The Bluegrass Standard - Mobile - Volume 2, Issue 8

8 e u s s I N O ~ I T 2 I e D m E u l E o V L I B MO

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The Blu e gras s St andard St aff Guest Writers: Emerald Butler, Daniel Wile 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.

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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.

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CONTENTS

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Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers GoodFellers Special Feature: Hometown Stories

Mississippi Chris Sharp The Max Jimmie Rodgers THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CONTENTS

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Richard Riley Shepard Astrograss

Windy Hill Tomorrow's Bluegrass Stars:

Brotherly Harmony Summergrass San Diego Bluegrass The Kody Norris Show THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CONTENTS

back

The Punch Brothers Jake Patty The Bull Moose Party Monroeville Fiddler’s Porch: Gary Brewer, ’55 Chevy Bel Air Festival Guide THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

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

by Susan Marquez THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

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“It’s time for Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers!”

If that reminds you of an old-time radio show, then you are in the right place to read about the bluegrass group that started twelve years ago. But the real story begins back in the early 1960s in Middletown, Ohio where Joe Mullins’ father, Paul “Moon” Mullins was a respected fiddler and broadcaster of a daytime bluegrass show on Classic Country Radio for more than THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

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four decades. “It was radio station WPFB, and it’s where many bluegrass stars got their start,” says Joe Mullins.

Mullins recalls growing up around bluegrass greats like Ralph Stanley, J.D. Crowe, and Sonny Osborne. “They were all family friends and all took their time with me when I was learning to play the banjo. I had the best opportunity ever for a kid who might want to get into this field.”

Mullins began playing the banjo when he was twelve years old. “I’ve been involved in bluegrass music professionally in some way or another since I was 16.”

The younger Mullins followed in his father’s footsteps both musically and in broadcasting.

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CON TEN T S He toured and recorded as a member of Traditional Grass, a band he founded with his father. The band toured and recorded from the early 1980s to the mid1990s, when Mullins purchased a radio station in Xenia, Ohio, WBZI. Mullins later purchased a few other radio stations, forming a network of radio stations operating as Real Roots Radio under Town and Country Broadcasting. “Forming a network of radio stations helped to cultivate a large bluegrass audience,” Mullins says. “I was asked to emcee various local events, and from time to time our bigger sponsors asked for entertainment.”

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Listen

Shop

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infectious NewGrass sound

seamless genre transitions

rock flavored vocals

award winning traditional bluegrass chops

GoodFellers expect the unexpected

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GoodFellers

Blue Eyed Caroline Expect the Unexpected

by Keith Barnacastle Expect the unexpected when it comes to the GoodFellers. Their award winning traditional bluegrass chops just don’t tell the whole story.

With a sound shaped by a variety of musical backgrounds, highlighted by rock flavored vocals and the ability to move seamlessly through different styles, each Goodfellers show is unique - and entertaining. These boys have fun when they play.

It’s infectious. The Goodfellers have been redefining Newgrass up and down the East coast one gig at a time.

A few more things you can expect from the Goodfellers: Musicians who interact with the crowd and who adjust their ever-expanding set list to make sure everyone has a good time.

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CON TEN T S Expect the unexpected when it comes to the Goodfellers. Rooted in bluegrass, with rock flavored vocals and an ever-expanding set list that draws from most every style of music, each GoodFellers show promises to be unique - and entertaining.

Band Members Teddy Barneycastle Vocals, Lead Guitar Ralph Magee Vocals, Mandolin Herse McMillian Vocals, Banjo Tim Hill Vocals, Bass This is one of the best bluegrass picking and singing CD’s around. It puts a new twist on various musical genres. For example, songs like No Time to Kill, Live Wire and Times Change give you the traditional bluegrass sounds with delightful twists. Songs such as The Last Goodbye, Bluegrass Aint Never Let Me Down and Angels Fear to Tread give the Cd a mix of wonderful gospel and inspirational sound we all want hear in an emerging bluegrass group.

Goodfellers has a unique sound and presence in the everchanging bluegrass industry. There is No time to Kill. So get out and pick up a copy of this CD that is sure to be a defining factor in the forefront of the bluegrass world.

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The most essential tool to any performer, professional or amateur, is the microphone. But when stepping up for that first mic check, most artists don’t know to listen for polar patterns or frequency response or even sensitivity.

They listen for the adequate, clear, yet rich reproduction of their voice within the performance space, whether small venue or outside concert environment.

Commonly used in performance settings are dynamic microphones, which convert sound into an electrical signal by electromagnetism. Founded in 1924, Beyerdynamic, a private German company, is revolutionizing the music industry through its innovative designs and produces some of the best microphones and headphones on the market. Their products have been used on stage with the Beatles, on the podium with Queen Elizabeth II, in the arenas of the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup, and in the halls of the German parliament.

Sound engineers worldwide choose the Beyerdynamic Microphone M88 TG because of its ability to concisely reproduce vocals

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and instruments without distorting the original sound. Able to produce a wide frequency response, this dynamic microphone is perfect for vocals.

“I was able to try the Beyerdynamic microphone (M88 TG) at one of my concerts on July 4th,” said Kenny Suire, owner of Kabana Productions, a Mississippi company providing professional sound and lighting for venues of all sizes, from small speaking engagements to large concerts and festivals. “The microphone felt sturdy and professional, with good balance and weight. The sound clarity was awesome. It’s a real sweet live dynamic microphone.”

For years, blues singer/instrumentalist Samm Jaquot has been a favorite in the East Mississippi area, with a raspy, smooth voice that rivals Stevie Nicks, effortlessly striking high and low notes and everywhere in between. Her first words after performing with the M 88 TG, was, “Dang! That’s a good microphone.”

Meridian Community College art instructor and singer/songwriter John Marshall has played guitar since 1968. A solo artist and lead guitarist for the Museum Preservation Society Band, he said, after using the M 88 TG, “This microphone is so amazing, it fills the air like the ocean fills the sea basin. When you sing into it, you are surrounded with the most amazing sound.”

In addition to live performances, Beyerdynamic's M 88 TG works well when recording drums and acoustic instruments, and is a favorite in the broadcast environment.

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Mississippi Chris Sharp: Why does multi-instrumentalist Mississippi Chris Sharp tag “Mississippi” to the front of his name?

“Well, there’s another Chris Sharp in bluegrass,” Mississippi Chris explains, looking professorial with his bushy goatee and round glasses.

The other Sharp played in the John Hartford band and performed on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack.

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HOMETOWN STORIES

A Sense of Place

by Daniel Wile

HOMETOWN STORIES

CON TEN T S Both Sharps had enough mutual friends that Mississippi Chris decided to differentiate himself.

Besides, there was a precedent in the blues community. “There’s Mississippi John Hurt and Mississippi Fred McDowell,” Sharp says. He liked the blues connection the tacking “Mississippi” to the front of his name might imply, so he said to himself, “I’m going for that.”

Mississippi Chris Sharp now carries the title proudly, writing and performing songs that are infused with the influences of his home and distilled into his own brand of music.

Sharp’s earliest musical influence was his mother. Growing up in the small town of Lauderdale in the east-central part of Mississippi, Sharp was raised on the sounds of her pianoplaying. “My mother is a great piano player, just a killer piano player,” Sharp says. “She does not fool around.”

In his early teens, Sharp took guitar lessons from Hortense Harvey, the first cousin of Jimmie Rodgers, the Father of Country Music. Rodgers, of course, was from Meridian, Mississippi, not far THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S from where Sharp was raised.

Sharp’s tastes would continue to evolve through friendships with local bluegrass musicians Raymond Huffmaster and Avil Linton. Sharp credits Linton, a flatpick guitar player, for being a mentor to him and many others who grew up with Sharp. According to Sharp. “Even the hot pickers in Nashville hear Avil and say, ‘This is fresh. This is different,” Sharp says with admiration. “Avil just plays like Avil.”

Ed Dye, a dobro player from Oxford who played in The Blue Grass Band and the Nashville Jug Band, added a new twist to Sharp’s development.

“I liked country blues,” Sharp explains, “but I didn’t know who I should listen to.” Dye would bring Sharp CDs to sample. “I learned that when Ed said ‘you should listen to this,’” Sharp says, slowing his quick-paced drawl to mimic Dye’s intentionality, “that I should listen to it.”

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HOMETOWN STORIES

Sharp’s musical journey took another turn after high school, when he met mandolinist Mike Compton while both were enrolled as freshmen at Meridian Community College.

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CON TEN T S With the ingredients of all these musical genres mixing around in his head, Sharp eventually developed a sound that is all his own. “I heard what I heard,” Sharp says, referring to the bluegrass, blues, and country he was exposed to, “but Mississippi influenced what I heard.”

“I’m so steeped in bluegrass, the nonbluegrassers hear my music and think it’s bluegrass,” because of the instruments and the rhythm. “But the bluegrassers know that what I play is not bluegrass, and I know that.”

What is Sharp’s sound? It is acoustic music with rhythms that may sound uptempo like bluegrass, or slow and groovy like blues. Expect the unexpected: original chord progressions on well-known classics, vocal harmonies on original songs that pull you in and set you down softly, spaces big enough to drive a truck through.

He even throws in the occasional discordant harmonies, because “when you resolve, the resolution is huge,” he explains. Sharp’s YouTube channel has plenty of videos showcasing his music.

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The Max

by Richelle Putnam

“Museums are wonderful,” he said. “I love to go to a museum and be quiet and contemplative and thoughtful and read a lot.” And stay behind the ropes. “But that’s not this experience.”

