February 2016
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February 2016
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February 2016
“Let life be like music.” ~ Langston Hughes ~
As we look ahead to an exciting 2016, I’m struck by just how many great musicians the world has lost in less than a year; many of them from the early days of country, rock, pop, and soul: Lynn Anderson, Jim Ed Brown, Little Jimmy Dickins, B. B. King, Ben E. King, Percy Sledge, Glenn Frey, David Bowie, Corey Wells (Three Dog Night), Jack Ely (The Kingsmen), and Natalie Cole, and this is sadly, just a short list. In no way can this space pay fair tribute to their confrontations. Rather, I pause to remind you, and myself, of just how fragile and fleeting life is, and how easy it is to take it for granted. May we this year pay closer attention to moments of creativity. May we linger a little longer in those moments, and express our gratitude with greater emphasis. When you encounter music this year, remember the gift that it is to be able to be present there, and then don’t forget to acknowledge to the musician your appreciation for their craft and their offering. Music is the universal language. May we never forget the power it possesses to bring people together in one place, even when there is no other common denominator. Questions, comments, suggestions: greg@americanarhythm.com PUBLISHER Image credit https://trueblueridge.files.wordpress.com
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We Goofed! Yes, sometimes it happens, and we sincerely apologize for our typos! In issue #60, this is the correct spelling of Lorraine Jordan. The Tim White show airs on WPWT, not WAXM. And, the Song Of The Mountains reach is 147 million, not 21 million. Americana Rhythm is published six times a year. All corresponCONTRIBUTORS dence should be sent to PO Box 45, Bridgewater VA, 22812 or Ed Tutwiler email to greg@americanarhythm.com. Copies of Americana Wayne Erbsen Rhythm are made available free at various pick up locations within Donna Ulisse the publication’s region. Subscriptions are available inside the United Don and Martha DePoy States (only) for $16 US currency made payable by check or money Andrew McKnight order sent to, Subscriptions at PO Box 45, Bridgewater, VA, 22812. Mark Whetzel Foreig n su bscrip tion req u ests shou l d b e sen t to Kaye D. Hill greg@americanarhythm.com. Copyright 2014. All rights reserved. DISTRIBUTION Reproduction of any content, artwork or photographs is strictly Ed Tutwiler prohibited without permission of the publisher or original owner. All Zebra Media advertising material subject to approval. Associated Dist. PUBLISHER/EDITOR IN CHIEF Greg E. Tutwiler Associate Editor Ed Tutwiler MARKETING & PROMOTION Mark Barreres (GrassRootsNetworking.com) ADVERTISING Letters, Comments, Suggestions Business office 540-433-0360 greg@americanarhythm.com advertising@americanarhythm.com www.americanarhythm.com
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Honoring A Legend You may remember many years ago there was a popular recording by Don McLean titled, The Day the Music Died. The lyrical message in that song memorialized the death of some early rock and roll folks. While not memorialized by Mr. McLean, the music certainly died for Bluegrass music lovers this past January. The bluegrass and country music world lost a shining beacon with the passing of Miss Dixie Hall, who died Friday Jan. 16, 2015 at age 80 after a lengthy illness. Miss Dixie, as she was known far and wide to generations of pickers and singers, is survived by her husband of 46 years—hall of fame member Mr. Tom T. Hall. Let me tell you a bit about this remarkable lady. Miss Dixie Hall was a bluegrass and country music songwriter, music journalist, and recording label owner. Mrs. Hall wrote more than 500 commercially recorded bluegrass songs, which is more than any female songwriter in bluegrass history. She was an International Bluegrass Music Association Distinguished Achievement Award winner; and she and Tom T. Hall won the Grand Masters Gold prize from the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America after being named songwriters of the year for 10 consecutive years by that organization.
