Strictly Country Records Archives

Another one bites the dust

The European Bluegrass Blog is reporting that Dutch bluegrass magazine Strictly County will cease publication in February 2011 after 40 years in print. The magazine has been shepherded this past four decades by Rienk Janssen, who will retire after issue #240.

According to The European Bluegrass Blog, Strictly Country plans to go out with a bang.

A farewell festival, jam sessions and more is in the planning stages as SC magazine “goes out in style.” It will take place on May 6 & 7, 2011 at the Muzeval in Emmen, NL. Performers are invited to sign-up for a stage time slot in advance. The organizers are offering to pay minimal travel expenses. Vendors of music related materials are welcomed for a minimal fee.

More details will be announced as the event develops. Follow the progress at strictlycountry.nl in the coming months. Mark the dates in your calendar and help the magazine retire on a happy bluegrass note!

More’s the pity. Thanks to Rienk for his dedication and service to bluegrass music.

New CD from Paul Craft

Paul Craft has long been known as one of the premier songwriters in bluegrass music, and he has enjoyed tremendous success in pop and country music as well. His song, Midnight Flyer, was a hit for The Osborne Brothers in 1974, but became a mega-hit for The Eagles a few years later. His song, Teardrops Will Kiss The Morning Dew, was included in Alison Krauss’ platinum compilation, Now That I’ve Found You.

Paul has written a number of country hits like Dropkick Me, Jesus, It’s Me Again Margaret, Keep Me From Blowing Away, Brother Jukebox and Come As You Were.

Now, from Strictly Country Records comes a new CD from Paul Craft, Too Bad You’re No Good, featuring a number of his new and older compositions, performed by some of Nashville’s hottest pickers. Ronnie McCoury, Robbie McCoury, Jason Carter, Mike Bub, Bobby Bare, Thom Bresh, Shawn Camp, Jack Clement and Kenny Malone all lend their talents on this new release.

Strictly Country is based in The Netherlands, and there will surely be distribution of Paul’s new CD in the US. Two previous CDs, Raised By The Railroad Line and Brother Jukebox are both available through CDBaby, so perhaps this one will appear there as well.

Radio hosts and potential distributors can reach Strictly Country by email, or find contact information on their web site.

EWOB CD – audio samples online

We had posted previously about the EWOB ’05 CD featuring the various bands who showcased during the European World Of Bluegrass convention in The Netherlands this past May. We mentioned at the time that the CD could be ordered online from the Strictly Country Records web site, but that no online audio samples were available.

We have just heard from Pete de Moor who pointed us to audio samples on the EBMA web site. You’ll see a link for the sound clips in the text links along the right edge of the page. 25 bands from all over Europe and the United States were featured on this live recording.

EWOB CD now available online

We posted recently about the release of an audio CD with live recordings of the various showcase acts that performed at the 2005 European World of Bluegrass in The Netherlands this past May.

At that time, there was no place online we could direct our readers to order on of these CDs, but that is now possible via the Strictly Country Records web site. There isn’t a direct link to the page with info and ordering options, so click on the “artists” link near the top of the page to find the European World of Bluegrass CDs.

Still no sample audio, unfortunately, though I did find a sample of one track on the Bononia Grass web site, an Italian bluegrass band featuring Luca Naldi on a banjo tune he wrote entitled Red Fox.

European World Of Bluegrass 2005 Showcase CD

This past May, more than forty bluegrass bands from all over Europe and the US descended on the tiny Dutch town of Voorthuizen to showcase at the 2005 European World Of Bluegrass (EWOB) Convention. Like its parent organization, the International Bluegrass Music Association in the US, the EBMA functions to promote and further bluegrass music in Europe, and their annual World Of Bluegrass event is structured similarly to the IBMA event held each October.

Strictly Country Records is now poised to release an audio CD produced by Liz Meyer, featuring live tracks from 25 EWOB showcase performers, hailing from 8 different European nations and the US. The material is said to range from traditional and contemporary bluegrass to pop music covers, and includes original material from six showcase bands.

No details yet online on the Strictly Country Records or EBMA web sites, but you can reach Strictly Country in The Netherlands at +31-297-347-101, or by email.