September 2018
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www.AmericanaRhythm.com
September 2018
By Edward Tutwiler
Americana Rhythm is published six times a year. All correspondence should be sent to PO Box 45, Bridgewater VA, 22812 or CONTRIBUTORS email to greg@americanarhythm.com. Copies of Americana Ed Tutwiler Rhythm are made available free at various pick up locations within Wayne Erbsen the publication’s region. Subscriptions are available inside the United Donna Ulisse States (only) for $24 US currency made payable by check or Mike Aiken money order sent to, Subscriptions at PO Box 45, Bridgewater, Andrew McKnight VA, 22812. Foreign subscription requests should be sent to Emily Kresky greg@americanarhythm.com. Copyright 2018. All rights reDon Brown served. Reproduction of any content, artwork or photographs DISTRIBUTION is strictly prohibited without permission of the publisher or origi- North River Publishing Integrated Music Media nal owner. All advertising material subject to approval. PUBLISHER/EDITOR IN CHIEF Greg E. Tutwiler Associate Editor Ed Tutwiler MARKETING & PROMOTION Mark Barreres (GrassRootsNetworking.com) Letters, Comments, Suggestions ADVERTISING greg@americanarhythm.com Business office 540-433-0360 www.americanarhythm.com advertising@americanarhythm.com
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September 2018
A Fiddlers Dream Holiday By Edward Tutwiler
Over
the years, I have come in contact with folks who have traveled as tourists to Ireland; and I have known folks who have lived as expatriates or who have done an extended work assignment for several years in that emerald green land. Most folks who have ever trod that special place yearn for a chance to return to the land of the shamrock. It has been said that those of us who reach generations back into the Appalachian hills will feel an ancestral pull should we visit Ireland. Geologists say the US eastern Appalachian Mountains share a similar look and feel with the hills and valleys of Ireland and Scotland. Anthropologists have written that the Appalachian area of the US immediately seemed like home to the Scot-Irish migrants of the 18th century. Even today in this homologized 21st. Century times, those of us in tune with the Americana string music that is rooted to the music of the Appalachians recognize its Celtic influence that reaches back to Ireland.
Practice Abroad I mention all this as introduction to a unique experience that might be of interest to fiddle players who also have a yearning to take a trip to Ireland or vice versa. We recently received a reach-out from an Irish fiddler and instructor of traditional Irish fiddle playing who has put together a bed and breakfast package in rural Ireland that some of you dear readers just might find to your taste. This package includes two hours of intense fiddle instruction each day; afternoon treks into the Irish countryside; and nightly immersion in the local Irish music culture supplied by some of that region’s best traditional players. This experience is offered by Burren Fiddle Holidays in County Clare, Ireland; and is the brain child of Ms. Laura Ugur. (The name is derived from the nearby Burren National Park.) I contacted Ms. Ugur recently to
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learn things that might whet your desire for a unique adventure abroad. Laura Ugur grew up in a small village in west Cork, Ireland. At age nine, she started fiddle lessons taught to her by multiinstrumentalist and former Boys of the Lough band member, John Coakley. This instruction fostered in her a love of traditional Irish music and knowledge of the music of the Sliabh Luachra region, which is a rural area where the counties of Cork, Kerry and Limerick meet. Laura continued study of the fiddle and traditional playing through her youth. In 2008, she entered the University of Limerick where she studied Irish Music and Dance earning a BA with first-class honors in 2012. Laura now lives in county Clare, Ireland and plays traditional Irish fiddle with the best traditional musicians in the country. Here is Lara’s summation of her journey, “I have always loved music– particularly Irish trada fiddle. Since I graduated with a degree in Irish Music and Dance, I have been thinking of ways to play music full-time. I moved to beautiful county Clare because it is known as the traditional music county of Ireland. In county Clare, there are music sessions (often several) every night of the week. On weekends, there are multiple sessions even during the day.”
with classes tailored to suit the individual student. Ms. Ugur offers five-day sessions; two-day weekend sessions and one-day sessions each coupled with a stay in an old Irish farmhouse. Plus, if you can not make a trip to Ireland, Laura will bring the Fiddle Holiday to you via the internet through the video chat site: Skype®.
On Holiday Laura Ugur set up Burren Fiddle Holidays in 2016 to teach traditional Irish fiddle playing to individual students and timed to match the student’s schedule. Lara says that she knew that there were summer schools and workshops at smaller festivals available around Ireland; however, the timing of these festivals did not match the schedule of everyone traveling from abroad, and the number of attendees at these schools and workshops could be quite large; so she decided to offer on-site music training and make it accessible throughout the year,
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The on-site lessons consist of intense two-hour training sessions each morning; followed by afternoons free to explore the villages and countryside and hike in the Burren National Park; and capped each evening by listening to and playing with some of the best traditional players the region has to offer. I wondered how difficult it was to get Burren Fiddle Holidays started and how she let the world know what she had in mind. Ms. Ugur replied, “It was not difficult
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playing in a session setting. Her feeling is that fiddle playing is an oral tradition.
B& B Coming Soon
to get started. I had all the elements: fiddle skills; love of traditional music and teaching; a place to teach; and a double room in a traditional Irish farmhouse to offer through Airbnb ® as accommodations. I originally got word of my Fiddle Holiday project out there using (the internet site) Facebook ® . Networking and word-of-mouth have also been very important.
One On One
musicians wishing to take oneon-one fiddle training (or one-ontwo, if a fiddle playing couple wishes to participate). In the case there is a group request, Laura teaches those classes in the farmhouse and arranges accommodations close by. If someone expresses a desire to take classes on a different traditional instrument other than the fiddle, she will organize the accommodation and look for a teacher among her contacts.
It is important to note that Laura is the sole teacher. Her lesson and accommodation package is for
As to the skill level a prospective student must have, it is good to
note that Laura Ugur has 19 years of playing and performing experience thus she is an experienced and conscientious teacher. She teaches at all levels from beginner to advanced, on both a weekly and single-day basis. She is as comfortable teaching adults as she is children. Laura teaches students to play by ear. She encourages students to use a recording device to record tunes and maybe video record playing techniques. She encourages her students to memorize the tunes so that the student will be able to enjoy
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I asked Ms. Ugur how many classes she teaches and she replied, “The number of classes I put on depends on whether they take place over the week or weekend. I do some regular fiddle teaching also, so each week is different from the next. I oversee the bed and breakfast where the students stay as well as serve as the music instructor. As the bed and breakfast option involves only one double room, it is manageable to do this.” Well, my mountain music, fiddle playing friends, are you ready to schedule that trip to Ireland that you have been putting off for so long? If so, get your passport updated, grab your fiddle case, and pack you duds because this is your reason to put that trip off no longer. Get started by learning more from the WEB site: www.burrenfiddleholidays.com or you can send an email to: info@burrenfiddleholidays.com.
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September 2018
Anecdotes Of Attitude As musicians, we have all spent time playing with other musicians as a band member or the lead. The adage that wrangling band members is like herding cats can definitely be true. Ultimately it comes down to attitude, and a good attitude always pays off. Following are a few examples of experiences I have had. I am hoping that if you find yourself working with other musicians, as a band member or leader, you can learn something or reinforce the good attitude you already have.
Don’t Be One Of These:
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When band members are flying, especially with instruments, it is imperative that they arrive in enough time. Period. Sounds simple, right? We had two members flying to meet us for weekend shows, one with a bass guitar. They were on an early flight to allow for the two-hour drive to the venue and leisurely arrival for soundcheck. Well, they missed the flight, citing long lines at security. Bottom line is they did NOT allow enough time. They caught another flight and barely made it before showtime. The checked bass did not make it, so we were left scrambling to find a bass. The borrowed one was very sub-par, although we were grateful to have one. The tardy musicians were indignant about it being the airline’s fault. While that is possible…at the end of the weekend, these two had to reverse the process. We outlined their timeline with them and watched as they chose to leave later and missed their return flight as well! Oops, guess whose fault?
