The Bluegrass Standard - Mobile Edition - Volume 2, Issue 7

Promoters and Studios The ass special focus issue! r g d

B IT IL

E

Volume 2 ~ Issue 7

D

O

Bluegrass then and now...

IO E N

r a d n Sta

M

e u l B

Enjo Stand y The B luegr ard o ass n the at ho big s me, o creen r on the g o...

click here switc to Desk h to the top E ditio or br n, owse our back issue s!

The Bluegrass Standard

click here to subscribe − it's free!

The Bluegrass Standard magazine is published monthly.

Opinions expressed are not necessarily the opinions of The Bluegrass Standard or its staff, advertisers or readers with the exception of editorials. Publication of the name or the photograph of any person, business or organization in articles or advertising in The Bluegrass Standard is not to be construed as any indication of support of such person, business or organization. The Bluegrass Standard disclaims any responsibility for claims made by advertisers.

Advertising rates are subject to change without notice.

The Bluegrass Standard reserves the right at its sole discretion to reject any advertising for any reason. It is our policy to publish any letters to the editor that are signed and verifiable by phone number. We reserve the right of anonymity upon request. Letters must be grammatically correct, clarity and original and free of libel. The Bluegrass Standard reserves the right to decline publishing or reprinting any letter.

Please forward any letters to: editor@thebluegrassstandard.com The views expressed are not necessarily those of The Bluegrass Standard. Copyright Š2018. All Rights reserved. No portion of the publication may be reproduced in any form without the expressed consent of the publisher.

The Blu e gras s St andard St aff This Month's Guest Writers: Emerald Butler, Ted Drake 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 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.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CONTENTS

more

Rebel Records Mountain Fever Records Dark Shadow Recording Pinecastle Records Rhonda Vincent

Adventure Studios Daniel Routh Red Squared Audio THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CONTENTS

more

Bonfire Recording Company Kimberly Williams East Public Relations Union House Records Tomorrow's Bluegrass Stars: Presley Barker

Wilson Pickins Michelle Lee Radio Programming THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CONTENTS

back

Bluegrass Planet Radio William Gerringer Tobacco Road Graves Mountain The Bluegrass Trail Fiddler’s Porch: Mary Rachel Nalley, Top It Off Festival Guide THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

THE SPOTLIGHT Fades to Black.

Introducing CONCERT BLACK • Easy assembly & transport • Conveniently folds flat • Helps prevent fatigue • Available in multiple heights

RCWilliamsCompany.com | 913.912.1083 ©2017 RC Williams Company, LLC. Designed and manufactured by RC Williams. All products made in the U.S.A.

tell them you saw it in The Bluegrass Standard!

For nearly 60 years, Charlottesville, Virginiabased Rebel Records has been synonymous with quality recorded bluegrass music...

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

by Susan Marquez THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

l-r: Dr. Ralph Stanley, Mark Freeman, Dave Freeman

... with a roster of many of bluegrass music’s most popular entertainers, the company is also focused on being a platform for the development of the next generation of bluegrass stars.

Mark Freeman is the president of Rebel Records.

“I started working here when I was in high school,” he says. “My dad, Dave Freeman, ran the company up until a few months ago.” Freeman worked at the company during the summers while in high school THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S and college. “I worked in Nashville for a couple of years out of college, but my dad asked me to come back to Virginia. The company was undermanned and he needed some help. I had planned on helping him until he hired on some more folks, but I never went back to Tennessee.” Instead, he absorbed his knowledge of the music business through hands-on experience.

Rebel Records was founded in 1960 by Dick Freeland. “He signed many of the big bluegrass groups that were coming out of the Washington, DC and Baltimore areas,” Freeman says. Earl Taylor had performed in a 1959 folk music concert at Carnegie Hall that was well-received. He was a mainstay on the bluegrass scene in the Baltimore area, and he recorded a single with Rebel Records.

It became a hit and helped chart the course for the new record label.

During the 1960’s, Rebel Records enjoyed success with a string of popular releases. A hit single from the Country Gentlemen’s album called Bringing Mary Home reportedly sold 50,000 copies. Despite the label doing well throughout the 1970s, Freeland was ready to sell in 1979. Dave Freeman, owner THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S of Roanoke, Virginia-based County Records and County Sales mail order outlet, was interested in buying Rebel Records. “My dad loved bluegrass and old-time music,” recalls Freeman. “He started County Records because of that love. He took over Rebel Records in 1980.

Freeman purchased the company and upgraded the label’s image with high-quality graphics, and added new talent to the already-impressive roster.

The company went through another transition in the 1980s with the advent of compact discs. Rebel put out a Best of the Seldom Scene compilation, the first of over 30 CDs that now make up Rebel’s 1100 series of collection discs that highlight the seminal works of a particular artist.

In the 1990s, Rebel put out a two-CD set called Clinch Mountain Country, which paired Ralph Stanley with several contemporary country and bluegrass artists, including George Jones, Patty Loveless, Ricky Skaggs, Dwight Yokum, Vince Gill, Bob Dylan, Kathy Mattea, and a host of others. The collection won IBMA awards for album of the year and recorded event of the year. Over the years, THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Rebel Records has collected over a dozen IBMA awards.

Mark Freeman knows he has a big job in leading Rebel Records through the second half of its first century in business. Even though he majored in political science and doesn’t play an instrument, he says that his major in college comes in handy when he has to be diplomatic, and that he grew up listening to and loving music. “You don’t have to play an instrument to appreciate music.”

Finding new artists is important for any record label to succeed. “We’re lucky in that we’ve been around so long that we are established in the bluegrass genre. We have many groups who come to us, and we have friends in the industry who suggest groups to us. Most bands these days start out recording independently. We keep an eye on those groups and we look for those who are committed and in it for the long haul. If we like what we hear and see, we put a band through a lot of filters. It must be a group that will excite us, because if they do, it’s more likely that they’ll excite the general public.”

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

the current Rebel artists Dave Freeman at the Rebel offices

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

by Daniel Wile Do what you love, the saying goes, and you will never work another day of your life. If that is true, then Mountain Fever Records founder Mark Hodges has not worked many days, and it appears he won’t anytime soon. Mountain Fever Records is the result of a “hobby that got out of hand” and is now supporting some of the biggest names in bluegrass, while bringing new artists to the market.

While Hodges is reluctant to embrace the entrepreneur title, he has a good record of starting and running a business. In high school, he once THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S told a teacher that he would find a way to get paid to watch TV. When video stores began popping up around the country (back in the era of VHS tapes), Mark looked around his home in the mountains of southwest Virginia and saw an opportunity.

He opened and ran a successful regional chain of video stores for nearly twenty years. Mark still sees his teacher to whom he made his pledge. “I’m the only student she ever had who actually lived up to their dreams they spoke of in high school,” he jokes.

As the video rental business gave way to Netflix, the empty-nester Hodges looked for something new. For fun, a group of Hodges’s high school friends reassembled their old rock band. Hodges set up some simple recording equipment in his attic so they could record themselves. The recordings got out, and people liked what they heard. Local bands asked Hodges if he could record them, too.

Soon, the recording activity outgrew his attic, and Hodges’s wife at the time grew impatient with the constant activity in their house. To appease her, Hodges made a rash offer. “Let me put up THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S a building,” he said, to which she replied, “I wish you would!” Five days later, Hodges claims, bulldozers were pushing down trees in his back yard. “I wasn’t going to give her a chance to change her mind!” he says with a laugh.

Early studio customers came from all genres, but the character of bluegrass musicians attracted Hodges. At first, the fledgling studio recorded bands from local colleges. “We were prepared for pretty much anything from rock-n-roll to Reggae,” Hodges says.

“I found out that college kids with credit cards come and tear up everything and leave broken beer bottles in the parking lot. The bluegrass groups that showed up were just happy to be there. They paid their bills, and there were no problems with them. That was the arrow pointing me in that direction.”

That direction proved fruitful. Soon, Rickie Simpkins, Sammy Shelor, and Kenny Smith were coming to record and bringing friends, too.

Hodges learned his Willis, Virginia home was in a prime location for bluegrass music. “All these THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S great musicians live twenty minutes from here in one direction or another, where I am kind of a center point.”

“I’ve never been afraid to try,” Mark explains.

“What’s the worst that will happen?

You have to get a real job?”

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Mark’s down-home, no-nonsense zest for life attracted others to help him grow Mountain Fever. Mandolinist Aaron Ramsey came to record with a friend and impressed Hodges with his studio acumen. Ramsey is now Mountain Fever’s engineer. Hodges credits him with taking the label’s quality to a new level. “Anybody can throw some microphones up and record,” Hodges says.

“But it’s where you point those microphones and what you add that makes the difference. Aaron has a work flow that gets records done really fast, and he knows how to make it sound the way it needs to sound.”

The studio, along with Ramsey’s engineering expertise, make a powerful combination. “The studio itself has a flavor to the sound,” Hodges says. He claims, “People are calling us the Muscle Shoals of the acoustic world. DJs tell us it’s the best-sounding music being made.”

Beyond the walls of the studio, Hodges has assembled a team to expand the services Mountain Fever offers. Mountain Fever now handles, among other things, promotion, publicity, and tour support for its artists. “Now THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S we are a music services company that happens to have its own studio,” Hodges says.

While there is a lot of talk about technology’s upheaval of the music industry, Hodges believes that people are still at the core of a successful endeavor. “The delivery system has changed, but still, if you make a good product and get it to the DJs and they play it, that’s your advertising; the artists become popular; they’re invited to play the festivals, and it goes full circle,” Hodges says. “The money’s not there like it used to be, but that’s just a part of progress.”

Besides, money has never been Hodges’s primary motivation. “My favorite part is working with the artists,” he says. “When you get them back in the studio, and you play it back for them, and their eyes get so big, sometimes they even cry—that’s my favorite part.”

