The Bluegrass Standard - Desktop Edition - Volume 2, Issue 6

The

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Lorraine Jordan  Nefesh Mountain  Gibson Brothers  Ernie Evans  California Bluegrass Pride  and much more! ...

Michael Cleveland

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Volume 2 ~ Issue 6

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and Flamekeeper

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The Blu e gras s St andard St aff This Month's Guest Writer: Emerald Butler Keith Barnacastle • Publisher The Bluegrass Standard is a life-long dream of Keith Barnacastle, who grew up in Meridian, Mississippi. For three years, Keith brought the Suits, Boots and Bluegrass Festival to Meridian. Now, with the Bluegrass Standard, Keith's enthusiasm for the music, and his vision of its future, reaches a nationwide audience every month!

Richelle Putnam • Managing Journalist Editor Richelle Putnam is a Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC) Teaching Artist/Roster Artist (Literary), a Mississippi Humanities Speaker, and a 2014 MAC Literary Arts Fellowship recipient. Her non-fiction books include Lauderdale County, Mississippi; a Brief History, Legendary Locals of Meridian, Mississippi and Mississippi and the Great Depression. She writes for many publications.

Shelby Campbell • Journalist Editor Shelby Campbell is a writer and designer whose heart beats for creativity. A native of rural Livingston, AL, she found her passion in journalism and design at The University of West Alabama, where she received a Bachelor's degree in Integrated Marketing Communications. Shelby also has her own photography business.

Kara Martinez Bachman • Journalist Kara Martinez Bachman is an author, editor and journalist.

Her music and culture reporting has appeared in dozens of publications and she's interviewed many performers over the years, from local musicians to well-known celebrities.

She's a native of New Orleans and lives just outside the city with her husband, two kids, and two silly mutts.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

The Blu e gras s St andard St aff Guest Photographers: Barbara and Donn Duncan Sr. Stephen Pitalo • Journalist Stephen Pitalo has been an entertainment journalist for more than 30 years, having interviewed everyone from Joey Ramone to Bill Plympton to John Landis. He is the world’s leading authority on the The Golden Age of Music Video (1976-1993), mining inside stories from interviews 70+ music video directors and countless artists of the pre-internet music era. GoldenAgeOfMusicVideo.com

Susan Marquez • Journalist Susan Marquez is a freelance writer based in Madison, Mississippi and a Mississippi Arts Commission Roster Artist. After a 20+ year career in advertising and marketing, she began a professional writing career in 2001. Since that time she has written over 2000 articles which have been published in magazines, newspapers, business journals, trade publications.

Robbie Ward • Journalist Journalist and storyteller Robbie Ward grew up in his native Mississippi listening to blues, bluegrass, and country music. He has a bachelor’s degree in English literature and journalism and a master’s degree in public policy and administration. Ward created and produced the Johnny Cash Flower Pickin’ Festival in Starkville, Mississippi and ran the Dublin Marathon in Ireland to fulfill a promise to his mama. He has written for newspapers in MS, SC, FL, and PA.

James Babb • Creative Director James Babb is a native Californian, and a long-time resident of Palm Springs. Over the course of a 30+ year career, he has been involved in creative work of many types.

In addition to his graphic design for The Bluegrass Standard, James also provides custom framing of paintings by artists from his local community.

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CONTENTS Michael Cleveland Bluegrass Outlaws Bitter-Sweet Bluegrass Band Lorraine Jordan Brandon Lee Adams Music Barn CD Reviews THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

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California Bluegrass Pride Kristi Stanley Ernie Evans Tomorrow’s Bluegrass Stars:

Phoebe Pittard Kenny & Amanda Smith

Breaking Grass THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

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Nefesh Mountain Mountain Heart Front Country Gibson Brothers Catahoula Drive Back Porch: Uncle Dave Macon Days Festival Guide THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

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CLEVELAND ROCKS

Knowledge, Drive and Blazing Style Have Put Michael Cleveland in the Company of Legends

by Stephen Pitalo THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

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Ask people about Michael Cleveland, and you’ll hear about a man who is nothing short of a miracle. And yet, it all seems to make sense.

A visually impaired kid who began bluegrass fiddle at age five, his style can only be described as a volcanic eruption with rifle scope precision, Cleveland took a keen interest in pursuing the fiddle very early, and has taken the bluegrass world by storm in the last decade through hard work and gratitude. But he’d be the first to tell you that it was willpower that moved him forward, even as a child.

Michael Cleveland’s earliest lessons with the fiddle were actually using the Suzuki method for classical violin.

“There was a point probably when I was about nine or ten-years-old where things started to get a little easier,” Cleveland said, “and I was able to pick up things quicker and I just started listening to a lot more people. I was finally making some progress and thought I could do it, but there was never a time where it was like, I can’t do this or I don’t want to do this, I’m tired of trying to do this. I was so into bluegrass music and so into the fiddle that I was going to play regardless.”

Cleveland was turned on to the enormous range of fiddle playing possibilities at the age of twelve when he played the Indiana Fiddlers’ Gathering in Battle Ground, Indiana.

“It was put on by this guy named Dave Samuelson. Dave came up to me and he said, ‘You know, if you’re going to play the fiddle, I really need to get you some music to listen to.

Why don’t you let me make you some tapes?’ and I thought, ‘Yeah, right.’ I thought he would forget about it or whatever.

“But next time I saw him, he had a box full of tapes of all kinds of fiddle music, like Flatt and Scruggs radio shows with Benny Martin on the fiddle and Opry shows, Bill Monroe with Flatt and Scruggs and Chubby Wise, Stephane Grappelli, Joe Venuti, Sally Goodin and the first version of “Orange Blossom Special,” just all this stuff. But not only was there all this music, but there was Dave at the beginning of each tape, and he would say what it was, who was playing on it, when it was recorded and sometimes how it was recorded. You know, like the first verse in this Sally Goodin song, he said this was recorded in front of a great, big horn -- it’s just stuff you would never know.

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“He sent me – God, I don’t know how many tapes – and it kind of changed everything, you know. Just listening and learning. Also, I did listen to Benny Martin, Chubby Wise, Bobby Hicks, Dale Potter, Kenny Baker, Scotty Stoneman. I’ve listened to all these records and there’s still stuff that I hear that I didn’t realize before. It’s amazing the legacy those guys set.”

Cleveland elevated in the ranks of bluegrass quickly, gaining a reputation as a marvel of the genre. When Cleveland formed his band Flamekeeper back in 2006, he wasn’t really sure that the dynamic of a band, much less one with him at the helm, was going to work for him.

“When I first formed this band, I never really wanted to be a band leader. The main reason this band started was I had done some solo albums for Random Records. I started playing with Dale Ann Bradley for about six months and then Rhonda Vincent called me. My buddy, Steve Sutton, was playing banjo in the band and I always wanted to play in a band with him and with Rhonda and that was a huge opportunity. So, I did that for a year-and-a-half, and I went back to Dale Ann’s band for about four or five years.

So, while I was with Dale Ann, I was making my solo records and playing traditional bluegrass and fiddle music on these albums. Every once in a while, the guys who are playing on these records would get the opportunity to jam, and I would be there.

“Well, so in 2006, Dale Ann just didn’t have a whole lot of dates, and I really wanted to work. So, I talked to some of the guys who played on these records and the whole thought was, ‘Why don’t we do some shows every once in a while?’ and, you know, we would just book a handful of shows. I think it started fulltime in 2007 and it has been and is still a learning experience for me. I’m really fortunate that I have a lot of help because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to do it. I mean, I know a lot of people who are able to play music and book the band and do publicity for the band and keep up with all this. But, man, if I had to do it alone, I would drive myself nuts. It allows me to focus more on the music and I couldn’t be more grateful for that because I know for a lot of bandleaders, it isn’t that way.”

Cleveland has found over the years that rehearsing, recording and performing has no more obstacles for a visually impaired individual than someone who is not.

“You just talk to each other and you listen to each other and that’s the main thing with 12

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music anyway. “It’s all about communicating either verbally or musically. So being visually-impaired is not a big deal because, hey, it’s three-chord standard bluegrass songs. If it’s a three-chord song and you can get an idea of the melody, you can kind of tell where it’s going to go. I mean, bluegrass is definitely based more off the melody than jazz. You know, on a song, I try to base that first solo around the melody, and I may come up with ways to elaborate on it or I may end it a little differently.”

The Flamekeeper band name comes from Cleveland’s dedication to a specific type of music he wants to keep alive, a sound he calls “high octane bluegrass”.

“I mean as far as the restraint and all that kind of thing,” Cleveland said of those who describe his tight, precise performance style, “I did start learning the Suzuki method of classical violin and I mean I knew even before I started playing that I wanted to learn how to play bluegrass. But I think classical learning helps me so much as far as developing my ears and maybe my tone and things like that. But yes, we try to play everything with a lot of intensity.”

Keeping those burners on high involves not just intense rehearsal, but listening back to previous live shows by the band. ‘We hear things and sometimes say, that went really well,” Cleveland admits. “Then we hear things and OK, we need to work on that and – most of the time, I don’t have to say anything because all these guys in the band have great ears. They can tell. I think with any good musician, you never stop learning.”

Cleveland received his first Grammy nomination this year, for an album that was basically instrumental.