Experience is right. But carrying out that “experience” was far from easy. From seed to harvest, it took 17 years, and within that

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HOMETOWN STORIES

For over thirty years, Mark Tullos, CEO/President of The MAX (Mississippi Arts & Entertainment Experience), has seen the evolution of museums.

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CON TEN T S long, arduous timespan was a great recession and Hurricane Katrina, the catastrophe that devastated Mississippi and Louisiana. Both almost killed the project.

Because in Mississippi you don’t give up.

In fact, amid your own disaster and through your own losses, you roll up your sleeves to answer the needs of others.

And the need to share the stories of Mississippi legends from every diverse region in Mississippi—the Appalachian foothills, the Red Clay Hills, the Piney Woods, the Delta, the Black Prairie, the Gulf Coast— was too great, too crucial because their contributions altered the landscape of the world. Prodding questions simply would not go away. What if we told all their stories together in one place? What if we could showcase the overwhelming impact of Mississippi’s creative legacy to locals and visitors alike? What if we help ignite creativity in the artists of the future? How can we do that?

“Well, you make it an interactive environment THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

HOMETOWN STORIES

But they didn’t.

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CON TEN T S and that’s what we’ve done,” said Mark. “This type of museum is very close to a model of an entertainment park, in a tasteful way and in a truthful way. We don’t make stories up. We tell the story about Robert Johnson, but we also clear up the legend that he really didn’t meet the devil at the crossroads and sell his soul to the devil.”

The MAX is an ambassador through its exhibits, guiding its visitors to other towns and museums throughout the state, from Tupelo’s Elvis, to Indianola’s B. B. King, to Pascagoula’s Jimmy Buffett, to Jackson’s Eudora Welty, to Ocean Springs’ Walter Anderson, and more...

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Visit The Max in Meridian, or tour their website at MSarts.org THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

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Jimmie Rodgers: The Father of Country Music, Jimmie Rodgers, has been blasting from the speakers of music lovers for generations and generations.

Amazing artists like Ernest Tubb, Bill Monroe, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Elvis and Bob Dylan have been influenced by him. And his legacy lives on through his foundation, museum and, of course, his music.

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HOMETOWN STORIES

The Legend Lives On

by Shelby Campbell

HOMETOWN STORIES

CON TEN T S This legacy was honored last year when Jimmie Rodgers received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award, alongside Charlie Pride, for his music and what he left behind for his fans and his family.

Jimmie, who died at only 35 years old, is known as one of country music’s founding fathers – even though his career was short lived.

During his short time as a musician, he made a tremendous impact – inspiring others with songs like Blue Yodel No. 1 about hard work and heartbreak that set the tone for country music to come.

At only 27 years old, Jimmie contracted tuberculosis, putting his current career working on the railroad to a halt and pushed him to THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

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Later that year, he joined WWNC radio station in North Carolina for a weekly radio show called the Jimmie Rodgers Entertainers – where he began recording songs that eventually pushed him to stardom.

By 1933, Jimmie’s battle with tuberculosis was getting the best of him, but he continued to pursue his passion of recording music. He traveled to New York for a few days of recording, and recorded Years Ago by himself, with just a sole guitar. Within less than 48 hours, our country music legend had died.

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HOMETOWN STORIES

return to his love of music. He performed across the Southeast for a while before settling back to his hometown of Meridian, Mississippi in 1927.

HOMETOWN STORIES

CON TEN T S Although he died a tragic death, Jimmie’s legacy lives on through his music and all who loved him. He was one of the very first artists to bring yodeling, blues, and folk music together that touched others like never before, and he would never be forgotten for his voice or the impression he left on music as a whole.

“We are proud of our heritage, like many others whose heritage includes many forms of music – gospel, bluegrass, rock and country music,” said Karen Court, the wife of Jimmie’s grandson.

“We remain in awe of Jimmie’s legacy and will continue to honor him and never forget about his devotion and his life’s sacrifice for the love of his family, Americans in need, and his love of entertaining.”

Jimmie’s family is honored by his receiving of the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award. Karen called the experience inspiring and incredible.

“Being at the Grammy Awards with the wide variety of music genres, to hear the different artists and their families express how Jimmie...

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The Surreal Life of Riley

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Separating Fact from Fiction is the Challenge for the Daughter of Bluegrass Legend Riley Shepard Stacya Shepard Silverman lived with her father Riley for 18 years, and even she doesn’t really know what’s true and what’s not.

“I've saved every scrap of paper my father ever left, with few exceptions. I'm very interested in accuracy and fact checking.

A few things are true for sure, though. Richard Riley Shepard was a charismatic bluegrass THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S musician and recording artist who went by a lot of aliases, recorded on a lot of labels, and his book Encyclopedia: Traditional Music and Folk Songs of the United States, is registered with the Library of Congress. Silverman was pleased to hear the last part, since she was unable to verify that until very recently.

“This is an important piece of information for me,” Silverman said. “He had investors in that encyclopedia and I’m pretty sure way too many, like in a sketchy way. He worked on that project my entire childhood. I’ve been confused since childhood, as I found out he lied about certain things and then I THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S just kind of sat with my confusion. Trying to learn how to manage a relationship with a father who lied so easily, trying to figure out when he was lying or if he was lying, what was true and what wasn’t? It was exhausting.”

Information on Shepard’s career appears scattershot across the internet, but Silverman continues to uncover information on the man she knew – and in a way, did not know.

“It’s hard to write about who my father was,” Silverman said. “Growing up with him, we moved from place to place about every year or so— he was not an easy man for people to track down.

By the time I was born in 1965, he had used 18 different names for songwriting, one for writing pornography, another for ASCAP royalties, some for various radio shows he hosted, and the rest, who knows. As a teenager, when he sang and danced in the Vaudeville circuit, he used the stage name Lanky Bill. I have been searching for who my father really was, and along the way I’ve met four half-siblings I’d never known, each with their own stories of how my father disappeared from their lives.”

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CON TEN T S Shepard seemed to walk the fine line between showman and huckster in the 1930s, making money as a performer but staying just a step ahead of creditors, all the while making as much of a living as a musician can. He went by a myriad of names, including Dickson Hall, Richard James, Ben Thomas, Johnny Rebel, Hickey Free, Dick Gleason, Riley Cooper, Klym Hawley, Rex Cross, Zachary Quill, Paul Lester, Richard Alexander, Albert Reilly, Richard James, Floyd Riley Shepard, and Jean Gilmore.

For a time, he was Dick Scott “The Cowboy Philosopher.”

His blackface character was called Lanky Bill...

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New York State of Mind Astrograss Pushes Bluegrass Boundaries in the City That Never Sleeps

by Stephen Pitalo

If you ask Gotham resident Jordan Shapiro, the founder of the modern bluegrass ensemble known as Astrograss, what are his biggest influences in acoustic music songwriting, he doesn’t reference bluegrass legends such as Earl Scruggs or Bill Monroe. His guy is John Hartford, THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S a pioneer of the more experimental “newgrass” style. .

“I say John Harford, but also really a lot of the influences he had, which include old-time fiddle music, traditional bluegrass music, rock music from the 1960's and 1970's, and various

folk music from all around the world,” Shapiro explained. “As an instrumental composer, I have also been influenced by Frank Zappa and other progressive rock composers.”

Shapiro began his musical studies at age five, THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S with piano lessons which continued through grade school. His training was mostly classical music, with some opportunities for playing pop and rock music. At the University of Michigan School of Music he studied jazz, and while there, was exposed to bluegrass music through other music students who had formed a bluegrass band. Then, in New York in the summer of 2003 he put Astrograss together with the intention of playing more complicated compositions in the genre known as “newgrass,” a progressive form of bluegrass that can incorporate elements of rock, jazz and modern instrumental music, sometimes amplified electrically.

“I decided I wanted to form my own band that could tackle some more complex newgrass compositions that I had always wanted to perform, both covers and originals,” Shapiro explained. “The original lineup was made up of various musicians I had met over that past year, in the general NYC bluegrass music scene.

Since then, I've continued to work with musicians that are regulars are on the NYC acoustic music circle, some more experienced in bluegrass, THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S some more old-time, and some with a more jazz leaning background.

Astrograss fills a unique niche in the genre, with Shapiro making a conscious decision to break free from the usual twang that is found in many bluegrass performances.

“At first, I was not interested in having banjo in the group for a variety of reasons,” Shapiro said, “one being that I had yet to meet banjo players interested in playing the music I was looking to focus on. That approach led to a much less twangy sound, and drew us away from the sound of bluegrass. Also, all the vocalists were Northerners, without much twang in our voice.

And the musicians all had rich backgrounds in other styles of music, mainly jazz and rock. I was never interested in trying to have a traditional bluegrass band in any way.

Shapiro estimates that over the course of the band's 15-year lifespan, they’ve played probably a thousand songs, the vast majority of them being covers...

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by Kara Martinez Bachman Although most people wouldn't ever associate the alternative lifestyle mecca of San Francisco with bluegrass music, banjo player Ryan Breen says...wait... not so fast. His home is about more than the expected stereotypes. Just as the open-minded city has a history of accepting differences, this welcoming viewpoint also somehow finds room for embracing a new take on old-fashioned tradition. “You would be surprised to hear that the west coast is an unknown hotbed of bluegrass music,� stressed Breen, who performs with the THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

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bluegrass outfit Windy Hill.

The band started in 2008. A San Francisco native, Breen was in his senior year of college in Colorado when he decided to give it a go. His best friend moved out to Colorado from the Bay area so they could start the band.

“We moved in together and started focusing on playing bluegrass,” he reminisced.

After graduation they both returned home to California, where Breen said he “quickly THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S discovered this really thriving bluegrass scene.”