He speaks with the pride of a parent. “Every band I work with, I invite to be a part of my family. I have to like them before I do that. We try to work with good people,” he says.

He has assembled a family of high achievers on THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S his label, including artists such as Junior Sisk, Volume Five, Grasstowne, and Darrell Webb.

From the outside, it appears Hodges has executed a well-planned strategy for growth. He sees it differently, though. “Like everything I do, I didn’t know what I was doing when I started. I just dove in.” That willingness to try may be the secret sauce of Mountain Fever’s success. Hodges can’t imagine going about life any other way.

Mark Hodges with Gold Heart THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

I NFO : www.summergrass.net 760 - 301 - 6626 North County Bluegrass & Folk Club and the San Diego Bluegrass Society are nonnon-profit organizations

T ICKETS : www.summergrass.net/tickets1 or summergrass2018tickets.eventbrite.com tell them you saw it in The Bluegrass Standard!

By Stephen Pitalo

CON TEN T S

Got My Mojo Working Stephen “Mojo” Mougin & Dark Shadow Recording Get The Job Done The Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition of a factotum is “a person having many diverse activities or responsibilities, from the literal Latin translation ‘do everything.’” As a teacher, a performer, a songwriter, a label owner, a producer, an engineer and more, Stephen “Mojo” Mougin definitely does everything. But when The Bluegrass Standard asked, “which of these would you call yourself?”, the answer came down to just two roles.

“I am, most certainly, all of those things,” Mougin said, “but at the heart and soul of it, I am a musician and teacher. They are both at play during all of the other activities!”

Mostly, the bluegrass community knows Mougin as a musician and an engineer, running one of THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S the most sought-after recording studios around for bluegrass artists. Dark Shadow Recording in Joelton, Tennessee, just outside Nashville, currently is Mougin’s creative & business hub, serving as recording space, record label, production studio and instructional content production facility. But Mougin was a musician before he was anything, and a meeting with a bluegrass legend may be responsible for that.

“My father and I arrived early to a Bill Monroe mandolin workshop at the Peaceful Valley Bluegrass Festival when I was 10 or 12,” Mougin

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S explained. “Mr. Monroe happened to walk in early, as well, and asked me about my mandolin.

I was proud as punch, threw the case up on the table, and got it out for him to play. He ended up playing it during the entire workshop, much to the dismay of attendees hoping for an up-close glimpse of his Loar!”

Mougin says the big challenges currently involve keeping the business going, and going forward, by booking the studio and selling albums for the label. But it’s no picnic.

“Promotion, publicity, and those sorts of things really begin to drain my creative juices.

Fortunately, I change gears so much (touring, recording, filming, etc.) I never get too swamped with the business side of things. I don’t think “just being an artist” is an option for many folks these days. Looking at my peers, my heroes, my mentors — I see folks who are constantly pushing for more outlets of performance, teaching, and whatever else they can get their hands into. I think the soil is fertile for those who hustle, especially in niche markets such as ours.”

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S As much as he loves his work and his clients, a recent project really gives him hope that Dark Shadow Recording is staying true and keeping the genre going forward.

“Believe it or not, I’m still really excited about Becky Buller’s new album Crêpe Paper Heart, which released back in February.

I’m proud of her work and artistry, proud of her band’s performance, and quite pleased with the audio component. It was truly a team effort, and I hope to continue making albums like that in the future!”

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

by Susan Marquez THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

Pinecastle Records got its start in 1989 when Tom Riggs wanted to do a favor for a friend...

Riggs had the largest syndicated bluegrass show in the United States, American Acoustic Country, which ran on 250 radio stations. He loved introducing new bluegrass artists to a large audience. One of those artists was Bill Harrell, lead singer and guitarist for the Tennessee CutUps. Harrell wanted to help his son, Mitch, an aspiring bluegrass musician, to get a recording contract. He talked to Riggs about it, and Rigg’s saw the potential, so Riggs founded a record label and Mitch Harrell was the first artist. The label was named Pinecastle after the small town outside of Orlando, Florida where it was started.

In 2005, after a divorce, Riggs moved everything to western North Carolina where he owned a vacation cabin. He was enamored with the charm of the area, which was just south of Asheville.

He decided to relocate both Pinecastle and The Music Shed (a wholesale/retail operation THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S selling bluegrass recordings) to Columbus, North Carolina. When Riggs’ health began to fail in 2010, his son, Cort Riggs, managed the closure of the distribution business and the sale of Pinecastle to Lonnie Lassiter, a wound care doctor who is also a musician.

The executive leadership of the company is now comprised of Ethan Burkhardt and Matt Hood. The two are both from Indiana, but met at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois where they both majored in music. “Ethan studied music business,” says Hood. “I studied commercial music, where I did a lot of studio recording work.

I graduated a year before Ethan, and applied to several record labels around the country. A guy we went to school with had gotten a job at Pinecastle, so I applied there and got a job as a marketing assistant in 2004. Ethan came on board that same year as an intern. After he graduated, he came on full time.”

Today Burkhardt serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Hood is the company’s Chief Operations Officer. Hood says that he and Burkhardt both benefit from the musical THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S experience and business knowledge of Lassiter.

“Lonnie owns several wound care clinics and other medical-related businesses while still practicing medicine,” explains Hood. “He went back to school and got an MBA from Yale, so his business knowledge coupled with his musical experience has made Pinecastle Records stronger than ever. I learn so much about business from him.”

Both Burkhardt and Hood are musicians.

Burkhardt plays bass and Hood plays saxophone.

Hood admits that his musical preferences prior to working at Pinecastle had a strong leaning towards jazz. “I never knew much about bluegrass before working here. But I have certainly gained a strong appreciation of bluegrass, which is not that different from jazz. I think it’s good for jazz musicians to run a record label.

The newest addition to Pinecastle is its new subsidiary, Bonfire Recording Company. “We are excited about providing a recording option to our artists,” says Hood. “It’s a great space for both recording music and shooting music videos.”

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

Some of the best known bluegrass artists are on the Pinecastle roster, including Dale Ann Bradley, Sister Sadie (an all-female group), Flashback, The King James Boys, and Grammy winner Clay Hess.

Hood says they meet new artists at IBMA as well as at festivals. “I don’t get to attend too many festivals, but I make it a point to go to at least a couple each year.”

Hood says that Pinecastle has a strong footing in the bluegrass industry and he’s looking forward to some strong years to come. “We are working THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S with more Gospel groups, like The King James Boys and The Farm Hands. We have done a third release with Dale Ann Bradley and we’ve recorded several albums already at Bonfire. There’s no doubt that the future for Pinecastle is bright.”

l-r: Pinecastle Lead Engineer Steve Wilson (of Wilson Banjo Co.) & Tony Wray (Blue Mafia) lend their expertise to our new projects THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

visit PinecastleMusic.com to explore the artists

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

tell them you saw it in The Bluegrass Standard!

Rhonda’s Adventure

by Shelby Campbell

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

Rhonda Vincent, one of bluegrass music’s brightest stars, has created an incredible career for herself with a combination of relentless talent, tireless dedication and love for bluegrass music. This award-winning vocalist is also a talented multiinstrumentalist – playing everything from mandolin and guitar to fiddle and anything else with strings.

Something magical happens when you hear Rhonda sing for the first time – excitement and anticipation for more as her flawless singing strikes your ears and produces chill bumps up and down your arms...

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

Rhonda’s career began when she was just a child with her family band, The Sally Mountain Show, and has continued for almost four decades.

Earning the respect of her peers in a traditionally male-dominated genre, Rhonda has been a crowd favorite since the 1970s and 1980s. She has even appeared on recordings for other beloved artists such as Dolly Parton, Alan Jackson, Tanya Tucker, and Joe Diffie.

Dubbed the “Queen of Bluegrass,” Rhonda also brings songwriting and bandleading to the table in addition to her rare gifts as a producer, creating soulful and timeless recordings that touch the heart of her listeners.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Rhonda is a seven-time Grammy nominee, and she recently won the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album in 2018. Performing alongside her band of top-notch musicians, The Rage, Rhonda shows us no signs of stopping anytime soon.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S These musicians that work with Rhonda are incredible artists with a story to tell. The band is made up of Hunter Berry on fiddle, Brent Burke on dobro, Mickey Harris on upright bass, Aaron McDaris on banjo, and Josh Williams on guitar.

In 2016, along with her band, Rhonda released her first record produced in her very own recording studio, Adventure Studios, in Nashville, Tennessee.

Since it opened, many of Rhonda’s recordings have been recorded, mixed, and/or mastered in this studio, which also handles other music projects in which she is involved.

With Rhonda’s busy tour schedule and her home in Missouri, she loves having a home-base in Nashville to produce and write some of her favorite pieces of music. Adventure Studios also serves as her local, Music City spot for managing her own record label, Upper Management Music.

“I love working with Rhonda,” said Joey Crawford, Grammy Award-Winning recording engineer at Adventure Studios. “She is incredibly talented. I have been lucky enough to work with her on almost every record that she has done in the last 12 years.”

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Adventure Studios does not typically function as a commercial studio. However, Rhonda’s projects with other musicians have been recorded in the studio as well.

“I have most recently been recording in the studio with musician Christian Davis, who will be releasing a solo record very soon,” said Joey.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Christian Davis is a multi-Dove Award-Winning and Grammy-Nominated artist who, in December 2017, signed with Turnberry Records and Management team, a division of our very own Bluegrass Standard Magazine. Over the past 10 years of his career, Christian has earned his stripes with a wide audience of bluegrass, gospel and country fans with his deep, endearing vocals and stage presence.

In addition to Christian Davis, the studio is currently working on projects for Chris Malpass of the Malpass Brothers and Sally Berry, Rhonda’s daughter and wife of her long-time fiddle player Hunter Berry. They have also been involved in projects in the past for members of The Rage, Aaron McDaris and Hunter Berry, as well as other custom projects produced over the last couple of years.