“I was really surprised,” Cleveland remarked, “and the reason I was so surprised is that it was an instrumental album and there’s a lot of great albums that came out. To be nominated for an instrumental album – I mean it did have vocals on it and it did have special guests on it and I’m very happy with the album, but I was just really surprised that an instrumental album was nominated and, yeah, our publicist Kimberly called me. I think it was like 8:00 or 9 o’clock in the morning and we had played somewhere the night before. So, I was in bed and he called. He said, ‘Hey, I’m sorry to wake you up. But I got some news for you.

We’re nominated for a Grammy,’ and I was just shocked. And to get to go and actually watch the ceremony? You know, it was amazing.”

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Success Straight Outta the Gate: The Bluegrass Outlaws

By Kara Martinez Bachman Sometimes, little Becky Monk got bored to death in her little hometown of Three Forks, West Virginia. Once the basics of everyday life were done, there wasn’t much extra for a kid to do amongst the tiny town’s isolation. Sure, she sang a little at home, and at church, and at reunions. But it hadn’t been enough.

One day, her father -- who played guitar and bass -- suggested a new way to pass the time. The suggestion has proven to be a good one. It ignited a fire that has burned strong for years and years.

“If you wanna, go get that bass,” her father had said to the eleven-year-old, “I’ll show you a couple of chords on it.”

The girl picked up the gist of it quick as lightning.

“Within a week’s time, I was actually playing my first show,” Monk reminisced. She played with her father and her brother, who had mastered the mandolin at the tender age of seven.

All the plucking that was to follow came in handy when in the summer of 2015, she and her husband -- banjo player Chris Monk -- started the Bluegrass Outlaws. A few years before, she’d moved from West Virginia to eastern Tennessee, and soon she and her husband hooked up with the rest of their ensemble.

Things took shape quickly. They soon appeared in the SPBGMA Band Competition.

“It was our first show onstage as a band, and we took first place,” she said. “They said that was the first time any band had done that in history.”

Other members include mandolin player and vocalist Will Clark, who, on the band’s website, is described as playing “anything with strings,” and Wesley Wolfe, who has been tearing it up on the guitar since the age of five.

The band’s first album was released in fall 2016, and the public’s reception to it was strong. The first single released, “Upper Big Branch Mine,” was an original song that dramatized a mining disaster that took place in Monk’s home state of West Virginia.

“The first day that the DJs downloaded the record, it was the number one most listened to album of the year,” she said, of the debut’s ranking on Airplay Direct.

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“We started booking a bunch of gigs.”

Another proud moment came when Bluegrass Outlaws performed at the legendary Grand Ole Opry this past October. It was part of a Ralph Stanley tribute.

Right now, the Bluegrass Outlaws are working on their second record, which will contain a few originals. But, as Monk explained, “It’ll be different than the first record...more traditional country and modern bluegrass.”

“I get a lot of requests to do ‘Pretty Polly.’ They like our style of it,” Monk said. “It’s a possibility as one of the bonus tracks.”

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As vocalist, Monk is quick to credit those who taught her to sing from a distance.

“My first main influence as far as singing-wise goes would be Ricky Skaggs,” she said, adding also, Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton.

“I’d like to thank each and every one of our fans for coming out and supporting us,” Monk said, in a message to those who enjoy Bluegrass Outlaws. “And to thank all of our veterans, because if it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t be doing what we’re doing.”

Bluegrass Outlaws will appear at the WOBO Bluegrass Bash in Claremont, Ohio on June 2, followed by the Rockahock Bluegrass Festival in Lanexa, Virginia, on June 15. In August, fans can also catch them in a show at Bluegrass on Broad in Kingsport, Tennessee on August 3, and at the Sterling Bluegrass Jamboree in Mount Sterling, Ohio on August 11. Once fall rolls around, they can be seen at the Lincoln Theater in Marion, Virginia on September 28.

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Bitter–Sweet

Bluegrass

By Susan Marquez

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Bitter–Sweet Bluegrass

Although it’s a town of only 4,196 people (and growing!), Vine Grove is the third largest city in Hardin County, Kentucky. Located about 30 minutes outside of Louisville, the tiny hamlet has some amazing hometown musicians with the Bitter-Sweet Bluegrass Band.

It started with Craig McCarty and Daniel Womble leaving the band they were playing with. “The band was good, but the music wasn’t really our style,” McCarty explains.

“We decided to break off and form our own band where we could stay true to the style of music we really want to play.” About that time Roger Lucas was leaving the band he was playing with. “We started going to festivals and jams and met these cats from West Liberty (Kentucky),” recalls McCarty. That’s when Greg Perkins came on board as the band’s lead singer, and Clayton Skala joined to play the mandolin. “We named our band Bitter-Sweet,” says McCarty, “because it was a little bitter to leave an established band, but sweet to be starting a band of our own.”

The hard-driving group tries to stay true to the roots of second generational bluegrass music. “We put our own spin on it, and then we build off that. We work to put a fresh feel to the music.” The band hit the ground running, so to speak, after its official formation in October 2017. Working to get just the right sound, the band has been “woodshedding for the past few months,” according to McCarty. So far they have played nine gigs. “We have a couple of festivals coming up. We’ll play the Rosine Park Festival on June 2, and the Jerusalem Ridge Festival on September 13.”

Soon the band will go into the recording studio of Chris Caskey, located in his Lexington home, to cut a promo CD. “We have one original song we may cut as a single,” says McCarty. “It’s called ‘Old Kentucky’ and my aunt, Joanne McCarty, wrote it. She says the song just came to her. I think it’s an incredible song, and we’re going to do a good job with it.”

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The band members all live within a fairly close proximity of one another, and get together to practice at least once weekly, if not more. “We try to practice as often as we can,” McCarty says. “We’re working to get each song as tight as we possibly can.”

McCarty says that there is no real band leader per se. “We all make the decisions. We’re friends as well as band mates. We hang out after practice and talk music. It’s a lifestyle for us.” One of the main influencers of the group is the Bluegrass Album Band. “If you’ve never heard them, look ‘em up,” says McCarty, enthusiastically. “They are fantastic.”

While some musicians are able to make their music a full-time occupation, others, like the members of Bitter–Sweet Bluegrass Band, have to work a full-time job and play music on the side.

Daniel Womble, who plays the banjo, does tile work. Greg Perkins is Bitter-Sweet’s lead singer and he plays guitar when he’s not working with glass rock. Clayton Skala, the group’s mandolin player, is going to school to study heating and air. Roger Lucas is the only one who doesn’t work. As the senior member of the band, he is retired from being a painter.

Craig McCarty is a salesman for Ale-8-One, a soft drink that has been bottled in Kentucky since 1926. “I love sales, but music is my dream job,” says McCarty. “I was raised around it all my life. I am a self-taught musician, and I have learned all I know by ear. I can read tabs, but I prefer to listen to a tune and then play it on my own.”

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Our Lady of Tradition

by Shelby Campbell

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Affectionately known as the Lady of Tradition, Lorraine Jordan was raised in bluegrass music on the coast of North Carolina. She has now been performing for over twenty years as a musician, songwriter, emcee and show organizer.

“Being called the Lady of Tradition is an honor to me,” said Lorraine. “The name was given to me by Miss Dixie Hall. She said that ‘this lady of tradition will continue to carry on true bluegrass for her fans.’ I try to live by that standard.”

Teaching herself to play the guitar at an early age, Lorraine got her start in bluegrass music while she was still in high school. She was performing with her high school band at a function when some local bluegrass musicians took notice of her. They invited her to join them for jam sessions. They eventually formed a band and toured festivals that exposed Lorraine to the world of bluegrass.

“My love of bluegrass music came at a very early age when I first heard the harmonies of the Osborne Brothers, the banjo picking of Earl Scruggs, and the mandolin picking of Bill Monroe. The music just seemed so real,” said Lorraine.

As the founding member of her band Carolina Road, Lorraine’s chemistry with her audience helps to make them one of bluegrass music’s most popular bands. They have a distinct sound and show that sets them apart from other artists.

Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road’s old-time flair can be attributed to the bluegrass-rich area of North Carolina where the band’s name was inspired.

Playing over 100 shows in North America and 60 major festivals each year, this traditional band proves that hard work truly pays off. They have even had the honor of headlining Christmas in the Smokies and hosting the Canadian Bluegrass Awards.

Some of the top musicians in THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

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business make up this dynamic group of artists including Ben Greene on banjo, Josh Goforth on fiddle, Jason Moore on bass, Tommy Long on vocals, and Brad Hudson on dobro. Along with Lorraine, they are a bluegrass force to be reckoned with.

Lorraine has had the honor of winning Recorded Event of the Year twice at the IBMA Awards, as well as Bluegrass Traditional Vocalist of the Year and Song of the Year from the Society of the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America (SPBGMA).

She even got to perform on the Grand Ole Opry stage in 2017.

“My main goal in music has always been to make others happy,” said Lorraine.

Lorraine has given back to the bluegrass community in a tremendous way as well – by forming the Daughters of Blue Grass. She got the idea for this group when she was on the road touring and realized there were no projects for an all-female music group. She and Gena Britt pulled together 15 female musicians and recorded a project with only female singers and musicians. Today, the Daughters of Blue Grass group has grown to over 200 women.

She also founded young banjo phenomenon, Garrett Newton.

After hearing him perform for the first time, Lorraine asked Garrett to tour with her and work her band sales table. He eventually asked Lorraine to help him form his own band - with her playing bass guitar.