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On another occasion we were traveling with the band in a minvan, towing a trailer of gear. As we entered the van for the fourhour run between the last gig and the train station, I gave the one member his train ticket for home. We did not stop, we did not exit the vehicle and yet he lost the ticket in the car and had to have another issued!
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Band members represent the named act, be it a band or an artist. Therefore it is important to have and for them to be ‘wellbehaved’ band members. We had one member who was A LOT of fun, always making us laugh. However, he tended to be a handful. He liked to ‘take’ souvenirs home from venues. One time he was burning off pre-show jitters backstage and had inflated a vinyl glove (the opaque kind used for all kinds of jobs) over his face and head. Hysterical, yes, but not professional.
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As A&R for a festival, I witnessed a serious career violation. The lead of a band I hired for a festival, at the director’s request, exhibited repeated bad behavior. His communication was little to none, contracts were late, promo materials were late, and he was pouting upon arrival about not being the headline act. He caused delays during setup, ran overtime and everyone noticed
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September 2018
his lack of professionalism. The director’s comment was ‘never bring him back.’ Every gig is an opportunity for more gigs, a bad attitude can easily eliminate that.
Try One Of These: ·
Conversely, a great example of a winning attitude. I left my little bus in Nashville for my manager to drive the band to meet me for the weekend. I try to leave things in tip-top shape, especially when I am not going to be there. This time however, many short straws were drawn on one trip. The air conditioning went out in the bus, it was summer and there are not windows to open. A belt broke and had to be replaced, and the inspection expired while the bus was out of state. Five guys climbed out after 18 hours (of a 12 hour run) laughing and ready to rock. Nice!!
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The professional thing to do if you find yourself with a gig conflict is to supply a worthy substitute. This helps you satisfy your commitments and gives the gig to a friend, someone who will represent you well and not (intentionally) steal your place. We met our favorite bass player this way. He was a substitute whose spirit and vibe fit us much better. So we kept him!
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My band of players who all came from the big leagues, giant stages, etc, sucked it up for a stripped-down, last-minute gig in Philly on an 8’x8’ stage with walls on three sides. Grumbling was short-lived as everyone recalled their humble beginnings and played their hearts out.
I’ve always found that the very best players may not be the best for the band as a whole, on stage and off-stage. As you all know you spend more time together off-stage, than on. Happy gigging! To find out more about Mike, his story, and his new CD, Wayward Troubadour, visit www.mikeaikenmusic.com.
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September 2018
Co-writing is composing a song with another person. That means two people combining an idea for a song, coming up with a storyline they can both agree on, landing a mutual melody that works with the lyric and splitting the percentages of ownership in the composition. Sound simple? After spending years co-writing, I can assure you it is not! When the co-write works, it’s dreamy where there are lots of high fives and rescheduling for the next songwriting session. However, when it does not work it is awkward. For me, there is no good description for the misery and worry going through my mind in a writing session that is not clicking. While holding a guitar, I am coming up with all kinds of scenarios to end the session while maintaining a look of interest for my co-writer. Maybe the tornado sirens will blast and I can run out of the room looking for shelter and after the
threat has passed I can claim I am just too shook up to continue. Or for once maybe a robo sales call will come through and my cell phone could be my hero, giving me the opportunity to pretend I have to leave with some emergency. It’s the weenie way out but at this point in an uncomfortable co-writing session it would be a welcome distraction. There is no easy way to end a troublesome writing session. Some writers have no problem simply saying, “it’s not working for me so thanks for your time” and I have actually had this line used on me. Direct, honest talk is always the best. Over the years I have learned how to use kindness with directness and have been successful, leaving friendship in place. Another pitfall in a co-writing session comes when you are onto a good song, writing with gusto, completely in
harmony with your partner, and then...the wall! What happens when you come to an impasse and cannot agree on a line? I say pick your battles carefully. Caving is not a sign of weakness and can end up being the number one element in a successful partnership. After the song is completed you can always go back to revisit the line you were hung up on, using an edit phase to clean up the song. There is a famous quote in the Nashville songwriting community that says it all; A hit song is not written, it is re-written. The most important time spent on writing a hit is in the edit or re-writing phase. That is when your song grows legs. Together, you can take a critical look at your first draft and discuss what is strong and the sections that are bothering you. If you remain unhappy with the song then maybe the co-write is not the right fit for you and you can move on.
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Co-writing is still the best way to up your game in songwriting. I am a huge believer in this process and have first hand results of how valuable it is to share a song idea with another person. Leave ego at the door and let rejection graze off your heart, jump in and give it a whirl. The first time you come up with a wonderful song written through a combined effort you will know exactly what I am talking about, and all the hurdles that you have had to navigate will suddenly be worth the effort. You will also find yourself picking up new tricks to apply to your solo writing, thus enriching your ability to compose. Write on my friends and use your beautiful, musical gift. Donna was the 2016 IBMA songwriter of the year, and co-writer of the IBMA Song of the Year for 2017. Reach Donna at www.DonnaUlisse.com.
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September 2018
Town Mountain; a style all their own Calling Town Mountain a hard drivin’ Carolina string band, is just the beginning of the story. While at first glance, one could assume they are a straight up bluegrass band, from about the first chord, you know you’re in for more than just another bluegrass concert. Not that this is a bad thing, but in this case, the fellas from Town Mountain don’t really care to fit into any one particular mold. They’ve been noted for being “raw, and soulful,” and possessing “plenty of swagger.” They’ve got a honky-tonk edge, and it’s loaded with influences spanning all genre’s and artists like Grateful Dead, Robert Hunter, and even Willie, Waylon, and Merle. In 2005, Guitarist/vocalist Robert Greer and banjoist Jesse Langlais got together with a few friends to form a band, basically to attend and enter the RockyGrass festival band competition in Colorado that year. After winning, it sort of made sense to keep playing. The current line-up which also includes mandolinist Phil Barker,
fiddler Bobby Britt, and Zach Smith on bass are on their sixth album as a band, New Freedom Blues.
Magic in the Mix I caught up with Phil Barker recently to get a little more insight into the magic that makes Town Mountain click. Phil joined the band in 2007, after finding himself hanging out with the guys at different pickin’ parties along the way. “The theme of this has always been that the guys in the band like hanging out as much as they like playing together,” he told me. “A real cool side effect of the national scene, is that all the pickers of a certain generation, or younger generation get to know each other and hang out. Everybody loves playing roots music around here, so it has become it’s own thriving little roots community in that sense.” Phil recalled the moment when things started to click for the band. “It was around the summer of 2008 when things really started
to fill in for us. And we had to decide; alright, it’s time to make this commitment. That made the biggest difference on our tightness as a band and our overall focus. Everyone had to jump off the deep end, so to speak, and just commit to it. And that transpired into having more time to practice, and to write more, and improve our abilities with our instruments.” While each guy held down part time jobs here and there, it had finally became the opportunity to purse the band life full time for the guys in Town Mountain. “We’ll still do it if need be,” regarding the side job aspect, Phil said. “But this is a great full time job,” he added. “Doing those other things puts it all in perspective. It beats swinging a hammer, that’s for sure.”