With a powerhouse team of incredible producers, world-class talent as a singer, songwriter and producer, and a top-notch group of musicians behind her, Rhonda has perfected the journey of recording and producing her own records and releasing them on her label.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S With this plan in action, the role Adventure Studios plays in Rhonda’s career is a great one, and the studio’s team is happy to be a part of such a rare and beautiful journey.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

Mixing and Mastering with Red Squared Audio

by Kara Martinez Bachman THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Music is serious business at Red Squared Audio, the Silver City, NC recording studio owned by Daniel Routh. Located just below Greensboro NC —in a region Routh refers to as “bluegrass central”— it attracts musicians from all genres.

There’s a special bonus for bluegrass performers, however. As member of the band Nu-Blu, Routh truly “gets” the music he helps perfect in his studio.

“With my background being in acoustic music, the studio leans towards that,” he explained, adding, “you've got to have an engineer, someone who handles the mixing and mastering, who understands bluegrass.”

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S But it’s not all banjos and mandolins at Red Squared Audio. Routh does his share of pop demo tapes, TV shows, voice overs and more.

“Right now I have a southern gospel album, a bluegrass album, a singer-songwriter, and a poprock album all in progress at the same time,” he said, of the studio’s versatility. The best thing about what he does, he added, is its fully-polished and professional sound.

“Folks tell me that we have a very commercial feel to our mixes and masters,” he said, explaining that it’s possible to buy software and equipment to do a DIY record, but it often won’t cut the mustard if an artist is serious. “There is a certain feel and polish that should be on an album,” he stressed.

“If it’s being played in a mix of rock, pop and country Top 40, your song should sound at home there,” he explained. “It shouldn’t matter that the song is bluegrass… it should sound like it belongs with the rest of the music, quality-wise.”

Part of giving listeners that quality involves having access to the latest, greatest tools.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Routh’s studio has interesting partnerships with equipment manufacturers. For instance, Red Squared Audio is an Izotope software test facility.

He also uses Cubase software, which he said is a favorite for bluegrass artists.

Counter-intuitively, however, it’s something “old” and special that’s perhaps most in demand. It’s all in the console.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S “When they come in, they’re seeking that old analog sound,” Routh explained. “That’s where I feel like we’re doing a fantastic job. We mix and master on an old analog console.”

He was quick to add, however, that all the equipment in the world won’t compensate for inexperience of the person at the console.

“At the end of the day,” he said, “it’s the person sitting in the engineer chair.”

Routh has, in some form or another, been sitting in that chair since 2003 or 2004, when he first started learning the ropes. Since then he’s grown and expanded.

“The building is brand new,” he said, of his current studio space. “I’m really, really excited because I was able to build the studio from the ground up just like I wanted...it’s a really creative space.”

He said one problem with recording an album is that it's often expensive if done well.

“There’s a lot of really good music that never had a chance to be recorded, simply because people THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

didn’t have the money,” he said. His goal with Red Squared Audio was to create “an affordable place to get a really, really good recording.”

He goes above and beyond for all his clients, he said. “At the end of the day, you do whatever it takes to get the sound that your client wants.”

And he’s really proud of a few projects. “I’m always really proud of what we do with Nu-Blu, because we really put our heart and soul into that,” he said.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Another accomplishment —a turning point for the studio, really— was when Routh mixed a song called “Jesus & Jones” for Grammy Hall of Fame Member and R&B notable, Sam Moore.

“Suddenly, you’re mixing a song by someone like that,” Routh reminisced, about his moment of moving up a notch professionally. “Sam’s last

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S album had been produced by Randy Jackson, of ‘American Idol.’ Suddenly, you’re in a different league.”

Routh said Moore loved what he’d done and told him in a memorable phone call: “I think this may be the best vocal I’ve ever heard of me.”

“That was a huge confidence booster,” Routh said.

“It gave me confidence to start branching out and trying new things in the mixing and mastering process... to really go after it. That’s when we really started to develop the ‘sound’ of the studio.”

Now, Routh estimates he does six or eight big projects a year. With each and every one of them, his philosophy is the same.

“When an artist walks in,” Routh said, “I want them to walk out [afterwards] and say, ‘yeah...that’s what I wanted that to sound like.’”

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

tell them you saw it in The Bluegrass Standard!

Bonfire Recording Company

by Susan Marquez Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and things are certainly heating up at Bonfire Recording Company in Piedmont, South Carolina. Bonfire is the home of Grammy-nominated Pinecastle Records, formed in 1989, and is a one-stop shop for recording artists.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S As an advocate for the artist, both Pinecastle and Bonfire work to help produce a quality product and provide the support necessary to sell it, including photography, videography, graphic design for album covers, music videos, and posters to create a product that not only looks great, but creates the groundwork for a band’s entire brand.

Bonfire has been up and running for just over a year. “We got into the space, which was built out as a studio in the early 2000s, the first part of last year,” says Matt Hood, Chief Operating Officer for

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Pinecastle Records. “We updated the equipment and freshened up the space and even redesigned a few areas to make it more functional.” Hood says Pinecastle had been looking at opening a recording studio. “This was a good fit for us, at a good time. We named it Bonfire, because we like the idea of a fire starting and growing, like we see our artists doing. Their flame grows hotter when they have a solid product.”

Bonfire is equipped to handle everything from solo musicians to full band projects. The recording studio is small, but has plenty of space for up to eight people to live-track comfortably. Over the past 25 years, Pinecastle Records has developed relationships with some of the best manufacturers in the country, making it possible to get good prices on CDs or a quick turnaround time.

Along with CD packaging, Bonfire offers high quality 8” x 10” press photos, 11” x 17” tour posters and more. Bonfire has a public relations department that works to spread the word about an artist’s album. Press are professionally written and distributed to trade publications, blogs and mainstream media.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

Steve Wilson and Tony Wray do the engineering at Bonfire. Wilson is a builder of custom banjos and plays (naturally) the banjo for Wilson Banjo Co. Wray is a guitarist and vocalist for Blue Mafia who once worked for the Gibson instruments company in Nashville as a banjo supervisor. Wray is a multiinstrumentalist who can plug any holes a band may have without having to bring in another musician. It’s an ideal situation for songwriters or soloists who want top-of-the-line recording without having to bring a whole band into the studio.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

Hood says that Bonfire Recording is open to the public. “It’s not limited to just the artists on the Pinecastle roster. As a matter of fact, the artists on our label don’t have to record here – it’s simply another option we provide.” So far, Bonfire has worked mostly with regional artists in the South Carolina area. “We are hoping to branch out into other areas,” Hood says, “we want to try to help out up and coming artists.”

Several albums have been recording in the studio, including the new Flashback LP, Dale Ann THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Bradley’s solo album, and The King James Boys’ new album. The newest project to be recorded at Bonfire is the Wilson Banjo Co album. “We have a couple more bluegrass projects scheduled,” says Hood. “We also have an American project we’ll be working on – that one will be a lot of fun!”

The studio space was designed by Ethan Barnhardt, chief executive officer of Pinecastle Records. “It was designed with music videos in mind,” says Hood. “We have the ability to shoot video while an album is being recorded, for both music videos and promotional videos.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S “We offer the videography and editing services in house to produce a live-performance video in a controlled environment, with exceptional audio and professionally lit 4K video.�

The studio is open to outside engineers, photographers, videographers or anyone that needs a space to create.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

East Meets Best

Kimberly Williams Has Led East Public Relations to the Top of their Game

by Stephen Pitalo THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Making the jump from musician to publicist seems unlikely, but by giving her music clients that extra special attention she understands from the other side, Kimberly Williams has grown her company, East Public Relations, into a powerhouse of music publicity.

After performing in her family’s acoustic band in Texas as a teenager, she moved to Tennessee where she worked as a demo singer for notable songwriters in the late 80s and early 90s. But Opryland Productions became the place she learned the business from the inside — from rig stage lights to audio engineering to eventually becoming an event producer. As a producer, she booked acts for music venues within the Gaylord THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Opryland Hotel, managed the Roy Acuff Theatre, was the special events producer for Opryland Theme Park, and produced most of the corporate events for the Grand Ole Opry and the Gaylord Opryland Hotel.

“In every instance, I found myself really drawn to the marketing and publicity aspects,” Williams said. “It was a fantastic opportunity to work in a fast-paced environment with very creative people, and I learned so much during my seven years with the company.”

Her passion for the music business was increasing, but she longed for more music and less business.

She married a banjo player and started a band called The Expedition Show, but she continued behind the scenes by becoming the band’s booking agent and publicist.

“We found ourselves thrust into the bluegrass world pretty quickly where everyone wears a lot of hats,” Williams explained. “I was booking and handling publicity for the band. Eventually, other artists began approaching me about working for them.

Thus, East Public Relations officially launched in THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S 2005.”

The company, based in Sparta, Tennessee, has experienced considerable growth since then, and now offers everything from album support to strategic marketing consultation. The current client roster includes Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out, Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers, Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, Flatt Lonesome, Blake Williams, and Mountain Fever Records. Additionally, Williams produces Sparta, Tennessee’s annual event, Liberty Square: A Lester Flatt Celebration, which won IBMA’s Event of the Year in 2015. She and her husband, Blake, also produce a concert series in Crossville, TN at the Palace Theatre.

Williams sometimes finds herself dealing with the negative stereotypes of bluegrass when she is promoting her artists. “Louise Scruggs was one of the first people to make certain the world knew that bluegrass people are not stupid hillbillies, I feel like that is a stigma that we are still fighting.

There are some very broad-minded, forwardthinking people and bands in bluegrass and I am grateful to meet more of them every day.”

Being sure not to single out any particular artist THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S as her favorite, Williams said she feels blessed to represent four professional touring bands and a record label full-time.

“Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out are my longesttenured clients, having worked with Russell for nearly 10 years.” Williams explained. “I have no doubt he is a future Hall-Of-Famer as he is one of our most gifted singers. He’s also one of the kindest people I know.