Garrett is under 18-years-old and has been nominated for an IBMA award, as well as signing with a national record label and having a song on the national music charts.

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Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road have been busy working on projects for themselves. Their newest single “True Grass (Why Can’t Bluegrass Just Be True Grass Again)” was released recently, serving as the first single for their upcoming album set for release later this year.

“True Grass is a perfect song for our band,” said Lorraine. “Everything it says is what we stand for. We love all music, but we believe bluegrass should stay true.”

Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road will be hitting the road soon, playing festivals and venues throughout North America in support of their new album.

To check out their upcoming tour dates, visit carolinaroadband.com

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Brandon Lee Adams: Staying in the Moment

By Stephen Pitalo When Robert Adams told his little grandson, Brandon, “Learn G, C and D chords.

You’re playing in church this weekend,” and put his old Martin D-28 guitar in the boy’s little hands, Brandon started down the road to becoming the award winning singersongwriter he is today.

“My grandparents were huge influences on me,” Adams said. “The values they taught me are the foundation I've tried to build my life on. Simple things -- always be polite.

Show respect. Try to be kind, but not a pushover.

Do everything in your power to honor your word -- even if it hurts you.”

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After learning the chords and putting many grueling hours into his practice, he got his hungry hands on Tony Rice’s Church Street Blues album, which turned Adams into a Tony Rice disciple for life.

But singer-songwriter Brandon Lee Adams is not your typical bluegrass musician. As much as his musical education was informed by Hank Williams, Sr., Roy Acuff, Bill Monroe, as well as Rice, Adams can connect with the craftsmanship and spirit in every genre from rock to hip hop to blues to gospel and so on, embracing that large tent of songwriters and performers with a keen ear and a true reverence for the craft.

“My musical heroes are endless,” Adams said. “It all starts with Tony Rice. As a boy every second free, and not so free, was spent on the music he made. Through Tony, I learned about other artists. They all became heroes. Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Tim O'Brien, Alison Krauss, Mark O'Connor. Around middle school I found Eric Clapton, and it really is the same story there. I love Paul Simon, Sting, Bob Dylan, Sheryl Crow, James Taylor. I basically put music and art into two categories: what I like and what I don't like.

And I don't like being an exact copy [when picking covers]. The joy for me is finding my own way to define a song. Something I think I've taken from all of my heroes.”

Brandon’s weekends, holidays and summer breaks were spent working on a farm in Webbville Kentucky where both his musical tastes & talents incubated. He tuned into Eric Clapton during his “unplugged phase,” as well as Vince Gill and New Grass Revival, and the inimitable Alison Krauss. Continuing to study Larry Spark & Jerry Reed, Tim O’Brien’s album Odd Man In made a huge impact.

“From that point on I knew I wanted to play and sing songs like Tony, but I wanted to write like Tim,” Adams said.

At the age of seventeen, Adams began to showcase his talents after winning a local talent contest, which catapulted a milestone allowing him to perform at the Ryman Auditorium.

Adams’ first album, Hardest Kind Of Memories, featured nine songs written by Adams himself, and was released in 2014. Adams served as singer, guitarist and producer, with assistance from Tony Rice. The song “Hardest Kind Of Memories” was voted a top ten hit for new country artists by Outstage, and later Adams appeared on the IBMA award winning album Celebration of Life for Skaggs Family Records.

‘It's pretty impossible to pick my favorite song on that album,” Adams said of Hardest Kind of Memories. “’Docks of Sutters Bay’ was the first song I ever wrote, in a garage at 28

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the age of 18. It was a bit prophetic for my life, at the time. ‘Already Home’ I wrote to honor my grandmother after a fight with cancer. ‘I Long for Seventeen’ is a song that I remember specifically writing while thinking about Tony's Blake and Rice and Church Street Blues albums.” Adams is quick to point out that all the living Rice brothers in the music scene had a hand in the album.

For Adams, music is rooted in the spiritual and the emotional, and connecting with the present. It can be a challenge to sort out a set list for live gigs, but Adams tries to stay in the moment.

“Each moment and situation always dictates what and how I try to play,” Adams said.

“My favorite songs to play live really depend on the structure I'm in and my mood. With a traditional bluegrass setting, I'm a big fan of just ‘three chords and the truth’ as they say -- anything with drive. Jimmy Martin, Bill Monroe, and the Stanley Brothers are hard to beat for that. If I'm solo? I might do more jazz chord tunes or singer-songwriter songs like ‘Song for a Winters Night’ by Gordon Lightfoot or ‘Girl from the North Country’ by Bob Dylan. Lately, I'm also toying with ‘Another Day in Paradise’ by Phil Collins. If I'm with a more flexible group of musicians, I like to try and stretch the set -- maybe ‘Manzanita’ or a Django Reinhardt cover.”

This summer, Adams’ second solo album, Time I Was Leavin, will be released on Tritium Productions, and he’s very excited for people to hear what he’s put together this go ‘round.

“Once again, I wrote every song, and I have some great friends on it with me -- Carl Jackson, Sammy Shelor, Forrest O'Connor, Mead Richter, Robert Sledge, Aaron Balance, Zach McLamb, John Mock, and Sarah Huesman. It was a big shock when Tony called me and said ‘Let's do it’ -- I don't think I could have been more overwhelmed. It's not something you really ever expect will happen. I learned a lifetime’s worth by recording next to Tony during that session.”

With support from his Santa Cruz guitar strings, his Moody Leather Guitar straps, and playing through those Beyerdynamic microphones, Adams doesn’t look too far ahead or too far behind, trying to play music that is truthful and in the moment.

“I'm just trying to find and make my own sound,” Adams said. “I have a deep love and appreciation for all of my influences. The biggest thing I've learned from them is that you have to find your own way and make your own sound.

Trying to accomplish that -- and catch football on Sunday – pretty much sums me up.”

“I've traveled around the world and I do my best to take it all in,” Adams said. “I imagine I'll be writing entirely different before my time is done.”

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Music Barn David Davis & The Warrior River Boys Didn't He Ramble: Songs of Charlie Poole David Davis is a veteran picker who has appeared on numerous classic bluegrass recordings, and a recipient of countless awards in bluegrass and country music. This isn't a tribute album in the traditional sense: he and the band have taken Poole's songs and re-imagined them to fit the modern music landscape. The first release which is out now “Ramblin’ Blues” is on Rounder Records and is a loving tribute to early roots music legend.

"The idea of recording a tribute to Charlie Poole was very interesting to us," muses Davis.

"For a number of years, we had mentioned him as our candidate for 'Grandfather of Bluegrass Music.' The best tribute that we could offer was to try to take the key elements from Poole's music and evolve that into more modern forms of traditional music, stating our case for Poole being not only a worthy candidate for 'Grandfather of Bluegrass,' but actually 'Grandfather' for a much broader roots music family."

Davis continues, "This particular recording contains the most extensive variety of traditional roots styles that we have ever included on one recording, it's a marriage of old-time tunes melded with bluegrass instrumentation, rhythm, and harmonies." The album revisits 15 timeless tunes from the Charlie Poole songbook, all written by Poole and Norman Woodlieff, infusing such rousing numbers as "He Rambled," "If the River Was Whiskey," "May I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight, Mister?" "Milwaukee Blues" and "White House Blues."

The Warrior River Boys bring fresh energy and their own musical identity to the original versions, which have become enduring classics. I hope that everyone will check it out, it's nostalgic, historical and beautiful.

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Music Barn Flashback Denver Snow FLASHBACK is a bluegrass "super group” featuring former members of the 1995 Grammy Nominated “Flashback" version of J.D Crowe And the Newsouth. The group features Don Rigsby, Richard Bennett and Curt Chapman from the original "Flashback" band.

The band was formed as a 20-year reunion band, which brought all original members back together for a 2015 tour in which they were known as "The Flashback Band. J.D Crowe came back out of retirement for a short time to play 2015 dates with the group. At the end of 2015, Crowe went into retirement again. With the retirement of Crowe, Stuart Wyrick was hired to play banjo and sing baritone in early 2016. The band released the hit album Foxhounds & Fiddles in 2017 on Pinecastle Records.

Pinecastle Recording Company release of the group Flashback’s album “Denver Snow” doesn’t have any cold or lonesome nights. This album is on fire from the first song “Moonshine” to the last “Born to be with You”. All four of these guys tear it up on the instrumentation and vocals. The Title song Denver Snow has a melodic tone of smooth vocals and great mandolin riffs.

The mix of original songs by Don Rigsby, Richard Bennett and their co writers really make for a fresh sound.

“The Letter” is one that Rigsby and friend Dave Adkins co-wrote that really takes a look at life and how things change except for the love that one has for someone. This is one CD that definitely needs to be on your play list.

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Music Barn The Roe Family Singers Pinecastle Records The Roe Family Singers are proud to announce the release of their Pinecastle Records debut: “Songs of the Mountains, Songs of the Plains.”

The Roe family Singers are Kim Roe, vocals, autoharp and washboard. Quillen Roe is on vocals, banjo, and archtop guitar. Both are joined by a host of great musicians on dobro, fiddle, mandolin, jug, clogging, upright bass, electric guitar, musical saw, and flattop guitar.