Writing Is The Difference The members of Town Mountain writes nearly all of the songs the band perform, and Phil feels like the songwriting is actually the
Historic Nashville Record Store Turns 50
The iconic and historic Ernest Tubb Record Shop is celebrating 50 years of operation. The store is owned by Mr. David McCormick who was recently honored for the 50th anniversary of his ownership. The record and music memorabilia store is located in downtown Nashville at 417 Broadway St. and is noted for presenting a strong lineup of celebrity signings, sightings and more. The store features both popular and hard-to-find selections from country, bluegrass and gospel music and is a one-stop shop for country and bluegrass CDs, DVDs, LPs, books, and memorabilia.
The Ernest Tubb Record Shop was founded in 1947 by Grand Ole Opry star Ernest Tubb. Mr. Tubb (2/9/41 - 9/6/84) was nicknamed the Texas Troubadour and was one of the early stars of country music. He is associated with the rise of the style of country music known as honky tonk. Tubb joined the Grand Ole Opry in February 1943 and put together his band, the Texas Troubadours. He remained a
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regular on the radio show for over 40 years, and hosted his own Midnight Jamboree radio show in his record store each Saturday night after the Opry was over. The store has been under the ownership of Mr. David McCormick since 1968 and retains the charm of the past while offering a wide variety of contemporary and classic country music. In a surprise party held recently, Mr. McCormick was honored by past and present
employees and other famous guests as well, including Earnest Tubb Midnight Jamboree emcee, Jennifer Herron. Mr. McCormick acknowledged the recognition by stating, “What a surprise and honor it was to be joined by my staff from past to present, along with family and friends, to celebrate 50 wonderful years of running Nashville’s most famous record shop. This is truly something I will never forget,” McCormick further recounted. “I owe a lot of gratitude to not only my staff, but also to the many customers of Ernest Tubb Record Shop.; thank you, everyone!” The store was ingrained into the early days of country music broadcasting when Mr. Tubb originated a late night showcase for stars of the Grand Ole Opry and newcomers as well (Loratta Lynn got national exposure there in her early days in Nashville). The show is still being broadcast; however, the Earnest Tubb Midnight Jamboree is now staged at the Texas Troubadour Theatre.
By Greg Tutwiler
cornerstone of the band. “We’ve always felt that in the bluegrass scene, you have to write your own material to stand out. There’s such a vast repertoire of traditional songs that any band can play, and people do enjoy that; however in order to really make a name for yourself, and set yourself apart, you’ve got to do something that nobody else is doing. So, we’ve always been focused on that. We play some cover tunes here and there, but our passion has been around writing our own music.” And, of course, they have certainly carved their own niche’ into the stringed roots sound. “I guess all of our influences outside of bluegrass make their way into what you’re doing as a musician,” Phil said. “The common theme is that we want to play stuff with a lot of energy, and play with a lot of intent and passion. It’s always been about not necessarily playing the slickest thing you can think of, but we’ve always been continued on page 12
This theatre is located in the Music Valley Village, across the street from the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, and located on the outskirts of Nashville’s downtown area. The Jamboree is broadcast every Saturday night at 12 Midnight (CT) on WSM, 650Khz AM as it has been for 71 years. The Ernest Tubb Record Shop’s, now enjoying more than 70 years in business, and is the oldest advertiser on WSM. Beginning with the original broadcasts founded by Mr. Tubb in 1947 at the original Ernest Tubb Record Shop on Broadway in downtown Nashville, the Jamboree is the second-longest running radio show in history. You can listen to the show at 12 Midnight (CT) on WSM every Saturday night. The show is currently recorded from the Texas Troubadour Theatre (2416 Music Valley Drive). Recording time is at 10 PM for the midnight airing. For more information, find Ernest Tubb Record Shops at www.ernesttubb.com, on Facebook or call (615) 255-7503.
September 2018
Thanks to our partnership with ReverbNation (www.reverbnation.com) we are honored to give you a peak at a few of the nation’s hardest working indie artists. Each month we select one entry to showcase for you here. Enjoy! THIS MONTH’S FEATURE:
By Greg Tutwiler
The Nouveaux Honkies www.thecenterstate.com
Owens, Nate Rowe, Chris Gage, Lloyd Maines, Pat Manske, and Tim Buppert.
FEATURE ARTISTS When pressed for how one would classify the duet known as The Nouveaux Honkies, co-founder, Tim O’Donnell, called it, “mother lovin’, country folkin’, blues.” He and his partner in crime, Rebecca Dawkins met at a jam, recalls Tim. “Florida got slammed with four hurricanes in 2004. My business got leveled and I was hustling to pay bills. Rebecca had just moved to Florida and was looking to make some money. Everyone wanted to get her to come out and play for free. We met at a blues jam, and eventually booked some shows together. People dug it, so we kept doing it. They dug it more, and keep digging it, so we keep doing it,” he said. Tim said that both he and Rebecca started out playing music like so many; in church. Both played in the school band, but Tim said that, “Rebecca was the true orchestra nerd. I started on drums and she had a half size violin, so God bless our parents.” Rebecca was a big They Might Be Giants, and Beatles fan. And she was also classically trained. Tim got in a van at age 18 and started touring. “My main influence on why I love to play is because its beats hot tar roofing in July,” Tim said. Rebecca’s big influence is, she loves to make people smile.
Tim does like a lot of different music though, and those influences shine through. “I just know when I like it,” he said. Artists like Jimmy Webb, Jimmy Reed, and Jimi Hendrix all give Tim, “this crazy feeling when I listen to them,” he said It’s a wonderful Americana gumbo of blues, country, roots, R&B, Texas swing, honky-tonk and old-fashioned songwriting. The two originally lived in a rebuilt RV that they use to tour in as well. It was a “high tech, solar powered, self-sufficient chariot, equipped with its own espresso bar, mini studio, and more comforts than most studio apartments in NYC,” Tim had said. “We pretty much wrote two records in that thing and met some of the coolest people on the planet. We are gonna miss it, but it was time to move on. Now it’s in Knoxville and we have room for a piano.” These days Tim says they are now “bi-statual” with a home in
Knoxville, and one south Florida. “Our current traveling situation is a van we just converted. It’s small and fast, and we call it the bat van at night and Vanna White by day.” The Nouveaux Honkies latest CD is titled, Loud In Here. Unlike the previous two CDs, Most of the songs for this record were arranged in the studio. “I just had a goal of a song a day,” Tim said. “Between me, Rebecca, and the band; we would just track till it started sounding right. Working in a studio with everything ready to record at a second’s notice is fun for me. If I hear a part someone just picks up something and plays it. If it sucks, we scrap it, but great stuff happens that way. It’s creative and fast and spontaneous. We love the CD too. It sounds superb, the playing on it is great, the songs are all strong and the cover looks killer. It’s got love songs, hate songs, funny songs, sad songs, slow songs, and fast songs.” The album features special guests: Bill Kirchen, Ephraim
Tim says they are happy to be doing what they do full time. ”There are so many amazing people we meet and so many friendships and bonds we have made.” Their main downtime from the road now is in the winter when they are in Florida. “Ironically, we work typically six to seven nights a week when we are there. Winter time is in season there. All the snowbirds come down and they come see us because we were up in those spots in the summer. We played in Michigan for the first time last year and probably 70 percent of the crowd had seen us in Florida during the winter. It’s crazy. We are blessed to have a great group of fans that support us. Days off we just do normal stuff everyone does. Knoxville has a lot to offer but we haven’t been home much to really enjoy it yet.” "If you ever want to get baptized in pure music,” said fan Daniel Poulos, about the duo, “spend an hour listening to Rebecca and Tim in an intimate venue ...The love pours off the stage and crawls across the floor like the smoke from a dry ice machine. Tim sings every song like it was a story he wrote himself this morning and he can't wait to make you feel the way he does about it. Every time I get a chance to hear them, I find myself smiling from the first note to the last; can't wait ...” And the Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel wrote this, “If Johnny Cash and Freddy King had a baby it would be the Nouveaux Honkies.”
