The Bluegrass Standard - Volume 1, Issue 3 by The Bluegrass Standard

Volume 1 ~ Issue 3

“Dream big and stick to your dreams. Don’t give up." ~ Darrin Vincent INSIDE:

Tomorrow’s Bluegrass Stars • The Music Barn • The Wayfarers • Six String Soldiers

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

Advertising rates are subject to change without notice. The Bluegrass Standard reserves the right at its sole discretion to reject any advertising for any reason. It is our policy to publish any letters to the editor that are signed and verifiable by phone number. We reserve the right of anonymity upon request. Letters must be grammatically correct, clarity and original and free of libel. The Bluegrass Standard reserves the right to decline publishing or reprinting any letter. Please forward any letters to: editor@thebluegrassstandard.com

The views expressed are not necessarily those of The Bluegrass Standard. Copyright ÂŠ2017. All Rights reserved. No portion of the publication may be reproduced in any form without the expressed consent of the publisher.

Keith Barnacastle Publisher

Richelle Putnam Managing Journalist Editor

Shelby Campbell Journalist Editor

Kara Martinez Bachman Journalist

James Babb Creative Director

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CONTENTS Dailey & Vincent

6 10

The Bankesters

Tomorrowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bluegrass Stars

The . Grassabillies

24 34

Six String Soldiers

Music Barn

50 48

The Wayfarers

Magee's

Steel Wheels

Festival Guide

From the Back Porch ~ Appalachian Cuisine!

Suits, Boots & Bluegrass ~ Fan photos from across the country

The Blue grass Standard Staff Keith Barnacastle • Publisher The Bluegrass Standard represents a life-long dream for Keith Barnacastle, who grew up in Meridian, Mississippi. For three years, Keith brought the Suits, Boots and Bluegrass Festival to Meridian, allowing him to share his appreciation for the music of his youth with fans from across the country. Now, with the Bluegrass Standard, Keith's enthusiasm for the music and his vision of the future of bluegrass reaches a nationwide audience, every month! He hopes that for every new person that reads the magazine, it may spark a delight and enjoyment of bluegrass they might have otherwise missed.

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 YA biography, The Inspiring Life of Eudora Welty (The History Press, April 2014), received the 2014 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards Silver Medal. Her non-fiction books include Lauderdale County, Mississippi; a Brief History (The History Press, 2011), Legendary Locals of Meridian, Mississippi (Arcadia Publishing 2013) and Mississippi and the Great Depression (The History Press, November 2017). 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, Ala., 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. While also being a Feature Writer for The Bluegrass Standard, Shelby is creative, driven and passionate as a web designer and creative specialist for The Angie Denney Agency in Pensacola, Florida. She also has her own lifestyle photography business, Shelby Campbell Photography, based in Foley, Alabama.

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

James Babb • Creative Director James Babb is a native Californian, and a long-time resident of Palm Springs. He has been involved in creative work of many types, ranging from electronic design in the 1980's, to graphic and online design today. In addition to his work for The Bluegrass Standard, James designs and produces large-format graphics for trade shows and special events. James also provides custom framing of paintings by artists from his local creative community.

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this month's MU SIC BARN

35 34

Birds of Chicago

American Grandstand

38 Front Country

40 39

Joe Mullins

Jenni Lyn

41 Mountain Faith

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we were smitten by his vocal,” said Darrin.

Darrin Vincent, brother to Bluegrass Queen Rhonda Vincent, was still in his car seat when he started singing harmony to “Happy Birthday to You.” At the age of two, he was performing on stage with his family band. And he never stopped.

“When I’m on stage I like to sing against my brothers on stage and when it’s dead on there is nothing better,” said Jamie. After the show, Darrin went backstage and introduced himself to Jamie. “I told him I’d like to be his friend and we exchanged phone numbers.”

“I’ve never had a day job. I’ve always just played music to raise my family and that’s all I’ve ever done. I think I’m the fourth generation, Rhonda and I and my brother Brian,” said Darrin. “We come from a family band called the Sally Mountain Show that started with my father Johnny Vincent and my mother “Jamie was about four or five when he started playing and singing,” said Carolyn.” Darrin. “He had a day job and went to college, but his road to stardom The Sally Mountain Show had was working with Doyle Lawson and traveled around the world before Quicksilver for nine years.” Rhonda went out of her own and Darrin sold everything to move to Nashville in 1994. It was then, he started playing bass for John Hartford, who wrote Gentle on My Mind for Glen Campbell, the second most recorded song in the history of BMI.

“I worked with him seven years and then went on to work with Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder for eleven years. I was his backup singer and played all the different instruments. Ricky was a member of the Grand Ole Opry.” With Ricky Skaggs, Darrin won five Grammys and was inducted into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame.

Darrin and Jamie met for the first time in 2001 at Bluegrass IBMA Tradeshow. “He was singing with Doyle on the country song ‘Be Living’ and he had the high lead on the chorus. I was sitting with Ricky and Sharon and

Jamie Dailey also comes from a family band, The Four J’s, out of Gainesboro, Tennessee. 6

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It wasn’t long before Darrin and Jamie met at Cracker Barrel. Darrin remembers they both ordered Uncle Hershel’s breakfasts. Jamie had a recorder in his car and he had a song. “He said, ‘Learn this,’ and we started singing together and our voices blended like we were family. That was the first clue that we had a really good blend. The more we talked, we saw everything we had in common, our beliefs, and music industry and the business of the music industry.” They started Dailey & Vincent in 2007. In January, Jamie gave a year’s notice to Doyle and Darrin gave a year’s notice to Ricky. “Our very first paid performance as Dailey & Vincent was December 29, 2007 at the Ryman Auditorium.”

airs Friday nights at 7:30 Eastern time. Springer Mountain Farms in Gainesville, Florida is the main reason they have the television show. They believe in Bluegrass. Dailey & Vincent have already won around 70 Bluegrass awards, have earned three Grammy nominations, and an Emmy nomination for a DVD that was on PBS.

On March 4, 2017, Dailey & Vincent were inducted into the Grand Ole Opry and became a part of the Opry family. “Marty Stuart asked us. We were starting in our tenth year at the Ryman in December 2016,” said Darrin. "He said country music needs you, bluegrass needs you and the Grand Old Opry family wants to welcome you as the newest members of the Grand Old Opry. We cried.” It was important to Darrin and Jamie to celebrate their 10th anniversary and 100th performance at the Grand Ole Opry with their families on stage. Jamie invited his father, J. B. Dailey, and Darrin’s mother, Carolyn, flew in from Missouri.

“I think the coolest thing would be to win a Grammy for Patriots and Poets,” said Darrin. “Jamie, the guys and I wrote all 15 songs and to have them embraced at the Grand Old Opry is one of life dreams that we never thought achievable. A Grammy to top it off in February 2018 would be really neat.”