Very traditional mountain music from the early 1900’s with “Ida Red” to Ol’ Rattler, with a great mix of Carter, Woody Guthrie, and Bill Monroe tunes. You have to love their take on the old songs like “Rank Stranger To Me” and “Hallelujah, I’m Ready to Go.” “Songs of the Mountains, Songs of the Plains,” features 15 songs, including five written by Kim & Quillan Roe, and one written by Roe Family fiddle player, Ric Lee. The remaining songs are traditional old-time, bluegrass, and gospel songs. They love playing Appalachian and Ozark Mountain music. Bringing to you sounds of the 1900’s as though they were in the hills and hollers of North Carolina.

All the songs they write are traditional songs because they love that hillbilly sound. If you love the traditional hillbilly sounds too, then this CD is for you.

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Music Barn Lindsay Lou Southland Michigan songbird Lindsay Lou’s new album is like a summer breeze gently blowing across the meadows of green Kentucky grass and sunlit wildflowers dancing with her soulful melodic and sultry voice. The popular four-piece band Lindsay Lou and The Flatbellys has played (sold-out) venues in Europe and now they take on America.

The band name is now just Lindsay Lou, but still retains all the members. Lindsay is looking forward to touring with the release of the new album with songs like “Roll with Me”, “Southland”, “Satellite”, “Got There Alone” and “Sugar”.

Lindsay sings effortlessly with emotion, drawing you into the songs and captivating you. This album holds you spellbound with Lindsay’s powerful, ferocious confidence, and tender connection to you and the songs.

Her singing floats over the instrumental mastery and deep groove of her band with dynamics that range from a lullaby to a battle cry. Lindsay's brand new full-length "Southland” is a collection of songs examining the range of emotions and complex themes of our changing times.

This album is one you want to delight in and embrace. Make sure you see Lindsay Lou, don't miss this musical force.

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California Bluegrass Pride

By Robbie Ward Acclaimed fiddler Brandon Godman grew up in rural northern Kentucky playing bluegrass music, an important part of his identity.

After college, he left his native state for Nashville to perform professionally in a bluegrass band.

He loved the music and many values associated with the genre – kinship, love, connectedness, learning from one another, just to name a few.

But the musician also had another important part of his life he kept secret from most people in the Nashville bluegrass scene: He was gay. Growing up in rural Appalachia, Godman was exposed to some people who discriminated against others who were different. He worried this part of his life could affect his career as a bluegrass musician. And it did.

When Godman was 21, someone shared with others, without his permission, that he was gay. Shortly after, he was kicked out of the band in which he performed.

“It was an absolute collision of two of my worlds I'd been very active in, but kept so completely separate,” Godman said.

He found work with a different band, but still felt the sting of professional and financial consequences related to others knowing his sexual orientation. Godman moved from Nashville to San Francisco in 2016 to work as a violin and bow dealer. He also connected with Grammy Award winning bluegrass performer Laurie Lewis and joined her band, the Right Hands.

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love for bluegrass while also finding acceptance of their sexual orientation.

They call it Bluegrass Pride,

a formal effort to let the world know bluegrass music is for everyone.

Volunteers with Bluegrass Pride have had a presence at bluegrass events through information tables and found a larger role at a major event in the Bay area.

Ted Kuster, CBA’s area vice president for San Francisco, said the idea for Bluegrass Pride emerged in 2016 after a group of members began brainstorming ways to connect with different audiences and younger generations.

“The last thing on the list was ‘let’s get a float in the Pride Parade,’” said Kuster, a banjo player and son of a preacher. “Before you knew it, people were starting to organize it.”

Discussion about connecting Bluegrass with the 2017 San Francisco Pride Parade involved opposition saying the music shouldn’t be used for political purposes. Kuster said he and others saw Bluegrass Pride as an opportunity to make the music accessible to people who might not know much about it.

“It has a set of stereotypes associated with it,” Kuster said. “One is we’re not very welcoming. That’s never been true and we needed something to bring it home.”

Others in the Association argued that the gospel roots of the organization was enough to keep it from joining a parade to celebrate people of different sexual orientations.

“We had a lot of respectful conversations about it and agreed to disagree,” Kuster said.

Bluegrass Pride’s float in the June parade brought a presence previously never seen nor heard at the famous West Coast event. It included three bands, including Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands, and more than 100 others walking alongside the float with instruments, smiles, and love.

Among the performers on the float was Godman. Once again, two of his worlds merged, this time in the best possible way.

“It was the most beautiful collision that could happen,” he said. “We had lots of people tell us ‘thank you for what you’re doing.’”

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The San Francisco Pride Parade community embraced the bluegrass presence of live music. Among the 271 parade contingents, the California Bluegrass Association’s Bluegrass Pride parade was voted best overall, a milestone achievement for a first-time contingent to win the top overall prize.

The CBA plans to return Bluegrass Pride to the San Francisco parade this year and continues to see other outreach opportunities. Kara Kundert, social media director for Bluegrass Pride, said creating a regular Bluegrass Pride music series in the Bay area has been a priority for discussion.

Success of Bluegrass Pride has caught attention of musicians in other areas. Oregon Bluegrass Pride will join the Portland Pride Parade this year, and bluegrass musicians in Vancouver have also reached out about creating their own outreach.

For fiddler Godman, he said efforts in the bluegrass world to embrace everyone have helped him feel more at home with the music he grew up hearing and performing.

“It's an honor for the music to touch people of all backgrounds,” he said. “It has a universal language.”

Bluegrass Pride:

California Bluegrass Association:

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Kristi Stanley has her “Heart Wide Open” with Record Debut

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It’s an exciting, heartwarming time for Kristi Stanley and Running Blind. This bluegrass outfit hailing from Virginia have just released a brand-new record.

“This is the first project I’ve ever had the privilege to release on Union House Records,” Kristi Stanley said. “I think there is a good variety of music for everyone on the project.”

She said she and the band “covered a lot of different ground” in terms of song selection.

“Our goal was to put out a project that is totally different than anything else out there right now, and I believe we achieved that,” she said.

The debut release, titled “Heart Wide Open,” is a big step for Stanley, and adds to the musical tradition found in her husband’s family: She’s married to Ralph Stanley II, son of early bluegrass pioneer, Ralph Stanley.

“From as far back as I can remember, I've always had the love of music in me,” Stanley reminisced. “I grew up in the Old Regular Baptist faith, and my grandmother used to rock me and sing those old hymns to me. She said I would always try to hum along with her. So even as a very small child, I was trying to sing.”

As she got older, Stanley began listening to performers such as Dolly Parton and Patty Loveless.

“I can remember getting Dolly's ‘Eagle When She Flies’ record, and not stopping ’til I had learned every single word,” Stanley reflected. “I used to try to mimic how Dolly would phrase her lines, too.”

“She just absolutely fascinated me in every way, and I always said I wanted to be just like her,” Stanley said.

Loveless was just as influential. Stanley was intrigued by the fact that Loveless came from a small town in eastern Kentucky, similar to Stanley’s hometown of Pikeville, Kentucky.

“I guess I thought if she could make it playing music, then maybe that could be a possibility for me, too,” Stanley said. “I think after hearing her records and seeing her in concert, that was just the fuel to an already burning flame. This is honestly all I've ever really desired to do, and I just hope that I can have an equally fulfilling career like my influences that have come before me did.”

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A dream came true when during her teen years, she’d been asked to sing a song for what would become the Grammy-nominated album, Clinch Mountain Sweethearts. It included work by her musical hero, Dolly Parton, along with Pam Tillis, Sara Evans, and Chely Wright.

“Honestly, that was such a huge honor to be on the same project as Dr. Ralph Stanley and all of the amazing female artists,” she said. “I was super young at the time, and I was scared to death. I honestly didn't feel worthy to be on such an amazing project, but nonetheless, it was a memory and honor that I will always cherish.”

She spoke fondly of the musicians of Running Blind.

“At first I started out with just my lead guitar player Randy Blevins,” she said. “He actually mentioned to me that he had some friends that may be interested in trying out for the band. We set up a band practice and Vickie and Tommy Austin, with Vickie on bass and Tommy on mandolin, came over along with Ashley Davis on fiddle.”

She said after that practice, she was sure she had found the musicians to complement her musical style.

“At the time we had Travis Houck on dobro, who still plays with us from time to time, and Chad Love, who has since left the band.

“I'm so honored and blessed to have such a talented bunch of musicians and just all around great people to share this journey with,” she said. “I think if you are surrounded by people you truly enjoy being around, then that makes this all the sweeter.”

Now that the debut has hit, Kristi Stanley will have a busy touring schedule. On June 15, she’ll appear at the Rockahock Bluegrass Festival in Lanexa, Virginia, and in an August 4 performance in Greenfield, Indiana at the Elk Ridge Bluegrass Festival. Additional dates may be found at KristiStanley.com

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Florida’s Bluegrass Superstar Duo

Ernie and Debi Evans

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If you live in the sunshine state and you love bluegrass music, you’re in luck. Ernie and Debi Evans are on your side.

These two tireless entrepreneurs manage a dozen festivals every year while also hosting a weekly radio program and performing in their own band.

This husband-and-wife duo, with their business Evans Media Source, has a true talent for turning around music festivals. Serving the southeastern region of the United States, Ernie and Debi have become known for their ability to take on the management of failing festivals and bring them back to life.

In many cases, Evans Media Source’s festivals have come back bigger than ever before.

The team specializes in handling many parts of these events, such as sound, staging, lighting, ticketing, marketing, and entertainment.

“Event production has become our life. We genuinely love what we do,” said Ernie.