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Town Mountain continued
drawn to stuff that’s got a good swing to it and a good drive to it, whether it’s bluegrass, or rock, or whatever. And it helps that we all have similar tastes in that regard.” “We definitely like to wear some of our influences on our sleeves. There’s a big rockabilly, almost Jerry Lee Lewis type of swing influence in a lot of songs we play, which we really enjoy doing, because people respond to that, maybe in a way that they don’t in a straight ahead bluegrass rhythm situation,” he said. We like a little bit of that and we like a little bit of the country swing, whether it be a Jimmy Martin bluegrass version of country music, or a Buck Owen version. I guess we could be considered outlaw since we’re not necessarily following the Bluegrass rules. I don’t know if we’re fully into that scene yet, but it’s a great group of musicians to be associated with though, there’s no doubt.”
Number Six on the Way Album number six is set to officially release on October 5th entitled, New Freedom Blues. Caleb Klauder joined the band at Asheville’s legendary Echo Mountain Studios to produce this latest project. The 11-track set also features drummer and Sturgill Simpson collaborator Miles Miller, as well as a duet and co-write with Tyler Childers. The album’s first single is the title track, “New Freedom Blues.” “It’s somewhat of a departure from the bluegrass sound that we’ve typically recorded,” banjo
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player Jesse Langlais explained. “We took the songs at their face value in the studio this time, as opposed to trying to take a song and make it fit inside certain bluegrass parameters. It morphed into this idea that we should be playing the songs for what they are as opposed to what we thought they should be.” Although the record is scheduled for a fall release, fans won’t have to wait to hear the new material. It’s already in the set list. “That’s something we like to do,” Phil said. We’ve been playing a lot of them all along. We like to road test songs we want to record because they’ll evolve along the way, more so on the road, in a live setting, than maybe in the studio.” Phil told us that in the past they may have taken songs that the band members had written and tried to fit them into more of what a bluegrass band should sound like. “We’ve had some snare drum on songs in the past, but this is the first time where we got a full kit playing with us, so it’s made it into a bigger sound. It’s a little more rockin’ as far as the song styles go. We let the songs dictate what the feel is going to be, as opposed to trying to fit it into a mold. It was liberating in that respect. We just let the songs be the songs and not try to make them into something else. There’s still a lot of bluegrass stuff on here even with drums. You still get a straight edge bluegrass feel on a lot of the stuff ”
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September 2018
Oak Grove Turns 40 By Edward Tutwiler
Several years ago, we introduced you to a quaint little outdoor theatre that stages several delightful plays each summer as well as producing a well attended music festival. The music festival is a wonderful musical event. It is staged in a setting under the stars, and is experiencing its 40th birthday this year. Thus, it seemed proper that we refresh your memory a bit.
Ultimately, Ms. Collins assumed the overall festival leadership role that she holds today and is honored and proud to see the festival continue to be strong. She told us that she feels a great deal of connection to her family in doing the work all year long that the festival weekend requires and especially during those days that she spends at the Grove during the festival time.
Located in the mid Shenandoah Valley near Verona, VA and several miles west of I-81 is what you will fittingly call an enchanted place the first time you visit. The theatre is nestled among a grove of towering oak trees and is aptly named, The Oak Grove Theatre. Each summer this playhouse stages an outstanding set of plays put on by a very talented community theater group and also stages a separate music festival featuring great talent. Of course, the plays hold a special place in the hearts of the attendees but the plays are not the only art form presented at Oak Grove. Each summer, the theatre stages the first class Oak Grove Folk Music Festival. This music festival is three days of traditional and not-so-traditional folk music of a variety that mixes national acts, and regional touring artists with the best of the local folk music scene. The production company, Theater Wagon of VA, along with the help of a ton of dedicated volunteers produces this festival. The Oak Grove Folk Music Festival’s visible face is Ms. Rosalin Collins. In an interview with Ms. Collins some time ago, she gave an insider’s view of the theatre and the festival.
Down on the Farm The Oak Grove Theater, (as well as the Theater Wagon of VA production company, and the Oak Grove Folk Music Festival) were all founded by Margaret and Fletcher Collins. The Collins moved to the Shenandoah Valley
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is the annual Oak Grove Folk Music Festival now in its 40th year. Theater Wagon relies totally on voluntary, unpaid work by both professional and nonprofessional members of the project. Mr. Fletch Collins was the chair-person for the festival for many years and then passed that responsibility on to Mr. Bill Harouff. Rosalin told us that she first helped by starting the Friday night concert addition, for showcasing local and up and coming talent (the 2006 showcase featured the now national touring act, The Steel Wheels).
in the 1940s to settle into a less frantic lifestyle than that of the business world and to enjoy a simpler country life on a farm outside of Staunton, VA. They chose Pennyroyal Farm (just down the hill from where the theater is now located). Mr. and Mrs. Collins eventually determined that farming was not going to support their family of five, so Mr. Collins went to work for many years teaching theater at Mary Baldwin College in nearby Staunton, VA. (It is important to note that the theater at MBC is now named after him). In 1954, the Collins decided to build a theater in a thick grove of oak trees growing in their extended back yard. Originally, the Collins’ plan was to have a place that his MBC students could stage plays in the summer. Ms. Margaret Collins wrote the plays for the students to perform. Rosalin told us at the time of our interview that her mother, one of the MBC students, met her father who was Mr. and Mrs. Collins’ oldest son thus providing her with deep ties to the theater, the production group, and the music festival. She said her ties to Oak Grove are genetic. Presently, the theater is owned by the dedicated non-profit Oak
Grove Theater group. The group also owns Pennyroyal Farm and quite a bit of land around the theater. The long-range plan is to purchase more surrounding land so that the parking area and the entire theater will be protected from development.
The Play Go On The theatre produces five plays each summer. The season begins in late May and ends in August. The plays open on a Thursday night and enjoys a consecutive five night run. Curtain time is at 8:45 PM each night; however, attendees typically arrive in the late afternoon and tailgate and visit with their like-minded fellow travelers before enjoying the play under the Shenandoah Valley canopy of stars. The theatre staff sells a season ticket block that covers all five plays but the music festival admission is covered by a separate individual ticket. Tailgating and socializing at the music festival is still an item.
Music is in the Air Oak Grove Folk Music Festival is produced by The Theater Wagon of VA production group. This production group is a separate group that Margaret and Fletch Collins founded in 1968. Theater Wagon’s had a mission to help develop and produce new plays and new translations of plays; however, the largest ongoing current project
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Best Little Festival Many consider the Oak Grove Music Festival to be, in Rosalin’s words, “the best little festival in the world”. It certainly is an enjoyable experience as we here at AR can personally attest. The Saturday morning workshops held in the tree filled parking area and the afternoon sun-drenched stage performances are magical happenings. It is a special event at a special place, and the driving force is the tireless efforts of a lot of generous volunteers who give time and money out of love for the community. At the time of the interview, I asked Ms. Collins if she would sum up in her words her feelings about this festival. Here was her take then and if you would ask her today, I expect that you would find that her feelings have not changed, “(1) It’s small: the theater only seats around 200 and that’s with us bringing some extra chairs. This size enables our audience to really connect with our performers and vice versa. Performers have been known to show up for the Sunday morning sing-a-long, or even join an open-microphone performance unannounced; and there’s plenty of time for interaction and CD signings. (2) We get really high quality performers: We strive to bring some well-known and some less-known, but all high quality artists representing the diversity of the genre of folk music. We try to
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mix up bands, solo acts and duos, bluegrass to blues, singersongwriter to Americana folk-rock. (3) The festival is well-run: From the little touches like flowers around the stage and in the restrooms, to starting and ending on time, we keep a relaxed, friendly, high-spirited atmosphere. We take suggestions from our community on everything from artists to improvements in management.”
own brand of Appalachian Bluegrass; Tellico, a group well schooled in bluegrass but with an Americana sound that combines some of the finest voices, songs and instrumental playing to be found in western North Carolina; and Mr. John McCutcheon who is a folk music renaissance man, a master instrumentalist, a powerful singersongwriter, a storyteller, an activist, and an author.