I don’t like any of us in this band to be put on pedestals because we are sinners saved by grace. We’re not perfect and we stumble and fall every day. We are believers. I put my trust in the Lord and not man. The Lord won’t fail you.” Not long ago, a semi rounding a curve almost struck their bus. The hedge of the protection of the Lord, said Darrin, is all around, all the time.

“If you think you’re doing it on your own or you have the attitude that I’ve done this and I’ve done that, you’re lying to yourself.”

The success of Dailey & Vincent has been 100 percent faithdriven.

Strong in their faith, Jamie and Darrin are strong in their roles as husbands and fathers, as well. Their families support their work and the time it takes on the road, but rarely do they go on the road with Dailey & Vincent.

“If not for the Lord Jesus Christ in our life, we would be zero,” said Darrin. “We feel like He is the key. He is the nucleus to my marriage, He’s the nucleus to what we all believe on this bus. We all are born again Christians by the Blood of Jesus Christ. We believe every word of King James Bible, cover to cover. That is why we are as successful as we are.”

“There are eleven guys on this bus and we’re all from different walks of life. This is work and you don’t take your kids to work. Even though people see us and think this is so cool, and it is cool, this is our job and we take it as serious as someone who is a CPA. We fly our families out when we play somewhere like Carnegie Hall and other big shows like that.”

“We lean on the Lord more than anything, but we lean on each other, too,” said Jamie. “We’re not perfect.

“We take our families to the doctor, we mow the yards, when you’re out there weed eating your yard, you’re

“My daddy has been gone now for two years and I miss him so bad,” said Darrin. “Mama comes out to the shows. Our bluegrass festival, the Georgia Mountain Fair, is in September and Mama is flying down for that and Jamie’s family is coming. We have open stage with us.” Darrin said the coolest thing is having their own TV show. They are going into the second year with RFDTV as the Dailey & Vincent Show, which THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

no different than anyone else,” said Jamie. “You have grass up your nose like anyone else.” “We’re just normal people who have had a successful career in acoustic music,” added Darrin. Darrin and Jamie create their tour schedule to make sure they are home three days a week. They block out summer vacations, Easter, Christmas, and holidays and fall vacation. Nothing is booked during these times.

“We take our families to the doctor, we mow the yards, when you’re out there weed eating your yard, you’re no different than anyone else,” said Jamie... “You have grass up your nose like anyone else.” visit their website

“When I’m with family on vacation, I tell the team there is no text, no calls, no emails. You need breathing room,” said Jamie.

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The 23 to 24 hours a day and the traveling to get to success is the work part. The performance is the payoff. Darrin and Jamie know they are blessed to have some of the best musicians and singers on the planet. “When we first started, who knew?” Their first manager suggested putting together goals and objectives and “there’s where the discipline comes in. We have a yearly meeting with our team to ask what are our objective and goals this year,” said Darrin. “So, dream big and stick to your dreams. Don’t give up. When I first went to Nashville, I drove a bus for Clint Black’s brother. I did whatever I could to keep around music until that opportunity came.”

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The Bankesters

Nightbird, The Bankesters sixth full length album,

Growing Up in the Spotlight - with Pickin’ Banjos

With gorgeous harmonies and powerful picking, The

Bankesters are a bluegrass powerhouse that does more than simply entertain. A family band from Carbondale, Illinois, The Bankesters bring versatility and instrumental strength to the stage unlike any other bluegrass band of today.

We sat down with the Bankester family to learn more about their new album and growing up in the bluegrass spotlight…

The Bluegrass Standard - What made The Bankesters decide to start their family band?

Though all family members contribute vocals, they are also incredible instrumentalists in their own right - Emily on fiddle and claw hammer banjo; Alysha on mandolin; Melissa on upright bass; Kyle Triplett on banjo, guitar and tenor banjo; and Phil on rhythm guitar. Over the years, the band grew from a family that enjoyed playing music into a serious bluegrass band. Still, that lifetime of music within the family is clearly evidenced by the recent growth of The Bankesters’ music. 10

was released in January by Compass Records. It is the first album without mom, Dorene, who has stepped aside from the stage.

The Bankesters - We never intended to be a band when we started. We were friends with some local bluegrass musicians and thought it would be fun to try to play as a family. We booked our first show with Terry Lease, an Illinois festival promoter, who heard us jam at a local festival. And after that, he kept giving us shows here and there, including our first show at Silver Dollar City, and it just kept growing. We give Terry a lot of credit for getting us started.

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The Bluegrass Standard - How was the journey to your newest album, Nightbird, and getting to perform it on tour? The Bankesters - Nightbird is our favorite album that we’ve done yet, and we feel like that’s because we have had a lot of time to get to know ourselves as artists and wanted the album to be an authentic expression of that. We self-produced the project, and that ended up being very rewarding. Song selection is a big part of the process, and we are privileged to have material from some amazing writers on there.

Terry believed in us so much and was a great source of knowledge and friendship. It’s amazing to look back and realize it’s been 14 years since we started and see everything that has happened. We feel really blessed.

The Bluegrass Standard - What was it like to grow up on the bluegrass stage? The Bankesters - Traveling and being on stage just became the normal, and, unlike other genres where there might be a lot of pressure and angst for kids growing up in the spotlight, the bluegrass community felt mostly safe and nurturing. The Bluegrass Standard - Some labeled your band as a mix between Americana, bluegrass, folk, and country why such a wide variety of genres? The Bankesters - It’s just what happened over time. We feel that so much of being an artist is finding your unique space, and then existing in it and maximizing what is authentically yours. For us, finding that space has taken plenty of time and trial & error, but we think we have landed in a place that feels good and is an authentic expression of who we are as artists.

The Bluegrass Standard - What’s on the horizon for The Bankesters? The Bankesters - Emily has a new baby, and Kyle is in grad school so those are priorities at the moment. But we want to focus on spending more time on song writing.

visit their website

The Bluegrass Standard - What inspires The Bankesters unique sound? The Bankesters - Our growth musically was pretty slow and organic. We started out really inspired by Alison Krauss, The Cox Family, The Marshall Family, and The Isaacs, so we tried to imitate them a lot, which is what you do when you're learning anything. Over time, we discovered our own strengths and how to make our sound unique to us, and that has been really fun and rewarding. THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

The Baker Family

Seldom do we hear a bluegrass artist sing and you just feel that they are making history. Iconic artists such as Ricky Scaggs, Rhonda Vincent and Doyle Lawson give their audience this feeling each time they perform - and the same can be said for the young, bluegrass band, The Baker Family. This high-energy bluegrass band from Birch Tree, Missouri performs at bluegrass events throughout the United States from Maine to California.

The band’s sound is completed by Hunter Motts from Spartanburg, South Carolina on banjo, Roy Bond from Hartshorn, Missouri on banjo, and Shawn Baker, father and the man behind the sound system. According to Carrie, bluegrass was always in this family’s blood. “We always loved bluegrass music!” she said. “Shawn’s grandparents had a bluegrass band, and both of his grandfathers were fiddlers.”

