International Bluegrass star Rhonda Vincent will release Taken, her first project on the Upper Management imprint on September 21, 2010, performing LIVE in New York City’s “Times Square”.

Famously crowned as “the new queen of bluegrass” by the Wall Street Journal, and indeed the most decorated musician in that field; with an engaging personality that blends down-home sincerity with big-city style; savvy contemporary touches alongside haunting mountain melodies. Featuring her seasoned touring band the Rage alongside superstar friend Dolly Parton, Richard Marx, Little Roy Lewis, and Vincent’s own daughters, the singing duo Next Best Thing. Taken is a vivid testament to Rhonda Vincent’s superior status as a bandleader, vocalist, and instrumentalist!

 Rural Rhythm Records is very proud to announce the new release, “STILL LEARNING” by the Lonesome River Band.  Read more…

Rural Rhythm Records is proud to announce the release of “BLOODLINE”, the debut album by The Darrell Webb Band.  Darrell is very excited Read more…

Mountain Fever Records is proud to announce they have signed bluegrass recording artists, Volume Five to the label and will release Down In A Cell, the band’s new CD on August 17th.  

Consisting of Glen Harrell (fiddle & vocals); Patton Wages (banjo, & vocals); Chris Williamson (bass & vocals); Jesse Daniel (mandolin & vocals); and Adam Duke (guitar & vocals), each member of Volume Five has held tenure with national touring bands prior to their collective start in early 2008.  Performing with such well known acts as Marty Raybon and Full Circle, The Bradley Walker Band, The Anita Fisher Band, Randy Kohrs and The Lites, The Larry Stephenson Band, and David Davis and The Warrior River Boys, has allowed members of Volume Five the opportunity to hone his craft to perfection and gain the stage experience needed to entertain just about any crowd.  Volume Five’s strong vocals, dead-on harmonies, and precision picking make them one of the most exciting new “traditional” bands to hit the bluegrass scene in a long while. 

 Down In A Cell includes 11 tracks with four originals written by members of Volume Five (“Down In A Cell” by Adam Duke, “Busy City”, “These Lies”, and “Ride Ruby Ride” by Jesse Daniel) along with songs penned by popular writers such as Whitey Shafer (“Baptism of Jesse Taylor”) and Dottie Rambo (“Sailing On”).  The CD also features a great bluegrass re-make of “Home”, originally a hit for country music star Joe Diffie.  Possibly the most unique aspect of Down In A Cell is the lead vocals shared between Glen Harrell and Adam Duke, both soulful singers but each with a distinctive style all their own.

Listen to a clip of “Like A Stone”:  

For more information on Volume Five, please visit www.VolumeFiveBG.com or www.MountainFever.com.

Roland White has re-issued his classic 1976 CD I Wasn’t Born To Rock ‘N Roll on Tompkins Square Records. At www.rolandwhite.com you’ll also find the The Essential Clarence White Bluegrass Guitar Leads, a 102-page spiral bound book that comes with two CDs; Roland White’s Approach To Bluegrass Mandolin, a 60-page spiral bound book with two CDs; and Roland White’s Mandolin Christmas, a 44-page book with CD.

You’ll also want to catch Roland’s in-depth interview with BMP in the Sept/Oct issue!

 Rural Rhythm Records is very proud to announce they have signed RODNEY DILLARD & The Dillard Band to the label and will release the group’s new album, “I WISH LIFE Read more…

You don’t have to listen very hard to hear the buzz.  It’s all around.  Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen are turning up the heat on stage and fans and fellow artists are taking notice.  This former vocalist, mandolin, fiddle, and guitar player for the United States Navy’s elite country and bluegrass band, Country Current, has put together one of the most anticipated bands to come across the bluegrass trail in recent memory.

On Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen, their self-titled release scheduled to hit streets on August 17, the band stirs the pot with intrigue of the best kind, with an album that offers up a smorgasbord of musical sounds, combined with multiple layers of instrumental expertise, stellar songwriting, solid lead and harmony vocal deliveries and years of experience, for one of those recordings you’ll never want to stop listening to.

Every so often an artist comes along whose style, abilities and personality not only capture the true essence of a particular music genre, but also propel that genre forward in new directions. Nora Jane Struthers is such an artist. After taking top honors in this weekend’s Telluride Band Competition, Struthers announced the release of her self-titled debut album.

The nationally recognized music competitions at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival are a breeding ground for independent roots music. As winners of the Telluride Band Contest, Struthers and her band, the Bootleggers (P.J. George, Ward Stout and Dave Goldenberg), now join the celebrated company of renowned platinum-selling artists and past winners the Dixie Chicks and Nickel Creek. In addition to critical acclaim and recognition, a slot on 2011’s main stage is among her winnings in this incredible honor. Struthers also placed in the final round of the Troubadour Songwriter Contest out of hundreds of her peers, becoming the only artist to place so highly in both the Troubadour and Band Competitions.

Struthers is an artist of distinction, a trailblazer rooted in tradition. No stranger to high-profile festivals, Struthers and her band picked up the first place prize in the “Neo-Traditional Band” competition at the 2009 Appalachian String Band Festival; Struthers also won “Best New Song” that same year. Since partnering with John Laird at The Americana Agency, she is touring more than ever and enjoying continued triumphs, each a well-deserved accolade for this “dedicated to her craft” singer/songwriter.

Nora Jane Struthers, produced by industry stalwart Brent Truitt (Dolly Parton, Alison Krauss, Dixie Chicks), is the product of Struthers’ experience, passion, knowledge and authenticity. Each song, intricately infused with strokes of bluegrass, Celtic, gospel, old time and folk, tells a story, and Struthers’ lyrics depict times of heartbreak and patriarchy, of nostalgia and hope. GRAMMY award winning singer/instrumentalist Tim O’Brien joins her on the release saying, “Old time music continues to reinvent itself in the able hands of young artists like Nora Jane Struthers.”

Combine Struthers’ unique sound with her vintage fashion style, and the result is an homage to American roots, the very foundation about which she sings. Another lifetime ago, Struthers was an English literature teacher in Brooklyn; mere years later, she’s singing songs as enduring as the tales she once taught her students. Her songs sound as if they’ve been passed down from generation to generation, and her authenticity is majestic, a rarity even. From her vintage cotton dresses to her brilliant red lips, Struthers is stunning and put together, the very way proud mid-Century women carried themselves once upon a time.

This classic persona inspired her Vintage Voyage, a special event in the Nashville community in which she will visit several vintage stores, handpick dresses and invite one girl from each store to model the outfit on stage at her recent album release party at The Basement. Fans will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite shop girl who will be featured with Struthers in the August issue of HER Nashville magazine.

Truly an artist that radiates authenticity, Nora Jane Struthers presents an impressive debut. It’s classic Americana at its finest from a hardworking artist who simply loves what she does. Her traditional look and sound is refreshing, and perhaps that is where her true gift lies.

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