The 40th. Oak Grove Music Festival will be held this year on August 3rd. through 5th. 2018. The festival artists appearing this year are as follows: Robin & Linda Williams who are seasoned; folk, old-time and acoustic country Americana music masters; Mary Fahl, an expressive, emotional singer/ songwriter who first achieved fame as lead singer and co-founder of the mid-1990s chamber-pop group, October Project; Ed Miller, who has been spoken of as one of the finest singers to come out of the Scottish folk-song revival movement. He delights audiences with the music and storytelling of the Scots; Jakob’s Ferry Stragglers, a band who combines old-time, bluegrass, jam-grass, rockabilly, and swing music to create their
Oak Grove Theater is located in Augusta County just west of Verona, VA on Quick’s Mill Road, 2.1 miles west of the intersection of Rt. 11 and Rt. 612 in Verona. Those traveling I-81 should take Exit 227 and go west to the Verona intersection of Rt. 612 and Rt. 11.
New Labels To Meet Demand Two new labels serving both the Americana and Bluegrass genres have emerged onto the scene recently. Ed Leonard, President of Nashville-based Daywind Music Group, and Jerry Salley, multiaward winning songwriter, artist and producer, have announced the launch of Billy Blue Records and Billy Jam Records.
2003 SESAC Country Music Songwriter of the Year and a twotime nominee for IBMA’s Songwriter of the Year. Jerry has had over 500 different songs recorded with sales in excess of 17 million records. He has written multiple chart-topping hits in Country, Bluegrass and Gospel music.
Salley will serve as A & R and Creative Director for both labels. “Jerry Salley’s considerable success and sterling reputation in the Bluegrass and acoustic music worlds make him the perfect fit to lead our newest venture,” said Leonard.
The music landscape is ever changing, and Leonard and Salley see opportunities to grow the acoustic music genres. “With the recent increase in popularity of roots music, we feel it’s time to launch a new division providing opportunities and guidance for the talented artists and songwriters in these genres,” Leonard said.
You can fine more information about Oak Grove Theater, the music festival, and answers to other questions you may have on these websites: www.oakgrovetheater.org; https:/ /oakgrovefestival.com; and www.theatrewagon.com.
“I am very grateful to Ed Leonard for this opportunity,” Salley says. “Daywind’s history as a leading independent label in Nashville with an intense artist and song focus is second to none. I am honored and eager to build these new labels with them.” Daywind Music Publishing will begin to add songwriters from both genres to join its industryleading presence in Christian music publishing. The labels will join Daywind Records, Daywind Soundtracks, and Daywind Music Publishing as part of Daywind Music Group, which also houses two recording studios.
Salley added, “The labels’ motto, ‘We’re Here To Play,’ is intended to express our sincere and determined desire to identify top talent and work as hard as they do to bring their creations to the world. Billy Blue Records and Billy Jam Records are created to be the best ”
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TUNE IN TO:
Referred to by Billboard magazine as “one of Music Row’s greatest veteran tunesmiths,” Jerry Salley has had an incredibly successful songwriting career. His was the
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By Wayne Erbsen
William Shakespeare Who? The Deep Roots Of Bluegrass Songs His name was William Shakespeare Hays. Even though you’ve probably never heard of him, he was one of the most prolific composers of bluegrass songs ever. The conundrum is that he was born on July 19, 1837 and died on July 23, 1907. So how can someone so obscure be such a prolific songwriter of bluegrass music if he died four years before Bill Monroe was born? That, my friend, is what this article is about. First, let me tell you about William Shakespeare Hays himself. He spent most of his life in Louisville, Kentucky. His name was really just William Hays, but his classmates insisted on adding Shakespeare to his name because of his penchant for writing poetry and prose. From then on, William Shakespeare Hays was the handle he went by. He did, however, occasionally use the pen name “Syah,” which was Hays spelled backwards. Hays went to college in Hanover, Indiana and Georgetown, Kentucky. While at Georgetown, he became known as the “boy poet.” His first published song was Little Ones at Home, which was written while he was at Hanover. This ignited a prolific writing career which resulted in Hays penning innumerable poems and newspaper columns in addition to approximately five hundred songs. In 1895, he published his first book entitled simply Poems and Songs. Among his many occupations was a steamboat captain, a Civil War correspondent and the river editor of the Louisville Courier-Journal. He considered songwriting more of a hobby than a profession. After the fall of Vicksburg in 1862, Hays piloted the Grey Eagle on the Mississippi River between Vicksburg and New Orleans. On one of these trips, he was arrested and put in a New Orleans jail for writing the song, My Sunny Southern Home, a tune that angered General Benjamin “Beast” Butler, commander of Union troops in New Orleans. Hays’ short
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imprisonment probably had less to do with this song itself and more to do with the fact that Hays was a staunch Democrat who later supported Democratic candidates such as George B. McClellan, Samuel Tilden and Grover Cleveland. Even though the song Dixie or Dixie’s Land is generally credited to Daniel D. Emmett, Hays insisted until the day he died that he and Charles Ward composed an early version of the Dixie, which they set to an anonymous Scottish melody. Hays claimed that he sent the song to a local militia group, The Buckner Guards, who took it south in early 1861 after the Civil War began. Since Hays could not offer definitive proof that he wrote it, his claims were dismissed. His wife and daughters tried to pursue it but were unsuccessful. It’s no secret that bluegrass music is all about lonesome. They don’t call it “The High Lonesome Sound” for nuthin’. Songs like Mother’s Not Dead, She’s Only Sleeping are the bread and butter of bluegrass music. As someone recently said, “if she’s alive at the end of the song, it ain’t bluegrass music.” But how did it get to be this way? Why are we so drawn to songs about pain, murder, loneliness, and suffering?
Part of the answer lies in our dark and murky past. The very nature of mankind seems to be that we often share a strange fascination with the dead and dying, the forlorn, the lonely and the dark side of life. That’s why old morbid murder ballads from the British Isles remained popular both in England and in Appalachia long after the silly, shallow and happy songs were long forgotten. These sad and pitiful songs have been an important way for us to work out our deeper and darker emotions. I suppose it’s why cars on the highway slow down at the scene of a wreck. Apparently, many drivers hope to catch a glimpse of the horrific tragedy, even though they may strive to avoid such a fate in their daily lives. By singing or listening to these kind of heart-pounding songs we can sneak a peek at the darker side of life without actually having to experience it first hand. As the Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde once wrote, “A sentimentalist is one who desires to have the luxury of an emotion without paying for it.” So how does William Shakespeare Hays fit into all of this? Hang on to your hat! I’m getting around to that. Mid 19th century literature, art, and music in America and the British Isles was filled with tragic and emotional scenes of orphan children dying in the snow, mothers waiting at the doorstep for their wayward sons to come home, and bedraggled fathers being sent to the poorhouse even though they were blind, deaf, and nearly comatose. The cash registers of the Tin Pan Alley music publishers who sold this type of song were constantly making a loud “ka-ching” as they racked up one hit song after another that feasted on themes of despair and hopelessness. Today, we jokingly refer to this type of song as “tear jerkers.” Among the most prolific composers of these 19th century “tear jerkers” was none other than William Shakespeare Hays. Along with fellow composers Stephen Foster, Charles Harris and Gussie Davis, Hays’ made lasting contributions to American music as a composer of some of the most popular sentimental songs. His first successful published song was The Little Drummer Boy of Shiloh, a song that is still sung today around the campfires of soldiers reenacting the Civil War.