“Initially, we were much more in the progressive vein,” he said, explaining that over time, as the band began to shape up and define its sound, however, they “got more into the traditional roots of bluegrass music.”

Today, the band consists of Breen, on banjo; Kyle McCabe, on bass; Andy O’Brien, with the mandolin; Thomas Wille, playing guitar; and the newest member, fiddle player Brandon Godman.

The band’s sound offers up a nice threepart harmony, plus “lonesome duets, banjo breakdowns, honky-tonk sorrow, blues mandolin, and original material.”

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CON TEN T S The first Windy Hill record came out in 2011, and the band’s fourth was just released last month.

“We sort of took a different approach,” Breen said. In the past, Windy Hill records were highlyproduced in-studio releases. “This latest is just two microphones in a living room. I think people really like this sort of more authentic representation of what you might hear at a [live] Windy Hill show.”

One mic was for the bass, one was for “everything else.”

“The vibe really comes through,” Breen explained. The idea was that the guys were “just hanging out in the living room, eating pizza and drinking beer and recording an album.”

That living room was a place they called The Ratz Nest, the Santa Cruz apartment lived in by mandolin player Andy O’Brien and some of his friends. “Live From the Ratz Nest” was the resulting album title. It’s now available for purchase on iTunes, CDBaby, and is streamable on Spotify.

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Brotherly Harmony

by Shelby Campbell THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S For almost a century, sibling harmonies have been an integral part of the traditional sound of bluegrass and folk music. Carrying that tradition into the 21st century is The Zolla Boys, and at the heart of every performance is brotherly harmony.

Over time, brother musicians, such as the Gibson Brothers, have shown us that musicians who specialize in singing and playing mountainstyle music don’t have to come from the deep mountains of Virginia. The Zolla Boys, from the northern corner of Connecticut, evidence that again.

With Ben on guitar, Sam on mandolin, and “Dad” Larry on bass, the trio performs throughout New England and the Northeastern US. “Mom” Amanda handles all the bookings and photography for the band - making it a complete family affair.

The band’s name stems from their time spent at St. Anthony School where Ben, Sam and their brother Tommy were known as the Zolla boys and the name stuck.

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When the boys were growing up, one of Larry’s friends gave him a hand-made mandolin, thinking that one of the boys would want to play. Sam claimed it for himself and began taking online lessons. Soon after, Ben decided he wanted to learn to play an instrument too, and The Zolla Boys officially became a duo. “Since I was born, bluegrass was played in our home. I had a radio in my room, and my parents would put me to sleep by playing the Cox family and Alison Krauss CDs. We went to many THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S festivals, and our dad was always singing and playing guitar and banjo,” said Ben. A combination of online lessons, late night jam sessions, and instructions from their dad helped develop The Zolla Boys’ signature sound, and they continue to progress in the bluegrass community. Proof of The Zolla Boys’ secure future in today’s music lies in believing every word they harmonize and seeing history unfold through their live sound.

The boys have been featured on many award-winning stages, such as the Grey Fox Emerging Artist Showcase and the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival, as well as performing live on Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour.

I chatted with The Zolla Boys about their inspiration, their sound and Tomorrow’s Bluegrass Stars.

The Bluegrass Standard: What is your favorite part of sharing this experience together?

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Preserving Bluegrass One Youngster At A Time!

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

Click the banner below to visit the TBS website:

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!

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Stay Classy, San Diego!

Summergrass Celebrates 15 Years on the West Coast

by Stephen Pitalo If you’re looking for a truly unique bluegrass festival experience, look no further than just seven miles from the Pacific Ocean. The Summergrass San Diego Bluegrass Festival, which began in 2003, will bring its own west coast brand of bluegrass celebration to the people once again in late August.

Summergrass started when the two area bluegrass clubs had a shared vision of hosting a bluegrass festival in the San Diego area with the goal of bringing THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S bands from the East Coast to San Diego, and to highlight the town’s local bluegrass talent.

A steering committee that plucked members from the San Diego Bluegrass Society and the North County Bluegrass & Folk Club was formed, and Yvonne Tatar was on that original board, as was her husband Mike Tatar, both being longtime fans of the genre and serving on boards that reflected that respect and dedication.

That first year was really one to remember, according to Yvonne.

“All Summergrass fans remember that very first year,” Yvonne reminisced. “The festival gods THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S were shining on us for sure. Byron Berline, Mark O’Connor, and Dennis Caplinger gathered on stage with the band California to play triple fiddles and performed a 30-minute rendition of “Sally Gooden”. Anyone who was there remembers this magical set. The crowd was on their feet three or four times for encores! That first year put Summergrass on the festival map and branded us as a festival for touring bands to look at.

Consequently, Summergrass has earned the reputation for presenting a lineup of the best in bluegrass from all over the country. But Yvonne said that the weather is what makes Summergrass stand out from other bluegrass festivals the most.

“With palm trees swaying in the breeze and a great climate in the summertime, we offer an alternative to lots of festivals back east that are hot and humid. I believe that bands want to come out here in the summer. We also offer the west coast bluegrass experience by hosting local and regional talent here.

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CON TEN T S “Many fans of bluegrass just hear our touring bands and regional bands on the radio, etc., but here’s the chance to hear those bands live on stage, which actually fulfills a big musical dream for many Southern California folks.”

The event’s venue, the Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum, offers a rare opportunity for bluegrass fans, as fans step back into the rural farm era when they visit this property. The tractors, steam engines, blacksmith shop, the replica of a 1930's gas station and the weavers barn are just a few of the displays here that set just the right mood for this epic festival.

“The Julian Banjo & Fiddle Contest ran for years up in Julian, California,” Yvonne said. “After three years of assisting that festival group, we were ready to look for our own venue and try our hand at the festival closer to the ocean and beach area. But the venue had to have the right vibe. One of our members, Corky Shelton, knew of the museum and lived close by, so he checked it out and felt it was the perfect place...

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The Kody Norris Show

by Susan Marquez Psychologists have studied the amount of time it takes to make a first impression. Whether it’s minutes, seconds or the blink of the eye, the first impression people have when they lay eyes on The Kody Norris Show is fresh. Clean. Sharp.

All the adjectives describing them are positive, which is positively what Kody Norris aspires to. “I’ve always maintained a sharp dress code,” he says, with a lilting Southern dialect.

“As human beings, we do all we do first with our eyes.

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CON TEN T S “A chef can serve the best dish ever, but if it doesn’t look appetizing, no one will eat it. I figure if we look sharp, people will want to hear our music.”

And the music performed by The Kody Norris Show is all that one would expect. Tight.

Melodic. Uplifting. The band is comprised of

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CON TEN T S Norris on guitar, Mary Rachel Nalley on fiddle and mandolin, Josiah Tyree on banjo and Tyler Wiseman on bass and baritone vocals. All take to the stage in bedazzled suits, custom boots and custom hats. “We like to keep it classy,” Norris says. “We always try to give our fans the ultimate–ultimate experience in all aspects. They like to see what we’re going to be wearing when they come see us play.”

I caught up with Norris and his band as they were traveling through Kentucky on their way to Iowa. They had made it past Lexington from their home base in Northeast Tennessee, with a full night of driving ahead of them. “We are on the road about 46 weeks a year,” Norris explains.

“We sold our bus in March, but we got a new one that is being converted. Right now we are traveling in a Kia that Mary Rachel bought the first of the year. We’ve already put 40,000 miles on it!”

Norris grew up in the extreme northeastern mountains of Tennessee. While he didn’t grow up in a musical family, he was surrounded by traditional mountain music. “I had a couple of THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S uncles who played guitar and banjo, but I wasn’t really exposed to music at home much.” Norris began singing in local churches around the age of nine, and as his love of bluegrass developed, his family helped him on his musical journey.

He practiced long hours, honing his craft on one instrument at a time. “A disc jockey friend of mine took me to see Jim and Jesse McReynolds, who were playing in our area.

It was my first experience with the professional side of music.

We went back stage and saw their beautiful matching blue suits...

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“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!

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Hauntingly beautiful.

Spontaneous in the structures of modern classical. American country-classical chamber music. Don’t try to put Punch Brothers in a box.

by Susan Marquez

Their sound is as unique as it comes...

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CON TEN T S Their sound is as unique as it comes, yet it has the familiarity of bluegrass woven throughout with traditional instrumentation and harmonious vocals. The group enjoys experimentation, and play with great enthusiasm. According to their website, “Punch Brothers take bluegrass to its next evolutionary state, drawing equal inspiration from the brain and the heart.�

Whether you call it bluegrass rock, folk jazz, avant-garde roots string band, their music defies putting any single label on it. Even the themes of the songs defy normal bluegrass standards.

There are songs about love lost, better communities, wayward lovers and do-overs.

Front man Chris Thile began playing mandolin at age five, and by age twelve he won the mandolin contest at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas. He and violinist Gabe Witcher joined forces to begin what is now known as Punch Brothers in 2006. Thile met banjoist Noam Pikelny who had met Chris Eldridge, the guitarist for the group, at Merlefest in North Carolina while they were both in college. Bassist Paul Kowert rounds out the group.

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“We started How to Grow a Band, the first name for this band,” explains Eldridge.

“Under Chris Thile’s name, we became known as an ensemble that was really exciting.” Thile wrote a 40-minute piece in four movements called The Blind Leaving the Blind, which the group debuted at Carnegie Hall in New York. “It was nice to play a piece that was composed,” says Eldridge. “Notations, counterpoint, and large scale, played on bluegrass instruments. There wasn’t much of a precedent for that and it felt great.”