The Baker Family is made up of Carrie Baker on guitar along with her children: 17-year-old Trustin on fiddle, banjo and lead vocals; 15-year-old Carina on mandolin, lead vocals and jig dancing; and 13-year-old Elijah on upright bass and lead vocals.

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The Baker Family performs true, traditional bluegrass - which happens to be reflected in the title of one of their albums True Blue Bluegrass. One of the best things about this family band’s performances is that they are just that - a family. “We love spending time together, learning to work together, and accomplishing goals together as a family,” Carrie said. One of the activities The Baker Family most enjoys is being a member of Tomorrow’s Bluegrass Stars.

Tomorrow’s Bluegrass Stars, or TBS, is a group that supports and promotes young bluegrass musicians through excitement and encouragement while also giving them opportunities to perform their music live and make connections. “John Colburn is an amazing promoter of the bands and bluegrass music,” Carrie said of the man behind TBS. “He inspires kids to work hard toward their goals and continue in faith.” Colburn is the Chief Encouragement & Excitement Officer of TBS, and he is so proud of how far The Baker Family youngsters have come. As the first three members of TBS, The Baker Family has a special place in Colburn’s heart. “They caught my eye and won my heart instantly from the first moment I heard them play,” Colburn said. “We are the best of friends - truly like family, and I’ve gotten to watch them grown and their talents grow with them.”

The Baker Family got their start as a band by playing in the 2012 Youth in Bluegrass contest. From that point forward, all three Baker children won many prestigious contests and awards across the country.

Trustin has received numerous awards including the 2015 and 2017 Tennessee State Grand Champion Fiddler, 2015 and 2016 Arkansas State Champion Fiddler, 2016 Texas State Gone to Texas Champion, 2015 and 2016 Runner-Up Grand Master Fiddler in Nashville, 2015 Grand Lakes Grand Champion, 2014 Oklahoma Junior State Fiddle Champion, 2013 Junior National Grand Master Fiddler, 2012 Texas Freshman State Champion, 2011-2014 Missouri Junior State Champion, and, lastly, the 2011 and 2012 Arkansas Junior State Champion. Carina was nominated in 2014 for the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music for America’s Female Vocalist of the Year award. Elijah even won the Missouri Junior State Fiddle Championship in 2016.

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This talented family has not only won individual awards, but group awards as well. The Baker Family won 2016 International Country Gospel Association Bluegrass Band of the Year, 2014 Oklahoma State Band Championship, and 2013 Pickin’ in the Pines Bluegrass Contest. But The Baker Family did not stop there. In 2016 after many years of hard work, they won first place at the KSMU Silver Dollar City Youth in Bluegrass Band Championship.

“The contest has been really good for the kids because it gave them something to look forward to and something to work toward each year,” Carrie said. The contest is held every year at Silver Dollar City during their month-long Bluegrass & BBQ festival. As an invitational event for pickers 21 and under, the 2016 contest included 22 bands with cash prizes and top honors.

“KSMU Band Contest was a goal for our family,” Carrie said. “We felt very grateful to accomplish one of our goals of winning in 2016.” DA Callaway posts videos of the KSMU contest each year on Youtube, and after the 2016 contest, a representative from America’s Got Talent saw The Baker Family’s video and invited them to audition for the show.

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The Baker Family auditioned for America’s Got Talent earlier this year, and they just released their newest album If It Ain’t Love in July. “We thank the Lord Jesus for all the gifts he has bestowed on us,” said Carrie in regards to how this year has blessed The Baker Family. They hope to use their recognition to touch people’s lives as well. “We hope our music will touch and inspire people. We believe that’s what music is for,” Carrie said. To learn more about The Baker Family, visit their website at www.thebakerfamilybluegrass.com.

Preserving Bluegrass One Youngster At A Time!

Tomorrow's Bluegrass Stars continues to support the awareness of its many talented young members. As always, they hope to preserve yesterday’s bluegrass music for tomorrow.

John Colburn & Maggie

Click here to visit the TBS website! THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

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The GRASSABILLIES

For decades, Robbie Helton felt more at home on a stage than anywhere else. He played thousands of gigs, either as a part of theater groups or with his own bands, and didn’t hesitate playing guitar for Emilie “EmiSunshine” Hamilton when her band came calling. “Touring with EmiSunshine was awesome! She is the real deal, and I can’t say that enough,” said Helton. “Anyone who doesn’t know about Emi is really missing out. Once you work with someone who has the talent Emi possesses, it really makes you want to achieve more. Set the bar higher.” For a year, Helton played on stages he’d only dreamed about stepping foot on— Austin City Limits, Merlefest, Stagecoach, and even the Grand Ole Opry. At the end of his tour with EmiSunshine, Helton moved back home to western North Carolina and reignited his old band The Grassabillies, which formed in 2003. He chose new band members and his first choice was Luke Edwards.

The Grassabillies, a high-energy trio playing a soulful blend of bluegrass, country, and roots rock-n-roll, puts its own spin on acoustic music with traditional bluegrass instruments while planning its own rules musically. All three members have versatile music backgrounds. Helton plays the upright bass and talking jive; Luke Edwards takes on the acoustic guitar, lead vocals and harmonica; and Randy Saxon plays the mandolin and banjo. The Grassabillies are currently recording their next album, which has a tentative fall 2017 release date. The Grassabillies have their own float in the popular Charlotte, North Carolina Thanksgiving Day Parade. Over a million people watch the parade on TV each year.

Edwards had gained popularity with his band being featured on MTV. He invited Helton and Saxon to play a performance and shortly after the three were booking shows as The Grassabillies.

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“Before we performed together, I had never met Randy, but his reputation preceded him. Just a superb, tasteful musician,” Helton said. The guys all started in rock music, but over time, gravitated toward the realness of bluegrass. Helton loves what the band does with their music - hard hitting bluegrass music that loves tradition and experimentation.

“There’s nothing like real music performed by real people,” Helton said. “The melodies, the groove, the lyrics. Bluegrass music just takes you somewhere no other form of music can take you. The Grassabillies are planning a full Canadian tour for 2018. This year, they played shows in Nova Scotia and were grateful for the chance to soak up a new culture. “I just fell in love with the area,” Helton said of touring Nova Scotia. “Lots of good people. It reminds me of the people from home, just with much different accents.”

According to Helton, they hope to open doors with the Canadian media as they set dates for their next out-ofcountry tour. Looking forward to a spring 2018 West Coast USA tour, the Grassabillies will have performed over 200 shows for the year. “My favorite part has to be meeting all the people and trying to make them smile and have a good time,” Helton said of their overseas tour dates. “It’s a great thing to make folks forget about their worries for a while.” Visit the Grassabillies website!