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What is amazing about Hays’ prodigious output of songs was the shear variety of themes that he penned. In fact, no other songwriter produced such a great variety of songs as did Hays. His compositions included dialect songs (AfricanAmerican, German, Irish and hayseed or hillbilly), railroad songs, gospel songs, river songs, Civil War songs, love songs and songs about log cabins. The one thing that most of his songs had in common was more than a pinch of utter sentimentality. In fact, Hays’ success at writing the songs of sentimentality and nostalgia helped to pave the way for other contemporary songwriters who John Prine would copy his popular style. Not only were Hays’ songs popular during his own lifetime, but also went on to become practically immortal. That’s because his sentimental themes of loneliness and despair struck a chord and appealed to the first generation of bluegrass musicians that were drawn to these darker kinds of songs. We’re talking about singers like Bill Monroe, Wade Mainer, the Carter Family, the Stanley brothers and Lester Flatt. Some of Hays’ songs that were later done in bluegrass style included We Parted by the River (1866), The Little Old Cabin in the Lane (1871), Molly Darling (1871), You’ve Been a Friend to Me (1879), I’ll Remember You Love in My Prayers (1869) and Jimmy Brown the Paper Boy (1875). Even more important than the Hays songs that were later done by the pioneers of bluegrass music is taking a close look at a list of Hays’ songs themselves. What is revealed is that his songs closely mirrored the themes that would later be so constant in traditional bluegrass music: log cabins, lost love, pine trees, rivers, grave sites, mother and drinking. In fact, it’s quite possible that Hays helped set the pattern or blueprint for the type of songs that would later become the core repertoire of bluegrass music. Scan over this list of some of Hays’ songs and you’d think you’re looking at a list of current bluegrass favorites: I Have No Home (1873), Do Not Turn Me From Your Door (1873), My Dear Old Home (1875), Lone Grave by the Sea (1862), I Will Be Home Tonight, Love (1875), We May Never Meet Again (1863), When I’m Gone (1892), My
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Southern Sunny Home (1864), Down Yonder in the Lane (1875), Will You Remember Me (1864), The Cabin on the Hill (1878), Mary’s Waiting by the Window (1866), Little Old Log Cabin in the Woods (1866), Take Me Back Home (1866), Meet Me By the Riverside (1877), Down by the Deep Sad Sea (1868), Driven from Home (1868), Good Bye Old Home (1868), The Old Man’s Drunk Again (1870), My Dear Old Sunny Home (1871), You’ll Always Find Me True (1872), I Have No Home (1873), Come Back to the Old Home Again (1880). We all know that the core songs of the bluegrass repertoire include many songs about mother. Here again, Hays set the standard with his own many mother songs. This was probably the case because his own
mother died when he was just ten years old. His mother songs include: Mother’s Parting at the Gate (1884), Take This Letter to My Mother (1873), Is Mother There? (1875), Call Me No More, Mother (1864), I Am Dying Mother, Dying (1865, Kiss Me Goo dn ig ht , Mamma (1874), Papa, Stay Home, I’m Motherless Now (1872, What Will I Do, Mother is Dead (1869), The Mothers of the West. Some of Hays’ songs have made an indirect impact on bluegrass music. Take for example his poem, The Faithful Engineer that was first published in 1886 and later reprinted in 1895 as Old Hayseed’s Railroad Train to Heaven. It is interesting to note that Hays’ poem was the model for M.E. Abby and Charles Tillman’s well-known song, Life’s Railway to Heaven aka Life is Like a continued on page 23
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Listen to the expanded interviews at www.spreaker.com/show/ americana-music-profiles, or search Americana Music Profiles in iTunes!
Vincent Poag
Wayland
Born and raised in a blue-collar section of Massapequa, Long Island in the 1950’s, Vincent Poag’s influences run deep, and include the music of Gershwin, Porter and Rogers and Hammerstein, along with crooners like Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, and even 60’s icons Bob Dylan and the Beatles. Vincent got his first guitar about the age of eight. By the time he went to college, he was already fronting his own three piece trio.
As music genre’s change, so do musicians if they hope to stay active and relevant. Rock is one of those genre’s, in recent years, that has struggled to find a groove with ever changing audiences.
A run at a fulltime musical career wasn’t in the cards, so Vincent took on adult life and family responsibilities driving a bus in New York, but the dream of writing and recording music never went away. In 2008, for his 60th birthday, Poag’s wife bought him some guitar lessons. It was the spark his smoldering flame needed. According to his recent press release, “Somewhere between hope and possibility, in a voice somewhere between Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, and Randy Newman, Vincent Poag was reborn.” “My songwriting was limited to family gettogethers for many years,” Vincent said. “I was fully engaged in making a living while my songwriting remained dormant to nonexistent. My lessons were with a great musician named Slim Francis, who also had a makeshift studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. After a few lessons, we decided it might be a good idea to record some of the songs I’d written before going off to Nevernever Land.” After recording some songs alone one day, Slim suggested they bring in some other musicians. “My juices started flowing, the songwriter in me awoke, and I owe it all to my wonderful wife for setting the alarm,” he quipped. Vincent just released his 3 rd CD, Heros and Demons. “I thought of the title after finishing the songs,” he said. Looking back, they were about many of my heroes as well as my inner demons. I just couldn’t fit it into the title.”
Bands like Wayland, priding themselves on timeless vocal melodies and crisp guitar licks, that are becoming far and few between. Formed in 2010, they were soon signed to Kiefer Sutherland’s Iron Works Records and released their first single “Welcome To My Head,” which charted fairly high on Mainstream and Active Rock charts. Their follow up single, “Reno,” showcased Wayland’s diverse influences, from huge vocal harmony reminiscent of classic rock icons like Journey and Queen. In 2014, “Get A Little,” the band’s music video for the song, went viral online bringing in massive social media and YouTube numbers, causing the song to hit #6 on ITunes Rock charts. In 2016 they had an Active Rock radio hit single “Bloody Sunrise,” taking the band into almost 5 straight years of non-stop touring. Always trying to stay ahead of the curve, Wayland is returning back to their roots, literally, with their new spin on what they call Rootsy Rock and Roll. It’s easy to hear the southern influence and riff driven story telling reminiscent of The Black Crowes. Their four part harmonies makes one miss the Eagles. Their groovy jamming channels a Tom Petty feel, and the blues influenced, screaming guitars of Led Zeppelin ring out, even when they are casually jamming in the back lounge of their tour bus. They’re on the road over 300 days a year and have been called by some as, “the hardest working band in rock and roll.” The romantic commitment they have made to sincere, song based writing has been standard with this band for the past five years. According to a recent press release, “Their lyrics remain romantic with mid-western charm, and hold hands with the psychedelic guitar rumbles that drive their songs.”
In 2008 he found himself on vacation in Virginia at a place called Smith Mountain Lake. “For the first time in my life I got to see a bluegrass jam,” he recalled. “Although I had been a musician all my life, I had never been exposed to bluegrass, let alone experience something like this live. I was absolutely fascinated by it. I could not believe want I was hearing.” On a trip to San Francisco he bought himself a banjo and completely immersed himself in the music and its instruments. “When I really started writing again objectively with the intent of recording my music I decided to adopt a name rather than go by my given name,” he recalled. “The whole concept of Banjo Bones is given to the fact that I was drawn towards this roots music in nature, and bones representing the structure of it.” When he started performing under that name it really stuck, and everyone just started calling him Banjo. His first EP under that mantra was released in 2012, followed by a few singles, and in 2015 his first full CD, The Place of Dead Roads. In 2017 he released Cowboy Dreams. “I’m really proud of this latest record though,” he said. Ghostly Musings From the Delta allows him to pursue his latest musical fascination with the Steel Guitar and the music of Robert Johnson. “It’s not a blues record, its blues infused. It’s really a tribute record to all the blues influences on me,” he said.