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CON TEN T S Punch Brothers first release, Punch, was in 2008, the group’s first with Nonesuch Records. The group was living in New York and did a residency there at an intimate club called The Living Room. “That was an exciting time to share our music,” recalls Eldridge. “We all lived in New York and it was fun sharing new music with fans, but we got tired of coming up with a brand new show each week. It’s a 70-minute show and that was too much...

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Jake Patty Keeping Bluegrass Tradition Alive

by Shelby Campbell

If you walk into a bluegrass festival today, take a look at the audience around you. It’s no longer made up of older lovers of traditional music. It’s full of people of all ages and walks of life.

The large amount of young people who love and appreciate this traditional music is precisely why bluegrass blood keeps on flowing. With new bluegrass musicians comes a new generation of bluegrass listeners.

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One of these young bluegrass musicians is Jake Patty, a seventeen-year-old from Mayfield, Kentucky with a love for traditional bluegrass music and a passion for keeping it alive.

Playing guitar since he was only nine years old, Jake didn’t initially have any interest in playing bluegrass music. In 2014 – after being convinced to finally take the stage, he entered a local country music talent contest. This contest is what first introduced him to the fiddle and spiked his interest in bluegrass music and its instruments.

Jake began researching bluegrass music after his performance, and he fell in love. He received a mandolin as a gift and later began playing THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S his sister’s violin on occasion before beginning performance coaching to become more comfortable on stage.

After spending time on the music of Tony Rice and JD Crowe as his tools of learning bluegrass, Jake gained a true respect and love for the older, traditional styles of bluegrass music.

“Today, I count Jim and Jesse, Red Allen, the Osborne Brothers, and the New Kentucky Colonels among my biggest influences, along with Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys, which is particularly easy to see in reference to Southern Flavor, the band that I manage and play in,” said Jake.

In his band Southern Flavor, Jake plays with other young musicians who have a love for the preservation of early bluegrass and American music. Banjo player Trevor Holder was one of the first young musicians Jake ever met in the bluegrass world. They met at the SPBGMA convention in 2015, and they joined other young musicians working toward fulfilling their dreams.

“We focus on the preservation of the earliest THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S days of bluegrass, and even some of the prebluegrass days, and I would love for the music we currently perform to allow people to realize ‘oh wow, these old masters really were phenomenal,’” said Jake. “I just want people to appreciate what the pioneers of our genre really did for us and what it was like for them when they did it.”

With this mission in mind, Jake joins other young bluegrass musicians as a member of Tomorrow’s Bluegrass Stars. Jake first met TBS President John Colburn at the 2015 SPBGMA convention, the same in which he met Trevor, and he immediately decided to join...

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CON TEN T S Tomorrow’s Bluegrass Stars has been an incredible experience for Jake – allowing him to meet other teenagers and professionals in the bluegrass industry. He particularly love TBS’s involvement in the Bluegrass on the Plains festival.

“John is just calming,” Jake said of John Colburn.

“He knows how to make me feel comfortable and doesn’t ask too much of anyone. He has also helped me immensely with meeting festival promoters.”

Jake uses his involvement with Tomorrow’s Bluegrass Stars to promote and share his love of the traditional greats with the rest of the bluegrass community. He truly cares for the preservation of traditional music and does his best to share his version with the world.

“I really love to play any of the early stuff. I also just generally love playing bluegrass. I can even pick a favorite to play when there’s an entire genre of stuff I could consider my favorite,” said Jake.

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CON TEN T S Jake feels a lot can be gained from simply listening to the original greats of bluegrass music. With his love and dedication for the music and the craft, it won’t be long until Jake is one of the greats himself.

Watch out world, Jake Patty is coming for you.

Find Jake on Facebook!

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Bull Moose Party Echoes a Rugged, Traditional American Spirit

by Kara Martinez Bachman Back in the year 1912, Theodore Roosevelt took a bullet – fired from the gun of an insane man – just before giving a speech.

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“It takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose,” he reportedly declared that day, his speech focusing on the characteristics of strength and vigor he wanted to bring to his campaign for the presidency of the United States.

Although he’d served as president from 1901 to 1909, an attempt to bring him back via the third-party route of the Bull Moose Party, which eventually changed its name to the Progressive Party, failed.

The political party’s name echoed the strength and American spirit of Roosevelt, the THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S outdoorsman who did everything from ranching in South Dakota to leading an expedition through the Amazon Basin. It is exactly the spirit celebrated by the bluegrass band Bull Moose Party, from Asheville, North Carolina.

“A couple of the members were history majors in college. We were all fans of Theodore Roosevelt, so it seemed fitting,” explained mandolin player Chris Marshall, about the band’s name.

“When they first proposed it, I’m not gonna lie: I wasn’t a fan,” he laughed.

But now, such reservations are in the past. The moniker seems to fit them well. The songs the band performs have a rugged, old-time outdoors feel. It works well with the name, and with the fact that the guys hail from an Appalachian terrain that puts natural adventure at anyone’s fingertips.

“The area is booming with old time bluegrass music,” Marshall said, of western North Carolina.

“Around here, you sync up with so many players.”

The Bull Moose Party “synced up” because the THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S guys met at a small liberal arts college near Asheville: Warren Wilson College, in Swannanoa, North Carolina. They took classes with Wayne Erbsen, Professor of Appalachian Music.

It’s there that they learned the ropes of the music business and discovered that bluegrass was a common denominator that held the guys together in terms of interests.

“It was something we could all put together from our pasts,” Marshall explained.

Although Marshall doesn't talk as if bluegrass has always been his first music love, roots music was certainly part of his upbringing.

“My mom raised me with more of a folk, traditional, Celtic kind of background,” he said, adding that fiddle player Brady Lux and guitar player Colin Martin are “absolutely in love with the genre.”

The instrument Marshall has played longest is the guitar. He said he’s been picking and strumming for 20 years, but he’s not even “half as good as our current guitar player.” Marshall also plays violin. His instrument of choice for Bull THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Moose Party, however, is the mandolin.

“I got a mandolin at a pawn shop,” he said. “I was able to pick it up quicker than I had any other instrument. I’m eight years now on the mandolin.”

In addition to Marshall on mandolin, the rest of Bull Moose Party includes: Brady Lux, on fiddle; Jake Yochen, on bass; Elias Winkenwerder, who plays banjo; and Colin Martin, with his guitar.

Marshall, Winkenwerder and Martin also sing either two- or three-piece harmonies.

“We stuck to traditional roots, but like to improvise, and take traditional songs and make it our own,” Marshall explained. He also said they sometimes add in “a little bit of swing...honkytonk...”

All the guys work “regular” jobs, so as of now, they aren’t traveling extensively on the road. The gigs happen around the “less-musical” aspects of their lives. Now, they mostly play in bars and busk on the streets of Ashville, where taking in street buskers is a part of the appeal of visiting this Appalachian jewel of a city.

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CON TEN T S “We have a nice circuit that we do in the greater Asheville area and western North Carolina,” Marshall said. “We do weddings and formal events.” He said often when they’re introduced, their music is described as “Partygrass.”

Marshall said one of his favorite things about bluegrass is that while it “changes year to year,” there is always something familiar and traditional to it.

“It’s something comfortable,” he said. “It’s never quite wavering.”

Kinda like Teddy Roosevelt.

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Monroeville Music of Their Own

by Shelby Campbell Known as the Father of Bluegrass, Bill Monroe carved out a musical sound of his own – creating something unlike any artist before.

Unique, bluegrass band Monroeville is named

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CON TEN T S after Bill Monroe – inspired and driven by their bluegrass hero, dedicated to creating an all-new, original sound of their own.

Monroeville consists of multi-instrumentalists and vocalists from many different backgrounds of music. Headed by Grammy nominated producer Matt Munsey, this group of musicians makes an effort to create a completely unique sound by combining the clean musicianship of bluegrass music with different genres to create something that is only Monroeville.

Monroeville’s way of creating music is helping to take bluegrass to an entirely new audience by merging elements of bluegrass style with sounds of modern music. Musney is flawless in his writing and execution with traditional bluegrass style, but they combine other elements, such as drums, to give it a whole new sound and feel.

Using this creative sound as their driving point, Monroeville can be compared to the unique sounds of artists like Kansas, Boston, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

In just a handful of years, Monroeville has THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S recorded three full projects, the most recent titled Worlds Apart, as well as having several songs featured on CMT and Vevo. They even won the coveted 2012 IBMA award for Momentum Band of the Year.

This band is unique and amazing in what they put out there for fans – encouraging them to listen to traditional styles of music by blending it with modern sounds all will appreciate.

The Bluegrass Standard had the honor of catching up with Matt Munsey, leader of Monroeville, to discuss their sound, impact on bluegrass music, and their latest project.

The Bluegrass Standard: First, how did Bill Monroe inspire your band, your sound, and your love for the music?

Matt Munsey: He had swagger. He was a driving rhythm force. He was an entertainer, but most of all, he was original. He didn’t want to be like anyone else. What more inspiration do you need?

TBS: Tell me a bit about your latest project. How does it define you as artists?

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CON TEN T S MM: I’m most proud of the fact that we were able to produce a project like Worlds Apart completely on our own. From writing, engineering, performing, mixing, mastering and paying for it, this album was 100% independent and only directed by the handful of people involved with Monroeville. That being said, we were helped by so many creative and amazing people that just wanted to be part of our journey. As they say, it takes a village. The range of styles you experience on Worlds Apart is part of the concept of the project. Directly, Worlds Apart is the title track about two lovers living in a state of disconnection. Indirectly, Worlds Apart is a statement about who we are as artists. Which is to say we are different than anything you will ever hear.

TBS: What is your favorite part of this experience as a band and an artist?