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The Grassabillies love playing to foreign audiences, especially those receptive to their intense bluegrass beat. With a plan to set more foreign dates and the hope to build their name internationally, The Grassabillies want to spread their music as far and wide as possible.

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The

WAYFARERS

Brandon Bankes once said goodbye to toe-tapping and acoustic finger picking, but it didn’t take long before he returned home.

“It became cool again to embrace your culture and heritage..."

It had been a phase. He had grown up listening to the country music his grandfather played, but when high school hit, just as most teenage kids do, he set off on a new course. “You go through these stages in high school,” he said. “I got really into punk music.” As he got a little older, though, his roots came calling and the young man eventually circled back around to a music that moved him. He formed The Wayfarers, for which he plays mandolin. “I walked away from it and ended up finding it again,” Brandon said. “I started seeing the similarities between punk music and bluegrass.” 24

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Just as with punk, bluegrass isn’t about being slick or about attracting the masses. It’s a music about being yourself and just doing your thing, and in that, there’s a certain raw attitude.

“The way the music is promoted...it’s more on a grassroots level,” he said, explaining another similarity shared by the two genres. Bankes said he thinks many young people might have been attracted back into the bluegrass fold because of the popular Coen Brothers film starring George Clooney, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” In the film, three escaped convicts traverse the country sides of the Great Depression, accompanied by a soundtrack celebrating 1930s folk music. “It became cool again to embrace your culture and heritage, and those stereotypical ideas of Appalachia,” Bankes said.

For the Wayfarers, it’s all about nostalgic Americana, about celebrating the days when music came out of handmade instruments instead of amps and relayed the daily concerns, joys, and celebratory sounds of rural America. The Wayfarers have had several lineup changes, and Bankes said it took about five or six years for the current incarnation to come together. “We started playing back in 2009 in a basement,” said Bankes. It just started out as he and a few friends fooling around. He didn’t think anything would come of it. “We never expected to do anything with it but play on a porch or in a basement,” he said. Bankes said he decided early on that he wanted to be friends with the guys he played with. Since most bandmates spend much time together rehearsing and traveling, he wanted the other Wayfarers to be his peers. “I specifically wanted younger players because of the appeal that young people are playing music that’s a hundred years older than they are,” he said, of another reason for the decision.

Hailing from rural southeast Ohio, the band consists of Nathan Zangmeister, on upright washtub bass; Justin Rayner, on banjo; Jake Loew, on fiddle; Josh Hartman, on guitar; and Bankes, on mandolin. The band describes its own music as high-energy “American roots music” that is “centered largely by the fiddle.” The repertoire includes Appalachian dance tunes, traditional fiddle music, and numbers that date to the 1920s. THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

The

WAYFARERS One thing’s for sure, though: the fooling around in the basement was starting to sound good. After a while, they offered to play for free at farmers’ markets and festivals. “By the next year, we started getting calls,” Bankes said. Today, the band performs regularly, gigging locally in Ohio and touring in other midwestern states and in southern Appalachia. They even performed on a program filmed in Virginia and broadcast across the country on public TV stations, “Song of the Mountains.” To date, The Wayfarers have released four studio albums.

“We all have full-time jobs, so it’s not to the point where we can quit our jobs and go on the road full-time,” Bankes said. “But we’re definitely getting to that point.”

Visit the WAYFARERS website!

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Regardless of the future direction, Bankes said what The Wayfarers do is about more than pleasing an audience; it’s about pleasing themselves. Even if they were still in that basement, they’d still be plucking and strumming and harmonizing their hearts out. “If nobody listened to it, I think we’d still probably do it,” Bankes said. “Because we love it.”

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"Army Bands provide music throughout the spectrum of military operations to instill in our soldiers the will to fight and win, foster the support of our citizens, and promote our national interests at home and abroad." The US Army is the oldest and largest employer of musicians in the world, dating back to the Revolutionary War. As ambassadors to the nation, musician soldiers uphold 230 years of tradition, entertaining veterans, soldiers and communities through the Army Music Program that offers musicians opportunities to do what they do best—play music. Sergeant First Class Marc Purinton joined the U.S. Army as a trumpet player in August 2002. Since then, he served in the Infantry Center Band at Fort Benning, Georgia, the 8th Army Band in Seoul, South Korea, and the 1st Cavalry Division Band at Fort Hood, Texas. He has more than six years overseas experience, including a combat deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Since 2013, Sergeant Purinton has served in the U.S. Army Field Band and is currently a tour coordinator for SixString Soldiers.

a rock band.” Labeled as the Army’s premiere rock band of volunteers, the band toured the country for approximately 100 days out of the year, performing at VA hospitals and veteran facilities. However, smaller facilities weren’t suitable spaces for the heavy equipment of a rock band. “We kind of formed as necessity,” said Purinton. “We got out our acoustic guitars and a couple of drum sets

“We couldn’t do it without the public support and are so grateful and honored to serve you all,” said Bolon. “We are proud of what we do.”

“Six-String Soldiers officially formed in February 2015,” said Purinton. “They had been performing together about two or three years before that and were originally constituted as

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here and there and started playing in smaller spaces for those who didn’t have the opportunity to come out to our larger shows.” All band members are active-duty soldiers with a full-time mission to show appreciation for the support of the American public and their support for the American soldier. “It’s not just us that they are appreciating. It’s the people deployed overseas, the men and women of the Armed Forces everywhere around the world that we represent.”

“We all auditioned to get into SixString Soldiers,” said Staff Sergeant John Brandon Bolon, who plays guitar with the group. “It’s a special assignment.” Some band members came straight into the music field, he explained. Others didn’t. The sound guy was a diesel mechanic on boats, the banjo player is field artillery and served as a supply sergeant. “When I joined, I wanted to go to medical school to be a psychological specialist investigator. They found out that I had a musical background and asked me if I wanted to play in the band in Europe, so I tried out and I got into that gig.” The military is like a microcosm of society, according to Bolon. “You have the infantry and combat arms, but you also have other soldiers that support them, from cooks to doctors to media people.” Most any career in the regular world can be found in the military. “We happened to be fortunate enough to be musicians in the military and it’s a special job. We are called special bandsmen.” To promote the Six-String Soldiers band, shows, tour dates and video performances are posted on their Facebook page. One of the first videos posted was in February 2015 during a heavy snowstorm in the New England area where the band was touring.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to perform for the Prince and Princess of Monaco,” said Bolon. “I’ve played with the Vice President of the United States in the living room of the Ambassador to Iraq in Bagdad. I’ve also played for a handful of soldiers out by the Syrian border.” To play for the soldiers, to eat with them and hang out with them, brings a little feeling of home, he added. “It’s for morale, but also for camaraderie. Being a part of it is amazing.” Typically, veterans are the older generation, Vietnam and Gulf War Vets, so the band plays music the veterans listened to back in the day, like Creedence Clear Water Revival.