I first heard him sing with Southern Connection in Texas. I was 15 years old and I’ve been a fan ever since. I've worked with Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper for nine years and every time I witness a show, I am amazed. Michael is pure genius on the fiddle and he has some exciting things happening for him right now.

“Joe Mullins is one of the smartest businessmen I have ever worked with. I learn something from him just about every day. He and his band, The Radio Ramblers, have been clients for about eight years and they are one of the most entertaining, professional bands on the circuit. Flatt Lonesome is my newest client having worked with them for THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S two years this August. I don’t need to tell anyone the splash they have made in Bluegrass in a relatively short amount of time. They are all in their 20’s and knock me out every time I hear them with stunning harmonies and their writing is really coming along! Mountain Fever Records has been a client for about seven years with a brief hiatus in the middle while I did some restructuring of my company. Mark Hodges has built that label from the ground up with a lot of heart.

“With artists like Summer Brooke & Mountain Faith, Junior Sisk, Breaking Grass, Volume Five, Hammertowne, and others, I’m afforded a lot of diversity with my company. And, I handle booking and publicity duties for my husband, Blake Williams, who is a master of ceremonies for several festivals, does session work, workshops, and THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S speaking engagements.

“When I attend to a client’s concert or listen to an album that one of them has released, I get an unbelievable amount of satisfaction in knowing I had a small part in helping to build the crowd or promote the record that they poured their heart and soul into,” she said. “I work with not only talented, but genuinely great people. Over the years, they’ve each included me in aspects of their business that might not typically fall under the ‘publicity umbrella,’ but that’s because we share a mutual respect for each other and the strengths we each possess. We learn from each other, and that ensures growth all the way around. Ultimately, I just thank God every day that He’s blessed me with a job that I love and with clients who are more like family. I believe I get most of my enjoyment [in this job] when I’m able to call one of my artists and share the news that we secured them an interview with a really great media outlet, or that they will be taping a show for national television. Or that we've gotten them booked on the Grand Ole Opry! Those are high points, for sure! But generally speaking, I have the opportunity to share my love for my THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S clients with people all over the world, and I have made so many friends through this business.”

Williams finds that shutting down is her hardest task, but she exercises her time management well, which she feels is key in any self-employment situation, especially when you work from home.

“My time-management issues seem to center around knowing when to quit working,” she said.

“But I am so very blessed to work with a group of people who fully understand that family and selfcare is always the priority, and they all, without exception, encourage me regularly to take a day off and shut down. As I said, I am incredibly blessed.”

Although she is a 2012 graduate of Leadership Bluegrass and a member of the IBMA, SPBGMA and AMA, Williams does still cherish her time with her family.

“I am afforded the opportunity to work from home alongside my husband who is a very important part of the company,” Williams said. “His 45-plus years in the music business has offered a perspective that I’m very fortunate to have, and my clients recognize that he helps me out a lot behind the scenes. Plus, THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S he keeps the humor cranked up and that is key in helping not to take everything too seriously. Ha! “And with two daughters, three grandsons, and a granddaughter on the way, this job allows me to spend more time with my family and my brothers and sisters at church. That’s everything to me!”

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

“Traditional bluegrass music with an old-time country edge and a sound that’s very much their own...”

James Reams and the Barnstormers feature driving rhythm and hard-edged harmonies that take you back to a time before bluegrass was smoothed out for the uninitiated, the ill-prepared or the faint of heart!

Old-School Bluegrass

& the

Barnstormers Coast-to-Coast Barnstormin’ from Maine to South Carolina, Kentucky to Wisconsin, New York to California...

visit our website for more!

JamesReams.com tell them you saw it in The Bluegrass Standard!

A Label From the Artist’s Perspective

Starting a new record label isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s often — especially in its earliest stages — a labor of love. It’s sometimes a way to pay it forward, to help build a business while engaging in the meaningful action of helping the dreams of others come true.

Nobody knows about this more than Jeff Brown and Mike Bentley, co-owners of Union House Records.

The budding bluegrass record label has been around for a few years, primarily hosting music by the label’s founders.

by Kara Martinez Bachman THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

Just recently, however, Union House launched its first “discovery” — Kristi Stanley, whose first album, Heart Wide Open, was released in May. The guys behind the label — Brown and Bentley — speak openly about the challenges of getting recognition for a new enterprise, and look forward to a future of slow, steady growth in finding and supporting new talent. As members of bluegrass bands themselves, both think that their own experiences as artists will prove to be a special THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S asset.

“We honestly have an advantage because we understand it one hundred percent from the artist’s standpoint,” Brown explained.

Bentley agreed that having experience as a performing and recording artist will help them work better with the performers they eventually sign.

“I’ve been on a couple of other labels, and they were great folks to work with, but I had a different idea from the artist’s perspective,” Bentley confessed.

Brown said the decision to start Union House THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Records was an attempt to gain a bit of control.

“Both Mike [Bentley] and myself decided we’d try to do everything in-house,” he explained. “So we could kind of control our own destiny.”

It’s clear it had always, in some way, been Brown’s “destiny” to make and promote bluegrass. He began making music at the age of nine. He and a brother formed the Richlands Bluegrass Boys, and they performed at fairs, churches, and other venues.

In 1993, he began playing bass and singing tenor for bluegrass and gospel notable Larry Sparks and

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S was a member of several bands before forming Jeff Brown and Still Lonesome. He’s played at the Opry, at the Ryman Auditorium, and has appeared on TV shows such as “Austin City Limits.” He’s even played bass for Johnny Cash.

Today, among his many music-related activities, Brown helps coordinate the Richlands Freedom Festival and directs the Traditional Music Program at Southwest Virginia Community College.

The other side of the Union House coin, Bentley — who’s been singing since he was a little tyke in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky — was influenced by everyone from Larry Sparks to George Jones. He pens songs for himself and others and has been a member of several bands including Dismal Pike, Allen Amburgey and Kentucky Mountain Grass, and of course, Mike Bentley & Cumberland Gap Connection.

Both co-owners are excited about their newest act, Kristi Stanley.

“I just knew Kristi. I just wanted to give her an opportunity to kind of be the first one out of the gate,” Brown said. “I love her style…I think she’s THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S different. She’s not your run-of-the-mill bluegrass band.”

He said although they’ve broken the ice with Stanley, there won’t be a mad dash for signing new artists. That’s simply not part of the Union House Records game plan.

“The approach is gonna be slower rather than fast,” Brown explained. “We’re going to be select in what we want represented on the label.”

He said although he’s of course open to considering established performers, he’s most interested in “new talent that has their own sound. But the building process...we want it to be slow and solid.”

“Everybody wants to be on a label, and everybody wants to be recognized,” Brown added. “But we’ve got to be a hundred-and-ten-percent with them, or it ‘aint gonna work.”

Bentley’s opinions were in a nice lock-step with those of his Union Records partner. Both say the personality of the artist is as important as the music.

“I don’t know that there’s a cookie-cutter mold that THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S we’re looking for,” Bentley explained. “For me, it’s more about the people. If they do things the right way and treat people the right way.”

He said he’s not just interested in putting out records, but in “building a team of artists” who want to help and inspire each other.

In the end, though, it’s all about having trust that the relationship is a two-way street.

“We wanna make sure if we put something out,” Bentley explained, “we have a lot of faith and confidence in the artist.”

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

Young Musician With A Bright Future

Presley Barker

by Shelby Campbell THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

At only 13-years-old, Presley Barker is a true bluegrass musician with an incredible future ahead of him.

Growing up in the mountains of North Carolina, Presley has been playing the acoustic guitar for about six years. Listening to Doc Watson on the radio inspired him to choosing fiddle and playing bluegrass music.

“I grew up as a small child going to bluegrass festivals and fiddler’s conventions, and I just knew that I wanted music to be a part of my life,” said Presley.

Influenced and mentored by Steve Lewis, Wayne Henderson, and Bryan Sutton, Presley has become an incredibly gifted picker.

His favorite and most influential artists include Ricky Skaggs, Vince Gill, Marty Stuart, Chris Stapleton, Brad Paisley and Elvis Presley, Presley’s foot-tapping music has helped him draw crowds and embrace the heritage of bluegrass music everywhere he performs. Holding true to his roots has earned him numerous awards across the region.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S In 2015, he won first place in the prestigious Adult Guitar Competition at the 80th Annual Galax Old Fiddler’s Competition, as well as being named West Virginia State’s Flatpicking Guitar Champion in 2016. That same year, Presley’s band was also honored to be chosen as the featured youth band for the IBMA World of Bluegrass Festival.

Releasing his first solo album, Just Ten, in 2015, Presley’s goal is to keep the tradition of bluegrass music alive and pass it down to other generations.

As a member of Tomorrow's Bluegrass Stars, Presley loves to meet other young pickers and work together to promote bluegrass music to the world.

With the support of John Colburn, the CEO at Tomorrow's Bluegrass Stars, Presley and other young bluegrass musicians are able to play festivals and other opportunities to share their music.

“Presley Barker has a wonderful future lying ahead of him! Having known him for a number of years, he has always given me the confidence that he will keep bluegrass music alive for many years to come,” said John.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Presley is looking forward to this summer where he will continue performing his music at new and exciting places.

“I have been blessed to play music, and I am grateful for each opportunity the Lord has given me.�

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

Preserving Bluegrass One Youngster At A Time!

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

Click the banner below to visit the TBS website:

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

tell them you saw it in The Bluegrass Standard!

Wilson Pickins: Far From Slim South Carolina-based Publicity Office Is Making Bluegrass Dreams Come True Thanks to Melanie Wilson

by Stephen Pitalo THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Down in Westminster, South Carolina — in the Foothills at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountain Scenic Highway and on the Georgia State border — stands a bluegrass publicity office. You can’t get much more authentic than that. The office is Wilson Pickins Promotions. The leader is Melanie Wilson.

