Crossroads Archives - Bluegrass Today

Track Premiere: Ernest T. Grass from Bluegrass at the Crossroads

Mountain Home Music continues to releases singles from its Bluegrass at the Crossroads album, a sort of ‘band scramble in the studio’ project that puts musicians and singers from different groups together to record both new and classic bluegrass.

This week the latest will be available, a new take on Ernest T. Grass, a modern banjo classic Sammy Shelor included on his 1997 record, Leading Roll. Written by Ronnie Bowman and Dan Tyminski, this catchy little number was a part of Lonesome River Band shows back in the day, and has since become a jam standard all over the world.

For this new version, Sammy is again at the fore, with a slightly modified arrangement of the melody, supported by Mountain Home label mate Carley Arrowood Thrailkill on fiddle, Wayne Benson on mandolin, Travis Book on bass, and Joe Cicero on guitar. It marks the first time that Shelor, long time leader of Lonesome River Band, and Benson, veteran mando man with IIIrd Tyme Out, have ever recorded together. They all mess around with the AABB structure resulting in a tasty track.

Carley’s reaction to this track perfectly capsulizes the impact this tune has had on young grassers.

“I heard and played Ernest T. Grass in jams when I was a teenager, and then got to meet Sammy Shelor for the first time and pick one-on-one at a festival several years ago when we had some downtime between sets. He’s such a great guy! It’s the coolest thing to be included among so many of my musical heroes on this tune. It brings it all together full circle when I think about playing it as a kid, and now playing it with the guy who made it famous in the first place. What a blessing!”

Have a listen…

The new Bluegrass at the Crossroads cut of Ernest T. Grass will be available on Friday, August 20, from popular download and streaming services. Radio programmers can get it now at AirPlay Direct.

Crossroads Studios brags on enhanced equipment

Crossroads Studios in Arden, NC have recently upgraded some equipment to enhance the recording experience for artists who work with their family of labels, or choose the studio to cut their new music. First built in 1995 in Asheville, the studio was moved with the rest of the Crossroads Label Group to nearby Arden several years ago.

Under the Crossroads umbrella are several labels who record and promote bluegrass, southern Gospel, and Americana music. Horizon Records, Sonlite Records, Mountain Home Music, Skyland Records, Pisgah Ridge Records, Crossroads Records, and Organic Records fall into this group, as do Crossroads Distribution, Crossroads Radio Promotions, and Crossroads Recording Studios. Bluegrass acts who call Crossroads home include Chris Jones, The Grascals, Lonesome River Band, Balsam Range, and The Cleverlys.

Scott Barnett, Director of Operations for Crossroads Studios, offered an overview of what has changed with the upgrades.

“Crossroads Studios has always strived to offer clients the best quality recording experience possible. We currently have the perfect combination of the best high-quality analog front end and high-resolution digital recording equipment available on the market today.

Both recording spaces now feature all-new control room wiring, patchbay systems, Burl Audio Mothership Analog to Digital and Digital to Analog conversion, and Apple Mac Pro 3.5GHz 6-Core computers running Avid ProTools Ultimate HD systems, with control provided by Avid C24s. We have also added to our preamp collection and are happy to offer mic preamps by Millenia Media, Vintech, True Systems, Langevin, Avalon, Shadow Hills, Daking, and Black Lion, all complemented by an extensive and thoughtfully curated microphone collection.”

For Chief Engineer Van Atkins, it’s like a back to the future moment…

“Early in my career, I spent several years working on 2-inch tape and large format consoles, enjoying the richness that analog gave me, and since the digital revolution worked its way in, I have spent a large portion of my time trying to emulate that sound. Now with our recent addition of Burl converters and the amazing low-end response and superior stereo separation that they exhibit, I have found the cure!”

The company has also created a video to reintroduce the studio to clients.

Additional photos, and further details about the rooms and equipment available at Crossroads Studios, can be found online.

Nancy Cardwell to assume interim position at IBMA

Long time IBMA staffer Nancy Cardwell has been selected by the organization’s Board of Directors to serve as Interim Director until a permanent replacement for Dan Hays can be found. Hays resigned as Executive Director effective 2/29.

Nancy has been with IBMA for 17 years, and might be fairly described as the institutional memory of the organization at this juncture. Her elevation is reported to have been a unanimous decision by the Board, necessitated by the longer-than-expected time line for choosing Hays’ successor.

In a statement this morning, Cardwell says…

“It’s an honor to serve during this time of transition. I’ve been a part of the IBMA team for 17 years and I still believe strongly in the good we can accomplish as an industry and community, working together for the future of bluegrass music. When I played bass for the Wildwood Girls in the early ’90s, I was the one who didn’t mind taking the 4 a.m. shift driving the van….

Jill Crabtree (my co-worker for the past 11 years), the Board, a network of hardworking committees and I will be doing our utmost to move forward during the next few weeks while we plan World of Bluegrass 2012, consider site selection for the next three years of the conference and launch Bluegrass Nation—as we continue to examine the most effective ways to help new audiences discover bluegrass music.

Much has been accomplished during the past 26 years, but there’s so much more we can do if we band together and re-commit ourselves. It’s an exciting time for bluegrass music and for IBMA.”

Tough gig, but she is surely up to the task.

New IBMA Director search continues

As events have transpired, the International Bluegrass Music Association will be technically leaderless until a new Executive Director can be found and brought aboard.

Outgoing director Dan Hays has moved to his new position with The Franklin Theater, while the IBMA Board of Directors is still conducting its search for a replacement. Board President Stan Zdonik told us that they had hoped to avoid leaving the organization without an ED for any lengthy period of time, but that the time frame for meeting privately with the first, and now second round of candidates has pushed the decision into March.

“We believe that finding the right person trumps working to a deadline. We are moving forward, but the process is taking longer than anticipated.”

Zdonik also contended that what we reported in David Morris’ piece on IBMA finances last month misstated the status of the search.

“In David’s article, he stated that we were finished with interviews. That was not quite correct. We were done with our first round of interviews, and are now doing in-person interviews with a much smaller group.”

Best of luck to the IBMA Executive and Search Committees as they narrow their list of candidates and choose a new director. Stan says that he hopes to have an announcement soon, and that Dan Hays has agreed to make himself available as needed to help with the transition.