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We posted last week about the J.D. Crowe Tribute Band performing in Nashville and Kentucky, an endeavor by Don Rigsby and Josh Williams to remember the music of The New South, particularly from the Keith Whitley era.
Fortunately, video of their performance at Simply the Best Sports Bar and Grill in Grayson, KY was posted online. Here’s a few of the songs available on YouTube.
Jason McKendree is on banjo, Aubrey Haynie on fiddle, and Mike Anglin on bass.
He arrived at 2:58 a.m. at 6 lbs 5.9 oz. and 19.5 inches long. Mother and son are both doing well.
Sam joins older sister, Ivy, in the McKendree household which is chock full of bluegrass talent. Carolyn is from the singing Klassen family in central Canada, and both she and Jason are fine vocalists. They released an album last year featuring Jason and Carolyn along with her two brothers, and Jason’s as well, The Traveling Kind.
Can a McKendree Family Band be far behind?
Welcome Samuel McKendree!
And that is what you find among the singing Klassen family on the self-titled release from The Traveling Kind. Carolyn, Calvin and Raymond Klassen have been singing together for some time, and Carolyn and Raymond sang with their dad’s bluegrass band, Homeland Harmony, as youngsters in central Canada.
Jason McKendree will be familiar to fans of the short-lived Josh Williams Band, where he played banjo and sang baritone. It was he who dragged Carolyn Klassen down to the lower 48 when they married in 2009. The two met bluegrass cute, at the Galt House in Louisville, KY in 2001 when the IBMA World of Bluegrass was held there. They became closer over the years, and now live with their young daughter in Benton, KY.
So after a few years apart, the Klassen siblings have reunited to record a album, along with McKendree and his older brother Justin. Carolyn is on fiddle and lead vocals, her brother Calvin on bass and harmony vocals, brother Raymond on guitar, dobro and harmony vocals, with Jason on banjo and lead vocals, and Justin on mandolin. Most of the tracking was done at the McKendree’s home, with Raymond and Calvin adding their parts from the Klassen home town of Winkler, Manitoba.
The material they have chosen consists of mostly familiar bluegrass songs, with a couple originals from Jason (A Thousand Miles, Help Me Find My Way), a new instrumental from Raymond (Hang On), and an inspirational Gospel number from Klassen cousin Kevin Elias (Without My Shield). All are arranged simply, and performed with power, passion and clarity.
Carolyn has a soft, pleasant and unaffected voice that really shines on Bury Me Beneath The Willow, Endless Highway, and Help Me Find My Way. On the other hand, Jason’s is equally strong, with a bit more growl in the lower register which shows on A Thousand Miles, Sweet Sunny South, and Leaning On The Everlasting Arms. Their duet on Are You Tired Of Me My Darling is lovely, as is the trio on Blue-Eyed Boston Boy, one of the most evocative Civil Wars songs ever. It may be a chestnut, but if this version doesn’t bring a tear to your eye, I don’t know what to do with you.
Instrumental solos are almost exclusively taken on banjo or dobro, each of them solid and appropriate. All of the rhythm and vocal parts are spot-on, and the sound of the record is transparent and accurate.
If you enjoy fine vocal harmony and sincere bluegrass music, The Traveling Kind is a can’t miss.
CDs can be purchased from CD Baby, and downloads are available at popular digital resellers.
Ivy was born on Sunday (4/15/12) at 5:12 p.m., weighing in at 5 lb, 7 oz, and standing a full 18” long. Mom, dad, and little Ivy are all doing well.
Both her parents play the bluegrass, so Miss Ivy’s fate is sealed. If she is half as pretty as her mom, or as talented as her dad, this will be one fortunate young lady.
Congratulations to the McKendrees!
Downloading the Gold Heart photos last night, I missed Darin and Brooke Aldridge and Spring Creek, both of whom I had hoped to see. Darin and Brooke just announced last week that their next CD will be released on the Mountain Home label, probably early in 2010. There are more details and a YouTube clip of one of the new songs on the Mountain Home web site.
I had run into Taylor Sims of Spring Creek earlier in the day, when he stopped to speak with Alan Munde, who had been his teacher when Taylor and the other members of the band were enrolled in the bluegrass program at South Plain College in Texas. The pride was obvious on Alan’s face, meeting up with a former student at IBMA who was moving up in the bluegrass business.
I did make it back to the showcase stage in time to see The Josh Williams Band. Wow!
Josh has always been a confident performer, not to mention a fine singer and guitar player. He shone as a member of Special Consensus and Rhonda Vincent’s band, and has three solo projects under his name. All this before he has reached the age of 30. He debuted his own band at IBMA last year, and the difference over the past year is starkly dramatic.
His band consists of musicians from Williams’ home state of Kentucky, who are also long time friends close to his age. Jason McKendree was on banjo, Randy Barnes on bass and Scott Napier on mandolin.
I can’t think of the last time I heard a four piece band this strong – rhythmically solid and sonically powerful – since maybe the early editions of Lonesome River Band in the 1990s. Their sound is crisp, precise and in-your-face. With Josh’s easy charm and million dollar smile, it makes for a very engaging performance. The guys obviously have fun on stage, and Josh is perfectly comfortable with the attention on him.
He seemed sincerely appreciative for the chance to appear on an official showcase, and thanked the crowd repeatedly for the opportunity. The Josh Williams Band, whose debut CD won’t be released until next year on Pinecastle, was nominated as Emerging Artist of the Year for Thursday’s IBMA Awards, something that again elicited a grateful mention from the stage.
The only song from the show that I recall Josh specifically mentioning as being on the new album was his brilliant version of The Last Song, a classic from the Jimmy Martin repertoire. This song requires a skilled and confident vocalist, and Josh absolutely owned it. Another standout was the Mark Mathewson song Mordecai, from Josh’s 2004 CD, Lonesome Highway.
A big part of achieving success at IBMA is being ready to take full advantage of your shot at such a big stage. Josh showed last night that he and his young band are ready, willing and able.