Ernie is a third-generation musician whose father is credited for music in movies, such as The Legend of Bonnie & Clyde and Deliverance. Like his dad, Ernie grew up wanting to be a musician, but life had other plans for him.

Beginning their career in bluegrass with a broadcasting company, Ernie and Debi had three weekly radio shows. With the drop in the economy came a drop in many of their shows, but they still maintain their 3-hour weekly radio program out of St. Augustine, Florida on WCF 88.5 FM.

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“This is a time that we can share with the world what we love,” said Ernie. “We have over 10,000 active listeners each week and many more online.

Evans Media Source festival season runs from December through late April, leaving the summer for Ernie and Debi to perform and tour with their own band. This helps remind them why they truly love what they do—for love of the music.

Evans Media Source recently announced they would also be overseeing the production of a new bluegrass concert series in Gainesville, Florida, making for a total of 17 bluegrass events hosted by them yearly in Florida.

Ernie stands by his festivals although he does not truly believe Evans Media Source is a success story yet. He believes they are still writing their story.

“Two words that inspire me every day are ‘Debi Evans,’ my wife of 37 years,” said Ernie.

“I could not do this without her. Our favorite part of our job is together watching our customers smile. Nothing can compare.”

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The Little Firecracker “Phoebe is a firecracker!

“She sings to the cows, the dogs, the ducks, the cat, and anyone that will listen,” said NeeCee Pittard about our favorite country girl turned bluegrass musician, Phoebe Grace Pittard...

Phoebe Grace

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“Phoebe is a firecracker! She sings to the cows, the dogs, the ducks, the cat, and anyone that will listen,” said NeeCee Pittard about our favorite country girl turned bluegrass musician, Phoebe Grace Pittard.

Phoebe Grace, as her name strongly suggests, is a kind-hearted twelve-year-old who grew up in Alabama. She began playing the classic violin at age six, but quickly transitioned to the mandolin a few years later, and she fell in love with bluegrass music.

Phoebe recalls the moment she felt touched by bluegrass for the first time - at Bluegrass on the Plains in Auburn, Alabama.

“It was there that I first saw Earls of Leicester. Just before their set started, a transformer blew and all the lights went out. The Earls came down on the stage, and that’s when the magic happened. They sang with no microphones and no speakers, and I sat at their feet and listened. I’d never heard such talent and pure music. Right then I decided I was going to be a performer,” said Phoebe Grace.

Each time Phoebe Grace performs, you hear the influence of her favorite artists ringing through the speakers. Joe Mullins, Flatt Lonesome, Shawn Camp, and, obviously, Earls of Leicester are among her favorites. Phoebe Grace even dubbed herself “Little Earlette,” and she wears her signature fedora in their honor when she performs.

In 2017, Phoebe Grace’s bluegrass teacher and mentor Tina Miller teamed her up with other students to play music together. She and her band have played at a handful of churches and festivals while learning a lot from Tina, a great picker and bluegrass singer with a passion for traditional music.

With Tina’s encouragement, Phoebe Grace joined Tomorrow’s Bluegrass Stars, an organization with a mission of helping and encouraging young bluegrass musicians in their careers. This organization helped Phoebe Grace meet many other young musicians, and the many things she has learned from them will help her in her own career.

“Mr. John Colburn is so supportive and really gives me a lot of encouragement in whatever I do,” said Phoebe Grace. “If I had any advice for a musician thinking about joining TBS, I would say to join as soon as possible! It will help give you the experience and support you need to make it in bluegrass.”

Phoebe Grace’s passion for her music shows no signs of stopping anytime soon as she will be performing with Blackrock Station at Bluegrass on the Rim in Little River Canyon, Alabama in June. She will be continuing performing at many other festivals throughout the summer as well.

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“I just love bluegrass,” said Phoebe Grace. “It’s up to my generation and the ones after me to keep it alive and thriving. I’m just a simple farm girl who loves her family, church, and everyone in my bluegrass family. I just want to keep picking and singing bluegrass.”

Preserving Bluegrass One Youngster At A Time!

John Colburn & Maggie

Tomorrow’s Bluegrass Stars continues to support the awareness of its many talented young members, and the preservation of yesterday’s bluegrass music for tomorrow.

Click the banner below to visit the TBS website:

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The Love Story Of Kenny And Amanda Smith

By Susan Marquez Sometimes in life, the planets are perfectly aligned, and two people meet that seem destined to be together. Such is the love story of Kenny and Amanda Smith, whose music gives a glimpse into their romantic connection. The couple met at a Lonesome River Band concert at the Mountaineer Opry House near Amanda’s home in Milton, West Virginia.

“She came to see the concert and afterwards she handed me a cassette tape she had put together and told me she played guitar and sang,” recalls Kenny. He was totally open to listening to the tape, as he had been praying for someone to play music with. “She had put her phone number inside, so I gave her a call.”

Kenny had to drive four hours from his home in Virginia to Amanda’s home in West Virginia. “When we got together on that first date, she asked me if I wanted to pick. I had never had a girl ask me that.” They played together and realized that what they had was a good thing and the couple began dating. They tied the knot in 1996.

After six years with the Lonesome River Band, Kenny left and he and Amanda began playing together. “It was around 2000 or 2001 that we started playing together fulltime,” says Amanda. Their sound combines gutsy, heartfelt vocals with their sparkling instrumentals. They’re known for their choice of songs and the arrangements that make them one of the most compelling new sounds in bluegrass today.

“We like to arrange familiar songs in a different way,” explains Kenny. “Amanda and I will get together and just start playing around, singing and trying different things. We may get an idea and try it out, or just play and something sounds right. We may take a slow song

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and speed it up for an entirely different sound. But it all starts with the words.

They really have to mean something to us.”

Watching the couple play onstage, it’s easy to see how they have an almost telepathic connection. Kenny is widely considered one of the most important and influential flatpickingstyle guitarists of this generation. He is a two-time IBMA Guitarist of the Year award winner, and in addition to his time spent as a member of the Lonesome River Band, he cut his own solo CD, Studebaker, released on Sugar Hill Records in 1997. Kenny is in great demand at guitar workshops and master classes, teaching at the renowned Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend series and at guitar workshops at major events such as IBMA. He has just released a two-DVD instruction set on AcuTab Publications.

The couple has a strong shared Christian faith and a mutual love for bluegrass. Their first CD, Slowly But Surely, was released in 2001. Since then they’ve had five more releases, including a Gospel CD called Tell Someone. About two weeks before they were supposed to go into the studio to record the CD, Kenny’s father was involved in a fatal tractor accident. “I don’t think I’ve ever gone through an experience like that, coming out of the funeral and then going right in and doing a project,” says Kenny. “But it was emotionally a whole different outlook. You just feel closer to the Lord after something like that happens and it really made a difference in the project I think, and I think that’s why it touched

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other people. I think everybody that hears the project can hear what was going on through the songs. It was more of a healing process for us, some of the songs just totally spoke to us while we were singing them.” The album received GRAMMY, Dove and IBMA nominations.

Kenny and Amanda Smith were named the 2003 IBMA Emerging Artists of the year.

In 1999 and 2000, Kenny was named the IBMA Guitar Player of the Year. Amanda was awarded the 2014 IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year. The couple has no plans of stopping any time soon. They travel the country in a motor coach with their three-year-old daughter, Annabelle. “We’re having fun together,” says Amanda. “I want to do this as long as I can!”

Kenny Smith has a mischievous streak. When he was four years old, his father, who was a talented woodworker, made a guitar for Kenny’s cousin. “He put it in a closet and told my brother and me not to bother it.” When Kenny’s dad left for work each day, he got the guitar out and played it for hours. “My mother never told my dad, because it kept me occupied., he laughed. One day his dad came home early and caught Kenny playing it.

Instead of getting mad, he taught Kenny a few chords.

For Christmas that year, Kenny got his own guitar and his brother got a banjo. “We played all the time, and that’s how I got started.” Amanda started by singing. “My mom said I sang all the time. One day she came out of the store and there was a crowd gathered in the parking lot. She panicked, thinking something had happened, but when she got closer, she saw me standing up in my dad’s truck, belting out The Devil Went Down to Georgia. I was only two at the time!” Amanda went on to sing in the church choir and in talent shows and she got her first guitar in high school.

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Bandscaping: The Members of Breaking Grass Deliver their Sound Freshly Cut

By Stephen Pitalo The soulful grit of their storytelling has brought Breaking Grass, a true bluegrass outfit with an original sound, into the spotlight over the last decade. Through original songs, innovative musicianship and powerful vocal delivery, Breaking Grass is doing exactly what their name implies by rewriting the rules of the genre. Not quite traditional, but by no means avant-garde, the band is making believers of both bluegrass and nonbluegrass fans alike. With Cody Farrar on guitar; Tyler White on fiddle; Jody Elmore on banjo; Zach Wooten on mandolin; and Britt Sheffield on bass; this innovative band aims to make music for the masses that puts a smile on their faces.

“The band came together about 10 years ago playing at a small community center every Monday night,” said Sheffield. “No charge to get in, just bring a dish for potluck. We outgrew that building and moved to a larger building. People started booking us, and eventually, the busier we got, we had to stop playing at the community center. Now we travel most weekends in the spring, summer, and fall. We all have full-time jobs, so playing weekends works great for us! We all get along and have similar tastes in music, 52

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so that makes traveling together easy. I guess you could just say we click.”