MM: Tracking my song “Push On” live in the studio with the whole band and Julliard string section was one of the highlights of my musical career. I’ll never forget that feeling.

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

MM: Without a doubt, we are determined to uplift people. We want to encourage someone with a few words. We want to lighten up someone going through a hard time. We want to see smiles and hear people clapping and singing. Coming to see Monroeville live will THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S be an experience. You will leave feeling lighthearted and happy. That’s our mission. This world has enough things bringing us all down and diving us. Music should be something that brings everyone together and should never discriminate - just like ice cream.

TBS: What music are you listening to these days?

MM: We all have such an appreciation of all kinds music that’s hard to say. We love everything from Shinedown to Adele. My personal rule has always been that I can appreciate anything that takes talent to make. I guess even talent can be subjective, but that’s just been my motto.

TBS: How do you feel your music resonates with fans?

MM: I would like to say that our music alone has been what has drawn fans to us. In some cases that’s true, but I have found that it’s our personalities that resonate with them the most. People are always looking for something genuine, and our guys are as real as it gets. That being said, I believe our fans see us as having the whole package - good tunes, clean look, good personalities and great stage presence.

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CON TEN T S TBS: Monroeville has been involved in working with many school programs and youth events.

Why is it important to you as a band to work with young musicians?

MM: Besides our families, we can each think of a few players that inspired us to learn more.

We believe that inspiration is a gift that doesn’t belong to you but should be passed on. Working with kids is our way of inspiring the next generation of musicians to pick it up and learn.

TBS: Lastly, anything new on the horizon for Monroeville?

MM: This band has been such a journey. It’s been dramatic, filled with ups and downs and never been dull. However, things are feeling different than anything we have experienced.

Anyone around us senses the same thing. There is a ground swelling and shaking going on. We are ready for whatever is ahead of us because it could be anything. We have some new content for Worlds Apart coming soon and new music just beyond that. 2018 took off like a bandit and we just want to roll that momentum into 2019 and beyond.

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 Fiddler’s Porch  Gary Brewer: They Call it Vintage Country Revival

by Emerald Butler “Everybody loves a throwback,” full time performing artist, Gary Brewer, stated concerning his new album. However, this new album is more than just a throwback. It is a tribute to the lineage of music shared among the Brewer family. “Vintage Country Revival” was released by Gary Brewer and the Kentucky Ramblers Show earlier this year on April 20th.

The album is comprised of treasured songs from the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s. The album also features up and coming artist, Emmy Sunshine, on John Prine’s 1971 hit song “Paradise”. During the first month of the album’s radio release, “Vintage Country Revival” was #1 on the top 50 Country Albums for Airplay Direct Global Radio Indicator Chart. This was a bright indicator of the success the album was about to see.

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For many years, Gary Brewer and the Kentucky Rambler Show has included a segment of their show where they played classic hits from what many consider the musically golden years of the 1900’s. The segment was always a great success with audiences, and after requests from fans, the idea for a new project began to brew. “My son Mason… he is the one who actually came up with THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S the title of the project,” Brewer admitted. Mason Brewer told his dad, “when we cut this, I’ve got the perfect title.”

“Vintage Country Revival” is exactly what it says it is. Brewer and his band began the project thinking about what lines divide Classic Country from Vintage Country and even Bluegrass. Being the history buff that he THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S is, Brewer thought back to the different cultural stylings of each decade. Brewer shared that he wanted listeners to hear what someone in the 50’s, 60’s, or 70’s would hear while passing by or sitting in a Honky Tonk. The album was recorded in a log cabin in Kentucky using only the necessary recording equipment needed.

There isn't any auto-tuning or smoke and mirror effects added in the album. It's the Garry Brewer and Kentucky Ramblers Show making the same genuine music they have always made. "It has to be preserved," Brewer commented on the music, "it can be preserved (and) or presented in a new way." While the album is preserving the music, Gary Brewer adds his own "Brewgrass" style into the mix. On the 1958 Everly Brothers hit “Bye Bye Love”, Brewer added a steel guitar to the moanfully wonderful harmonies. Right after, listeners are reintroduced to a vintage favorite while also being introduced to a new favorite.

Emi Sunshine began making waves across the country after going viral in a YouTube video of her performing in a music booth at a flea market in Sweetwater, Tennessee. The nine-year-old girl THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

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was featured on TV shows including the Today Show and Little Big Shots. However, it wasn't until October 19, 2017, that miss Sunshine got a taste of the brew. Gary Brewer met Emi Sunshine at a Ralph Stanley Tribute at the Grand Ole Opry.

After watching and speaking with Sunshine and her parents, things just fell into place, and Brewer invited the young entertainer to be a part of his project. Brewer shared that Sunshine’s parents stated that “this project opened up a THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S brand-new realm of singing for her.” Brewer sees a very bright future for Emi Sunshine if she continues in the way she is going now. He says that she is an old soul in a young girl’s body.

That kind of girl works perfectly into the concept of “Vintage Country Revival.” The old meets the new, and the new meets the old. Brewer believes that at a time where Country music artists are wearing black Harley shirts, tattoos, and jeans, the music industry is starving for something different. They are starving for something real and substantial. The entertainer said that it is hard for him to listen to a song performed by someone who he knows hasn’t experienced what he is singing about. You can't feel it. "To put it in a nutshell," Brewer said summarizing the album, "You can feel what you are listening too."

“You have to go back to go forward,” Gary Brewer also stated. The album is a representation of that statement. Both the album and the band are representations of a country, bluegrass, and vintage legacy. Is there a better-suited band to record this kind of album?

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CON TEN T S The Gary Brewer and the Kentucky Ramblers Show is a band comprised of 3 generations. "We actually lived that," Gary Brewer confirmed, "we lived it, we performed it, we toured with it."

Now they are sharing it, and they call it "Vintage Country Revival.�

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 Fiddler’s Porch  The Chevrolet 1955 Bel Air

by Emerald Butler

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"I've got stars, cars, bars, and guitars."

Those are the first lyrics to a song I wrote a few days after April 6, 2016. The day that Merle Haggard died.

I was sitting in the parking lot of a Guitar Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee trying to write a tribute song to Merle. Contemplating the things that make up a good Country song, I ended up with Stars, Cars, Bars, and Guitars.

Now I am no Steve Goodman, John Prine, or David Allen Coe, and I don't think that stars, cars, bars, and guitars are the essential ingredients of a good country song. I'd be very nervous to hear what Merle himself thought of the idea.

However, that is what I ended up with. The song didn't really end as a tribute, but I was thinking of Merle Haggard, and he was the spark of my inspiration. Thinking back, I have realized that the song speaks more to my interests than anything. I think it is only natural for personal interests to fall into the works of a songwriter or writer. In my case, these interests have also fallen into a music video, album cover, and business cards.

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CON TEN T S "Is that your car?" I have heard this question more times than I wish to count. Even worse, I have answered, "no," more times than I wish to count. The car I am speaking of is a red, white, and chrome 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air hardtop. My favorite. The car belongs to a friend of mine, Tommy Martin. Along with having good tastes in cars, Tommy also has good taste in music.

Tommy used to play banjo in a hometown Bluegrass band called Cedar Ridge. I played fiddle in the band. We had a lot of fun.

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CON TEN T S While I was finishing my first all original solo album, Tommy let me use his car for some photos. Getting to sit in his car was one of the most satisfying experiences I have ever had.

It was a very nostalgic feeling, and it was really hard to make myself get out of the vehicle. I believe that more people have noticed and bought my album simply because of that car. It's nice to know that people share similar interests.

I have put pictures of me and the car on my website, social media pages, business cards, concert posters, and my album cover. People always ask about the car, so now I get to tell you a little bit about it.

As I said earlier, Tommy's car is a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air hardtop. He told me that it has a 1969 Chevrolet 350 engine with a TH 350 3 speed automatic transmission. The air conditioning is aftermarket, and it has been completely restored inside and out.

I simply think it is a beautiful car. Although my dad is a mechanic, I don't have much knowledge of the inner workings of motor vehicles.

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Therefore, I did a little bit of research.

The first Chevrolet Bel Air was introduced in 1950. In 1955, Chevrolet introduced some new features which included Motoramic styling, and a V8 engine. The year model became very popular back in the day for its beautifully classic style. I would say that it still maintains a lot of that popularity today. Car buyers had plenty of choices for the body color of the car back in the day. The color options included the following. Harvest Gold, Onyx Black, Sea Mist Green, Neptune Green, Skyline Blue, Glacier Blue, Copper Maroon, Shoreline Beige, Autumn THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Bronze, India Ivory, Shadow Gray, Gypsy Red, Regal Turquoise, and Coral.

However, those are just the solid colors; there were also two-tone body colors which include a huge list of combinations. The red, white, and chrome body color is still my favorite. To me, it is the definitive car of the 50's. However, I'm sure that can be debated just as easily as how stars, cars, bars, and guitars make up the essence of a country song.

I believe that the next most popular car of the age would be a Cadillac. Many music stars including Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, and Jerry Lee Lewis had at least one. Luckily for me, I have another friend who owns an old Cadillac. Boy is it slick, but I'll pull over for that one a little farther down the road.

