For the past ten years, the Musicians Against Childhood Cancer festival, commonly referred to as the MACC, has taken place just outside of Columbus, OH, and from year one, has attracted some of the biggest names in bluegrass and acoustic music. Festival promoter Darrel Adkins established the event, which draws more and more fans each year, as a charity benefiting St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, and has raised over $500,000.00 Read more…
On July 27 Rounder Records will release the soundtrack to Sony Pictures Classics’ Get Low.
The soundtrack features new material recorded especially for the film by Rounder artists’ Alison Krauss – her first new track since 2007’s A Hundred Miles or More – and The SteelDrivers (the latter also appear in the movie). Academy Award® winning composer Jan A.P. Kaczmarek (Finding Neverland) and 12 time Grammy® winning Dobro player Jerry Douglas wrote the scores, while the rest of the soundtrack includes vintage tracks from The Ink Spots, Gene Austin, Paul Whiteman and Bix Beiderbecke.
Starring Academy Award® winner Robert Duvall, Golden Globe winner Bill Murray, Academy Award ® winner Sissy Spacek and Lucas Black, Get Low the film is based on the true story of Felix “Bush” Breazeale – a Tennessee recluse who planned his own funeral…while he was still alive and could enjoy it. To draw a crowd, Felix sold lottery tickets offering his valuable plot of land as the prize, and the ploy worked. The “living funeral” commanded national attention and in the end it was said that as many as 12,000 ‘mourners’ from at least 14 different states showed up on June 26, 1938 – including a Life Magazine photographer and major newspaper reporters – to pay their respects to Felix as he watched it all transpire.
The SteelDrivers, a band who uniquely meld back-country high lonesome and Delta soul, will also be releasing their much anticipated sophomore release, Reckless, September 14 on Rounder Records. Reckless is comprised of a dozen great songs sung and played with scorched earth passion by the now road-tested band.
Get Low Track Listing:
1. Lay My Burden Down – Alison Krauss
2. If I Didn’t Care – The Ink Spots
3. Jesus Come For Me – The SteelDrivers
4. Sitting Mule/Drive to Town ‐ Score – Jerry Douglas
5. Drive to Town for Clothes ‐ Score – Jerry Douglas and Stuart Duncan
6. No Haircut ‐ Score – Jerry Douglas
7. Farewell Blues – Paul Whiteman
8. Monkey Bay – Jerry Douglas, Edgar Meyer & Russ Barenberg
9. Whiskey Before Breakfast – The SteelDrivers
10. East Virginia Fast – The SteelDrivers
11. North ‐ Score – Jerry Douglas
12. Bush Shows Maddie Around ‐ Score
13. Angelina Baker – The SteelDrivers
14. The Mystery of Felix ‐ Score
15. I’m Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover ‐ Bix Beiderbecke (aka Billy Murray & Jean Goldkette Orchestra)
16. My Blue Heaven – Gene Austin
Congratulations to Donna Hughes Band members, Brian and Maggie Stephens on their birth of their baby girl, Lilly Kate Stephens! 7lbs 2oz and 19-1/2″ long, born Tuesday, June 15th.
The SteelDrivers, the distinctive combo who uniquely meld back-country high lonesome and Delta soul, return with their much anticipated follow up to their acclaimed Rounder Records’ self-titled 2008 debut. The sophomore release, Reckless, featuring the original line up, hits the streets September 14th on Rounder Records. Returning to the studio with producer Luke Wooten (Alison Krauss, Jim Lauderdale and Dierks Bentley), the follow up continues to stretch the boundaries of bluegrass.
The SteelDrivers seemed to have come out of nowhere when they released their debut – they weren’t like any other bluegrass band. They sounded like nobody else. As journalist Larry Nager writes in the liner notes for the upcoming new release, “It’s a long way from Jerusalem Ridge to the Mississippi Delta, but the shortest distance between the two is a ride with The SteelDrivers…not since Bill Monroe has a bluegrass band distilled such a potent brew”.
The question everyone has asked since the combo hit the scene, earning tons of accolades from the media and nominations from the International Bluegrass Music Association, The American Music Association and even a Grammy nomination, is, can they repeat themselves? Will the 12 new songs still shake the listener with a sound traveling the road from the Old Homeplace to the Home of the Blues?
Can Mike Henderson, Chris Stapleton, Tammy Rogers, Richard Bailey and Mike Fleming deliver it again? The answer is a simple yes. They are still that good – delivering a dozen great songs sung and played with scorched earth passion by the now road-tested band. Eleven of the 12 songs are co-written by Henderson and Stapleton, while the 12th is a co-write between Stapleton and Ronnie Bowman.
Reckless is the next step on The SteelDrivers’ map as they continue to push beyond the boundaries of modern bluegrass.
Acclaimed singer and clawhammer banjo player Abigail Washburn takes her bold and expansive musical vision Read more…
IBMA is pleased to announce the following songwriters have been invited to present their original material at IBMA’s annual Songwriter Showcase,
hosted at the Nashville Convention Center during the IBMA Business Conference on Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 29. Mark your calendars now if
you are looking for new bluegrass material for an upcoming recording! Read more…
The Farewell Drifters present Yellow Tag Mondays, a stunning collection that displays rich harmonies, sophisticated playing and disarmingly honest songwriting. Now available via Heart Squeeze Records/Thirty Tigers, the national debut from this versatile quintet is a complex combination of smart, modern songs and acoustic warmth and purity that will undoubtedly captivate fans of nearly every musical genre.