“We absolutely love living here,” said Wilson.

“Not only is it beautiful and rich in bluegrass and roots music, but it is a central driving location to many of the places we travel often. My husband first visited Westminster on a trip to play a festival almost twenty years ago when he was living in Nashville and fell in love with it. Five years ago, we finally moved here.”

After serving as a Director on a local bluegrass festival, Wilson “officially” started Wilson Pickins Promotions in 2014. Some professional band members encouraged her to follow this path, impressed by how well she promoted the festival as well as her husband’s project “The Guardian” for Wilson Banjo Co. With a background in sales and marketing as a real estate broker and manager in New York and Colorado for 20 years, and a few THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S music projects under her belt, she plunged head on into the music industry.

“I have always enjoyed music,” Wilson admitted.

“I was brought up in a house that appreciated it. My mama always had music playing, mostly folk and classic country from the 1970’s. In fact, I was named for the folk singer, Melanie Safka. On Saturday nights, I remember playing record after record in the living room and singing and dancing with my mama and my sister.

What Melanie loves most about the band publicity is seeing the resulting rewards for these most deserving musicians in the industry. “Whether large or small accomplishments, the bands I work with appreciate all of it. I work with bands that I can believe in, and who believe in me and this agency. We all work hard and have common goals. We strive for success for our individual businesses, sure, but everyone I work with is grateful for the team as a whole and is happy to see their teammates succeed as well. That concept is what will further bluegrass, it is what will make the industry thrive. We need to lift each other up, support one another’s projects, the music, THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S the festivals and venues. If the publicity that the agency creates for these bands and events in some way can contribute to a longer life of the bluegrass industry that continually struggles to find a place in the mainstream, I am all for it and will continue to do my best every day.”

When asked what people seem to get wrong about bluegrass music and bands, Melanie explained, “I think a lot of times, people have a preconceived notion of a poorly-tuned banjo, plinking away, or some kind of hokey scene out of a movie,” Wilson said. “They look upon it as an entertaining novelty rather than expertise. To folks that are looking to experience it for the first time, I simply encourage them to actually watch and listen intently to the incredible skill that goes into playing these instruments, and the talent it takes to pull off the harmony vocals that only a bluegrass band of singers can. These are not people that go into a studio and have all sorts of effects applied to their music and vocals to make them sound like someone or something else! They sound amazing all by themselves.”

Wilson is very proud of the twenty-one roster acts THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S for which Wilson Pickins provides its publicity and/or booking services, Wilson currently reps a long roster, from Carolina Blue to the Clay Hess Band, from Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road to Dale Ann Bradley, Alan Bibey & Grasstowne and Williamson Branch.

“Each and every one of the bands/artists we work with is special to me in their own way. They come from all over the country, all with their own unique and beautiful stories of how they got to where they are, what their goals are. I am a proud groupie and fan of each one.”

The hardest part of Melanie’s job is drawing a line, she said of the work-life balance that is sometimes elusive in her line of work. “My personal life is filled with music as well, so it is always tough making sure that my husband and I make time to be just us. We work from home when we aren’t on the road, and even when we aren’t working [on business], a lot of the time we are writing music, talking shop, discussing material, so it’s definitely something we have to keep in mind to do.”

Wilson thrives on pursuing the one thing she THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S hopes to provide her clients. “It’s seeing a dream come true and knowing I helped make it happen,” she said. “Getting nominations and awards, being signed to a record label, having a new song go to number one on the chart — all of the exciting things that musicians look forward to achieving in their careers, over and over again. Little dreams, big dreams, all the ingredients baked into this “pie” we call the #bluegrasslife (sic). Equally as fulfilling are the relationships we form with our artists. As with any industry, there is always going to be an ebb and flow, so to speak, so a team-based agency won’t be the answer for everyone. We are so fortunate to have such an extremely diverse group of roots music entertainers who just happen to be absolutely incredible human beings as well.”

Wilson Pickins Promotions gets out to as many shows as their schedule allows, and love spending time in the studio on new projects, and staying in touch as much as possible. “We have been so blessed with this #bluegrassfamily,” said Melanie. #teamWPP looks forward to another great season of bluegrass festivals this year and hopes to see many friends as well as new faces out on the road!

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

“Melanie Wilson lives and breathes bluegrass. If she isn’t working on behalf of an artist, she’s at a festival or show with her husband’s band. She has an important skill set and drive that is just as important to Pinecastle as it is to the artists she works for, which is why she is a part of the team on many of our releases.”

—Ethan Burkhardt, CEO, Pinecastle Records

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S “Wilson Pickins is a young company that shows deep maturity and sincerity in promoting and booking their artists. Knowing that music touches the world, the goal of Wilson Pickins is to promote the music of their artists and search for those venues that are seeking the heart of ‘Americana’.

A very positive thing for ‘roots artists’ these days!”

—Dale Ann Bradley “I get professional service from Wilson Pickins for my bands, festivals and businesses. They are dependable and reliable. The work is outstanding and I have not found anything they can’t help me with.”

—Lorraine Jordan THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

Michelle Lee:

The Evolution of Radio

by Robbie Ward Twenty-three years as an on-air radio personality have taught Michelle Lee many things about an evolving industry. She started out hidden to her audience except for her voice but now live-streams THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S broadcasts on Facebook and has even hosted a bluegrass potluck for her listeners.

The Northern Ohio broadcaster has continued to grow in her role radio personality and learned important lessons in the process, enough for the International Bluegrass Music Association to name her among the top five broadcasters for 2017.

The “Bluegrass Borderline” began in 2000, when Lee decided to create a program featuring traditional, modern, progressive, and gospel roots bluegrass, along with Americana music.

As admirers of the genres know, it takes an art to mixing them during a single radio program to keep everyone listening.

“I play all types of bluegrass,” she said. “We’re on the borderline of all sides of bluegrass.”

Lee sees her role as a guide to help everyone enjoy the musical experience and learn more about the performers playing the music. But she also brings a spark anyone listening can recognize.

“A lot of people say it’s fun and energizing,” she said. “I want my show to be the best show every time I go on.”

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Creating the best show each time the Bluegrass Borderline broadcasts involves knowing the audience but also means knowing how to blend the distinct types of music together in a way that seems natural.

“If you mix it up the right way, they’ll keep their toes tapping throughout the entire show,” the acclaimed broadcaster said. “If you blend it right, people don’t even think about it. The radio is my stage.”

A key part of bluegrass radio personality’s success, Lee has learned timeless rules of connecting with others while also still being open to new ways to overcome barriers between her, fans of the music, and musicians.

“I’ve always found it intriguing how listen ers just knew a voice,” she said of when she began in radio.

But then she began broadcasting live on Facebook in September 2017, increasing what listeners could see. The social media connection with listeners helped form connections she didn’t previously have, leading Lee to organize a bluegrass potluck gathering in June.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S “It’s more than a radio program,” she said. “It’s a community.”

Nurturing her “Bluegrass Borderline” community has involved removing barriers between her and her listeners helping the creator of the “Bluegrass Borderline” program to better see key ingredients for success on the airwaves: a sense of community, authenticity, music knowledge and artistry to blend it all together.

This sense of community developed through listeners calling in to her radio program, but new platforms like Facebook live-streaming options and face-to-face interactions have helped strengthen connections on the airwaves. Lee’s dedication and effort to her “Bluegrass Borderline” program have made listeners loyal and active.

“They’re already calling five minutes before the show begins on Sundays,” said Lee, a native of Cleveland, Ohio. “It’s great to have listeners as excited as you to be there.”

She understands the importance of radio programing in bringing happiness and enjoyment to people’s lives. She knows people listen to music THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S to connect with feelings of home, feelings to making them appreciate life, for better or worse.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Lee has experienced personal struggles of her own in recent years, facing the death of her aunt, brother and mother in a relatively short period of time. Her mother was her best friend, and she was close to her brother and aunt. The process of grieving and mourning helped the radio personality understand the importance of her professional role on a deeper level.

“You have to realize these people have something they’re going through as well,” she said. “You have to bring their day up.”

With listeners throughout Ohio and other parts of the country, Lee said her community of listeners motivates her to make every moment on air or anywhere else connecting with fans of her program the most meaningful as possible.

“Not only do I want to do it for myself because it’s my craft,” she said. “I do it for the listeners. They take time out of their day to listen to me do what I do for a living.”

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

“Bluegrass Borderline” broadcasts live on WOBL 1320 AM and 107.7 FM in northern Ohio from noon until 5 p.m. EST. www.SBBRadio.net broadcasts Michelle’s Weekday Top 10 Countdown online, beginning at 7 a.m, Monday through Friday.

They re-broadcast “Bluegrass Borderline” at 2 p.m.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

tell them you saw it in The Bluegrass Standard!

Bluegrass Planet Radio Spans the Globe with Great Music

by Kara Martinez Bachman When she was just a little girl, Dawn Mac used to be intrigued by how her father’s voice would float out across space and be heard in faraway lands.

He’d been a ham radio operator.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S “It fascinated me that he’d get on the airwaves and talk to people across the world,” she said about her dad, who she called her “inspiration.”

At just eight or nine years old, she’d “play DJ.” She loved music and when combined with the idea of having her voice heard across large distances, it was clear where her adult passions would lay.

“It was something that was in my blood from the very beginning,” Mac said.

As president and founder of Bluegrass Planet Radio, it’s no surprise that watching her dad talk into a microphone set her on the career path that’s led to a successful 24/7 internet radio station that people across the globe listen to.

Mac’s first radio show wasn’t fancy. Heck, it wasn’t even commercial; it was just a hobby she did for fun. She decided to host an internet radio show back in 2006 on one of the earlier versions of webbased radio, BlogTalk Radio. She decided to focus on music and interviews with indie artists who didn’t have access to traditional radio formats.

