Recently the newsroom at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune welcomed guests Mark Johnson and Emory Lester, along with bassist Kene Hyatt, for an impromptu concert in their on-site video studio. The guys stopped by ahead of an October 23 concert in nearby Fogartyville and offered the staff, and the paper’s online readers, a taste of their Clawgrass sound.
They played a number of familiar bluegrass/old time tunes like Angeline The Baker and Fisher’s Hornpipe, plus an instrumental version of John Wilkes Booth which Tony Rice had recorded.
Herald-Tribune writer Vicki Dean, who reports regularly on bluegrass and acoustic music for the paper, sent along this video of their newsroom show, along with an invitation for any other traveling artists passing through the central part of Florida’s western coast to stop in and play for them as well.
Video was captured by Herald-Tribune Photo Editor Mike Lang and digital journalist Rachel S. O’Hara.
Vicki asks any other performers who might be interested in stopping by for a video visit to contact her by email. They promise to give it a good social media pump, certain to improve visibility for a show in their area, which also includes Tampa and St. Pete’s.
Wayne Taylor & Appaloosa are back in the studio this week, cutting tracks for a new band project, tentatively titled I’m Moving On. They are shooting for a July release on Raincoe Music. It will be their fourth.
Nine of the songs will be Wayne’s originals, along with some classics from the world of folk and bluegrass.
Keith Arneson is on banjo, Emory Lester on mandolin, Kene Hyatt on bass, and Taylor on guitar and vocals. Rickie Simpkins will pop in to add fiddle at a later date.
Wayne shared a few words about the studio where they are working, and some photos.
“The studio is in Sharpsburg, MD, where the battle of Antietam (Battle of Sharpsburg) took place. The studio is an old two story farm house that was used as a hospital during the war. Todd Stotler is the engineer and owns Echoes Recording Studio.
The talented duo of Mark Johnson & Emory Lester have released a new project called 1863. It is their contribution to the commemoration of the music of Civil War era America during this, the sesquicentennial of the fierce fighting that occurred that year.
When they perform live, the show is Mark on banjo, playing in his unique “clawgrass” style, and Emory on mandolin or guitar. Here, however, they go for a band sound on several tracks, with Lester providing guitar, mandolin, fiddle and bass with Johnson’s five string.
This is not meant as a preservationist piece, recreating something that had existed once before. Mark says that they meant it as a remembrance of the music that would have been played by soldiers on either side, and by both rural and urban families throughout the Union and Confederate portions of the US as it existed in that era.
“We tried to capture the passion of that music from that time, in the style that Emory and I play our music today.
Most of the songs should be familiar to anyone with a fondness for old time fiddle tunes, including:
Chinquapin Hunting
Waiting For The Federals
Liberty
Shenandoah
Angeline The Baker
Blockage Runner At Cedar Key
Hard Times
Mosby’s Raiders
Fisher’s Hornpipe
Marching Through Georgia
Soldier’s Joy
Angel Band
Though several of these tunes have lyrics, they are presented here as instrumentals. Listening now to them again, you are reminded anew of the fact that the foot soldiers in this bloody conflict shared much of the the same culture, especially in the regions close to the Mason Dixon line.
1863 is available now from popular download sites and CD resellers, or from Mark and Emory’s web site.
I’ve long understood that a military career shows you how to get things done, but former Navy bandsman Wayne Taylor may be working on a new bluegrass record. Over the past 6-8 weeks, he has conceived an album project, written a title track, recorded, mixed and mastered the album, and will have it available for sale this weekend.
Actually, it was the song that came first. Wayne said that he wrote Praise His Holy Name in October, which inspired him to get to work on a new Christmas record.
“I was talking with Kyle Cantrell during our last track by track, and he mentioned that bluegrass needs more Christmas music. That was in the back of my mind, and one night the song just kind of happened.
Songs are gifts. This one was handed to me and I felt compelled to get it out quickly. The message is needed with the way the world is today; we need more peace and love. That’s the song’s message.”