To find out more, visit www.waylandtheband.com
To find out more, visit www.vincentpoag.com Check out
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Banjo Bones Sacramento California is home to singer/songwriter JL “Pepe” Espada, a.k.a. Banjo Bones. With a music career that spans nearly 40 years, including work in Central America, Japan and the Washington DC area, has a new record out, called Ghostly Musings From the Delta. He started playing music when he was 10, and in his first band by the time he was 14. The latest incarnation of his musical career started around 2012 which coincided with his move to California.
To find out more, vivit www.banjobones.com on iTunes
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September 2018
Listen to the expanded interviews at www.spreaker.com/show/ americana-music-profiles, or search Americana Music Profiles in iTunes!
Cindy G The northern most reaches of Appalachia; the hills of southwestern Pennsylvania, were the music launching pad for Cindy “Cindy G” Giejda. She started playing folk and bluegrass as a teenager. Her father, a bluegrass fiddle player himself, encouraged her to play guitar. Cindy recalls her dad helping her decide on an instrument for the school band when she was in fifth grade. He said, “Why don’t you choose an instrument that you don’t need a whole marching band to play along with you?” “So I started playing guitar in fifth grade – that was it – I was so hooked,” she recalled. “I remember after I learned the three basic chords of G, C, and D, I was already writing songs.” Cindy eventually moved away, and branched out as a musician playing rhythm and blues and rock ‘n roll music professionally for many years. She toured from NYC to LA with her Pittsburgh band, The Flashcats, who revived the career of R&B legend Bull Moose Jackson. She performed professionally on into the eighties, and nineties before taking a break and settling into civilian life. Her bluegrass roots and love of songwriting was never far away though. “After my son was born I started getting the musical itch again,” she recalled. “I told my husband that I thought I wanted to go back to playing bluegrass music. You can grow old playing bluegrass music,” she quipped. A chance encounter with some bluegrass pickers on a stroll through the park brought her back to the bluegrass community. “I started playing again and writing songs again,” she said. Cindy released her first bluegrass record in 2012 called The Road. In 2015 she got to work with the Grammy winning Jim Van Cleve on her second CD, Jail Break. In 2016 she took third place in the Chris Austin songwriting competition at Merlefest. And she teams up again with Van Cleve for her most recent record, Moonshiner’s Daughter.
Spayed Koolie
Trinity River Band
Central Florida is home to the guys from Spayed Koolie, and Americana/country/southern rock band who borrows its name from famed 1940’s swing fiddler Spade Cooley. Fiddler Neal Phillips spent some time with us recently, talking about the heritage of his hip band who’s opened for MontgomeryGentry, Kellie Pickler, 38 Special, and Charlie Daniels, just to name a few. “We like to call it southern swamp rock,” Neal suggested, when asked about the music flavor of the band. Neal says he finds himself covering the keyboard and harmonica sounds on the violin which offers the band part of their unique sound. “It gives it that twang to the traditional rock and country songs,” he said. “Our original songs, which we are very proud of,” he said, “mostly come from David’s (Dorr) background and life,” David Dorr founded the band roughly seven years ago. “David and I joke on stage that we have five wives and seven kids among us, and that’s just the ones we know about,” Neal quipped. “People seem to get a kick out of stuff like that. But our music is based on things like that; heartbreak, love, and loss, and sometimes just what it would be like simply growing up in Florida.” Most often performing as a duo, the band, when they can, will also perform as a trio, a 4-piece, and even a 5-6 piece band when opening for name acts or playing at well-attended festivals. The band’s instrumentation includes acoustic and electric guitar, bass guitar, percussion, fiddle, and the occasional keyboard, banjo, or mandolin. “The make-up of the full band changes as availability changes, with the original band being made up of mostly full time employees at Disney,” Neal said. “As somebody would filter out, new people would filter in.” The band in it’s current form, is excited about their first professional single release, “100 Years (Need)” and their cover of Van Morrison’s “Brown-Eyed Girl, both from the recent album release, Ashtray Change.
To find out more, visit www.cindygbluegrass.com
What originally started out as simply a way for the Harris family to enjoy music together, has now become one of the top touring family bands on the bluegrass scene today. Originally known as the Harris Family Band, the now well known Trinity River Band has landed several top songs and several industry awards. Sarah Harris, the oldest of the siblings, plays mandolin and sings a majority of the lead vocals. She is joined by Mom Lisa on bass guitar, dad Mike on guitar and vocals, brother Josh on banjo and dobro, and 16 year old sis Brianna on fiddle. “It started out as bonding time for our family,” Sarah told us recently. “Music was something that we all loved so much, and it really was just for us in the beginning. But doors kept opening up for us, and people kept asking us to come play. And we reached a point where we had to make a decision to jump all in and go full time, or stay part time.” Mike had to give up a construction business which wasn’t as hard as mom, who had been a school teacher for almost 20 years. “We dove in headfirst,” Sarah said, “and we haven’t looked back.” Recently though, like many bands who stand the test of time, and music evolves, you either go stale, or evolve with it. For the gang in Trinity River, it was really an easy jump to branch the music a bit into some broader instrumentation by including some keys and percussion. Not enough to alter the music, but just enough to broaden the sound, and thus broaden the audience along with it. For their latest release, Unbroken, they reached into their bag of songwriter resources and recorded songs penned by Donna Ulisse, “Then She Cried,” which became a quick chart success, as well as writers like Jim Hurst, Mark Brinkman, and others, along with in house writes from both Mike and Sarah. It might be a departure, but it’s still classic TRB. To find out more, vivit www.trinityriverband.com
To find out more, visit www.spayedkoolie.com Check out
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September 2018 Don Brown has spent the better part of his career doing what he calls, “helping people with people.” He’s written five books, including his latest, Simple Truths in Music and Life. This latest project is a collection of wisdom gathered from Don’s experiences and time spent with Uwe Kruger of the Kruger Brothers.