More Than Bluegrass
Mrs. Hall was not just a bluegrass music specialist. Her compositions were also sung by an A-list of country entertainers such as Johnny Cash, Miranda Lambert, and others. As famous as she was as a songstress, she was equally well known as an encourager. She had a knack for gathering talented musicians together in a inclusive manner that left no one on the outside just as she was welcomed as a newcomer by the likes of Mother Maybelle Carter, Tex Ritter and others when she first arrived on the scene in Nashville, TN.
February 2016
By Edward Tutwiler
Manchester, England. As a young person, she was drawn to outside western influences, and, at the age of 10, won a British Broadcasting Company poetry contest with a verse about Canada. She often watched cowboy movies from America and became attracted to the music and learned to ride horses as a youth. By age 18, Mrs. Hall had become a talented horsewoman and was working as a trick rider in Wild West shows on summer weekends and dressing the part. While on a train bound to London and dressed in a Stetson hat and a pair of boots, she caught the attention of western movie star and country music singer, Tex Ritter, who was on a tour of Europe at the time. During the course of their conversation, Ritter mentioned that he would like to have his songs promoted and distributed in Europe, and she told him that she could do that for him. Although Mrs. Hall had no experience with music distribution or promotion, she took some of Ritter’s material to EMI Records which resulted in the record company releasing some of Ritter’s records. Her success with Tex Ritter’s music impressed Don Pierce of Nashville’s Starday Records and he involved her with promoting one of his acts (Bill Clifton, and the Dixie Mountain Boys).At the same time, she was also writing a column for the Country And Western Express magazine. When Pierce offered her a job with Starday in 1961, Dixie took a ship to America.
Tom T. and Miss Dixie at the 2011 Kentucky Music Hall of Fame induction. After she arrived in the US, she first spent some time in Virginia where Bill Clifton and his wife, Sara Lee, had a home (Editors note: you might remember Bill Clifton is credited with promoting the first ever one-day Bluegrass festival in Luray, VA). Through her association with Clifton, she met the Carter family. (Bill Clifton had been a close friend of A.P. Carter, who had passed on only a few months before Dixie arrived in the US.) Mrs. Hall and the Carters formed an immediate and lasting
personal and musical connection. In fact, Tim White of Song of the Mountains fame recently told us that Maybele Carter was instrumental in helping Mrs. Hall obtain her first green card as an immigrant from England in 1961.
The Nashville Scene
Mrs. Hall settled into the Nashville scene writing and co-writing country music songs with successful results. One particular song she cowrote made a hit on a record by Dave Dudley. The B-side contained
Mrs. Dixie Hall, was born Iris Violet May Lawrence and was raised in the West Midlands area, near
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February 2016
a song by a little-known writer named Tom Hall. The two met at the BMI Country Awards in Nashville in 1964. She and Tom Hall married in March of 1968, and he and the former Iris Lawrence built a life together. For a time, Dixie Hall also wrote for country music publications, and she eventually became editor of Faron Young’s Music City News but she set songwriting aside for many years and focused on charity work and animal rights activities working with Nashville’s Humane Society. Sometime in the mid 90s, Tom T. Hall retired from his music career and decided to set his music aside; however, Miss Dixie protested so Mr. Hall encouraged her to get back in the game instead. She wrote a few successful bluegrass songs for singer, Nancy Moore. With that success, Tom T. Hall then began contributing his own ideas for songs. Newly enthused, Tom T. Hall finished a song that wound up topping country charts after Alan Jackson recorded it. Profits from that success helped the Halls fund the renovation of Mrs. Hall’s dog kennel into a state-of-the-art recording studio. With that in place, Mrs. Hall created Blue Circle Records and Good Home Grown Music publishing and made both into effective entities and sometimes regretting not turning to bluegrass music years earlier. Bluegrass artists gravitated to Mrs. Hall’s own songs and to those she and Tom T. co-wrote as well. In the intervening years, Dixie Hall wrote without ceasing. She wrote alone, she wrote with her husband, and she wrote with friends. Mrs. Hall wrote songs even as a brain tumor and other health woes took their toll in late 2014. More than a half-century after arriving in Nashville, Mrs. Dixie Hall was not only well known as bluegrass music songstress, but also as a contemporary country songwriter; a music publisher; a record producer; a music journalist; an animal rights activist; and a community organizer. Most of all, she was a collector and encourager of people and was a person who was always available to help those
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who raised their voices in song. Tom T. Hall told folks that she accomplished everything she wanted to accomplish in life.