“When one of the performances was cancelled due to weather, the guys went out to the snowbank by the hotel, which was about 10-feet high,” said Purinton. “They played ‘Here Comes the Sun.’ Everybody got a kick out of it and the local news did a story.” The video received around 9,000,000 views. “That was a good way to interact with the American public.”

Music is therapy to the soldiers, said Purinton. Some VA facilities started programs that tie art and music into rehabilitation. “In this program, you’re teaching someone to play guitar or playing and singing together.” It’s like how the arts help in early childhood development through building, enhancing and improving the brain and motor skills. “It works wonders.” “We couldn’t do it without the public support and are so grateful and honored to serve you all,” said Bolon. “We are proud of what we do.”

Interested in catching a performance or concert? Check the Six-String Soldiers Facebook page!

Six-String Soldiers began as a side project, but took off because it resonated with people. The band has performed on national TV and opened for John Fogarty, who is a veteran. THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

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Music Barn American Grandstand Rhonda Vincent and Daryle Singletary

In a world where we everyone is so stressed and everything is so fast paced, life begins to pass us by. “American Grandstand”, Rhonda Vincent and Daryle Singletary’s duets of old classic takes us back to duo’s like George and Tammy, Loretta and Conway, Dolly and Porter, just some great older country songs that slow life back down so we can smell the roses as one would say. The unique voice of Rhonda and that Baritone voice of Daryle just blends the melodies as if they were a duet that’s been singing together for years. In fact, they have sung together before on each other’s albums and have known each other some 20 years. They were on the same label Giant Records. They deliver and harmonize so well on every song and produce a sound that pays tribute to each artist song that’s represented. Songs like Louisiana Woman Mississippi Man, One, We Must Have Been Out of our Minds, After the Fire is Gone, and Golden Ring you can hear in every note how beautifully they aggrandize the artist but make it their own as well, keeping it classic. Making songs that weren’t duets into duets, such as A Picture of Me Without You. They both new they had to be in the studio together to make this album work and as you can hear, they definitely succeeded. We loved hearing these older songs by great writers, like Harlan Howard, L.E. White, Melba Montgomery, Fuzzy Owens, George Richey and Norro Wilson and how Rhonda and Daryle so eloquently, graceful and captivatingly they make the songs come to life. You can just sense the beauty, heartache and a yearning to hear them over and over. Rhonda wrote the title track American Grandstand and it’s about a duets last show taking a bow on the grand stage, but I don’t think It will be the last that we hear from this duet, their voices make you fall in love with their vigorous sound and consistent harmonies.

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Music Barn Birds of Chicago Allison Russell and JT Nero

Birds of Chicago was born in 2012 when Nero began writing for his vocal star-muse, Russell. Both were accomplished singer/songwriters with projects of their own, Nero with JT and the Clouds and Russell with the acclaimed Canadian roots outfit Po’ Girl, but together there was an unmistakable chemistry. On Real Midnight, Birds of Chicago alternate moody rock swagger with the ghostliest of soundscapes. Produced by Joe Henry, a man who’s expert blending of light and shadow is well known, the album is a melancholy - but never shoe gazing - suite, full of wayward, joyful, lonesome voices raised up against the night. Music this raw and soul-rich demands to be experienced, singing for a room full of new people, hearts wide open, keeps off the cold and chases off the shadows. The album features 11 tracks written and performed by Allison Russell and JT Nero. Nero is the group’s chief songwriter, with Russell taking most of the vocal turns. J T Nero says “I just believe – on a gut level – that words and music together heal and transform like nothing else in this life. But not just any words… With JT on guitar and Allison on banjo you hear the soul of each as they play the notes and sing, it’s like you can feel the moon and stars near and far. Just like the song Super Lover. Songs like Real Midnight, Barley, Time and Times all have that soulful element but with a traditional folk music sound. Giving you the feel of rambling on the river feeling every ripple of the gentle wave and the melodic breeze hitting your face or the sun beaming down on you just riding wild horses across the plains passing time. No cares no worries, one of the best albums I ‘ve heard in a many a moon.

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ear? h u o y d i d , l r "Hey gi ver o t f e L e v a h a They're gonn illberry!" Salmon at H THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

Music Barn Front Country

Other Love Songs Other Love Songs is the bands second album and has created a musical genius buzz in the industry. They are creating their own audience from the ground up, they play a roots music with progressive bluegrass sounds hell bent on forging old time bluegrass with new pop sounds, like merging the past with the future and beyond. Classical to honkytonk, electric pop to jazz, and rock to country which bring them their own unique sound and vocal masterpieces. Other Love Songs is Front Country’s first record relying on lead singer Melody Walker’s songwriting, first and foremost. With 8 of the 12 tracks penned by Walker, and the two instrumentals composed by mandolinist Adam Roszkiewicz, it is their most original body of work yet. Round out the intensely creative band arrangement style of guitarist Jacob Groopman, bassist Jeremy Darrow and five-string violinist Leif Karlstrom, and the synergy is electric. The two cover songs on the album are the poignant “Millionaire” by David Olney, and a swampy blues-rock reimagining of the Carter Family’s “Storms are on the Ocean”. Altogether, the majority of the songs are quite emotional in nature and tend toward relationship themes, sometimes with a twist, hence the title Other Love Songs. The collection of original Other Love Songs on the album are “If Something Breaks”, “I Don’t Wanna Die Angry”, “Good Side”, “Undone”, “O Heartbreaker” and “Keep Travelin’”. These songs follow the lessons that everyone learns in their own personal evolution toward emotional maturity and vulnerability - in which all of us learn to break down toxic romantic fairy tales and write our own “Other Love Songs” that work for real people in the real world. Love works the best when we can accept ourselves and one another with all of our virtues and our flaws, and start creating our own unique path that works for us. Since music and love are borne of the same ether, it’s no surprise that Front Country’s musical path has taken the form of an “Other Love Song” all along, finding their own harmony that plays to the strengths of each member, and doesn’t worry about fitting into a mold. ADAM ROSZKIEWICZ mandolin, banjo, vocals ~ JACOB GROOPMAN guitar, rezo guitar, mandolin, vocals JEREMY DARROW bass ~ LEIF KARLSTROM five string violin ~ MELODY WALKER vocals, guitar, percussion 38

