Russell Johnson Archives - Bluegrass Today

Russell Johnson to lead UNC bluegrass band

The Music Department at the University of North Carolina has announced the creation of The Carolina Bluegrass Band, open to all students enrolled in classes at their primary Chapel Hill campus. It’s part of the newly-created Bluegrass Initiative within the Department to incorporate more opportunities for students to pursue the music while studying at UNC.

To lead the band, the Department has chosen Russell Johnson, UNC grad and recognized bluegrass performer, bandleader, and songwriter. Russell has been active in a number of nationally recognized groups, most notably New Vintage, The Grass Cats, and Diamond Creek. He resides in nearby Four Oaks, NC.

The Carolina Bluegrass Band will debut during the upcoming Fall 2016 semester. Johnson will conduct auditions, assemble a band, and run rehearsals during the semester. A concert will be presented at the end of the year, along with others both at the school and in the community.

Auditions are scheduled at the start of the semester and students will have the opportunity to sign up in mid-August.

Even before this official recognition, bluegrass music has thrived on the UNC campus. The Steep Canyon Rangers were formed while its members were enrolled there, as were Big Fat Gap and Americana groups Mipso and Mandolin Orange. Who knows what awaits alumni of the Carolina Bluegrass Band?

The Bluegras Initiative also sees the introduction of a new course on the history of bluegrass music, taught by Professor Jocelyn Neal, which will also examine what defines the music and how it has interacted with the regional culture. The Department has also scheduled a symposium for November 11-12 in collaboration with the Southern Folklife Collection and Carolina Performing Arts. Steep Canyon Rangers and Carolina Bluegrass Band will appear at a concert during the symposium.

UNC recognizes 1977 graduate John A. Powell whose generosity has enabled them to launch the Bluegrass Initiative and the Carolina Bluegrass Band.

Prospective students interested in auditioning are requested to contact the Music Department online.

The Mountains My Baby and Me – The Grass Cats

After a three-year hiatus from recording, North Carolina-based band The Grass Cats is back with their eighth album, The Mountains My Baby and Me, out on New Time Records. The Grass Cats, who recently marked fifteen years as a band, have continued playing their modern traditional sound for this record, offering listeners a selection of originals from band members, as well as some unique cover songs from other genres.

The Grass Cats start things off right with the title track, an upbeat tune with tight harmony singing, penned by band members Russell Johnson and Rick LaFleur about a man who is excited to be returning home to two of his favorite things. The next song, Off and Gone, is not quite as happy. Written by Johnson, it features a man whose woman has wandering ways. Turning Point, a thoughtful tune also written by Johnson, speaks of a man who must make a choice between the bottle and the Bible. Meet Me Up in Heaven is an enjoyable, cheerful Gospel song with traditional-sounding harmonies.

The band’s choice of cover tunes is somewhat unusual for a bluegrass band. However, for a group who has previously covered such non-bluegrass songs as I Shot the Sheriff, Copperhead Road, and Take It on the Run, creating their own versions of tunes recorded by Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Eric Clapton is not that uncommon. In their version of Clapton’s I Can’t Stand It, Tim Woodall’s electric bass helps create a great pulsing rhythm to convey the thoughts of a man who is completely fed up with the woman in his life. Both Springsteen’s Hungry Heart and Dylan’s classic Blowin’ in the Wind are given a nice contemporary bluegrass treatment.

Over the years, the Grass Cats have racked up an impressive list of achievements, including having four of their albums make it into the Top 10 on the Bluegrass Unlimited charts and several Top 10 Singles. With the solid musicianship from band members Johnson (mandolin), Lafleur (banjo), Woodall (bass), Chris Hill (fiddle), and newest addition Alan Mullen (guitar), as well as Johnson and Lafleur’s songwriting talents, this new album is sure to make its mark on the charts as well.

The Grass Cats will celebrate their fifteenth anniversary, as well as their new album, this Saturday, January 5, with a concert featuring current and former band members at The Arts Center in Carrboro, NC. Tickets and information can be found on The Arts Center’s website.