Celebrating Life
Tom T. Hall made plans to gather friends and fans to celebrate her life and music, which brings us to this part of our story. Recently, I spoke with Mr. Tim White about such a gathering. Tim White is a legendary disk jockey in the Bristol VA/TN radio scene and producer of public TV’s Song of the Mountains that is staged at the Lincoln Theater in Marion, VA. (You might recall that we profiled Mr. White in Issue 60.) He told me that he is producing a tribute to Miss Dixie on May 7, 2016 for the Song of the Mountains show. The show will feature a line up of musicians who knew Miss Dixie personally and/or have recorded songs she had written. All pieces performed on the show will be songs written by Miss Dixie and Tom T. Hall. I wondered how this show came to be and Mr. White told me that he had discovered that Hall was doing some things in tribute to Miss Dixie and giving personal grants to others to educate and promote bluegrass music. Following is how Mr. White explained it, “I called his office and talked to Ms. Nancy Cardwell. Long story short, Tom liked the idea. I asked him what better way to honor Miss Dixie than to be in front of tens of millions of people on national TV through the Song of the Mountains show? Tom T. Hall immediately thought this to be a great idea and gave us a small grant to help fund the show.”
could assume the shows should air sometime in late 2016 or early 2017. Here is a heartfelt quote from Mr. White, “I knew Miss Dixie. I was always amazed by her sense of humor even sometimes when I know she did not feel well in the last few years of her life. She always had a mischievous twinkle in her eye. She was always looking to pull a prank or get one over on you. I recorded
Song of the Mountains is a nonprofit production owned by the Appalachian Music Heritage Foundation. The May 7th production will feature each artist doing 30 minutes of material in a four to five camera shoot that will edit into two one-hour shows for airing nationally on public television. The shows are taped, edited and released for later showing. Typically it takes six months to one year to get on public television after the final edit. With this timeframe in mind, one
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in her studio; I ate from her table; and I slept in her and Tom’s home. They treated everyone in bluegrass music like that. “These two people were special. They did not have to do what they did but they did because they just loved this music. They could have retired but they did not because of the love they had for each other, the artists, and the music ”
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February 2016
Today I’m sitting in my home office as my husband and a work crew begins the renovations for our new master bedroom. Construction is banging throughout my home; invading any silence I might have hoped for. It put me in mind of the early days of writing songs in Nashville. It was always like writing in a fish bowl for me, as many publishing offices would be decked out with cubicles for writing. Paper-thin walls divided up into tiny rooms that held a small table and 2 chairs which were placed back-to-back and sideto-side. That meant you could clearly hear other songs being born as you or you and your co-writer tried to come up with your song for the day. There was no getting around that way of creating. A writer had to get past the outside noise and compose because that’s how it was done. I learned how
YouTube videos. My husband likes to listen to the ra dio. Sometimes everyone is chattering about something to one another and then there is the I suppose that was excellent training rush of wind and road noises. because to this day I can still “zone” However, I can open my iPad, close out and create my eyes and look for anywhere. As a “When those 15-minute a song. There might be performing bluegrass one single word that artist, the down time breaks come along in a launches me on my that travel affords me workday use them to way to creating a song. is a perfect time to One word leads to form an idea.” write songs. I am not another and before you in a luxurious tour know it I’ve got a bus; we travel in a white 12 passenger verse or chorus started. At this point I Ford van pulling a trailer across the am completely entrenched in the country and singing at festivals, house songwriting process to the point of not concerts and Performing Arts Centers. hearing my name being called or The noise level inside the van is all realizing that we’ve stopped the over the place. Our banjo player loves vehicle. I sing my idea for a melody working on his chops; our bass player into my voice recorder and save all and mandolin player are always that I’ve been working on until I get combing the web and trading ideas or to hear the thoughts in my head regardless of any noise dancing around the walls.
