Fans of the up-and-coming North Carolina-based Smith Family Band may have been wondering why they haven’t heard anything from the group in the past several months. They shouldn’t worry – the band is still going strong, just under a new name. The Smiths have become Ash Breeze, and recently released their debut album under that name, a fine self-titled effort on Mountain Fever Records.
The album leans more toward polished Americana than it does bluegrass, mixing instrumentals with several Gospel numbers and a few covers. Of the twelve tracks, seven are originals. Corey Smith, the family’s guitarist (as well as resident filmmaker) composed three on his own and three with dad Allen (bass, though he ceded his duties on the low four to Aaron Ramsey and Zeb Snyder on the album). Things start out with one of Corey’s tunes, an instrumental called Category Five. Though it’s not as furiously fast as one might expect given the title, it still moves along at a nice pace, with a jazzy, progressive feel. Corey’s other compositions have an easy-listening vibe and maintain the jazz influences, particularly in regard to his guitar playing. Little Dreamer is gentle and rolling, while The Sunday Place has a cheerful groove.
Corey and Allen’s co-written numbers have been gathering some attention since the album’s release. Without Love, the lead single, finished in the top five in the Christian/Gospel category of the 2014 Great American Song Contest and also received third place in the Gospel/Inspirational category in this year’s MerleFest Chris Austin Songwriting Contest. It has an acoustic contemporary Christian sound, and speaks of the need for God’s love to complete our lives. Another co-write, Blue Skies and Cloudy Days,recently made an appearance on the Bluegrass Today weekly chart. It’s an enjoyable, laidback song about how God will be there for us in both good and trying times.
When Fall Comes to New England is a nice addition to the album. Written by folk singer Cheryl Wheeler, it’s a peaceful description of fall colors and scenery that the Smiths have given a fine contemporary bluegrass sound. James Taylor’s Carolina in My Mind is also well-done, and the addition of dobro courtesy of Gavin Largent is a nice touch.
Though the Smiths (with the exception of Allen) are all under 20 years old, they’re all quite talented musicians and show a great command of their instruments. Nellie (lead vocals and fiddle) particularly stands out on this recording, with her clear vocals suiting the band’s contemporary sound well. Corey (guitar), Eli (mandolin), and Luke (banjo) all do a solid job, as well.
For more information on Ash Breeze, visit their website at www.ashbreezeband.com. Their new album can be purchased from a variety of online retailers.
Mountain Fever has released a debut single from the upcoming self-titled album by Ash Breeze, formerly The Smith Family Band.
The group includes siblings Corey Smith on guitar, Nellie Smith on fiddle, Luke Smith on banjo, and Eli Smith on mandolin, along with their proud papa Allen Smith on bass.
For their first single, the Smith’s have chosen Without Love, written by Corey and Nellie, and featuring Nellie on lead.
See what you think…
The video was filmed and edited by Corey Smith, the young filmmaker behind the two Generation Bluegrass DVDs. Additional videos from Ash Breeze can be viewed at their web site.
Look for the new album, produced by Aaron Ramsey, early in 2014.
Family bands are the backbone of the bluegrass music community and it always pleasing to learn about such a group that has progressed to the level that secures a link-up with one of the more prominent record labels.
Moore County, North Carolina natives Ash Breeze is one of the latest young combinations to aspire to a record deal, signing with Mark Hodges’ Mountain Fever Records.
Formerly known as the Smith Family, the quintet is led by father Allen on bass, and consists of daughter and powerhouse singer Nellie, 15, on fiddle, and three sons, Corey, 17, on vocals and guitar (he is also the producer of the Generation Bluegrass documentaries, a video bluegrass project that is drawing a great deal of attention), Luke, 13, with his steady and polished style on banjo, and Cajon, and Eli, 11, on vocals and mandolin, offering up a speed and finesse that belies his years.
Classically trained, they switched to playing bluegrass music in 2010.
Hodges, is so pleased with the addition of the band to the label ………..
“I was walking down the hall at a music conference in Virginia last spring and heard this voice. I stepped inside and expected to see a twenty-something woman on the stage and instead found this young fiddler singing her heart out with such incredible tone while playing the fire out of her instrument. She sings with such tone and emotion for her age that it is unreal.”
The band’s first single will be out in October with a full project to be released later this year.
Ash Breeze blends folk, jazz, bluegrass, classical, blues and gospel influences to make a distinctive sound, strong on instrumentation and intertwined with tight, melodic family harmonies.
This year they have played at bluegrass festivals in Vermont, Canada and South Carolina, as well as performance slots at the Barbeque and Bluegrass Festivals at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri, and Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. They have performed at Houstonfest in Galax, and recorded a segment for WUNC’s nationally syndicated show Song of the Mountains. That show will be broadcast in the spring of 2014.