From there, her passion continued to grow.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S “At one time, I was running five different podcasts for five different genres,” she said. “As it started to get some traction and recognition, I had folks say, ‘why don’t you start a radio station?’”

What they meant was something more than she’d been doing. They didn’t mean podcast-style radio broadcasts. They didn’t mean individual shows.

They were suggesting she start a full-fledged 24/7 station. She’d been doing the bluegrass podcast since 2011, and thought the genre was perfect for expanding.

“I thought, maybe this is the time,” she reminisced.

“You can never have enough stations promoting all the great bluegrass music.”

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Today, Bluegrass Planet Radio is heard around the clock and is easily accessed via a free mobile app available from iTunes and Google Play Store.

Not only does Mac play music by a broad range of today’s bluegrass acts, but she also has affiliate programming that spans a wide range of interests.

The station is truly comprehensive, and some might even say “eclectic.”

For instance, listeners can tune in for the shows

they’d expect, such as the Bluegrass Gospel Hour or Steve Martin’s Unreal Bluegrass. But there’s also a little variety that reaches into other genres. For instance, Mac airs a program called “It’s Folk,” THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S which she describes as “folk, yet it’s got an edge to it.”

“People look at the roster and say, ‘wow, you’ve got a little of everything,’” Mac said. “It’s not all just Flatt and Scruggs any more...I wanted to create a station that was going to do more than what people would expect.”

Mac said her personal taste isn’t traditionalist.

“I’m more progressive, new grass, contemporary,” she explained.

Although her own tastes might slightly affect the choices in affiliate broadcasts, she said she still tries to focus Bluegrass Planet Radio programming on meeting the needs of the listeners themselves.

It’s not so much about her own taste as it is about making a great station that others will enjoy.

“I try to give equal billing to all the bluegrass labels,” she explained. “As a broadcaster, we get in advance what albums are coming out, what singles are gonna be released.”

“Just about everything that comes out new goes on the station,” she said.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Bluegrass Planet Radio has a broad listenership, and they come from places where most people would never suspect. Mac said she pulls in fans from all sorts of places.

“There are tons and tons of international listeners that obviously dig bluegrass music in all its forms,” Mac said. She added that some of her highest listener peaks result from fans tuning in from very far away. She sees activity from Japan, Germany, France, the UK, and many more countries where one would be surprised to find people interested in bluegrass, Americana, and the other folk genres Mac features.

As a prominent bluegrass internet radio broadcaster, what advice does Mac have for record labels who want to have their music heard? What’s the number one thing record labels should do to get radio programmers — DJs and others who are the music gatekeepers — on their side?

“The best thing labels can do is sign artists that are marketable,” she said. As a close number two, she said labels need to promote. And when they think they've promoted enough, they need to promote THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S some more.

“They really have to believe in the product they’re producing,” she said.

If a record label truly believes in its artist, it seems that’s a surefire way to get Mac interested as well.

As she in part walks in her father’s footsteps, she’s glad to help the great performers of bluegrass get their music heard.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

tell them you saw it in The Bluegrass Standard!

Tobacco Road Bluegrass

by Shelby Campbell Bluegrass music at its roots is a beloved traditional music with heart and soul. This music thrives on its promotion and love by radio and broadcasting stations dedicated to promoting the most talented young and old bluegrass musicians today. No one does this better than William Gerringer of Bluegrass Planet Radio.

Originating as a podcast in 2011 focused on interviewing bluegrass artists and featuring their music, Bluegrass Planet Radio is a full-service internet radio station that broadcasts all day, every single day.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

Launching as an internet station in 2017, they feature music and interviews of mainstream and indie Bluegrass, Americana, and Folk music.

Inspired by the immense talent at a bluegrass festival in 2006, Bluegrass Planet Radio’s founder Dawn Mac became a bluegrass fan, and it changed her life. After 15 years of experience in radio broadcasting combined with her love for bluegrass music, Bluegrass Planet Radio was born.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Also a lover of bluegrass music, William found his perfect fit after learning about Bluegrass Planet Radio. He loves the genres of music the station offers as well as the way they promote the music to the bluegrass community.

Growing up in central North Carolina, William loved watching the Andy Griffith Show and the Beverly Hillbillies, and he became a huge fan of the music of artists like The Dilliards and Flatt & Scruggs through these shows – from the instruments and musicians to the harmonies and history.

Never taking the time to learn to play bluegrass instruments himself has not stopped William from pursuing a career that allows him to do what he loves, listening to the music that inspires him.

Many years of conducting countless interviews led William to Bluegrass Planet Radio and becoming the host of the Tobacco Road Bluegrass show, airing Sunday nights from 8-11pm EST. Striving to highlight bluegrass artists and their music, William has interviewed some of the biggest and newest, names in bluegrass on both Tobacco THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Road Bluegrass and at many events and festivals.

His mission is to create a “friendly, conversational style to his interviews that put artists at ease for a fun and engaging time.”

“I like to use my show not only for promoting bluegrass music but to help promote bluegrass bands, the artists, and the songwriters. I love to provide a positive, upbeat image when doing my show. I want the audience to hear my smile,” said William.

According to the station’s founder Dawn, Bluegrass Planet Radio’s mission is to serve the bluegrass community in every aspect in order to help preserve its foundations and keep it alive.

“We strive to be a representative of the bluegrass community beyond just playing music,” said Dawn.

William loves interviewing bluegrass musicians on his show – naming Becky Buller, the Sowell Family, and Michael Cleveland as a few of his favorites.

Bluegrass Planet Radio, through William’s show and others, strives to prove that artists can count on them to promote their music at every turn.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S So many new young artists are making their way into the bluegrass community, and it is vitally important that Bluegrass Planet Radio is able to connect with them in creative ways. “The artists of today are inspiring the artists of tomorrow. We hope to be a big part of bridging the gap between the two,� said Dawn.

Bluegrass Planet Radio, and particularly Tobacco Road Bluegrass, is the radio station with a

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S personal touch – bringing music to listeners that is traditional and contemporary with a wide variety of artists.

In an opportunity to connect more with bluegrass fans, bands and promoters, William also enjoys emceeing at bluegrass events. He has a lot of respect for all bluegrass musicians and feels that’s where the music talent really is.

“I love meeting and working with people and emceeing certainly allows me to do that. It’s another way for me to do what I can to help promote our genre – bluegrass.”

Festival and event emcees are critical in providing the right kind of engaging commentary between artists and performances, and William does that with his vast experience with many bluegrass festivals and events interacting with audience members and musicians. He works hard with each event promoter he emcees for to provide his expertise to make the event as successful as can be.

Tobacco Road Bluegrass also streams events and festivals live through the Bluegrass Planet Radio website. This special service is a unique THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S experience that includes on-site interviews with artists, promoters, and attendees. Streaming these live events enhances the popularity and provides additional promotion, generating more interest in the bluegrass community.

“Through these types of promotions, we strive to be a full-service radio station that does more than just bring music to listeners. We serve others to help promote bluegrass in every possible way by using out-of-the-box thinking while moving to the strumming of our own banjo,” said Dawn.

With promoters like William and Bluegrass Planet Radio, the sky is the limit for young bluegrass musicians hoping to make it in the biz. Today’s young musicians are tomorrow’s stars, and William is sure to be a part of that future.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

tell them you saw it in The Bluegrass Standard!

Graves Mountain Music Festival Divided by the Rose River – But the show goes on!

by Ted Drake

draketeam@aol.com

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Twenty-six years ago, Jimmy Graves, Mark Newton, and Sonny Loveland created the Graves Mountain Festival of Music. Over the years, they adapted and adjusted to improve the festival every year, considering the budget and a music menu able to attract diverse music loving people. Mark Newton labels this as "broadening the fan base," which is necessary to keep up with the demographics of trends that change with the times.

A guitar and mandolin player in bluegrass bands for most of his 41 years, Mark now does other things like booking all the entertainment for Graves Mountain.

Graves Mountain Lodge (GML), the host of the festival, sits on 70 acres of camping area for tents and motor homes. In addition, the hotel and cabins house hundreds of people. The lodge includes a dining room and there is another kitchen at the stage area. Other amenities include a swimming pool, a gift shop, and activities like fishing, hiking, rock hunting, horseback riding, and site-seeing to historic and shopping locations.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Six generations of “Graves” have hosted visitors to the area. Mr. Graves said they started in 1608 in Jamestown and this area was a natural stagecoach stopping point on a 70-mile stretch. In 1857, the Graves family moved to the current location.

Tim Timberlake from Richmond, a longtime emcee, alongside Rusty Cempre and Mark Templeton, declared that "this beautiful spot with the Rose River crossing through it attracts the people to this and other festivals." Some festival participants arrive a day early to set up chairs and attend the famous Seafood Buffett. Crabtree Sound manages the sound for the festival that provided space for vendors like Pickers Supply, Poppop's Blue Kettle Corn, and Bluegrass Unlimited.

This year the Graves Mountain Festival featured: • Country Current – The United States Navy Band • Grasstowne • Junior Sisk and Ramblers Choice • Lou Reid and Carolina • Dark Hollow THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S • The Little Roy and Lizzy Show • Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper • Molly Tuttle • Steeldrivers • Blue Mafia • Pickin' Daisies • Mark Templeton and Pocket Change • Volume Five • Becky Buller Band • Ralph Stanley II and the Clinch Mountain Boys • Darin and Brooke Aldridge • Dailey and Vincent To everyone’s dismay, a downpour muddied their plans. By 9 pm, the Rose River swelled and stopped traffic going to and from the lodge and some of the housing. The road became impassable until Friday morning. During the night, the footbridge near the stage collapsed due to high water and falling trees.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S After much discussion about weather conditions, the Graves Festival team decided that the show must go on.