The first tracking began on November 1, mixing was done on the 25th and mastering on the 27. Wayne wanted to especially credit National Media Services of Front Royal, VA and their CEO Mike McCool, for helping them get everything buttoned up and delivered before December 1.
Taylor enlisted a few of his former Country Current bandmates, a couple of his favorite bluegrass singers, and put a strong band around them all for this special collection. He ended up with Keith Arneson on banjo, Emery Lester on mandolin, Pat White on fiddle, Chris Sexton on viola, and Kene Hyatt on bass. Wayne played guitar and sang lead, with Don Rigsby and Missy Armstrong singing harmonies.
He said choosing these folks was a simple task.
“I played many, many Christmas gigs in the Navy with Keith and Pat, so I was able to pull from our past arrangements and put the songs down quickly. Emory and Kene are such professionals, and they were able to jump right in as well.
Phoenix Studio engineer George Hodgkiss told me what a great viola player Chris Sexton was, so we called him. I sent Chris an MP3 of Keith Arneson and I playing Praise His Holy Name and Away in A Manger, and he wrote out parts and knocked them out in no time. He also did Silent Night off the cuff.
I selected the vocalists because I knew Don would sound great on Santa Looked A Log Like Daddy, and Go Tell It On The Mountain. Missy is probably my favorite singer, and she sounds great whatever she sings.”
Songs on Praise His Holy Name include:
Go Tell It On The Mountain
Praise His Holy Name
Santa Looked A Lot Like Daddy
White Christmas
Dueling Jingle Bells
Away In A Manger
Winter Wonderland
Silent Night
All 8 songs can be heard now at Airplay Direct, where radio programmers can download the tracks for airplay. Look for CDs at CD Baby and on Wayne’s web site by this weekend.
This past Monday night, Steve Martin appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, along with Mark Johnson, winner of the 2012 Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass Music. Part of this annual award, which carries a $50,000 cash prize, is the chance to perform with Steve on national television.
We will speak with Mark about the experience here at IBMA, but until then, here is video from Monday night’s show.
Wayne Taylor & Appaloosa have recently returned from several weeks touring in Europe, with special guest Mike Scott on banjo in tow. Taylor sent along this quick recap of their time across the pond, along with a number of photos.
We departed Baltimore/Washington Airport on 9 July, arriving in Bergen, Norway on 10 July. Our first gig was on 11 July in Sandane, a 60 minute show for an enthusiastic crowd. Then on the 12th, we played in a nice auditorium for officials and government personnel at the Kulturhus TRAVELSHAGEN.
The next day we were able to take a sight-seeing tour at the BRIKSDAL Glacier, and that evening we played for sponsors of the festival.
On the 14th we played in a beautiful church in Reed with Bobby Bare, Vince Gill, and other European musicians.
Sunday the 15th we made our way back to the Bergen Airport to fly on to Amsterdam. Monday was a day off in Amsterdam; very interesting city.
Tuesday the 17th we performed in our contact’s home town of Nieuwkoop for a great crowd of bluegrass lovers. Four bluegrass fans came from Belgium to see the band. A couple of the guys knew most of the original material – that was pretty cool.
We flew out of Amsterdam headed for Edinburgh, Scotland on the 18th. John Sheldon of the Scottish Bluegrass Association housed our band, plus another group from the Czech Republic, Rough and Rocky Road.
On Thursday the 19th we played for a packed church in Longniddry, Scotland. Many thanks to Robin Hill. Then the 20th and 21st found us at the Guildtown Festival. John said it was his best crowd to date.
On the 22nd we visited the city of Edinburgh, went to the Castle and browsed the Royal Mile Street.
With us on this tour were Emory Lester on mandolin, Kene Hyatt on bass, Mike Scott on banjo and myself on guitar/vocals. We owe Mike Scott a ton of gratitude for helping us out. He is a true pro and good guy; we had a blast.
We made some good music made friends, and brought back memories for a lifetime.
Thanks to those responsible for helping us with the performances and for allowing us to share our music around the world.