Ash Breeze performed at the IBMA WOB Youth Stage on Saturday during IBMA week.
The phrase ash breeze is an old sailing term that has great meaning to the family. It refers to the ability to row a boat yourself when there isn’t enough breeze to fill the sails. It stems from the time when oars were made of ash wood.
Sailing by ash breeze is a major theme in the book Carry On Mr Bowditch, a family favorite and the source of the inspiration for the band’s very recent name change.
Last year we dedicated a good many pixels to a film project called Generation Bluegrass. It was the brainchild of Corey Smith, an 18 year old filmmaker and bluegrass guitarist. His idea was to highlight some of the stellar young musicians about to break out in the bluegrass world, and demonstrate the appeal the music holds for younger folks – in their own words and music.
And it seems to have been prophetic. Two of the acts profiled in the film, The Church Sisters and The Snyder Family, have since made significant career gains, and seemed poised to leave a mark in the music business. Savannah and Samantha Church, set to turn 18 later this year, have been turning heads on the country and Gospel music scenes, while Zeb and Samantha Snyder (18 and 14) will be featured on the upcoming Adam Steffey album, and have a new record of their own on the way.
Generation Bluegrass was screened during World of Bluegrass 2012, and generated quite a bit of buzz in the biz.
Just one year later, Smith is working on a follow-up entitled Generation Bluegrass 2: The Grass Roots Up. Like the first project, Corey has the help of Zeb Snyder as assistant director.
But unlike the first one, he doesn’t plan to try and finance it himself from the money he earns with The Smith Family Band. Corey said that they turned a profit on Generation Bluegrass, selling copies on DVD, but has decided to go the crowd sourcing route for volume two. He and Zeb are hoping to raise $5000 through Indiegogo to finish the work on GB2.
Smith shared a few thoughts about this new effort, along with the video appeal he created for Indiegogo.
“I am very excited about Generation Bluegrass 2, mainly because its a new video project with new artists and new songs, but also because of the slightly different focus than the last film. We are really focusing on the ‘grass roots’ of bluegrass and the Irish influence in the bluegrass genre. We are bringing in a band that has mastered Irish music and is incorporating it into their bluegrass.
But we aren’t stopping at the roots, we are also bringing in some more contemporary young bluegrass artists to show how far the music has come, and what each generation brings to the plate to develop bluegrass music.
This film is for all ages; the young and the old will enjoy seeing these youth musicians playing together at a professional level.
We hope this film will not only provide quality entertainment, but will encourage aspiring bluegrass musicians.”
Featured in Volume 2 are The Willis Clan, Lonesome Meadow, and The Meyer Family Bluegrass Band, along with Cory Piatt, Jonah Horton, Gavin Largent, Brandy Miller, Matt Love, Zeb and Samantha Snyder, and Jacob Burleson.
This strikes us as a very worthy project, and can assure anyone considering a donation that the final product will be something you can be proud to support.
To make a pledge, visit the GB2 page at Indiegogo.
You can read our review of the first film here at Bluegrass Today.
This past September, a new documentary filmed by and featuring some of today’s hottest young pickers premiered at IBMA. Conceived and directed by Corey Smith, a 17-year-old guitarist from North Carolina (with the help of Zeb Snyder, another young North Carolina guitarist), Generation Bluegrass proved that the future of bluegrass music is safe in the hands of a talented new generation. Smith and his family, performing as the Smith Family Band, have also recently released their first album, a twelve-song collection entitled Glenn Valley.
Glenn Valley features melodic instrumentals and cheerful Gospel tunes, including several original compositions. The album opens with the light and enjoyable Apple Tree Shoals, a smooth mid-tempo piece with an easy-going feel written by Corey. Corey also contributed the title track, another original instrumental with a similar feel. This tune features some nice back-and-forth mandolin and guitar playing, while 15-year-old Nellie’s fiddling helps carry the tune along.
The group reaches far from their North Carolina home for the fiddle tune Emma’s Waltz – all the way to Finland. The tune has a European classical feel in the beginning, but the family brings in some swing and blues influences near the end. An instrumental version of the upbeat jazz standard Sweet Georgia Brown also features a swingy feel, with a particularly fun banjo solo.
One of the most traditional sounding songs on the album is the Ron Block Gospel tune In the Morning Light. This up-tempo number reminds listeners that the Lord is always with them, even in the dark times. Another traditional Gospel song is the original To Save a Sinful Man, written by dad and bass player Allen, which speaks of God’s saving grace. A few other Gospel songs, such as the joyful hymn Praise to the Lord, here have a more contemporary Christian sound.