Rain and lightning on Thursday and Friday delayed a few shows and cut Molly Tuttle's show due to lightening in the area. Nevertheless, Little Roy and Lizzy cut up as usual and the new voice for the Steeldrivers comforted the dark gloom of stormy weather. Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver were able to perform on schedule.

Despite the rain and rising Rose River, the festival went on, campers camped, and guests enjoyed family style meals at the Lodge. Some listened to the festival from the porch of the lodge and from the Farmhouse where the sound carried clearly and the view of the mountains was wonderful.

Regarding the collapsed footbridge, Mrs. Graves said they would have to fix it right away because the next big event for GML was in 10 days!

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

Call Graves Mountain Lodge at 540-923-4231 to buy a ticket or to get on the waiting list for a room for the 2019 Festival of Music.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

By Keith Barnacastle The Bluegrass Trail is RFD-TV’s newest showcase for stellar American musical craftsmanship. Time honored songs, performed by some of the greatest Bluegrass artists in the USA, presented for the very first time.

CON TEN T S It’s a celebration of this nation’s musical roots, right here on our Nashville stage. Each 30-minute episode features performances by host Alan Sibley and the Magnolia Ramblers, as well as guest performances from some of the most acclaimed performing artists in bluegrass music today.

The Bluegrass Trail has become a reality for Alan Sibley, the creator. He emailed RFD-TV Network about a traditional bluegrass and old time folk music show. RFD contacted Sibley and right of the bat started production of the show. RFD is producing the show which was formed around Sibley’s Traditional roots of bluegrass and gospel music. The show was created for the traditional artist to showcase their music and to hear some of the old songs like “Maple on The Hill” which will be done the way it was originally recorded and written. The show has filmed 13 episodes with the likes of Carolina Blue, Kody Norris Show, Phillip Steinmetz, Price Sister, The Baker Family and David Davis. If you love the nostalgia of Old Time and Traditional Music then you will love this show.

It’s like taking a step back in time.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

Alan Sibley and The Magnolia Ramblers THE BAND Alan Sibley, Guitar, Mandolin, Fiddle Butch Hodgins, Guitar Robert Montgomery, Guitar, Banjo, Mandolin Mark Tribble, Bass Larry Wallace, Banjo Alan Sibley is a multi-instrumentalist and Bluegrass/Gospel singer from Ackerman, MS. Growing up in rural Mississippi, music was always a part of the Sibley home. Some of Alan's earliest memories are of listening to his mother play the piano and accordion while singing some of the same Gospel songs that Alan still sings today.

As a small boy, Alan first started trying to play music by learning to play songs on the piano and harmonica. When he was thirteen years old, Alan began learning to play the acoustic guitar and took an interest in other stringed instruments as well.

Soon after, he discovered the wonderful sounds of traditional Bluegrass music and decided he would THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S learn to play all the instruments used in Bluegrass.

Alan began his career in Bluegrass music playing mandolin with the Legendary First Family of Bluegrass Gospel “The Sullivan Family” in 2001 at the young age of fifteen. During the first four years of his musical career Alan toured almost continuously and played Bluegrass Gospel music in thirty states. After leaving “The Sullivan Family” Alan worked with two of the Deep South’s more prominent bluegrass bands, “The Larry Wallace Band” and “Jerry & Tammy Sullivan”.

After seven years of being a sideman in other groups, Alan decided to form his own band.

With musical roots deep in Bluegrass and Gospel music, Alan Sibley & The Magnolia Ramblers have performed at music festivals, concerts and churches across the United States since 2008.

Alan has won multiple awards in his home state of Mississippi from the Magnolia State Bluegrass Association. He is a four-time recipient of the Male Vocalist of the Year Award and a seven-time recipient of the Mandolin Player of the Year Award.

His band was also voted MSBA Band of the Year in THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S 2014, 2016 and 2017.

Today, Alan Sibley still lives in rural Choctaw County, MS with his wife and two daughters. When not traveling, Alan enjoys teaching music lessons, horseback riding, hunting and fishing.

Butch Hodgins was born and raised in Philadelphia, MS where he still resides today. He is a contractor by trade and has been in that business for 20 years.

Growing up in such a small town and in a close-knit family, Butch took an interest in music when he was nine years old. One of his highlights of playing Bluegrass music was performing at the mother church of Country music (the Ryman auditorium) with his oldest and dearest friend, Marty Stuart.

Robert Montgomery takes you back to preWWII style country music with his renditions of knockdown banjo and singing from the likes of Uncle Dave Macon and Louis Marshall "Grandpa" Jones, as well as guitar. Robert grew up in Moulton, Alabama, and was introduced to old time mountain music when he was around three years old.

When Robert was 12 years old, he took guitar lessons from Mr. Jeriel Parker and learned the THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S basics. He taught himself banjo from listening to Grandpa Jones and Oswald on the Opry, and he further learned from his friend, Leroy Troy.

Montgomery has also won awards for old-time singing, Appalachian folk singing, mandolin, and guitar. He has been featured on many television and radio programs including RFD-TV’s “Cumberland Highlanders’ Show”, and WSM Radio’s “Ernest Tubb Record Shop’s Midnite Jamboree” and “Opry Star Spotlight”.

Mark Tribble, from Starkville, MS is an accomplished bassist, playing both the upright bass and the electric bass guitar. Mark also excels at singing lead and harmony vocals. Mark was first exposed to music as a small child when the sounds of Bluegrass and Gospel music from his Father's records often filled the family home. Mark first began playing music by performing Country music on the electric bass guitar at 13 years of age. During a lifetime of musical endeavors Mark has performed various genres of music including Country, Rock N' Roll and Blues. However, in recent years Mark has returned to his roots and rekindled his interest in the Bluegrass and Gospel music that THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S he grew up hearing on his Father's records. Mark is also a licensed barber and at times is persuaded by fellow band members to give a haircut right before a show!

Larry Wallace is one of the nation's top bluegrass banjo players and has been active in bluegrass music for over forty years. He was born in Brookhaven, Mississippi, and grew up around the area of McCall Creek in Franklin County, which is in southwest Mississippi near the river. In relation to the Flatt and Scruggs' song, "Ten Miles from Natchez", Larry grew up fifty miles from Natchez.

In 1981 at the age of twenty, he moved to Starkville in northeast Mississippi to attend Mississippi State University.

Through the years, Larry has been a member of several bluegrass groups including Perfect Tyming, The Warrior River Boys, and Jimmy Martin and The Sunny Mountain Boys.

During his youth, Larry grew up listening to the fiddle playing of his maternal grandfather, Lewis Rushing, and the guitar playing of his father, George Wallace. According to Larry, Rushing was one of the most in-demand fiddlers in the region THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S in the ‘30s and ‘40s and had an exquisite sense of timing. Rushing taught Wallace to play the fiddle when he was eleven, and at thirteen Wallace picked up the banjo himself. Wallace also learned guitar from his father, George Wallace, who was himself taught by Rushing.

Larry Wallace has appeared on The Grand Ole Opry, The Ryman Auditorium, The Country Music Hall of Fame, The Nashville Network (TNN), Great American Country (GAC), RFD-TV, Ontario, Canada, and The Bluegrass Cruise to the Bahamas.

His musical work has been documented by the Mississippi Arts Commission and he has also been awarded a Folk Arts Apprenticeship three times as a Master Traditional Artist by the Mississippi Arts Commission.

The Bluegrass Trail starts Sunday July 8th, 7:00pm Eastern Time

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

tell them you saw it in The Bluegrass Standard!

 Fiddler’s Porch  Mary Rachel Nalley

by Emerald Butler

Perhaps you’ve heard it said that behind every great man is a great woman.

Sometimes these heroines are brought to the spotlight; sometimes they play second fiddle...

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Though there’s only one in the band, Mary Rachel Nalley is that fiddler. Known for its rhinestone suits and hard core traditional Bluegrass, the Kody Norris Show has Mary sawing the strings on stage and promoting the band through social media online. However, off stage, Mary plays another role.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S On May 12, during a hometown show in Mountain City, Tennessee, Kody Norris asked Mary Rachel Nalley for her hand in marriage. Strategically, the ring was hidden in the head of a band member’s banjo. Kody Norris abruptly stopped in the middle of a song claiming that Josiah Tyree’s banjo didn’t sound right. In comical satire, Tyree took apart his banjo to reveal the ring. Of course, with the whole crowd cheering and laughing, Mary said yes.

Yet even before the engagement, Mary has been a support to Kody and his dream of playing Bluegrass music in more ways than one.

The 22-year-old fiddler grew up in Bowling Green, Kentucky. She is the youngest of five kids born to Jimmy and Phyllis Nalley. For about 11 years, Mary’s dad Jimmy had the biggest weekly bluegrass jam in Kentucky. It was there that Mary was first exposed to Bluegrass music and musicians. In elementary school she started playing the violin.

Though she enjoyed playing the instrument, she quickly discovered that playing classical music was not really where her heart was. Mary found a local fiddle teacher and progressed from there.

In 2014 Mary Rachel Nalley graduated from high THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S school and began touring with Larry Sparks and the Lonesome Ramblers. Mary met Sparks while hanging out at a taping for Ronnie Reno’s RFD-TV show. She recalls that Sparks didn’t have a fiddle player with him which she thought was a little odd.

While on set, Mary told Sparks, “If you ever need a fiddle player, let me know.” She then handed him a card. Larry Sparks asked, “now will this card play in the CD player?” Mary said “no, you’ll have to look me up on YouTube.” “What’s YouTube?” Larry Sparks responded. In whatever way he listened, he liked what he heard. Mary toured with Larry Sparks and the Lonesome Ramblers for about a year.

It wasn’t until the first of 2015 that Mary Rachel Nalley started playing with the Kody Norris Show.