The band name is a deliberate counter to the usual sound one expects from bluegrass, according to front-man & songwriter Cody Farrar. “Bluegrass has had this stigma attached to it with people outside of the bluegrass scene. It used to be, people that didn't follow the genre, associated the word with hillbillies, nasally singing, etc. It's not so much like that now with the resurgence of folk, bluegrass, and Americana, but ten years ago we set out to be a departure from those labels. We haven't done anything way outside the box, but regularly have people telling us that they don't like bluegrass, but enjoy what we do.”

When their new album Warning Signs dropped, the sound and songwriting fought through growing pains and emerged as a major work for the band.

“Warning Signs was a more mature album for us,” Farrar said, “from the subject matter to tone, to all of it really. It was also the first album we recorded with Jody Elmore and felt like his style rounded out the sound we were going for. Aaron Ramsey of Mountain Heart, via Mountain Fever Records, produced and came up with some great ideas for the songs we brought to the studio. It's my favorite album we've done.

Farrar’s favorite song to play live currently is a darker tale called “Nobody Knows” from the new album.

“Britt sings lead on this song,” Farrar said. “It has a lot of energy both musically and

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lyrically. A drunk driver loses control and drives his truck off an icy bridge one winter's night.

In the next verse, two people are murdered in the heat of passion on a dead end road. The song in general is about how the truth rarely comes to light in missing person's cases. It kicks off cold with a fiddle/banjo twin that sets the tone for the story that is about to unfold. It's dark and minor -and a lot of fun.�

Did You Know?

Britt Sheffield was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, the birthplace of Elvis Presley.

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The Americana of Nefesh Mountain Accents Old-Time Tradition with Jewish Faith New York-based Nefesh Mountain not only keeps alive the traditions of bluegrass and Americana, but it strives to also pay homage to the traditions of Jewish faith.

Yes, it’s admittedly unique in bluegrass, where spiritual elements of the genre -- primarily found in the sounds of gospel -- generally come from the Christian perspective.

For banjo and guitar player Eric Lindberg, it’s admittedly important, however, to make it clear: Nefesh Mountain is NOT a religious band.

“It’s universal songs that really could function at a bluegrass festival,” he explained.

It arose because he was thinking about how gospel infuses Americana. Nobody would call Americana religious music, but there is sometimes that undercurrent. He wanted to make music that did the same thing, only with his Jewish heritage as a faint thread than ran throughout the tunes.

“It would be fake for my wife and I to sing a gospel tune,” he said, of his spouse and Nefesh Mountain lead singer, Doni Zasloff.

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Instead, traces of Jewish tradition and sounds -- including some in Hebrew -- glide effortlessly through the traditional bluegrass and Americana numbers. For the past threeand-a-half years they’ve of course performed at synagogues and for shabbat services, but an appearance at a bluegrass festival is as good a match for the unique Nefesh Mountain sound.

The band’s second album, Beneath the Open Sky, was released this past March. The couple either wrote or arranged all 11 songs. It was recorded at Nashville’s Sound Emporium. In addition to Lindberg and Zasloff, it features bluegrass musicians Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Tony Trischka and David Grier, as well as bandmembers Alan Gruber and Tim Kiah.

Lindberg graduated from the jazz program at Mason Gross School of the Arts, a seemingly unlikely place to find someone who would eventually switch focus to old time music.

“I tried to be a cool jazz guy, and a cool rock guy,” he said. It wasn’t until he met his wife, however, that his true direction started to gel.

“My wife grew up much stronger in the Jewish world than I was,” he explained. Her influence caused them to find a meeting ground, a place where they could come together as a couple and make music where they both felt comfortable. Lindberg said to himself about switching to old time music: “maybe I can do this and be myself at the same time.”

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Lindberg said he grew up in Brooklyn, and was heavily influenced by music.

He said as a kid he started as many youngsters do, playing the recorder.

Then, he moved up to the violin, sax, and trumpet.

“None of these instruments stuck,” he said. “Then at (age) ten, someone gave me their guitar. The guitar is my best friend in the world.”

First, he started copying guitar greats such as Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. He started to listen to some of his parents’ jazz CDs, so added jazz to his repertoire of interests. Then, the floodgates were probably opened for him when he began to listen to Bela Fleck. Eventually, he was being influenced by the likes of Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, and Sonny Osborne.

Lindberg considers himself an “advocate” of the five-string banjo, which is seldom found in connection to Jewish traditions. Nefesh Mountain music bridges the gap.

He said when most people think of Jewish-style music, they think of Klezmer, which is nothing like what Nefesh Mountain does. So, he and wife Doni decided to reflect their faith with a tweaking of Americana sound.

“This is my way to fit in as a proud American,” Eric said, “and a proud Jewish American.”

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by Richelle Putnam After playing guitar most of his life, Seth Taylor ended up in a band called Monroeville with a bunch of his buddies. And that band ended up playing every day at the Old Smoky Distillery in Gatlinburg. “[Monroeville] did a record that was produced by Jim VanCleve (founding member of Mountain Heart],” Taylor reflected. “I got to know him and David Hall on that record. We all just kind of clicked. As soon as Mountain Heart needed a guitar player, Jim called and wanted to know if I was interested. Of course, I’d always been a fan of Mountain Heart.”

And, of course, he said, “Yes.” Today, members of Mountain Heart include Taylor on guitar and Josh Shilling on keyboard, piano, and guitar. Aaron Ramsey’s multi-tasking musical gifts encompass the mandolin and bass, while Jeff Partin switches from bass to dobro. With Shilling as lead vocalist, everyone lends their vocals to Mountain Heart’s mellifluous, yet haunting, harmonies.

“We’ve had Corey Walker out with us for the last year and he’s played banjo and done vocals,” Taylor added.

When you hear Mountain Heart through the airwaves, the first thing you do is turn them up. The second thing you notice is the unexpected harmonic resonance of the piano, an instrument not customarily used in bluegrass. But Mountain Heart is not really a bluegrass band. Nor is it country, pop, folk, or even Americana…well, maybe sometimes.

“We’ve been called acoustic pop and Americana and all kinds of different stuff. It’s a good and bad thing because you want to be able to call it something,” said Taylor. “Most of us grew up in the bluegrass world and we still love that, and we love diving back into old

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bluegrass stuff, so I think the band as a whole decided that we wanted to play stuff that we all dug and whatever that sounded like was fine. It’s put us in a strange place, but it’s also kind of cool because we can’t say it’s one thing or another.”

Music critics and fans must think it’s kind of cool, too. Mountain Heart or its members have been nominated for Grammy, ACM, and CMA awards, have won multiple IBMA awards, have performed on the coveted Grand Ole Opry stage more than 130 times, and have shared the stage with legends like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Brad Paisley, Alison Krauss, Tony Rice, The Avett Brothers, The Punch Brothers, Levon Helm, John Fogerty and…we’ll stop here.

Mountain Heart’s newest project, Soul Searching, a CD of 11 songs, will release August 10, 2018. “Soul Searching,” written by Josh Shilling and Jeremy Garrett, is also the last track on the record, Taylor added. The Infamous Stringdusters also cut the song, so “we didn’t know if we should cut it or not. It’s on their record that won a Grammy this year. We loved the song, too, so we thought it couldn’t hurt.”

All songs are either written by Josh or within the band. “The record is a little different for us because we wanted it to feel like a cohesive piece from the top to the bottom. We wanted it to feel warm and feel like you could just drive through it, put it on track one and not skip anything, and listen to the whole thing all the way through. There are songs about heartbreak and, you know, love and everything and then towards the end there’s a spiritual song.” The song “Festival” relates to what you do at festivals, letting go of whatever you’re dealing with at the time and being absorbed by the music. One line of the song goes, “You’ll lose and find yourself THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

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again at the festival.”

When asked about the ingredients to the “perfect” song, Taylor said, “I feel like I have a lot of favorites that I would call perfect, but I don’t know if there is a perfect song. I feel like it starts with the message. We try to build around whatever it should feel like.”

Shilling, being a full-time songwriter, brings a lot of the material to the table, and Partin is the same way, Taylor explained. “We still play a lot of covers, but we mix in original stuff as much as possible. It’s cool to be on both sides and make yourself musically happy in the studio, but then figure out what works for a crowd and what they want to hear on the live stuff, too”. From studio to live performances, “It’s pretty crazy the difference.” When fans come to see Mountain Heart live, “we want to make people get out of their chairs.”

Unlike many musicians, Mountain Heart members are fortunate to do music full-time.

Ramsey is a full-time producer-engineer and Shilling is a studio musician and plays on all kinds of records, said Taylor. “I fill in with other bands on the road here and there, but I do studio stuff in Nashville as much as possible.”

Still, there is more to Mountain Heart than expert musicians and vocalists refusing to be stuck inside a musical genre label. “We’re constantly texting each other in group texts with nonsense and stupid pictures. We’re lucky in that we’re a bunch of really good friends.”

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A New Kind of Bluegrass

by Shelby Campbell As a unique roots band born of a modern generation, it’s unlikely that every bluegrass fan will fall in love with their music, but those that do won’t regret it.

Leaning more towards string-pop, Front Country is a San Francisco, California band consisting of a dynamic team of five artists determined to merge music of the past with a modern audience of the future.