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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

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

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September Festivals & Events Dates

Event

Location

Aug 30 - Sep 2

Labor Day Bluegrass at Salmon Lake

Grapeland, TX

Aug 30 - Sep 3

Strawberry Music Festival

Tuolumne, CA

Aug 31 - Sep 1

Smokey Mountain Folk Festival

Lake Junaluska, NC

Aug 31 - Sep 2

Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival

Woodstown, NJ

Sep 6-8

Dailey & Vincent Land Fest

Hiawassee, GA

Sep 6-9

Oldtone Roots Music Festival

North Hillsdale, NY

Sep 7-8

Prairie Sky Music Festival

Monticello, IL

Sep 7-9

Nassawango Bluegrass Festival

Snow Hill, Maryland

Sep 8

Washington County Bluegrass Festival

Lake Elmo, MN

Sep 10-16

George Bluegrass Festival

George, WA

Sep 11-16

Americana Music Festival

Nashville, TN

Sep 12-16

Walnut Valley Festival

Winfield, KS

Sep 13-15

Cumberland River Bluegrass Festival

Burkesville, KY

Sep 13-15

Mohican Bluegrass Festival

Glenmont, OH

Sep 13-16

Jerusalem Ridge Bluegrass Celebration

Beaver Dam, KY

Sep 14-16

FreshGrass

North Adams, MA

Sep 20-22

Arcadia Fall Bluegrass Festival

Arcadia, MD

Sept 26-30

Berkeley Old-Time Music Convention

Berkeley, CA

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CON TEN T S Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers—continued Having played in bands, Mullins understood what it took to put a good group together.

He learned from his father while playing in Traditional Grass and was a founding member of Longview, which won the International Bluegrass Music Association Song of the Year and Recorded Event of the Year. So instead of finding other bands for the sponsors, Mullins formed the Radio Ramblers in 2006 as a way for Mullins to promote his radio stations. Mullins plays banjo in the group. Other members of the band include

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CON TEN T S

“Jumpin’” Jason Barry on fiddle, Mike Terry on lead vocals, “Dandy” Duane Sparks on guitar and lead vocals, and “Rockin’” Randy Barnes on bass.

There’s no doubt of who’s performing when Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers are on stage.

They put their own distinctive stamp on every song they play, making it their own while adding to the chain of tradition that lies in the heart of bluegrass.

As a front man, Mullins sets the tone of the band, with an ode to the past and a nod to the future.

The band plays a wide variety of music from 100-year-old songs to more contemporary ones.

Mullins’ radio career now spans over 30 years.

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CON TEN T S He hosts “Front Porch Fellowship,” a weekly radio program broadcast on over 200 stations and 30 states and Canada which is enjoyed by thousands of internet listeners. But playing on stage has become a passion for Mullins as well.

The Radio Ramblers live up to their name.

“We do 80 to 100 shows a year,” says Mullins.

“We put 40,000 miles or more on our bus each year.”

They were just pulling into the 28th annual Carter Country Shriners Club Bluegrass Festival in Olive Hill, Kentucky to play a show before heading to the next gig. “That hour and a half on the stage is the most fun. But then it’s on the road again!” The group has developed a solid fan base nationally, as well as across Europe. “Two years ago we did a European tour with stops in the United Kingdom and Switzerland.”

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CON TEN T S Hometown: Mississippi Chris Sharp—continued

Some of his most meaningful performances are with his daughter, Piper. The two have been regulars on the Sucarnochee Revue. They have traveled as far away as the Sweets Mill Festival in the Sierra foothills of California to perform.

The father-daughter duets have captivated these audiences with their engaging harmonies. While teaching Piper how to sing harmony, Sharp says, “I taught her that there’s the harmony note that everybody expects. Then, there’s another note up there that nobody expects.” Those unexpected notes are a defining feature of Sharp’s music.

Around ten years ago, Sharp was dealt a blow when he was diagnosed with leukemia. Luckily, THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

HOMETOWN STORIES

Sharp is now sharing the music he has created with a wide audience. He is a regular on the Sucarnochee Revue. He also plays with the Birmingham-based Clear Blue Sky Band.

Frequently, he has attended the Monroe Mandolin Camp, playing rhythm guitar for the mandolin campers.

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CON TEN T S he has responded well to treatments at M. D. Anderson in Houston. But, the illness has taken a toll. “I have a lot of energy, but I don’t have as much as I used to,” Sharp says. “I got to where I wasn’t willing to book a show and play for three hours, no matter how I feel, because I may not feel like it.” The experience with the illness has given him a new perspective on life and music.

“Unless music is fun, I’m not going.” He is selective about his performances now, because he realizes that music is there to feed his own soul. “When the music is dynamite, you get together more for yourself than you do for other people. We all struggle for a musical identity.

I remember thinking many times, ‘I wish I had my own sound.’ I wish I had learned as a much younger person. Just play what you want to play and how you want to play it.”

Mississippi banjoist Larry Wallis once told Sharp, “What y’all play ain’t bluegrass, but the people like it a whole lot.” That’s the key right there—do people like it and want to hear.”

Those are true words from someone who knows his place.

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CON TEN T S Follow Chris Sharp’s journey through life with leukemia, on his blog.

HOMETOWN STORIES

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CON TEN T S Hometown Stories: The Max—continued Many institutions like The MAX are dropping the term “museum” from the name, but the goals are a lot more challenging, said Mark.

“One of the biggest challenges we have are exhibits and education.” With so many art disciplines come many opportunities, “but that’s also a problem because you have to curate those opportunities. We have opportunities in performing arts, theatre, and vocal/instrumental music, opportunities in literature and dance, and screenplay writing. Because we cover all those genres and categories, how do you pick what to do? We don’t want to do a lot of things poorly.”

Mark explained that the staff is working to define it all, “and I think we’re off to a pretty good start, considering our limitations in the building and what our capacities are. For instance, we just had our first educational symposium and we were able to see how that room worked. We learned a lot from that. We’ve had our first concert and we’ve learned that some parts of the building we thought were going to be good for activities aren’t. Checking out all those opportunities takes THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S time to define who you are, too.”

This also fulfills The MAX’s cultural tourism initiative, with workshop facilitators and out of town attendees staying in Meridian hotels and dining at local restaurants.

“We’re doing the success program next summer.

We will do a call-out to high-school art teachers to nominate a student in visual arts.” This is an all-expense paid retreat for students to go through studio classes, study under a master, stay in dorm rooms, and eat together, “but they THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

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The MAX is committed to high-quality workshops “and we’re sticking to it.” One that was going on at the time of the interview was the Mississippi Museum of Art’s Summer Camp. “Meridian is our local audience, but they’re not our primary visitor audience and we don’t want them to be, for the first reason, we don’t want to rob our sister institutions of those opportunities that the locals enjoy and should continue enjoying.

Secondly, we are a statewide institution, so we don’t design classes and programs for Meridian; we design them statewide.”

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CON TEN T S leave here as a junior in high school with all that experience and all that exposure, and all those new skills, with a portfolio. We also send them back with a stipend to help them apply for school. That’s going to be the real, amazing impact that we can have statewide. And we’re raising the next generation that might end up in the Hall of Fame, too.”

Mark explained that though the first summer success programs will be music and visual art, it will expand to other art concentrations, like creative writing, dance and theatre. “We’re looking at a ten-day summer camp or more.”

After that, something happens to you.

Connecting with schools around the state is a critical part of The MAX. “Tiffany (The MAX Education Director) is about to send out the first statewide curriculum on visual arts and music. Before long we’re going to have statewide curriculums on every art form.”

The MAX opened in April 2018 and in one month over 4,000 visitors from different states not only learned about the legends of Mississippi, but THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

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The impact of foreign tourism will probably happen this fall, “because the foreign media were here the week of the opening. I’ve started to see a lot of the articles in the travel magazines this summer.”

The biggest misconception is that The MAX is a Meridian project, said Mark, when in fact, “It’s a statewide cultural tourism resource to tell the world what wonders and treasures we have that have come out of this state.”

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discovered the large Jewish influence, as well as the Italian, German, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Native and African American influences throughout Mississippi. Visitors have included some of the Mississippi legends highlighted within The MAX, including Sela Ward, Tonea Stewart and Cat Cora. Mark wanted Cat Cora to tour on her own, but after two hours, “I went back to about the center and, of course, she was stuck in the kitchen and hadn’t gotten through it.

She was absolutely dumbfounded.”

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CON TEN T S Hometown Stories: Jimmie Rodgers—continued was family, hearing how their grandparents or parents loved all his songs and how he has been a part of their lives for generations – I love this part of his legacy best of all,” said Karen.

Jimmie’s hometown of Meridian is dedicated to keeping his memory alive with the Jimmie Rodgers Foundation and the Jimmie Rodgers Museum.

The foundation devotes its time and effort to preserving the heritage of not only Jimmie Rodgers himself but country music as a whole by hosting special events throughout the year.

The museum recently moved to Front Street to provide more space for visitors to enjoy learning about Jimmie’s life and what THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

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The Grammy Awards knew how important it was for Jimmie Rodgers to be recognized for his legacy and all he left behind – and what a way to be remembered.

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his music meant to all of us. As we continue to keep Jimmie’s legacy alive with awards and foundations, his family is working to fund the Jimmie Rodgers Saga, as told by Merle Haggard – produced by Benford Standley. Currently being edited, this will tell Jimmie’s story of the love of family, friends, musicians, being poor and, most of all, his fans.

CON TEN T S Richard Riley Shepard—continued and he even toured as an actor with the Bert Bertram Players.

Silverman said that her father embellished thoroughly, but he wasn’t performing much by the time she was born.

“My mother was 23 years younger than my dad,” Silverman said. “By this time, he was pretty washed up, as they say, in show business, and he had burned many bridges. I caught him lying many times, even about songs he wrote. So I learned to tune this stuff out. Plus, I liked James Brown and Roberta Flack when I was a kid-- not country western. I’m more interested now, and wish I’d tried to understand what was true and what wasn’t.”