Mary remembers meeting Kody many years before in Rosine, Kentucky at the Jerusalem Ridge Bluegrass Celebration. For years, friends and pickers had told the fiddler that she needed to go to this festival because it was a big deal. She finally went. While taking pictures next to tour buses, Mary’s father asked, “Who is that?” About 20 feet away from them stood a tall and skinny young man in a white and pink pin-striped suit holding a guitar THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S case. Mary replied, “I don’t know, but why is he wearing that suit?” “I don’t know, but he must be somebody,” Jimmy commented. Mary has confessed that immediately upon seeing the young man she began assuming that this was a very egotistical person. Later in the day, Mary was talking to the festival promoter, and he said that he wanted to introduce her to somebody who he thought could help her as she learned how to play. Mary assumed that he would introduce her to some older player who had a lot more experience, but she assumed

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

wrong. To her surprise, she was introduced to Kody Norris, the young man in the flashy suit. Mary thought, “oh my gosh, what have I gotten myself into?” Something just sparked from there.

In 2015, Mary Rachel Nalley moved from Kentucky to Mountain City, Tennessee. She needed to be closer to the Kody Norris band to be able to play with them. Mary began living with Kody’s mom.

She played with the Kody Norris Show on the weekends and worked a secondary job during the week to help pay the bills. Unfortunately, not long THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S after Mary moved, things began to take a turn for the worse. Within a six to seven-month period in 2015, Kody’s mother fell on her head, had four brain surgeries, a stroke, and a staph infection.

Kody didn’t have any brothers or sisters, so Mary stepped up to help take care of his mother. It is this difficult season that Mary Rachel Nalley believes that God confirmed that she and Kody Norris should be together.

Today, things are still busy but a bit less stressful for Mary and Kody’s family. Kody’s mother is doing better, show dates continue to increase, and

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

wedding planning has commenced. When the couple isn’t on the road, Mary and Kody help out in their community. Mary gives about 40 private lessons a week. The couple also started a program they call SPAM, Seniors Picking Appalachian Music. The music program helps teach seniors that may have never had the time or financial ability to learn while raising a family. The couple hopes to see the program expand past their home town into even more communities. They got the idea after working in another music program called JAM, THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Junior Appalachian Musician.

Mary Rachel Nalley released her own album earlier this year titled “Headed Back To Bowling Green.”

The album features Michael Cleveland, Joe and Stacy Issacs, and the inventor of the electric banjo, Buck Trent. Trent is most known for playing banjo on Dolly Parton’s hit recording “Jolene”. Kody Norris bought Mary studio time back in 2014 for her high school graduation gift. After being too busy with life to record, it finally came time. “Headed Back To Bowling Green” won Traditional Fiddle Album of the Year through the National Traditional Country Music Association. The album is available for digital download and streaming on most all digital

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S music retail sites. Fans can also purchase a hard copy of the album at live performances.

“To make it work you have to be in it together and have the same goal,” Mary stated in an interview.

That is both true for her personal and professional life. Mary plans to soon be married, finish turning their plantation style home into a wedding venue, and hopefully perform with the Kody Norris Show on the Grand Ole Opry. Mary has proudly shared that people are about to see a lot more of Kody Norris. Thankfully, this also means that people are about to see a lot more of Mary Rachel Nalley, or soon to be Mary Rachel Norris.

Mary stated that “in the next five years I hope we still have the same band that we do now, and that we have created something that can’t be stopped.”

Though she speaks mostly of the Kody Norris Show, this fiddler, fiancé, and fighter is someone who can’t be stopped.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

 Fiddler’s Porch  Top It Off

by Emerald Butler

Emerald and "The" Hat Last month I took a trip with my dad and my little brother up to Sevierville, TN. The little tourist town had a lot going on that weekend.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S The town’s annual Bloomin’ Bluegrass and BBQ festival was adding some Bluegrass and brisket smoke to the already “Smokey” mountain air. Along with the festival, we visited a couple of car shows.

My dad was excited to go to the Ford F150 run, and I got to go see some of my favorite model cars, 50’s Chevy’s. I could say a lot about classic cars, but I’ll save that for a later date.

It has become a custom for me to visit my favorite Western clothing store, Stages West, each time I visit the area. There is hardly anything in the building that I can afford, but I enjoy looking around and smelling the new leather boots. The store also has an eclectic selection of hats. Mainly western and cowboy hats. For some time now, I’ve been looking for a good stage hat. I’ve looked in places from Memphis to Nashville, and now Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. After trying several on, I finally found one, and it fit! It was black, rustic, and made by the Charlie Horse Hat Co. Unfortunately, the price was not one I could afford that day, but I decided to go home and see if I could find one online for a cheaper price.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S While looking for a better price, I decided to look up a little bit of information about the company. It turns out that the Charlie Horse Hat Company has been making hats since 1978. They boast that they have made hats that have been worn by celebrities such as Kid Rock, Eddie Montgomery, and Hank Williams Jr. When I posted a picture on Facebook of me trying on the hat, someone called it my Kenny Baker hat. All of this hat searching inspired me to start thinking about Bluegrass artists who did or didn’t wear hats during their career performances.

In-between classes, when I was working on my Associate's degree at Chattanooga State Community College, I would take walks through the river walk park on the bank of the Tennessee River in Chattanooga. On this walk, there is a blue metal cut out of a man in a hat holding a mandolin. Being the old soul and Bluegrass fan that I am, I immediately recognized it as the image of Bill Monroe. However, the hat helped me realize who it was. That has been part of his branding. That’s one of the most popular images that fans remember him portraying. So, I began to wonder, who else in the Bluegrass world is remembered for always wearing a hat?

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

Emerald with Bobby Osborne

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S I did a quick poll on Facebook seeing if any of my friends knew of any artists that I didn’t. Bill Monroe was the most popular one remembered, and then Flatt and Scruggs came in second. Bobby Osborne also came to mind for wearing his own stylish hat.

I’ve seen his hat up close and in person, and it really is quite stylish! My next question was what brand of hat did they wear? I was told by a friend who claims to have known him that Bill Monroe wore a white Stetson hat, but I can’t confirm that with any proof. Most of the people I have talked to think that most of the old stars wore Stetsons. John B. Stetson founded Stetson hats in 1865, and the company claims to have created what we now know to be “cowboy hats.” Stetson is one of the oldest American hat makers that I know of, so I can see how they could be a preferred pick for musicians.

I’ve read that Flatt and Scruggs wore what Stetson now calls their “Open Road” hat.

Today it seems like there aren’t as many Bluegrass stars who wear hats like they used too. Doyle Lawson wears one now possibly more than he has in the past. The Earls of Leicester wear hats, but they are a tribute to the styling of Flatt and Scruggs.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Artists like Daily and Vincent, Flatt Lonesome, and even Ricky Skaggs are rarely if ever seen wearing a stage hat. I have wondered if this, like most things, has to do with our current culture. Back in the 1900’s, cowboys were the superheroes. Even in today’s mainstream country music, there aren’t as many artists wearing cowboy hats. Of course, there is Chris Stapleton who has brought a hat back along with a few others. However, today’s mainstream country music is a totally different story that I won’t get into.

Please understand that I am not complaining or trying to be negative about any of this. This is just an observation I had after trying on hats. I suppose I put on my thinking cap. Either way, I enjoy seeing artists with stylish outfits and cool hats. Are we seeing a comeback of hats into the Bluegrass world?

I’m not for sure yet. However, I know one thing...

The next time I’m back in Pigeon Forge, I’m buying myself that hat!

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

 Fiddler’s Porch  Coming Up... The Classics!

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

August 10 and 11 , 2018 th

th

tell them you saw it in The Bluegrass Standard!

CON TEN T S

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 Events tab at TheBluegrassStandard.com!

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

August Festivals & Events Dates

Event

Location

July 31-Aug 4

Pickin in Parsons

Parsons, WV

Aug 1-4

Pemi Valley Bluegrass Festival

Thornton, NH

Aug 6-11

Old Fiddler's Convention

Galax, VA

Aug 9-12

Podunk Bluegrass Music Festival

Hebron, CT

Aug 16-18

North Carolina State Bluegrass Festival

Marion, NC

Aug 16-18

Amelia Bluegrass Festival

Amelia, VA

Aug 16-19

Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival

Gettysburg, PA

Aug 17-19

Hickory Fest

Wellsboro, PA

Aug 17-19

Summergrass Bluegrass Festival

San Diego, CA

Aug 17-19

Hoxeyville Music Festival

Wellston, MI

Aug 18

Long Island Bluegrass Festival

Copiague, NY

Aug 23-25

Brown County Bluegrass Festival

Georgetown, OH

Aug 23-25

Bluegrass In The Pines

Rosholt, WI

Aug 23-26

Pickin' in the Pasture

Lodi, NY

Aug 24-25

Jam in the Trees

Black Mountain, NC

Aug 27-Sep 2

National Old Time Music Festival

LeMars, IA

Aug 31-Sep 2

Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival

Woodstown, NJ

ongoing: Fridays

Friday Bluegrass Night Blue Cypress Bluegrass

Fellsmere, FL

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

Suits, Boots & Bluegrass

fan photos

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

Suits, Boots & Bluegrass

fan photos

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

Suits, Boots & Bluegrass

fan photos

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

Suits, Boots & Bluegrass

fan photos

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S

Whether you are at the computer screen or on the go, never miss an issue... click here to subscribe, it's FREE! THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

from the Publisher's desk Hello everyone, we have some exciting news...

Now you can receive the Bluegrass Standard before anyone else by signing up to our email list! That way we can send you the Magazine a couple days before social media gets its copy. Just visit TheBluegrassStandard.com/ subscribe. Your info won't be used by anyone else, just for your email notices from us. Plus it's FREE! We are going on a couple of Bluegrass Cruises this year and would love to have our fans come along. I promise there will be some outrageous outfits aboard the ship. Sun and Fun! Keith Barnacastle — Publisher

Next Month‌

Hometown: our stories

Bluegrass Ridge TV and much more...

Shop our website for The Bluegrass Standard gear!

Don’t forget to Like us on Facebook!