Since its formation a few years ago, this Nashville-based band has burst on to the acoustic scene at high-profile festivals like Grey Fox and MerleFest. The Farewell Drifters feature an acoustic lineup (two acoustic guitars, mandolin, fiddle, upright bass) that serves as the perfect setting for their folk and pop sensibility and allows them to explore a multitude of genres, creating a sonic landscape that is strikingly different and new.
Co-founders Zach Bevill (guitar, lead vocals) and Josh Britt (mandolin) have seamlessly pulled together their diverse musical backgrounds to build songs that embrace their tastes and talents, brilliantly supported by Britt’s brother Clayton (lead guitar), Dean Marold (bass) and Christian Sedelmyer (fiddle). Upon meeting, Bevill and Britt immediately bonded over a love of both the revolutionary pop music of the ‘60s as well as progressive acoustic music, and found a musical hybrid all their own: a melodic concoction of soaring vocal harmonies, stringed instruments and catchy hooks.
Yellow Tag Mondays announces the arrival of a group of highly skilled musicians with a young, but clearly defined point of view. Their distinct lyrical talents lie in their ability to express progressive, universal ideas in an accessible way, and with their energetic, youthful presence they are part of a movement to expose a new generation of listeners to the honesty of acoustic music. From festivals, to coffee houses, to rock clubs, this quintet continues to delight audiences with their indisputable talent and dynamic stage presence, offering a fresh take on the idea of an acoustic band.
The album opens with a beautiful, serene display of their signature harmonies on “Love We Left Behind,” and then picks up the pace with the energetic intensity of “Everyone Is Talking.” “All We Need,” with its unexpected a cappella coda, showcases the exemplary sound and skill that truly sets the band apart. Its Beach Boys-style harmonies are backed by a careful acoustic instrumentation with a bouncing rhythm, intricate guitar fingerpicking and a charming fiddle serenade that ties the song together.
Yellow Tag Mondays is both the culmination of what these young musicians have been working towards for years and the first step of many in what is sure to be a long and successful journey. With an undeniable instrumental and vocal prowess and a desire to push musical boundaries, The Farewell Drifters prove that they are a force to be reckoned with as they breathe new life into the acoustic scene.
Fiddlers, guitarists, mandolinists, bands and cloggers from states across the south descended on Ringgold, Ga. May 29 to compete in the 1890s Days Jamboree Old Time Fiddlers Convention.
Fiddlers of all ages rosined up their bows and cloggers kicked up their heels to win nearly $7,000 in prize money on the Northwest Georgia Bank stage in the historic Ringgold Depot.
“Not only did we welcome new contestants but more top-talent competitors in all categories,” said event chairman Lewis Taylor. “We added a band competition which brought even more great entertainment to our audience throughout the day.”
Taylor is a champion harmonica player winning titles in several states and numerous contests.
Megan Lynch of Goodlettsville, Tenn. won the Randall Franks Trophy at the 1890s Days Jamboree on May 29.
Lynch won her 22-50-age category for the chance to compete for the trophy.
In the fiddle off, she faced Aerin DeJarnette of Snellville, Ga. from 16-21 age category, who placed second, and Chuck Reeves of Oakman, Ala., winner of the 51 and up category who placed third. Lynch tours in the duet Bill Evans and Megan Lynch and with country artists Pam Tillis and Lorrie Morgan.
The top prize is named in honor of Appalachian Ambassador of the Fiddle Randall Franks, “Officer Randy Goode” from TV’s “In the Heat of the Night.” He cheered the top three competitors on in their bid to win the Randall Franks Trophy and the $500 prize while co-hosting the finals with event emcee Kevin Mudd. He then presented the winners on the main stage.
Once holding the title of Georgia State Bluegrass Champion, the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame inductee is a former member of Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys, Jim and Jesse’s Virginia Boys and numerous other groups who as a solo performer often shared his talents for the Grand Ole Opry. Franks co-hosts the Grand Master Fiddler Championship in Nashville each year.
“I was enthused to see several of our Share America Foundation Scholars competing this year,” he said. “Through that organization, we encourage youth in the traditional music of Appalachia. I am pleased to share my time with this annual event. It was in fiddle contests like this that I got my early chances to grow in my music. That makes a big difference in a young person’s life.”
The team dance competition was won by Harpeth River of Franklin, Tenn. with Jackson Hollow of Franklin, Tenn. taking second place, the Little Girls of White Bluff, Tenn. winning third.
A new addition to this year’s event was a bluegrass band competition. The Justice Family Bluegrass Band of Columbus, Ga. won first place with Spatial Effects of Dalton, Ga. taking second, Tennessee Valley Express of Fayetteville, Tenn. taking third, and Blue Heaven of Monroe, Ga. winning fourth.
The next 1890s Days Jamboree Old Time Fiddlers Convention will be Memorial Day weekend Saturday 2011 in Ringgold, Ga. For more information, visit www.cityofringgold.com.
The Mountain Home Music label brings together three legends of Bluegrass. Banjo master J.D. Crowe, Bluegrass patriarch Doyle Lawson and legendary Bluegrass Gospel performer Paul Williams have joined to record songs they performed as members of Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain boys. This all Bluegrass Gospel recording is set to be one of the most historical Read more…