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Music Barn Jenni Lyn

“I had the incredible fortune of meeting Bill Monroe backstage at a bluegrass festival when I was 9 years old,” Jenni Lyn recalls. “The two of us played a song together and without hesitation, I played the ‘Two Bits’ when he finished playing ‘Shave and a Haircut.’ We shared a laugh and just before parting ways he leaned down and said to me, ‘Little girl, one day you are going be a star.’” That all toofamiliar Southern scene sets the foundation on which Gardner herself was built. Born and raised in South Carolina, the bluegrass songstress knew she’d be Nashville bound from her early childhood days. The artist credits her musical family, beginning with her banjo p laying grandmother, for instilling in her a passion for music and a love of bluegrass when she was just five years old. She was raised proper on the genre greatsBill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, Jimmy Martin, JD Crowe, Larry Sparks, Alison Krauss, Blue Highway, Tony Rice... the list goes on . From baby boomers to millennials, seasoned festivalgoers to country converts, Jenni Lyn’s music offers a current approach to the evolving bluegrass sound, while maintaining the perfect balance of that down home comfort. Her broad span of shared experiences and collaborations has shaped Gardner as an artist and as a performer, all culminating in an album that showcases her well-developed repertoire of songs. Burn Another Candle, does that with sweet mix of traditional and progressive roots mix of tunes. This being her first solo album wanting to established herself as a solo artist, tells that it’s about her life, childhood and growing up and the woman she is today. Songs like Only Turned You Down, Burn Another Candle definitely appeal to the younger bluegrass crowd but there are some great traditional songs and mandolin playing. You got to love her melodic vocals and mandolin playing, she is stronger and on solid ground with this album.

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Music Barn Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers "Long Gone Out West Blues" is the first single from the brand-new album that was released August 18th. The single was sent to radio stations everywhere last month and Joe say’s they are so grateful to everyone who has been playing it and requesting it thus far. The new album “The Story We Tell” is out, it’s their sixth album in seven years for Rebel Records - that's quite a history together - and they are so thrilled to continue the partnership. Joe has been in bluegrass some three decades and has devoted his life to the music. Joe says the new single is like taking a horseback ride thru the wild west. Some great material on this album and Joe is class act whether on air or in person, his music comes thru with fire and vigor, making you feel illuminated and shinning as you take a listen. Traditional and innovative in making sure his listeners love the sounds as if on a musical journey of a lifetime. Featuring Joe Mullins and his banjo, alongside bluegrass veterans Mike Terry (mandolin), Jason Barie (fiddle), Randy Barnes (bass), and Duane Sparks (guitar). Joe Says “I want songs that are authentic and substantive. Perfect is not the requirement. It’s about passion.” He and his ramblers sure know how to bring it in this album with emotion, expressive vocal and instrumental performances, to increasingly sophisticated songwriting, and inventive arrangements. They have some exciting things coming up surrounding the new album that will be shared with us over the coming months Joe says. You can bet that when the sun comes up tomorrow this album is headed for success.

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Music Barn Mountain Faith Small Town Life

Since the year 2000, The Mountain Faith Band has performed their unique brand of Americana / Roots music to audiences from coast to coast at Fairs, Festivals, Colleges, Universities, Performing Arts Centers, Corporate Events, and Churches. With the support of millions, MFB advanced to the 2015 semifinals of America’s Got Talent. When their tour schedule allows, you may find the band performing a prepared program to promote literacy and character education at elementary and high schools along their route. Visiting hospitals to bring joy and entertainment to those who could use a lift is something MFB loves to do. Getting to know MFB is easy; their humility, kindness and love of community shines through on stage and casual conversation. Above all else, MFB is thankful for the opportunities God has provided them through music. The latest album titled “Small Town Life” has the single Umbrellas out now playing on stations nationwide, the song written by Dean Berner and its about taking care of your significant other. Summer expresses in the song how one is to be there for the other, if you need a hug or need love or light to guide the way, we all know it’s going to rain on our parade at times, but your significant other will be there as your umbrella every time. Also with the song Queen Anne’s Revenge gives you some fun and originality written by Corey and Summer after some research about the pirate Blackbeard. Lead Me on is written by Summer about her heart being broken by someone she believed in. When its winter and you’re getting cabin fever, the lazy river is the song for you. A ton of original music and when you are in that special place, this album makes for a Special Day, grab a cold glass of ice tea kick back in the porch swing and let your troubles go.

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Summer Brooke - Vocals and Fiddle Sam McMahan - Bass Brayden McMahan - Banjo Cory Piatt - Mandolin Nick Dauphinais - Guitar

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written by Matthew Magee reprinted with consent from Okra Magazine There is a row of old crepe myrtle trees that line the sidewalk in front of the house I grew up in. They are gigantic trees now, even towering above the house. A little tidbit of information for you here, don’t park your car under them because you’ll get what I call “creped on” and it’s hard to wash it off. You can actually feel the light drizzling off of them. (Hang on a minute, my wife wants to get some pie at Mrs. Helen’s, who is one of the sweetest ladies I know – an adopted mom that always brings me hummus and deviled eggs, two of my favorites, to every family dinner. I believe that would be best friends in another life if we were the same age.) Okay I’m back and the pie was sweet and dandy, but what took our visit over the top was that Mrs. Helen had made some sweet green tomato pickles to try. I never knew they existed. Learned something new! Sorry I get distracted. Food swings happen! Now, back to getting “creped” on. Crepe myrtles can make you feel like they are raining on you if you stand underneath them. From my understanding, the “rain” is most likely coming from little aphids showering their honeyed dew. That’s a more “floral” way of putting it. Well, one summer growing up I just happened to be walking underneath this same line of trees to my grandmother’s house that was just across the way and a hop over the old concrete ditch. I stopped when I felt that wonderful yellow haze lightly drizzling onto my skin. There was a sweet smell in the air from the gardenia bush wafting its redolent musky scent mixed with last night’s cookout left behinds of watermelon rind that echoed their pungent, sweet, slightly decaying aroma. I closed my eyes to take it all in like it was a moment from the good lord himself saying “Consider the lilies and don’t worry about anything else. Matthew.” All of a sudden, out of nowhere, this squawking, swishing, high pitched shrieking was on me. The beast dove and jabbed at me. I opened my eyes not knowing what in the world was attacking me I began to panic and totally freaked out like I just stepped into a hornet’s nest.

I started swinging and caterwauling like a crazy Tomcat. I didn’t know it at the time but it was two irate mockingbirds swooping down on me. I ran screaming, all the way to Maw Maw Mildred’s house! When I got there Maw Maw Mildred said “What’s the matter?” I said “Those birds tried to get me! They hate me and I hate them.” She smiled with her loving eyes and said “Honey they don’t hate you. They are just protecting their babies. Now come on in this kitchen and have some homemade ice cream that Aunt Lavon made.” I was upset and angry but she knew exactly how to turn my frown upside down. Ice cream would quickly dissipate any ill will towards my feathered assailants! Tragedy averted! Maw Maw Mildred’s back screen door opened right into her kitchen and as we walked in my brother Daniel Joe was there and started singing, “I scream, you scream we all scream for ice cream!” The counter was lined with sweet Georgia peaches. On the stove was a pot of them simmering in browned butter, cinnamon, and sugar ready to pour over our ice cream. We spent the afternoon on the back porch laughing, telling stories and eating up that ice cream. I’ve been thinking about little peach sized slices of life like this story and wondering if there is any point to them. I like to think so. The thought that the mocking bird was only trying to protect her babies had never occurred to me and that lesson has stuck with me all my life. What I gleaned from it was don’t be so quick to judge without understanding. Listen to people when they appear to be angry because there are always at least two sides to every story. It goes deeper than just what we see and hear. Listen to the mocking bird. In a way, we are all mocking birds. We all need to be heard sometimes. We are more than likely just wanting to protect what we love. Also, it’s key to have homemade ice cream with sweet Georgia peaches. I am convinced that this combination can diffuse any situation. Now what Mrs. Helen’s green tomato pickles can do for you is a whole ‘nother situation!

