its banks.
Hard to imagine a more honest telling of this tragedy, from the very people who lived it.
Linemen from Zoe & Cloyd is not available for sale. They just wanted to share it with the world, especially the many shared survivors of the hurricane destruction, and to encourage people to continue donating to BeLoved Asheville, and the many other efforts to help residents along Helen’s path return to their homes.
Is it really Christmas time until we listen to Christmas Time’s A-Comin’?
Banjo Ben Clark and several members of the staff at Banjo Ben’s General Store, have just released a video with their version of the Tex Logan classic, recorded by Bill Monroe in 1951. Since that time it’s been covered by a bevy of other artists like Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Rhonda Vincent, The Oak Ridge Boys, and Jerry Garcia.
Clark and crew run a popular online store offering instruments and supplies for bluegrass pickers, based in Exeter, MO.
Featured in the video are Clark on bass and harmony vocal, instrument set up tech Darrell Burns on guitar and lead vocal, production manager Daniel Epperson on guitar and harmony vocal, customer service and sales person Evan Ree on mandolin, and General Store manager Jake Stogdill on banjo.
Check out their version of this bluegrass Christmas gem.
If you still need strings and accessories for a Christmas gift, or even a shiny new banjo or mandolin, reach out to Banjo Ben and the boys online.
You can check out all the Christmas bluegrass we have covered at Bluegrass Today by following this link.
With their latest single, Nefesh Mountain joins the many artists who have recorded tributes to greatest hero of bluegrass guitar, the one and only Tony Rice.
Man of Manzanita, written and sung by Eric Lindberg, offers another heartfelt appreciation for the man who touched every bluegrass lover in tune with the music from the 1970s through the early aughts. Those who have come on to the scene in more recent years certainly recognize Tony’s brilliance, and delight in his music, but there was something special about being alive and in touch while he was in his prime.
Eric expresses what so many felt when we lost Tony Rice.
“Tony was, is, and always will be a huge musical figure in my life. When I was in my early 20s I found his music and spirit to be a much-needed bridge between the jazz and acoustic worlds that I loved so dearly. He had this beautifully sensitive side, on top of his adventurous, experimental, and virtuosic side, and to me his music reflected this larger landscape of America.
When he passed in 2020 it really knocked me out. And while our paths did cross a couple times over the years, it was as if someone I’d known forever had left this Earth. It’s hard to describe, which is why I wanted to write Man Of Manzanita, and tried to put as much love for Tony and his music as I could into this song.”
Nefesh Mountain chose to record the song with a number of Rice contemporaries and regular collaborators. Stuart Duncan is on fiddle, Sam Bush on mandolin, Jerry Douglas on reso-guitar, and Mark Schatz on bass. Lindberg’s wife and musical partner Doni Zasloff sings harmony.
Have a listen as you watch these fine pickers and singers in the studio.
Man of Manzanita release on December 18, and will be widely available then from popular download and streaming services online. Radio programmers can get the track now at AirPlay Direct.
It will also be included on Beacons, expected in 2025 from Nefesh Mountain.
Great news from our friend, banjo player Richard Ciferský in The Slovak Republic. On top of his many entrepreneurial ventures with his Banjolit company, and his recent children’s book, The Adventures of Willo the Dwarf, Richard has announced the formation of a new band, Leveled Floor, to play his original compositions for banjo.
Ciferský’s music has always leaned towards a jazz orientation, and now he has gone all out. Leveled Floor consists of himself on banjo, Michal Vavro on guitar, Marian Jaslovský on sax, Jozef Madola on bass, and Jakub Valíček on drums. They perform Richard’s instrumental pieces, as well as work from other composers and vocal music.
According to Richard, the band fell into place over a few months time.
I asked Michal, the guitarist who recorded on the CD to play, and I asked my old friend Marian, our saxophone player, if he could cover the fiddle parts which are on the original recording.
After the release party I got so much positive feedback, and the musicians pushed me to continue and create a regular band.
Marian brought on board new bass player Jozef, and he immediately became a member and started co-working on the arrangements of my songs. Then in September I got in contact with Jakub and asked him to play drums with us.
At the end of September we had our first concert.”
To offer a flavor of their sound, they have released a music video for Don’t Drink My Orange Juice, which seems to indicate that Richard’s bandmates aren’t very good at taking direction.
Have a look/listen…
You can learn more about Leveled Floor by visiting their web site, where you can contact the band about performing.
There’s no new Christmas music from them for 2024, but they did create this music video for Reindeer Boogie, with Joe donning the Santa gear for an outdoor shoot.
The song was written by Cordia Volkmar, Donnie Brooks, and Hank Snow, and was released by Snow in 1953, its first recording.
Have a look/listen below…
Reindeer Boogie and the full Because It’s Christmas album, with 10 tracks of mostly new bluegrass holiday songs, are available from popular download and streaming services online. The audio CD can be ordered directly from the artists.
You can check out all the Christmas bluegrass we have covered at Bluegrass Today by following this link.
Northern California’s Crying Uncle Bluegrass Band has made a habit this past several years of impressing music lovers all over the world with their original improvisational bluegrass and new acoustic sound.
While still in their teens and early twenties, these talented young artists have won raves everywhere they go. Teo Quale is on mandolin, his brother Miles plays fiddle, Ian Ly is on guitar, with Andrew Osborn on bass.
Back in 2018, shortly after the band was formed, they did a TEDx Talk, invited by Nashville fiddler Phoebe Hunt. Now as impressive and experienced young men, they have prepared and delivered another TEDx presentation called From Fiddles to Formulas, which includes both live music and dialogue. It was given in Palo Alto, CA last month and draws on their twin pursuits of music and academics, as you will see in the video below.
![The Burnett Sisters Band - SORROW, GRIEF AND PAIN [Official Music Video]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ysAP8wk3kiA/hqdefault.jpg)