Adam Roszkiewicz on mandolin has a degree in composition and classical guitar; Jacob Groopman on guitar was trained in rock music; Melody Walker on lead vocals is a multiinstrumentalist and the band’s primary songwriter; Leif Karlstrom on five string violin has a technique that could easily hop between honkytonk and electropop; and, lastly, Jeremy Darrow on bass is equally talented in jazz and newgrass music.

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The bluegrass world is full of artists who define themselves by their relationships to tradition, but that’s not the case for Front Country. Beginning as a group of friends from the west coast who gathered around a microphone in 2012 and 2013 for bluegrass band competitions, Front Country became a serious band with a sound of their own.

They ended up winning first prize in both of those competitions - the same ones that launched the careers of artists like the Dixie Chicks.

Described as having a roots-pop sound, it’s as if you are hearing modern music with the instruments of yesterday, which has earned them the respect of both young and old listeners.

“They’re progressive, yet organic, with a sound that’s brand new, but familiar at the same time,” said Tim Carbone.

Front Country released their debut album in 2014 titled Sake of the Sound and began working hard to make their name touring.

Recently releasing their sophomore album, Other Love Songs, Front Country’s sound has grown tremendously all while maintaining their traditional instruments and blend of voices. Most of the album is written by lead singer Melody Walker, making it the band’s most creative body of work thus far.

As the mastermind behind Front Country’s sound, I got a chance to speak with Melody Walker herself about the band’s sound, new album, and future in the biz.

The Bluegrass Standard: Where did your love of roots-style come from, and what made you decide to form a roots band full of people with backgrounds of different styles of music?

Melody: I was raised around my dad and his friends jamming bluegrass and classic rock, and while I got into a bunch of different kinds of music from classical to jazz to Brazilian and Indian music, I eventually came full circle back to my roots.

TBS: You have been called the female vocal equivalent of Chris Stapleton. What does this mean to you? Not only as an artist, but as to how people will perceive your sound?

M: It’s a high compliment! To me, hearing Stapleton with the Steeldrivers was a revelation.

That a bluegrass band could have a bluesy rock singer like me and could be kind of dark and groovy.

TBS: In the bluegrass world, musicians tend to define themselves by their connections to tradition. How does this affect the way Front Country defines your sound?

M: All of us have a deep appreciation for bluegrass and American roots music. So even when we take these instruments far beyond the traditional, it still informs what we do, and I think we approach playing a rock song differently than a rock band would.

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twist on bluegrass music opens you to another world of listeners?

M: We hear all the time from people seeing us for the first time that they didn’t think they liked bluegrass but they like us. That feels really good. I think we can definitely open people’s minds up that string band music doesn’t have to be backward or conservative in any way. I’m not saying that it ever really was, but people tend to have those negative associations with bluegrass.

TBS: Your newest album Other Love Songs is your newest twist on a roots pop sound with great original songs. Tell me about the journey to create this album and what it means to you.

M: Our first album Sake of the Sound was our attempt to capture the sound Front Country had organically created and collected as a fledgling band. It was a sort of raw snapshot of where we were as a band. With the second album, Other Love Songs, we wanted to distill that sound and hone in on the center of it to inform how to arranged the new songs. We decided to have zero rules for the songs and arrangements, only that we maintain our acoustic instrumentation with very few effects. As a songwriter, I had been challenging myself to write from a more emotional place and so many of the songs we ended up considering for the record were love songs. Now I’m kind of in protest song mode.

TBS: What is your favorite part of this experience?

M: Not having a regular job.

TBS: What is your goal in what you want to do with your music?

M: I want to write songs that matter to people. That help galvanize them to change the world, or just work through their own stuff.

TBS: What musicians have inspired you as a band throughout your career?

M: We have a lot of influences as individuals, but I think the new acoustic trailblazers like New Grass Revival, Seldom Scene, the Flecktones, and David Grisman are a big part of why we do the music we do today.

TBS: What music are you listening to these days?

M: We share a lot of music around the van, and we have been listening to more and more modern hip hop and pop like Janelle Monae, Run the Jewels, Lady Gaga, Kendrick Lamar, and Xenia Rubinos.

TBS: When do you feel that you are the most successful at what you do?

M: I think I perform the best like any person would - when I’m well rested, fed and caffeinated.

TBS: Anything new coming up for Front Country?

M: Front Country will be touring like crazy this year, doing more Kitchen Covers sessions and bringing new songs to the stage, with plans to record early next year.

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By Susan Marquez The Gibson Brothers may only have

two actual brothers named Gibson, but they all feel like family. As a matter of fact, bass player Mike Barber has been playing with Leigh and Eric Gibson from the beginning. “Actually, we played with his father,” says Leigh Gibson, the younger of the two Gibson brothers. “Mike kept coming around and he ended up being our bass player. We’ve had a lot of great players join us along the way, but now we are settled in with mandolin player Jesse Brock, and Clayton Campbell on fiddle.”

The two sibling Gibson brothers have been playing together since they were 10 or 11.

“We didn’t grow up around bluegrass,” says Leigh. “My father bought a few instruments here and there, starting with a fiddle, then a guitar, and finally a banjo, because he liked Irish music.” Older brother Eric learned to play the banjo from a teacher who taught from the Earl Scruggs instruction book. Then he learned to play the fiddle and began going to fiddle contests. “He was competing against kids who played other instruments,” Leigh recalls. “I learned to play the guitar, and we started playing for our own amusement at first, but as we got better, we began playing for other people.”

Because they didn’t grow up around musicians, the brothers didn’t have a business model on how to be professional musicians. “We didn’t have a formula, we just learned as we went along. We’d make enough to cover the costs of going to play somewhere, and still bring a little money home.”

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To cover their living expenses, Eric taught high school. “I had graduated college and was working on the farm when we began playing a little more seriously. That was around 1997 or ’98. We certainly didn’t expect to do this for long. At about five or six years in, we had pretty much figured things out and people around us were all really supportive.”

The Gibson Brothers began getting noticed by their peers, beginning with winning the 2010 IBMA song and Gospel recorded performance of the year for Ring the Bell, the title cut on the album by the same name. Their tenth album, Help My Brother, produced by Mike Barber, won Album of the year at the 2011 IBMA Awards. They were also named IBMA’s Vocal Group of the Year, the first time a brother duet has won that award, and in 2012 were named Entertainer of the Year, again, the first time a brother duet has won that award. That same night they won the Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year for “Singing As We Rise.” The Gibson Brothers were named Entertainer of the Year in 2013, as well as winning Vocal Group of the year, Song of the Year for “They Called it Music” and Eric was named Songwriter of the Year.

“The recognition and awards are nice,” says Leigh, “especially because mostly peers vote on the IBMA awards. It lets us know we did our best that year and we always feel good about that.”

Both Leigh and Eric are songwriters. “I always wanted to be a songwriter first,” Leigh says. “It seems to me to be the most honorable part of the music.” Their album In The Ground is comprised of all original songs. “It’s an important piece of our identity. As you get older, you tend to sing more about your own life. I think people are drawn to that.”

The group signed with Rounder Records in July 2014, “a label we always equated with 68

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quality.” Their first release on that label is “Brotherhood.” “There are many brother duos who have inspired us musically,” Leigh states. “ The album features fifteen songs by brother acts Phil and Don Everly, Carter and Ralph Stanley and others. We look at these guys as the acts that pointed us the direction we are going today. Every song on the album is a part of our soul.”

Why bluegrass? When asked this question, Leigh Gibson says that

it goes back to his father, who always wanted to learn an instrument, but was too busy raising children and cattle on the family farm in upstate New York.

“We listened to groups like Phil and Don Everly, Charlie and Ira Louvin, Jim and Jesse McReynolds, and Carter and Ralph Stanley. We tried to emulate them in our living room at the farm.”

While neither of the brothers were formally trained in music, Leigh says he got involved in vocal groups in college. “That helped me learn to breathe as a singer.”

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Catahoula Drive

by Richelle Putnam It is a rare occasion when The Bluegrass Standard gets an entire band into one room at one time for one interview, but when it happens, it’s more than magical, it’s hilarious…at least it is with the band Catahoula Drive! And asking questions like, “Is there one specific band leader?” will get you answers like, “No, we all tell each other what to do.”

Jamey Alwell, guitarist for the band, waits for the chatter and chuckles to die down before answering this question. “We don’t have a leader, and some would argue that that’s not going to work. One person is all it takes not to like a song and we’re fine with that.

It’s easy for us to pick material for a CD. We’re all good enough friends that we can make those kinds of decisions without power struggles.”

Dennis Stewart, the mandolin player, breaks in, “Well, Jamey likes to try to be the boss a lot.”

One reason the guys are all together for this interview is that Catahoula Drive was playing the Bluegrass festival at Hickory Grove Music Park in Deville, Louisiana. This festival is a favorite because it’s close to home, said Stewart. “Me and Jamey live in Pineville; Tres lives an hour away in Ferriday; and Devon Avery, the banjo player lives in Hamilton, Alabama, which is about 7 hours away. We like it like that.” More laughter.

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Catahoula Drive has been together for about three years, explained Alwell. “We got together kind of on a last-minute whim. We had a jam session and decided to enter the SPBGMA band contest (their first SPBGMA). About three months after that, in February 2015, was our first time to play together on stage. We’ve been playing ever since.”

Avery chimes in. “Normally, we pick our dates by whoever pays the most and has the best benefits.” Laughter takes over. “We’re not very picky about where we go, preferably no bars. We like to work churches and bluegrass festivals.”