For more information about The Grass Cats, visit their website at www.grasscats.com.

The Mountains My Baby and Me can be purchased from the band website, as well as most online music retailers.

New CD from The Grass Cats

The Grass Cats, a North Carolina band long associated with the original music of Russell Johnson, have announced the imminent release of a new CD. This will be their 8th album for New Time Records.

The Mountains My Baby And Me contains 12 tracks, recorded with Johnson on mandolin, Rick Lafleur on banjo, Alan Mullen on guitar, Tim Woodall on bass, and Chris Hill on fiddle.

Most of the songs are band originals, with a couple of interesting covers. Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ In The Wind, Bruce Springsteen’s Hungry Heart, and The Embers’ What You Do To Me all get the Grass Cats treatment.

Look for The Mountains My Baby And Me on September 10.

New CD from Russell Johnson

North Carolina singer, songwriter and mandolinist Russell Johnson has a new CD, Anytime Anyplace But Only You.

Russell is well-known in bluegrass circles for his lengthy stints with two popular bands, New Vintage and The Grass Cats. Members of both outfits joined Russell in the studio for this project that he tells us has been nearly three years in the making, a mere 15 years since his last solo project.

“I have recorded a lot in the band context, five titles with New Vintage and seven with The Grass Cats. Also during the past twenty plus years I recorded When the Bands Played in 2008 with Barney Rogers – an all original bluegrass CD about the American Civil War and one solo CD, A Picture From The Past in 1996. I guess it came down to the fact that I had so much material I wanted to record that I knew I wouldn’t be able to work it in on Grass Cats records.

When I started tracking in 2008, before I knew it I had tracked 30 songs here at my home studio with the core group of Jon Stickley on guitar, John Wade on bass and Rick Lafleur on banjo. (So be warned, there’s another CD almost completely finished lurking in the shadows for down the road! LOL)

Since I have been so lucky to have such good if not great lead singers to feature on the band recordings of New Vintage and the Grass Cats, there’s only so many spots on a 12-14 track disc that when you feature everyone there’s not that many spots left.”

In addition to the core band mentioned above, Nicky Sanders plays fiddle and Rick Keen reso-guitar, with Johnson on mandolin. Guest performers include Steve Fraleigh on fiddle, Julie Elkins on banjo, and Emily Kirsch and Kandis Johnson on vocals. The current iteration of The Grass Cats are also on tap: Johnson and Lafleur, with Steve Martin on guitar, Tim Woodall on bass and Chris Hill on fiddle.

Half of the 14 tracks on the new album are ones Russell wrote or co-wrote, combined with others from writers both in and outside the bluegrass realm.

“I listen to and enjoy a lot of different music, and I guess it boils down to that I’m drawn to the vocalist. Dean Martin is a perennial favorite here on the farm when my wife and I are cooking Italian, and Sway was one of our favorites. Dean was a phenomenal singer, he made every song his own.

I heard Strength of a Woman when Shaggy performed it live on Saturday Night Live. I was really drawn to the message in that one and his delivery. Adam Levine of Maroon 5 is one of the best pop vocalists in history and a stylist also; This Love was a smash hit for them and I just really enjoyed singing along (he has a pretty high voice). I always loved the pairing of Bono and B.B. King on the original version of When Love Comes To Town. Again, both stylists.

I guess as I hear songs,the vocals draw me in,and then the next thing I know I’m singing along with a guitar learning the words and seeing if it will play out as a grass number. The CD that’s not released but in the can has as an eclectic mix as this one.”

Russell also sent along a pair of sample tracks to offer a taste of the music. Both are his compositions.

Anytime Anyplace But Only You: [http://traffic.libsyn.com/thegrasscast/anytime_anyplace.mp3]

It’s My Heart: [http://traffic.libsyn.com/thegrasscast/its_my_heart.mp3]

You can hear samples from all 14 tracks at CD Baby or in iTunes.