“He was an emotionally complex man,” Silverman continued. “He could be narcissistic, moody, and impulsive. I have reason to believe he was an abused child, I had confirmation from his brother, Floyd Shepard, that their uncles (on the Tindall side) were cruel. His grandmother, Martha, caught him stealing from their grocery THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S store in Wilmington, North Carolina. This was in 1928 or around the time my father was 10.

He told me he broke into the grocery store to give the food to the poor black families in the

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CON TEN T S town. Martha Tindall put him in a boy’s home, which is like a prison for kids, in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. I know he was abused there. I think my father was emotionally broken by this, and was born with undiagnosed mental illness.

I think this is why he didn’t finish school, and this trauma shaped his life. He ran off to join Vaudeville at age 13, and he told me women thought he was much older than he was, so he had relationships with grown women. He then went on to marry Alma Anderson when they were teens, and married several more women after that. In his career, he had trouble keeping work and would often do things to sabotage his professional relationships, but also friendships and marriages, and he left children behind, they never knew their father.”

“My dad knew he didn’t have a great voice, but he had fantastic comic timing and was extremely charming at times. He wrote some good comic material, but also had old Vaudeville skits and jokes he’d incorporate. He never learned to read music, and he taught himself to play the guitar, but he was not a brilliant guitar player THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S by any means. My father would say he changed his names so many times because it was fun, and I think he did have fun with the names.

He changed his name to Klim Hawley in 1962, getting the idea from a milk carton – Klim is milk spelled backwards -- and he wrote books and pornographic literature under the name Zachary Quill. He wrote autobiographies for me, which I have. He was a great promoter, and good at writing lyrics, and he had a way of making other creative people feel that they could “make it” and be successful in the music business.”

“My mother told me that he was charismatic, and strangers would come up to him and want to talk to him. She said people would be drawn to Riley even if they were just riding a city bus across town, they’d sit near him and start telling my father all about themselves, pouring their hearts out. He had a way of making people feel special. Women were very attracted to my father.

Even on his death bed, the nurses in the home asked if I would banish a married woman who was coming around and making out with my dad on his sick bed. I hated to do it, because maybe THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

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CON TEN T S that was some crazy relationship my dad would miss, but the nurses were adamant that she be banned from seeing him. She was 60, my father was 89 or 90.”

Silverman will talk about her father as part of a podcast project currently in production, and looks forward to further investigation into her father’s life and career.

“The lying and bragging, that part makes it hard to answer these questions,” Silverman said about documenting her father’s legacy. “But you know, I loved my dad, and we had some great talks and he was kinder and more loyal to me than anyone else. He was more honest with me than other people for some reason. I could get the truth out of him if I put my mind to it. And when I was down or heartbroken he was there for me.”

“Something I’m very proud of about my father I must tell you,” Silverman said. “He was born in 1918 in the South, his father was a Primitive Baptist and his mother Lula was from a Methodist household. People were sexist and racist and all the things we associate with THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S being in a culture like that, but somehow my dad became a progressive thinker. He had no problem with gay people, he believed that gays and lesbians were being persecuted and he wrote two incredible essays on this topic. He said he was a feminist, and raised me to be one, although the serial wives and cheating might conflict with that, he said out loud he was a feminist and that had a great impact on me.”

“Best of all, my father embraced the Civil Rights Movement, and he had zero tolerance for racists.

The worst thing you could be in our house was a racist. I’m most impressed that he came out of such a repressed and small world with these views. I’d heard, and would love confirmation, that he used a black fiddler before white musicians played with black artists and he’d had pressure to not perform with a black man, but was not swayed by people he considered bigots.

He was feisty about that.

“He told me this story, and I’d like it confirmed.

That would be something to be proud of.”

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CON TEN T S Astrograss—continued all for various purposes and kinds of events, making it hard to pinpoint his favorites.

“Though any song written by John Hartford is a favorite of the band,” Shapiro makes clear. “As for originals, we only performed ‘The Old Oak,’ an original song of mine, 2 or 3 times, over 10 years ago. It was very complicated and that remains a favorite. More commonly performed is an original song I wrote called ‘Make It Up,’ which we perform at family concerts regularly. And I hope we can also bring back another song of mine called ‘Minutes into Flowers’.”

Astrograss performs regularly and enjoys sharing their style with kids at many gigs. “Performing for kids came out of a few of us regularly working in public elementary schools,” Jordan said. “In 2004, there was definitely a lack of options for musical concerts in Brooklyn to bring kids to on weekends, especially anything bluegrass related. We were also interested in writing songs for those concerts which led us to record a full length album of original family music. In general, THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S we've always been eager to perform as much as possible, whether for daytime family shows, evening adult engagements, or a mix of both, which is generally our preference.�

With three CDs to their credit, Astrograss recently played the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival in July on the Welsh Farm in upstate New York.

Shapiro now lives in Beacon, NY and Astrograss still plays both for private engagements such as weddings, BBQs, birthday parties, etc and family concerts, including the various parks of NYC and other concerts in the metro NY area.

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CON TEN T S

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CON TEN T S Windy Hill—continued “On our albums, the majority of the material is original,” Breen said. “We’ve probably written 40 or 50 songs.”

He said sometimes Windy Hill may play upwards of 100 live performances a year spanning the west coast, including in bars, at festivals, and at “a whole lot” of private gigs. They also have a standing appearance for many years now, a monthly date at the nightclub and music venue called Amnesia, located in San Francisco’s Mission District.

“We typically play without a set list,” he explained, “to maintain this sense of creativity and expression in music.”

Breen shared an idea about bluegrass that will hit home with many fans. He seems to like how genuine the music is, and Windy Hill strives to keep its live performances as close as possible to the real deal.

“It sounds the same onstage as it does under an oak tree,” he said, capturing the thoughts of many folk music fans, and the goals of many THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S musicians who prefer their music old-timey and often unplugged. “And that was really important to us.”

In the end, though, it’s all about having a good time and hanging out with friends.

“Playing music as a tight group of friends has been a lot of fun and is really rewarding,” Breen added.

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CON TEN T S Brotherly Harmony— continued Ben: Our favorite part of playing this music is being able to meet and establish relationships with people that have the same passion and love for the music. We have friends from California, Kentucky, and all over the United States and Canada.

The Bluegrass Standard: What is your goal in how you want your music to touch people?

Ben: We want to play music that is fun and energetic which will engage people who may be unfamiliar with the genre to listen to bluegrass more often and develop a love for the music just like my brother and me. We play songs that will show people the punch and energy of bluegrass, but also songs that will touch the hearts in the audience and exaggerate the THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S beautiful sound of bluegrass.

The Bluegrass Standard: What are your favorite songs to perform?

Ben: My favorite song that we play is one written by Kris Kristofferson called “Bottle to the Bottom.” I am a huge country fan, and I think Kristofferson is one of the best songwriters in the business.

Sam: My favorite song to perform is one I heard from the Chapmans called “The Old Man in the Shanty.” I love the lyrics and the way my brother and I sing it together.

The Bluegrass Standard: Tell me about your experience with Tomorrow’s Bluegrass Stars.

What made you join?

Sam: John Colburn reached out to us a few years ago when he saw something we posted online, and we were THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S honored when he asked us to join. We have had the pleasure of meeting and becoming good friends with another member of TBS, Jake Patty, an awesome musician and singer. We look forward to seeing and picking with him (in the elevator) each year in Raleigh, NC. The Bluegrass Standard: How does Mr. John Colburn help with your careers in bluegrass?

Sam: John Colburn has been a huge fan and supporter of us for years. He helps many young players get their start. We have never meet in person, but I imagine our paths will likely cross soon in the tightly knit bluegrass community.

The Bluegrass Standard: If you had any advice for an upcoming bluegrass musician wanting to join TBS, what would that be?

Sam: I strongly encourage any upcoming bluegrass musician to study the music that they love, but over a period of time, create a unique and different sound that will grab the attention of other musicians. I also want to tell anyone who is learning to play a bluegrass instrument that no matter how frustrating it gets, it will all come with time and keep a positive attitude.

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CON TEN T S The Bluegrass Standard: What are your favorite artists to listen to for inspiration - or for fun?

Ben: I have a pretty large range of interests when it comes to music. I am a huge fan of classic and southern rock, folk, country, and bluegrass of course. When it comes to bluegrass, I consider Del McCoury and Tim O’Brien to be my favorite vocalists; however, Tony Rice is my overall biggest influence for his incredible guitar playing and one of the most iconic voices in the genre.

Sam: Ever since I was younger, I have enjoyed listening to traditional bands like The Bluegrass Album Band, but I also love hearing harddriving and contemporary bands like The Boxcars and Blue Highway. I have studied the playing of my favorite mandolin player, Adam Steffey, since the day I picked up the mandolin. I have had the incredible honor to play with Adam at workshops and jam sessions at festivals and have become good friends with my instrumental hero, which is something I will never take for granted.

The Bluegrass Standard: Anything new on the THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S horizon for The Zolla Boys - albums, tours?

Sam: This summer is pretty busy for The Zolla Boys. We are playing a few festivals around New England including the Jenny Brook Bluegrass Festival in Vermont and Podunk Bluegrass Festival in CT. We are very excited to be traveling for the first time ever to the West Coast for a few shows at the end of July.

Our schedule is posted on our website, thezollaboys.com, and our Facebook page, The Zolla Boys. We put up monthly videos from our home sound studio with our killer banjo player, Andy.

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CON TEN T S Summergrass—continued One thing led to another, and a partnership between the museum and both clubs was worked out, which has been in place for 16 years now. In fact, the AGSEM was so thrilled with the first Summergrass, they built us an all redwood stage designed in the turn of the 20th century style without any nails and all wooden dowels.