With three CDs under their belt, Catahoula Drive is working on new one, which they hope to release before the release of this Bluegrass Standard issue.

“We typically get together at the shows, to learn something new and that’s the only time we ever rehearse,” said Stewart. “We all have full-time jobs and families. I’m a building inspector for the City of Alexandria and have been in construction my whole life.”

Alwell works as a project manager for CLECO, the power company in Pineville, Louisiana. “I’ve been with them 18 years. I have the capability of holding down a fulltime job, unlike some of the others in the band.”

“I’m currently serving at the pleasure of the board of directors at Peoplestrust Bank as Vice President, back home in Hamilton, Alabama,” said Avery. “I dabble in that and the instrument trade is very lucrative. (He buys and sells instruments.) I’m just a trader in general, so unlike the rest of these boys, I try to busy myself when I’m not on the clock.”

To the guys, he’s also known as “the horse trader.”

Tres Nugent, who plays bass for the group, is a quality assurance technician at Von Drehle, a company in Natchez, Mississippi. “I make toilet paper for a living,” he said. “I make everybody’s rear-end happy.” More laughter. He is also a deacon at Riverside Baptist Church in Vidalia, Louisiana.

For part-time musicians who work full-time jobs, Stewart said, “We want to be better musically, but we’re playing as much as we want to. We like doing it for fun.”

Alwell said what keeps them traveling on the weekends is the group growing musically and “it’s a really good feeling after a show, especially on our gospel sets, whenever somebody comes up and tries to explain how a certain song has blessed them.”

Far above everything else, even music, is family and faith.

“It seems like one of us always has something going on and there isn’t a lot of time when we are all home together [as a family],” said Stewart.

“My wife is a school teacher and by the time she gets home, she’s worn out from them kids,” said Nugent. “We have a three-year-old son. We’ve been married 11 years and are really involved in church.”

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old son,” said Alwell. “And they’re into playing ball and church activities and school activities and school ball. As long as we’re together and doing things as a family, in the backyard throwing the ball around, just being with your family in general is a blessing.”

“I’m the youngest guy in the group and I’m currently not married and have no kids, so I spend a lot of time with my best friends and they’re like family,” said Avery. “We fish, we camp, ride the backroads and dirt trails and travel or play music. We like to go everywhere and just live.”

“We want to be a band that people look at and say ‘Man, those guys have really got it together, both musically and spiritually.’ So, that’s kind of the message, the goal that I want to accomplish.” said Alwell.

And to that, The Bluegrass Standard says, “Mission Accomplished.”

“Even when everything is not going well, when you’re playing music, it’s a good day. A day with music is better than a day without it.”

— Jamey Alwell

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Back Porch: Uncle Dave Macon Days Feels Like Home

by Emerald Butler "Consider yourself hugged." That’s how the festival president and volunteer of 35 years, Gloria Christy, describes what to expect from the Uncle Dave Macon Days. The high energy, family-friendly festival entertains all ages and continues to broaden its fan base. The festival will celebrate its 41st Annual Year on July 13th and 14th at Cannonsburgh Village in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Ben Wilson, executive director of the festival, is especially proud that the Uncle Dave Macon Days is being forward thinking and innovative while also honoring roots music and Uncle Dave Macon. Attendees can enjoy music and competitions on two stages this year: Macon Manor and the Dixie Dew Drop. The lineup for this year includes Bluegrass stars Rhonda Vincent and the Rage, Flatt Lonesome, Ralph Stanley II, The Issacs, The Cleverly's, and many more.

The festival was created in honor of Grand Ole Opry superstar and Country Music Hall of Famer, Uncle Dave Macon, who was one of the first stars of the Grand Ole Opry. He was known for his skilled and various banjo picking styles, his songwriting, comedic acts, and his mastery of showmanship. Soon after Uncle Dave joined the WSM Barn Dance in 1925, he was nicknamed Dixie Dew Drop by Grand Ole Opry Founder Judge George D. Hay. In fact, Uncle Dave played a significant role in the Grand Ole Opry for so many years that Bill Monroe referred to him as the Grandfather of Country Music.

The Uncle Dave Macon Days began on a rainy day on the lawn of the local Courthouse in 1978. Only a few old-time music enthusiasts took part in the birth of the festival. Over the years, the festival became better known for its old-time instrumental and dancing competitions. These competitions continue today and include categories for Beginner 74

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Instrumental, DeFord Bailey Harmonica, Uncle Dave Macon Free Wheel'n, Blues Singing, Old Time Singing, Guitar, Mandolin, Contest Fiddle, and old-time buck dancing and clogging.

The festival has truly become a family affair. Michael Doubler has announced that, on July 13th during the festival, he’ll release the first full biography of Uncle Dave Macon titled "Dixie Dewdrop: The Uncle Dave Macon Story."

Doubler is the great-grandson of Uncle Dave Macon, and he’s also one of the festival board members. The author also stated that he’ll be available for signatures between 4-7pm both days of the festival.

Along with the new book, the Uncle Dave Macon Days continues to stretch its roots with even more releases and entertainment. This year will mark Rhonda Vincent's second year performing at the Uncle Dave Macon Days. The Bluegrass Queen is scheduled to headline both nights of the festival, but that’s not all. On Friday, July 13th, Rhonda Vincent will release her new album "Bluegrass Legends Live at the Ryman."

The recording features legends Mac Wiseman, Jesse McReynolds, and Bobby and Sonny Osborne.

On Saturday, July 14th, Vincent will also release the video recording of the project during the release celebration. Rhonda Vincent stated that the release date is two years to the exact since it was recorded.

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birthday." Each of the stars has performed at the Uncle Dave Macon Days as Heritage Award winners. It was rumored by Wilson, but not confirmed, that all of the legends will make a special appearance during the festival on Saturday night.

Even off of the stage, there are plenty of fun activities available. Like any other good music festival, attendees will pass by the region’s finest musicians jamming to oldtimey tunes. Children will be provided the opportunity to take part in heritage activities, and families can explore a historic photo exhibit. A juried arts and crafts show will also take place during the festival, and, of course, the smell of local concessions will share the air with the music.

Ben Wilson noted that the Uncle Dave Macon Days is "a very inexpensive way to spend a weekend." It is a festival for families, curated by families. Some say that if Uncle Dave Macon were to visit the festival this year, he’d be upset that old-time music was not the only music played. Others say he’d be honored. However, he might share the same opinion as fellow Opry star Rhonda Vincent, "It just feels like home."

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June Festivals & Events Dates

Event

Location

June 6-9

Bluegrass in the Hills

Hopedale, OH

June 7-9

Cherokee Bluegrass Festival

Cherokee, NC

June 7-10

Festival of the Bluegrass

Lexington, KY

June 8-10

Thousand Islands Bluegrass Festival

LaFargeville, NY

June 13-17

Blistered Fingers Bluegrass Festival

Litchfield, ME

June 14-15

Tug Hill Bluegrass Festival

Lowville, NY

June 14-16

Smoked Country Jam Festival

Cross Fork, PA

June 19-23

Rudy Fest Bluegrass Festival

Grayson, KY

June 21-24

Jenny Brook Bluegrass Festival

Tunbridge, VT

June 22-23

Funhouse Festival

Williamsburg, VA

June 27-30

ROMP Fest

Owensboro, KY

ongoing: Fridays

Friday Bluegrass Night Blue Cypress Bluegrass

Fellsmere, FL

For the complete list with links to full info, check out our June Events tab at TheBluegrassStandard.com!

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July Festivals & Events Dates

Event

Location

July 4-8

Remington Ryde Bluegrass Festival

Centre Hall, PA

July 4-8

Sally Mountain Park Bluegrass Festival

Queen City, MO

July 12-14

Shriners Bluegrass Festival

Olive Hill, KY

July 13-14

Uncle Dave Macon Days

Murfreesboro, TN

July 14-15

Bluegrass and Blueberries

Lahaska, PA

July 18-21

The MACC Music Festival

Lockbourne, OH

July 20-22

Darrington Bluegrass Festival

Darrington, WA

July 20-22

Pickin' on the Plains

Colby, KS

July 26-29

Brantling Bluegrass Festival

Sodus, NY

July 27-29

RockyGrass Festival

Lyons, CO

July 31-Aug 4

Pickin in Parsons

Parsons, WV

ongoing: Fridays

Friday Bluegrass Night Blue Cypress Bluegrass

Fellsmere, FL

For the complete list with links to full info, check out our July Events tab at TheBluegrassStandard.com!

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Whether you are at the computer screen or on the go, never miss an issue of The Bluegrass Standard... click here to subscribe!

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Next Month… from the Publisher's desk

What a great readership we had for the last issue! By expanding to our new mobile edition to reach everyone better, we reached 52 thousand readers with the May issue!

I want to send a big "Thank You" to all the fans of Bluegrass, and all the Bands who perform the music. Keep looking for that interesting fact in each article.

Let all your friends know The Bluegrass Standard is the "go to" source for Bluegrass, Newgrass, Americana and Folk Music.

I appreciate you all!

Keith Barnacastle — Publisher

Special Focus: Recording Studios

Bluegrass Planet Union House Pinecastle Rebel Records Bonfire Studios Mountain Fever and as always, so much more!

Shop our website for The Bluegrass Standard gear!

Don’t forget to Like us on Facebook!

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