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to wherever we’re going. It’s a miracle every time! I want to encourage you to write in your head as much as you can. Learn to look for the writing opportunities that come your way throughout a day. When those 15-minute breaks come along in a workday, use them to form an idea. Have that voice recorder on your phone ready to capture your genius and hold it until you can get home to write it. I am not saying that you should avoid being “present” at your job as that would make trouble for you, and you don’t need that. I’ve learned to fill up my down time with song, and you can too. This is part of the discipline I apply to my writing. I will say it again and again, the more you write, the better you get at writing. I hope this new year sees you writing more than ever
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February 2016
By Wayne Erbsen
Somebody Stole My Banjo As is my usual routine, this morning I read the Asheville Citizen-Times newspaper over coffee. What grabbed my attention this particular morning was not the usual headlines about the latest news on the war on terror or the details of which candidate had stooped lower than the next to score political points in the 2016 race to the White House. Nope. The headline that caught by eye read, “Man Accused Of Stealing Autographed Banjo.” “Whoa!” I thought to myself. “I’ve got to read this!” “A South Carolina man is accused of breaking into a 1997 red Nissan pickup truck and stealing a Sullivan banjo autographed by Ben Eldridge of the Seldom Scene. The value of the banjo is estimated to be $3500. The man was arrested shortly after he attempted to pawn the banjo. He is being held on $7,500 secured bond.” “Wow!” I thought. He must not have heard the joke about the man who had his car broken into where he had his expensive banjo locked inside. To his surprise, his banjo was still there, but the thief left two more banjos.
If you’ve ever thought about at-
tending a music camp, perhaps this is the one for you. This year marks the third installment of the Annual Winter Music Camp held in conjunction with the 28th annual Folk Alliance International conference in Kansas City. Slated for February 18th – 21st, the music camp features 40 top-notch instructors from around the world. They will facilitate over 90 classes and group sessions for students of all ages and performance levels from beginner to master level sessions. This year ’s instructors include David Amram, Alison Brown, Corey Harris, Danny Fowler, Betse Ellis, and Albert Lee, just to name a few. The camp is open to the pub-
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“What a dope!” I thought to myself. “Didn’t he get the memo about leaving more banjos than you take?” Later in the morning I had a dental appointment. After the dentist gave me a shot of Novocain, I had to wait fifteen minutes or so for my mouth to get numb. With nothing else to do, I decided to distract myself by writing a song based on the article I had read about the guy stealing a banjo. I recalled the old song from the AfricanAmerican tradition that is sometimes called “Somebody Stole My Old Coon Dog” and I decided to use that. Since the song is about a robbery, I didn’t see any harm in ripping off the old melody. It was, I was sure, in the public domain. Before I knew it, I had the chorus, and was part way through writing the next verse when the dentist came in and interrupted me, bless his heart. When I got home, I finished it off.
melody and the chords are tabbed out. A note with a single stem attached to it is a quarter note. The two notes that are connected are eighth notes. If you’d like to play it in old-time clawhammer style, simply add the clawhammer lick after the quarter notes and you should be good to go. If you’re a bluegrasser, just add your favorite banjo rolls after those quarter notes, and you should be all set. If you need a hand figuring out how to add your clawhammer lick or bluegrass rolls, check out Wayne’s brand new book, Clawhammer Banjo Tunes, Tips & Jamming or his bestseller entitled Bluegrass Banjo for the Complete Ignoramus!
Note on the lyrics: the words go with the melody on the first two lines of tab. I borrowed the melody of lines 3 and 4 from the old tune “Liza Jane.” Just play this part as an instrumental interlude after the chorus.