It's a beauty! All three organizations are 501c3 organizations, so that has helped us with many items in publicity and garnering support for Summergrass”.

Tatar said this year’s amazing lineup of performers will make 2018 a landmark year in the history of the festival.

“The entertainment is stellar this year, as in years past. Many bands from back east know of Summergrass and our caliber of entertainment.

As a result, we have been able to offer a terrific lineup over these 16 years. Our headliners, Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers, Alan Bibey & Grasstowne, and the Jeff Scroggins Band will be debuting here this year. In addition, folks are THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S in for a huge treat with each of these touring bands. Also, Bluegrass Etc., a festival favorite who started here in the San Diego area, always delivers a tremendous show, drawing fans from all around the west coast. New talent from California this year includes The Central Valley Boys with their color coordinated suits and their downhome country and bluegrass, and The Gilly Girls Band, who are two sets of young twins from the Sierra foothills with beautiful family harmonies and a stage presence that steals your heart.”

“This year we are also offering an expanded vendor village with many vendors coming from around the Southwest to display their wares, and you’ll see many fun and unique items available, as well as our festival t-shirts. Additionally, Kids Camp happens for three days ending on Sunday, and kids play on our mainstage with their professional teaching faculty: Alan Bibey & Grasstowne. Proud parents, grandparents and fans love this set of music as do we all. This is Kids Camp's 15th year too, and each year the kids get better and better! It’s a real highlight for THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S everyone attending.”

But might Summergrass get too popular?

“This is always the unknown, but in the past few years we have hosted between 2,500 and 3,500 fans over the three days. We hope to do this again this year and hopefully go beyond those numbers -- maybe 4,000 or so. But, we are also cautious as we know a very big crowd could overrun this venue and detract from the magical and special festival it gives attendees now. Right now, the fans know this festival is special and a unique gathering which we want to protect and keep it intact into the future.”

Learn more info and get tickets at summergrass.net THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S The Kody Norris Show—continued covered in rhinestones, and their black patent boots and something about that spoke to me. I knew that’s what I wanted to do.”

He continued to practice and learn and at the age of 17, he had the opportunity to do a stint as lead singer and guitarist with Dr. Ralph Stanley and The Clinch Mountain Boys. At 18, he decided to form his own band, despite being a novice in the world of professional music. His band played many festivals and events across the country and Norris began to develop his own brand of “traditional hard driving high lonesome bluegrass.”

Wanting to stand out from the crowd, Norris began emulating his favorite old-time bluegrass stars by dressing in embellished suits. “I actually caught a lot of ridicule at first, but eventually other performers began dressing fresh, too.

I’ve worn custom clothes for years, but when I discovered Timothy Jones at Double 8 Custom Apparel in Los Angeles, that added a whole new level to our on-stage look.” Norris says there THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S was a time that all performers dressed to the nines for a show, but the industry got away from that. “We are always going to maintain a sharp professional appearance. It’s part of who we are.”

In addition to the elaborately decorated suits, Norris says many of his boots are custom made as well as his hats. “My hats are made by Mike Moore of Buckaroo Hatters in Covington, Tennessee. Mike has made hats for many movies and television shows. He’s done a great job on our hats.”

Maintaining that “sharp professional appearance” is something Norris works on daily.

“Good’s not good enough,” he laughs. “When we step off the bus, people expect a certain standard of attire from us. We work to give it to them. They have an image in mind when they think of us, and it’s important that we live up to it.”

The band travels with about 20 outfits, or five different outfits each. “I’m almost ashamed to say it, but I have in excess of 300 outfits. I love THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S loud colors and the flashier, the better.”

The Kody Norris Show is in its tenth season.

They’ve recorded fourteen albums, most recorded at Castle Ford Studio in Boone, North Carolina, including their latest album, When I Get the Money Made, which won Bluegrass Album of the Year by the National Traditional Country Music Association.

Norris writes a good bit of the music and plays the songs to audiences before recording them.

“I have written between 80 and a hundred songs. I like to try ‘em out and see how the THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S audiences respond. I watch the audience very carefully, because we are doing this for them.”

The Kody Norris Show presents a wide variety of musical styles. “I really like heartfelt music,” Norris says. “I like a song that will reach out and touch someone, one that will make a lasting impression. I like songs that are uplifting.”

The Kody Norris Show has been described as bluegrass, retro, hillbilly, rockabilly, and more.

“Many of the songs we perform may contain some of those elements. A lot of the stuff we do is a lot different from what you hear at many bluegrass shows.”

Norris says that each show they play is unique.

“We try to be selective in what we play. I don’t stick to a set playlist. We like to feel out our audience. My style of entertainment and what we do is very much rooted in the past. Most artists don’t do what we do anymore. Our fans are the finest, and I work diligently every day to improve our sound and look so we can keep it fresh. For me, at the end of the day, it’s about what the fans take away that really counts.”

In addition to traveling extensively, Norris THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S worked regularly on the Cumberland Highlanders Show, a weekly bluegrass program on the RFD-TV network where he can still be seen in re-runs. The band has been a featured guest on a few episodes of the pilot season of a brand-new show called The Bluegrass Trail, hosted by Alan Sibley which debuted in July.

In their off time, Norris and Nalley teach music to about forty students, ranging in age from five years old to 85. “We teach a broad spectrum of folks, but they all love this music.” Both Norris and Nalley also work with the Junior Appalachian Musicians, whose mission is to provide communities the tools and support needed to teach children to play and dance to traditional old time and bluegrass music. They spend their spare time renovating and restoring an 1861 home in Mountain City, Tennessee. “Mary Rachel and I got engaged on May 12 at my annual homecoming show in the town where I grew up,” Norris says. “We are getting the house ready for the wedding next year, but it’s a never-ending project!” They’ll live with their five dogs, Amos, Andi, Rosco, Opal and Stetson. “I was never a dog THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S person, but now I can’t imagine my life without them!”

Norris also restores classic cars. “I have an El Camino and a 1960 Cadillac I’m working on now.

There’s something special about something old, something that other people have enjoyed.

People tell me all the time that I have an old soul.

I just feel these old cars have a past and I love bringing them back to their old glory.”

Tyler Wiseman has been married for a couple of years and works on a dairy farm in East Tennessee when the band isn’t touring, and Josiah Tyree works with his dad at his air duct cleaning company. “Josiah is young, 19 years old,” says Norris. “He’s single and looking!” All the band members live in the same general area.

“No more than 250 miles apart,” says Norris.

“This is a first for me. In the past I had band members spread out in different states. We don’t go too long without seeing each other. It seems like every couple of weeks or so I bring them back to my realm for one reason or another!”

Reminiscent of traditional bluegrass artists, THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S Kody Norris brings his own distinct flair to the music. From the first note, The Kody Norris Show captivates the attention of audiences.

They present a high energy, hard-driving, animated show, and they do it “while always maintaining a sharp professional appearance.�

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CON TEN T S The Punch Brothers—continued So we started doing it every other week, and that was still a lot, then every month for a while until we recorded Fogmatic.

Eldridge says that all the members of the band grew up playing bluegrass instruments as kids.

“We developed our musical ‘voice’ on bluegrass, although we all shared diverse musical interests outside bluegrass. The music we make is a natural extension of our curiosity.

The name of the band comes from a short story

by Mark Twain called “Punch, Brothers, Punch,” in which a traveler is rendered unable to do anything when listening to a catchy jingle from a train conductor. “We thought that was a good goal for any band,” says Eldridge.

From Carnegie Hall to playing festivals across the country, Punch Brothers are gaining a very loyal following. “We are lucky to have such a great supportive fan base,” says Eldridge. “They trust us. They come to a show not knowing what they’re going to get. I love that they come with an open mind. We do our best every night to give THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S the very best of ourselves to our audiences.”

The group will be going on tour soon to promote their newest album released in late July. Called All Ashore, the album is their first self-produced LP, released by Nonesuch Records.

While Punch Brothers is the home base for each of the members of the group, each has projects outside of the band. Thile took over hosting duties of Live from Here (formerly A Prairie Home Companion) and released Thanks for Listening in late 2017 – a collection of songs written for his popular radio show. Eldridge partnered with Julian Lage for an album called Mount Royal and Noam released his fourth solo album, Universal Favorite. Both Mount Royal and Universal Favorite earned GRAMMY nominations and were produced by Gabe Witcher, who was also behind Sara Watkins’ latest, Young In All The Wrong Ways. Paul Kowert has been recording and touring with the Dave Rawlings Machine and recently released Unless, the debut album from Hawktail, Paul’s band with Jordan Tice, Brittany Haas and Dominick Leslie.

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

CON TEN T S “Punch Brothers is our musical home base,” says Eldridge. “It’s a lifer band that we all feel lucky to be a part of. I look forward to being a part of this group for the rest of my life. I feel it’s only going to get better.”

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August 10 and 11 , 2018 th

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Suits, Boots & Bluegrass

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Suits, Boots & Bluegrass

fan photos

Suits, Boots & Bluegrass

fan photos

Suits, Boots & Bluegrass

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Suits, Boots & Bluegrass

fan photos

CON TEN T S

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Next Month…

Del McCoury from the Publisher's desk

Thank You for the great feedback and wonderful responses we got back from last month’s issue! We really had lots of fun putting it together about record labels, producers, on air personalities and booking agents.

This month is all about the hometown concept and hopefully your hometown is just as fun and awesome.

The coming months will be focused on IBMA and Artists, as well as travels...

East Tennessee State University Bluegrass Program

James Reams

Keep reading and Thank You again for your continued support.

Keith Barnacastle — Publisher

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