The focus here instrumentally is on Corey and Nellie’s respective guitar and fiddle playing, although younger brothers Luke (13) and Eli (11) get to show off their talents on the banjo and mandolin, as well. With dad Allen helping out on bass, this is a group that is quickly making a name for themselves. The Smith Family Band offers fine musicianship on this album which fans of contemporary bluegrass and Gospel are sure to enjoy.
For more information on the Smith Family Band, visit their Facebook page or their website at smithbandontheweb.com.
One of the highlights of walking around IBMA is seeing the number of young people hanging around picking and jamming in groups, sometimes in just pairs or trios, sometimes by the dozen. These youngsters, sometimes as young as nine or ten and all the way up to 18, are enthusiastic, devoted, focused and good. And inclusive, which is one of the best things about bluegrass; it’s music for all the people. Famous or not, highly skilled or just learning, groups of people get together for the love of the music and play into the very wee hours. A couple of nights ago, I stumbled onto a jam of 11 young people that included Jacob and Isaac Moore of the Moore Brothers, and they were having a good old time picking with fans. It’s a common occurrence, and one of the most appealing aspects of the music.
It’s this devotion and love for bluegrass that director/producer Corey Smith and assistant director Zeb Snyder are hoping that viewers will see and understand when they watch Generation Bluegrass, the new movie that documents some of the hottest young pickers of today. Just 17, both young men are excited and anxious to present bluegrass from their point of view, the horizon of possibility and promise.
The Mast Farm Inn in Valle Crucis, North Carolina and Bluegrass Today were pleased to present the premiere of Generation Bluegrass on Friday afternoon at IBMA Fan Fest. Several of the young people appearing in the film were on hand, including the directors and members of their families.
The film showcases the music of the Smith Family Band, the Moore Brothers with Daniel Perry, the Snyder Family Band, the Church Sisters, Jacob Burleson and Shane and Alex Edwards. The talents of the performers are clear, and we learn that the philosophies of bluegrass as pure, wholesome music are as important to these young people as they are to players decades older.
The idea to showcase the current new generation of pickers came to Corey Smith in part because he loves video production almost as much as he loves playing bluegrass with his family. With the support of his folks, he set out to make his dream come true. It wasn’t handed to him; Smith financed the entire production from his own pocket by working on his family’s grass-fed cattle farm (Deep River Cattle), plus with money he made from his band and by working on smaller video projects. He bought and rented the equipment he needed, set up a studio at his home and he and Zeb did all of the shooting between last November and this past June. Licensing hassles, financing issues and scheduling problems at times were a little discouraging to the process, but that’s one of the beautiful things about youth – the boys had enough dogged determination and sheer willpower to make sure the project’s completion was never in question.
And dreams – the film and its directors are full of dreams. Smith is hopeful that the film can make its way to as many schools and young people as possible, so that students can see that bluegrass isn’t the “hick-ish, redneck” music that it is sometimes mistakenly assumed to be. Snyder sees even bigger things.
“I would love to see this even get outside the bluegrass community, so that people could see, ‘Hey, these kids are really interested in this, there must be something to this bluegrass. This film can demonstrate that, because it was filmed by kids, funded by kids, had all youth positions on it except for some family members playing bass. So that aspect of how much fun we’re having, if that could get outside the bluegrass community and bring people in, then I think that would be a great thing that we could accomplish.”
Adds Smith…
“I want to get this out and show how cool bluegrass is, to show how much fun it is to play. And not just to play, but to listen to.”
One concern the young men have is that sometimes when the public sees a family band, it suspects the parents are taking advantage of their children’s’ talents and are putting the young people through a life and process they do not enjoy. Smith and Snyder want to make very clear that the belief is utterly unfounded and is wildly untrue.
“One thing I want to say about this, all of these kids were not pushed by their parents at all,” asserts Smith. “Their parents started them, but they took it from there. They love bluegrass, all of the kids on the DVD.”
Says Snyder…
“It’s usually the parents that are begging to go to bed, not the kids! The kids want to be there, they want to play.”
One of the reasons bluegrass is so appealing to the young people is the high-octane energy that the music inherently possesses. It’s perfect for a young, energetic person to let off a little steam. “It’s not hard to put energy into it, it’s hard to back off,” laughs Snyder. “People tell us, ‘Okay, time to play a slow song now!’ It’s so much fun to play.”