About Matthew Magee: Matthew Jay Magee is from Magee! Magee Mississippi that is. A natural storyteller, musician and photographer, his newly found interest in gardening has led to the creation of the Mississippi Sound Garden – a raised vegetable bed that responds to all kinds of sounds and musical shenanigans! He currently resides in Ridgeland, Mississippi with three furry critters and a darling, loving wife. THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

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Maia Surdam attended the University of Michigan with the thought of becoming a medical doctor—but history got in the way. “I was interested in women’s history and the study of gender, so I applied to the University of Wisconsin, which has a phenomenal gender and women’s history program.” She moved there when she was 23. Maia received her PhD in US History and was the first person from her rural American Midwest family to go to college. Surprisingly, her studies returned her to her roots. Instead of finding the white homogeneous place she remembered, Maia discovered traditional narratives and racial dynamics she had never known. “It was a more racially diverse area, especially with Mexican-American community members. Yet, I didn’t know anything about their history or the complicated racial past.” Maia’s dissertation covered Midwest communities and her interviews revealed the interaction between Mexican migrant farmers and white European-descended family farmers. It also prodded Maia’s intrigue with food and gardening. “Growing and cooking food was a passion throughout graduate school and became a procrastination thing while I was working on my dissertation.” When it became difficult for Maia to find a fulltime teaching position, she and her partner, Dave, chose the place they wanted to live rather than accept a job that took them anywhere. They chose Asheville, North Carolina. Maia got into baking and her first professional baking job was at Louise’s Porch, a Bed and Breakfast Inn. Her entry into Southern Appalachian Mountain food ways uncovered the tradition of apple stack cakes.

to a t po ee t p i e w s

“It was one of the first food stories that got to me,” she said. The apple stack cake derived from a region that produced a surplus of apples. Leftover apples were dried in the sun and dishes were prepared with the dried apples. “It’s such a beautiful example of communities being resourceful. The people had little resources, but had so much knowledge about the food surrounding them.” The apple stack cake led Maia to Susannah Gebhardt, the baker who started OWL (Old World Levain) Bakery and who is now Maia’s business partner. “Susannah started the Appalachian Food Story Bank,” said Maia. “I reached out to her because she was a baker interested in history, my two passions.” To understand the Appalachian cuisine, one must realize the biodiversity of the region. The qualities of the Appalachian food culture are not only in the eating and sharing the food, but in snapping beans and peeling apples and preparing it together. People did it out of necessity, but were enriched in ways that might not be visible, explained Maia.

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Appalachian Cuisine

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Hear the story of Maia's "Make America Cake Again" Election Cake on NPR.org For the past three years, Maia has worked with the Evergreen Community Charter School, teaching 8th grade students about Appalachian Culture and History and how to conduct and analyze oral histories. Still, in this highly technological world, will these students and future generations really care about these stories? “I think so,” said Maia. “Stories make the past come alive and understanding helps preserve the stories and carry them through the generations. Every dish, every ingredient has a story to tell.”

In fall 2016, Maia taught a class on Appalachian food ways. Food is complex and deep and rich in memory with feeling and community, said Maia. “If you are making food together and thinking about the ways the meal may have been shared among people in and from different generations, history comes alive.”

to a t po s e t e tie e s w a ri v

Yanna Fishman is a potter, homesteader and seed saver who grows fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

“I learned about the wide variety of sweet potatoes grown in this area and Yanna heard about the Nancy Hall sweet potato from her neighbor,” said Maia. “Long after people stopped growing other varieties of sweet potatoes, they continued growing the Nancy Hall because the flavor is so incredible.” The Nancy Hall sweet potato was Maia’s entry way into Flo foods, which became one of the Heritage food projects Maia and Yanna do every summer with heirloom fruit and vegetable varieties from the region. “We grow the seeds and distribute them and have celebrations around them.”

Festival and Event Guide ~ September Dates

Event

Location

Fridays

Friday Bluegrass Night - Blue Cypress Bluegrass

Fellsmere, FL

Aug 31 - Sept 3

Armuchee Fall Bluegrass Festival

Armuchee, GA

Aug 31 - Sept 3

Back 40 Labor Day Bluegrass Festival

Curryville, MO

Aug 31 - Sept 3

SamJam Bluegrass Festival

Piketon, OH

Aug 31 - Sept 3

Salmon Lake Park Labor Day Bluegrass Festival

Grapeland, Texas

Aug 31 - Sept 3

County Bluegrass Labor Day Festival

Fort Fairfield, ME

Aug 31 - Sept 3

Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival

Brunswick, ME

September 2

Piggin' and Grinnin'

New Bern, NC

September 1-3

Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival

Woodstown, NJ

September 1-3

Hovander Homestead Bluegrass Festival

Ferndale, WA

September 2

Chet Kingery Memorial Bluegrass Festival

Arthur, IL

September 3

Shenandoah Valley Bluegrass Festival

Orkney Springs, VA

September 7-9

Twin Oaks Bluegrass Festival

Hoboken, GA

September 7-10

Oldtone Roots Music Festival

N. Hillsdale, NY

September 9

Susie's Cause Music Festival

Cockeysville, MD

September 9

Wheeling Bluegrass Festival

Wheeling, WV

September 14-16

Dumplin Valley Bluegrass Festival

Kodak, TN

September 14-16

Starvy Creek Bluegrass Festival

Conway, MO

September 15-16

Sandyland Bluegrass Reunion

Nacogdoches, TX

September 20-23

Uncle Pen Days

Bean Blossom, IN

September 21-23

Nothin' Fancy Bluegrass Festival

Buena Vista, VA

September 21-23

HOBA September Bluegrass Festival

West Plains, MO

For links to websites for all of these festivals, check out our Events tab at TheBluegrassStandard.com!