Anchor To Minimize Movement “To play faster, you have to minimize movement, but it’s not just about playing fast. I want you to hit all of the notes too – smooth is fast. Put your little finger down on the first string…keep it there and you have an anchor to minimize movement.” Uwe Kruger Let’s grab another operational definition: Anchor: to prevent or restrict motion, a source of stability or security, to bind one structure to another Take this operational definition – and apply it to the use of one or two of the fingers on your fret hand. “Prevent or restrict motion … a source of stability or security.” This is what
Uwe is talking about. In a “C” chord position he advocates keeping your pinky finger planted on the third fret of the first string. You keep it there, and with your other three fingers you’re playing the “C” chord position, the “F” chord or the “G”. The pinky finger stays there, and in doing so, your fingers never stray far off the fret board. The less your fingers have to move, the quicker and more precisely you’re able to play. Smooth is fast. The same applies to playing in a “G” position. In this case, two fingers remain anchored. The pinky finger is anchored to the same third fret of the first string, and your ring finger is anchored to the third fret of the second string. Your middle and index fingers and even your thumb then move to
form the “G” chord position, the “C”, and even an “A” and “D” chord. Anchor to minimize movement. Minimal movement makes for smooth, and smooth is fast. The Kruger’s’ label and company is “Double Time Music” for a reason. If you know them, you know they can play very fast, they play smooth and they hit all the notes. You can too, and there’s another advantage to these anchoring techniques that we haven’t even talked about yet. Think about it. Perhaps you remember our earlier conversation about the fact that the instrument has to stop sounding every time we hit or lift off the strings. This break, no matter how brief, has to be bridged by your audience. Do it for them! Go back to another part of our definition of anchor, “to bind one structure to another.” These anchoring techniques allow you to minimize movement, and they also serve as that seamless bridge between the 1, 4 and 5 chords. It becomes a drone to effortlessly bind one musical passage to the next. Effortless is smooth, smooth is fast. Smooth is sonically pleasing too
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More Than Just A Print Magazine Occasionally I get asked; “are you on line too?” I guess that’s a fair question when you’re holding a copy of our printed publication. My answer? Of course! We’re all over the web! Just in case you didn’t know that either ... we are ... in a lot of places on the internet. www.AmericanaMusicMagazine.com would be the way to not only read current stories on line, but there is a large catalog of earlier articles as well. You can also link to the full digital version from that site - it reads just like the printed one, one page at a time. Additionally, all of the article/interviews found on the Inside Track page can actually be heard in entirety, from the web page, as well as iTunes, iHeart Radio, and Spotify; just search Americana Music Profiles. By the way, all of the articles are sharable via your favorite social media outlets too! Publisher
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Music From The National Scene
Music From Your Neighbors
welcome to the SUMMER edition of SPINS! Check out all this wonderful ear candy (in no special order)! Fest season is in full swing and we can’t wait to see some of these acts out on stage. Plug in your ear buds and dial up some of these fine folks. And please let them know we sent you. Got one you want us to listen to? send it to:
Uncle Woody, The Spin Doctor PO Box 45 Bridgewater, VA 22812
Trinity River Unbroken
Lonesome Panoramic
Epilogue A Tribute to John Duffey
Town Mountain New Freedom Blues
www.hotbutteredrum.net
www.folkways.si.edu
www.townmountain.net
Banjo Bones Ghostly Musings From The Delta
Inspired by the northern California landscape, Hot Buttered Rum has been charming audiences for nearly two decades with their brand of grassed up original string favorites. Lonesome Panoramic is their sixth CD
Perhaps one of the greatest contributors to bluegrass music; John Duffey’s roles in the legendary bands, The Country Gentlemen, and The Seldom Scene are historic. This latest honors Duffey’s music. Many guests included
See our cover story this issue about this fabulous Carolina roots grass band. Their latest, New Freedom Blues, features further exploration into bigger sound and deeper lyrical content. It’s the cutting edge of new grass music
Banjo Bones pays tribute to his facination with the Steel Guitar on his latest, Ghostly Musings From The Delta. Tagged the “dark side of Americana,” Almost erie, the songs are full of perspective
High Fidelity
Love Canon Cover Story
Stone Stanley The Mudstomp Tapes
Joe Ely The Lubbock Tapes
Hot Buttered Rum
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Hills and Home
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www.banjobones.com
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www.trinityriverband.com
www.highfidelitybluegrass.com
www.lovecanonmusic.com
www.stonestanley.com
www.ely.com
One of the leading family bluegrass bands out there today, the Harris family, reach for new horizons on their latest, Unbroken. A slight fine tuning and mild adjustment to their traditional sound - add a few keys, and a little rhythm beat - it’s a nice new flavor
High Fidelity is an up and coming band promoting the old soul of bluegrass music past. Their first CD, Hills and Home, harkens back to the classic sounds of the 50s and 60s with remakes of songs from groups like the Louvin Bros., and Don Reno
Many of us remember the 80s and 90s fondly. Frankly, some of the best music came from then. Love Canon has carved a niche for themselves by resurrecting classic songs from that era and grassin’ ‘em up. Their latest, Cover Story, won’t dissapoint
Got a hankerin’ for some blues? Look no further than Stone Stanley with his latest serving, The Mudstomp Tapes. It’s a healthy helping of blues, sprinkled with just the right amount of country, and a little rock and roll on the side. Nice grooves Stone
Taken from two sessions, one recorded in 1974, the other in 1978, these gems are like a snapshot in time. Straight up bar room honky-tonk music that harkens back to a day when you knew THAT was country. If you like that classic sound, you’ll DIG this
Mountain Heart Soul Searching
Ray Bonneville
Songs From The Road Band Road To Knowhere
The Slocan Ramblers Queen City Jubilee
Vincent Poag Heros and Demons
www.slocanramblers.com
www.vincentpoag.com
www.songsfromtheroadband.com
Hailing from Toronto’s gritty bluegrass scene, The Slocan Ramblers offer up their own take on grass classics, as well and crafting some hot new tunes to boot. Queen City Jubilee is their latest, and promises to keep entertained all the way through
Vincent rediscovered his voice a little later in life, but it’s never too late to live the dream. Vincent is doing just that while releasing his third CD, Heros and Demons. A bit Randy Newman, Bob Dylan, and Tom Waits - Vincent Poag is mostly just good
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At King Electric
www.mountainheart.com
www.raybonneville.com
Mountain Heart has been through quite a few changes over the year but they’ve always been on the cutting edge of string music - Soul Searching is no exception. The quartet charges full on into this solid 11 track musical experience
Award winning singer/ songwriter Ray Bonneville brings us a new collection of Americana roots/blues with his latest, At King Electric. These 11 new tunes from this Austin based talent will keep you plugged in from the first guitar lick
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It’s the fourth studio album from this highly talented group. With acolades in bluegrass, Americana, and jazz, they have earned several awards and multiple nods from industry piers. Put this group on your must see list
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You can send new Americana CD releases for consideration to PO Box 45, Bridgewater, VA, 22812
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www.AmericanaRhythm.com
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September 2018
continued from page 17 Mountain Railroad. Of course, they didn’t give Hays a lick of credit. One of Hays’ most important works was his Little Log Cabin in the Lane. This song was reworked by Fiddlin’ John Carson and was on one side of his first recording, which marked the very beginning of country music as we know it today. But it doesn’t stop there. This same song was used as the basis of the Western song, Little Old Sod Shanty on the Claim. Hay’s melody was also used for the cowboy song, Little Joe the Wrangler and the railroad song, The Little Red Caboose. Even though Hays’ compositions made a powerful contribution to American music, his name has largely been forgotten. It’s no wonder. Practically every time one of Hays’ songs was published or recorded, his name was left off. Even when his songs were hits for the artists who recorded them, you can look long and hard and you won’t see Hays’ name. Examples of this omission include such artists as the Carter Family and Uncle Dave Macon (You’ve been a Friend to Me,) Fiddlin’ John Carson, Ernest V. Stoneman, Uncle Dave Macon, Riley Puckett and Vernon
Dalhart (Little Log Cabin in the Lane,) The Whitstein Brothers as well as Bill Clifton and Red Rector (We Parted by the Riverside,) Flatt & Scruggs (Jimmy Brown the Newsboy) and Eddie Arnold (Molly Darling). No less an expert historian as Carl Sandburg failed to mention Hays’ name for composing I’ll Remember You Love in My Prayers that appeared in his well-known book, The American Songbag. Even Hays’ song Get in the Middle of the Road was printed in a gospel song collection by Homer Rodeheaver, and listed as a African-American spiritual. Although William Shakespeare Hays’ name has slipped into relative obscurity, many of his songs continue to be sung and recorded by people who relish the sappy and sentimental songs that would bring a tear to a glass eye. ********************************
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Wayne Erbsen has been researching old songs since he was knee high to a pup. You can find the words and music to “Jimmy Brown the Paper Boy” and “Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane” in his book, The Rural Roots of Bluegrass. Visit his web site for easy instruction books for bluegrass and clawhammer banjo, fiddle, mandolin, guitar, dulcimer and ukulele www.nativeground.com.
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