Some of the songs the young people perform in the movie are A Soldier’s Song from the Smith Family Band; Nine Pound Hammer from the Snyder Family Band; The Angels Rejoiced Last Night from the Church Sisters; the jazzy/blues instrumental take on Wayfaring Stranger from the Moore Brothers and EMD from a collective jam. These folks even show off a little of their songwriting skills, as Zeb Snyder leads his family through Sarah Joy, a song he wrote based on a young neighbor friend back home in North Carolina.
The subjects also share their dreams and hopes for their place in bluegrass. Savannah Church says that someday she hopes that she and twin sister Sarah might sing on the Grand Ole Opry, but “for us that’s just a dream right now.” With their undeniably angelic harmonies and instrumental prowess, a person has to think that it’s only a matter of time.
We’re not sure what Sam Bush and Bela Fleck might think of being called the “oldies” of bluegrass, but these kids do know the pioneers of bluegrass and want to honor them with the film. Their musical goals are to continue what Messrs. Monroe and Scruggs began, build on Tony Rice, Bush and Fleck and then draw on the influences of their own time to continue to evolve the music while holding steadfast to what came before. Snyder sums it up:
“I think it’s good for the health of the music that it’s a naturally creative kind of music. I think as long as it stays like that, it will go on for as long as people want to play.”
Be looking for Generation Bluegrass near you, and take the opportunity to see it. It is also available for sale on DVD.
You’ll be impressed by what lies ahead for the music, and relieved that such clear-headed thinking will lead bluegrass into the future.
As you might guess from the title, the film is focused on young bluegrass musicians, and is a joint effort of teen pickers – and filmmakers – Corey Smith and Zeb Snyder. Both perform with their family bands, and put this project together to highlight the talents of a number of other prodigies deserving of wider attention. Their own groups are featured (The Smith Family Band and The Snyder Family Band), along with The Church Sisters, The Moore Brothers, Jacob Burleson, Daniel Perry, and Alex and Shane Edwards.
Last month we posted an extended trailer, along with word that Corey would be in attendance at World of Bluegrass to promote the film. On short notice, and through the generosity of Henri Deschamps with Mast Farm Inn, we were able to arrange for the film to be shown during Fan Fest at the end of this month.
We invite everyone to join us for the premiere on the 28th, at either 2:00 or 5:00 p.m., in Room 104 at the Nashville Convention Center. There is no additional fee to attend, and Corey and Zeb, along with some of the talented young musicians from the film, will be on hand to perform a few songs, and talk about Generation Bluegrass. DVDs will be available for sale, both at the screenings and in the Fan Fest exhibit area.
This is an especially worthy project, both for its content and the high overall quality of the film itself, and we trust that the bluegrass community will show the support it deserves.
Here’s more news about an upcoming bluegrass film project, this time the youth-focused Generation Bluegrass.
Actually, this film is more than just youth-focused. It was conceived, filmed, produced, edited and financed by bluegrass teens Corey Smith and Zeb Snyder. Both young men, who perform with their family bands, decided to make this film to showcase the talent of this next generation of talented grassers.
Corey set up a studio at his family’s home in Glendon, NC and shot all the footage between November of 2011 and this past June. He financed the project himself by pooling all the money he made working on his family farm, performing with the band (The Smith Family), and doing film work for local businesses in his area.
Generation Bluegrass features both performances and interviews with the members of the Snyder Family Band, The Church Sisters, The Moore Brothers, and The Smith Family Band. Individual pickers are also included, with spots highlighting Jacob Burleson, Daniel Perry, and Alex and Shane Edwards.
Judging from the extended trailer released last week, the production values are quite high. Young Mr. Smith displays quite a talent as a videographer as well as a guitarist.
Corey will have a booth during IBMA’s World of Bluegrass at the end of September and hopes that finished DVDs will be available at that time.
Each year at IBMA, there are discussions and panels about getting young people involved in the music, and the organization. There will never be a recruiting tool more effective than seeing other young folks playing and enjoying the music. Bravo Corey and Zeb!
Another project that’s in the works is Generation Bluegrass, made by, for, and about the young folks who will soon assume the mantle of keeping the tradition alive. Producing and directing is 17 year old Corey Smith, guitarist with The Smith Family Band, with help from his friend Zeb Snyder, the 16 year old guitarist with The Snyder Family.
Their film highlightstheir two family bands, plus The Moore Brothers, another teen and pre-teen outfit. Also featured are Jacob Burleson, son of Blue Highway’s Jason, and Daniel Perry, bass player with the Moores. All are superb pickers with a bright future in bluegrass should they choose to pursue a career in music.
Here’s a short trailer Corey has created for Generation Bluegrass…
…and a version of Sweet Georgia Brown from the film:
It will be exciting to see what Corey comes up with when the project is complete.