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

Festival and Event Guide ~ October Dates

Event

Location

Fridays

Friday Bluegrass Night - Blue Cypress Bluegrass

Fellsmere, FL

October 4-7

Outer Banks Bluegrass Island Festival

Manteo, NC

October 5-7

Great Southern Music Festival

Ochlocknee, GA

October 5-7

Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival

Guthrie, OK

October 5-8

The Festy Experience

Arrington, VA

October 6-7

Three Sisters Bluegrass Music Festival

Chattanooga, TN

October 6-8

Grapevine Bluegrass Festival

Effingham, IL

October 6-8

Tennessee Fall Homecoming

Clinton, TN

October 7

Bluegrass in Burleson

Burleson, TX

October 7-8

Congaree Bluegrass Festival

Cayce, SC

October 11-14

Turkey Track Harvest Time Bluegrass Festival

Waldron, AR

October 12-15

Hillberry Harvest Moon Festival

Eureka Springs, AR

October 12-15

Jumpin' Bluegrass '17 Festival

Chesterfield, VA

October 12-15

Suwannee Roots Revival

Live Oak, FL

October 13-14

Bluegrass Bash

Manawa, WI

October 13-15

Georgia State Bluegrass Festival

Folkston, GA

October 13-15

Viva Las VeGrass

N. Las Vegas, NV

October 14

Lester Flatt Celebration

Sparta, TN

October 15-21

Arbuckle Fall Bluegrass Jam

Davis, OK

October 19-21

Rockahock Bluegrass Music Festival

Lanexa, VA

October 20-21

Bloomin' Bluegrass Festival

Farmers Branch, TX

October 20-21

Veterans Bluegrass & Gospel Festival

Sevierville, TN

October 20-22

Logandale Fall Festival

Logandale, NV

October 21

Cartersville Bluegrass & Folk Festival

Cartersville, GA

October 25-28

Swampgrass Music Festival

Swainsboro, GA

October 26-28

Anderson Bluegrass Festival

Anderson, SC

October 26-28

Honey Creek Resort Bluegrass Festival

Moravia, IA

October 27-28

Boo Grass by the Lake

Wakefield, VA

October 28

Bluegrass for Hospice

Great Mills, MD

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

When listening to The Steel Wheels, you’ll hear a bit of everything in the mix. Yeah, of course there’s the basic personality of mountain music. Listen closely, though, and you’ll see there’s much more. At first, it’s hard to classify what you’re hearing. It seems fresh. New. It seems a sort of amalgam, a blending of influences that come from unexpected corners, but become fast friends when sharing the same space.

“I just grew up thinking everybody sang.”

As with most folk musicians, he said the setting influences the music as well.

The Steel Wheels songwriter and banjo player, Trent Wagler, said the blend of influences isn’t intentional; it’s simply organic. “We started building a band around songs I was writing,” he said, and as a songwriter, he never set out to compose anything that could specifically be described as “bluegrass songs.” “We’ve never been heavy-handed by calling ourselves bluegrass,” he said. “I play the clawhammer banjo…but I will never play the Scruggs threefinger style bluegrass is known for.” 50

The songs Wagler was writing really were “all him.” It wasn’t anything with a specific genre goal, or really, any goal at all aside from creating good music people could connect to. It was just a melding of the influences that shaped him, including folk genres such as Celtic and traditional mountain music; gospel; blues; and even a little bit of influence from alternative rock and punk, which he’d dabbled in when young.

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“We live in Virginia,” he said, “and the band is highly influenced by our surroundings.” The rest of the lineup includes fiddle player, Eric Brubaker; upright bassist, Brian Dickel; and Jay Lapp, who plays the mandolin. In addition to banjo, Wagler also plays the guitar. The fiddler, Brubaker, is described by Wagler as “more of a purist” when it comes to bluegrass. As for Wagler, well…he comes with a patchwork of influences. Each guy brings something different. It all melds to create music with folk and gospel vibes, but seems somehow fresh and musically progressive. “We’re not trying to create an old-time “Garcia was basically saying Bill sound,” Wagler said, “or sound like Monroe was an innovator,” Wagler a string band from the 1800s, or a recalled. “Bill Monroe created bluegrass band from the 1940s.” something that basically wasn’t being done, and they called it bluegrass.” This is perhaps most evident on the recent record, “Wild As We Came Wagler said he feels sure that Monroe Here,” which he said experiments would give a thumbs-up to any of with even more. The newest music today’s innovators who are open to employs elements he said are “really traditional genres, but who add a outside of the string band box,” more contemporary--or personalizedincluding keyboards, drums, and -spin. a touch of “gritty electric guitar.” He said the record’s producer, Sam “It really doesn’t matter,” Wagler said, Kassirer, brought background in of matching the traditional ways. It’s other genres to the table, including experience producing jazz musicians. not what really matters. “Our live sound is bigger,” he said. “I’m excited to be writing new songs with that sound as the backdrop.” Truthfully, the band probably didn't need any additions to refer to its sound as “big.” There’s nothing demure about the substantial harmonies that give body to the music. He said harmonizing has always been “natural and easy for us.” Wagler recalled an interview he once saw with the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia, addressing the idea of innovation and newness in folk forms that are often tied to tradition. Garcia was talking about bluegrass great, Bill Monroe.

Instead of genre “rules,” he seems more interested in the most basic and elemental questions of all: “Is it good music? Is it music that connects with your experience?”

“I grew up in a very musical family,” he said. His father and three brothers sang in a gospel quartet, and his mother was in a gospel group of her own. He laughed that when growing up, it was sort of like the “Wagler Family Show.” “It was one of those positive peer pressure things,” he said, explaining how he began performing at church as early as age six. “I just grew up thinking everybody sang.”

Visit the Steel Wheels website!

It’s easy to see why Wagler won’t allow himself to be pigeonholed too easily; he grew up exposed to all sorts of music. It was everywhere around him. There was the folk and mountain music of Virginia. There was the rock of his youth. There was church music.

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Suits, Boots

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Fan photos from

& Bluegrass

across the country

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

Suits, Boots

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

Fan photos from

& Bluegrass

across the country

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

Suits, Boots

THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD

Fan photos from

& Bluegrass

across the country

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Next Month... from the Publisher's desk

Here's a note from one of the artists that attended the Highway 80 Songwriters Fest, featured last month: "I'm a Tennessee girl.... but the great people.... along with Mississippi's deep tradition of spawning great music, keeps drawing me back to that state and I feel more welcome each time I tour there. I'm proud to have performed in the Hwy 80 Songwriters Fest this year...and very appreciative to Richelle and the entire Hwy 80 team for the opportunity. Also, being asked to teach a workshop was probably a highlight for me. Interesting and interested songwriters made up the group and it was nothing but enjoyable, as well as, a great chance to meet and get to know some of these other artists. Plus, I couldn't have asked for a more creative space to perform or teach in than the Soule' Steamworks Museum. I so enjoyed getting to take in a little bit of the history of the museum, as well as, get to know a little more about Meridian. I found out enough that I can't wait for the chance to come back!"

� Karen Reynolds

Josh Trivett Moonstruck Management Tomorrow’s Bluegrass Stars ~ Cane Mill Road Lonesome River Band Hogslop String Band The Cleverly's From the Back Porch: A WWII veteran's story

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