Bill Kirchen, who is famous for his tune “Hot Rod Lincoln,” will be teaching Honky Tonk guitar along with Redd Volkaert (Merle Haggard’s guitarist) and the legendary Albert Lee (Emmylou Harris, Eric Clapton).”
munity. It attracts over 2500 registrants every year, and features official showcases, exhibitors, educational panels and professional development workshops, all held under one roof. There are more than 190 showcases from 11 countries, including the United States, Canada, Ireland, United Kingdom, Sweden, New Zealand, Australia, Denmark, Estonia, India, and Japan.
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Check out Wayne Erbsen’s web site for free videos, articles and a blog and his instruction books for banjo, fiddle, mandolin, guitar, dulcimer and ukelele at www.nativeground.com.
Here is my humble effort to write a song about stealing a banjo. The melody is simple enough. If you’d like to hear me play it on banjo, visit nativeground.com/old-banjo-mp3. Note on the tab, which is written out for 5-string banjo: only the bare bones
Song Camp lic, and provides “campers” a winter event akin to a summer camp. Camp Director Doug Cox said, “The variety of classes we are offering under the category of the folk music banner are quite substantial.” “Students can drop in for singing classes with Gospel trio, The Sojourners, or take a class on Irish Folk Music with We Banjo 3,” he said. “The Hot Club of Cowtown will be teaching Country Swing on fiddle, guitar and bass, and Blind Boy Paxton will be giving classes on old-time banjo and blues piano styles. Mandolin students will have the opportunity to learn from bluegrass legend Roland White along with blues master Rich DelGross.
Attendees bring a diverse array of genres to the stage, including Appalachian, Bluegrass, Blues, Cajun, Celtic, Roots, Traditional, World, as well as Singer-Songwriter. The conference itself is one of a kind, and is considered by many as the world’s largest gathering of the folk music industry and com-
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For music camp information and conference tickets, visit www.folk.org
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February 2016
Top Of His Game With a voice like Dave Adkins,
you just can’t stay out of the game for long. In the roots/bluegrass/ Americana world, there are some of the most pure vocalists I’ve ever heard, and for me, Dave is in the top of that group. His musical career lead him straight from high school to a two year stint playing bluegrass at Dolly Parton’s famed Dollywood six days a week. From there he found himself in Nashville as a country music singer trying to make it among a sea of country music singers. After several years on the road with no real major breakout, he settled into family life in Elkhorn City, Kentucky, driving a truck for a living, content to put the music career behind him, and be happy singing in the church choir. “One Easter Sunday morning I was singing for the service,” Dave told me. “After the service an old music buddy of mine who had visited the church that morning came up and told me that he cried through the whole song. He asked me to
By Greg Tutwiler
get back into bluegrass music with him, but I turned him down at first.”
That band lasted for about four and half years before Dave released his first solo project in 2014 called Nothing To Lose. “I love being a song writer,” Dave told me. “So I
Dave’s friend was persistent, and Dave was steadfast for several weeks. “He came to me one more time and said, ‘I’m not going to bother you any more after this, but I’m going to ask you one more time …’ I don’t know why, but I said yes.”
That’s not exactly how it went down though. Shortly after that, Dave and his friend formed a band called Republik Steele and immediately got the attention of the bluegrass world with Dave’s song written to his wife, Katrina, called “Heart Strings.”
Last year Dave collaborated with Edgar Loudermilk, formally with Russell Moore and IIIrd Time Out, to create Adkins and Loudermilk, a project that produced several top songs, and a top twenty CD for the year 2015. Not bad for a guy who expected to settle for a life of strictly hometown performances.
Solo Again
One More Time
Dave consulted his wife, of course, and got the green light to give music business one more try. “I’m in my middle 30s, I thought. Nobody’s going to hear what I’m doing. I’m going to play a few fire departments and be done with it.”
2014, and the album itself was in several top ten lists. “I was just ecstatic,” he said.
wanted to include some of my songs on this CD too.” One of those, “Pike County Jail,” was in the number one spot on the bluegrass charts three times, and was on the charts eight consecutive months, and the sixth most played bluegrass song in the country for
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This past fall, Dave headed back to the studio for another self titled solo project on Mountain Fever Records, scheduled for a February 2016 release. Dave, along with his band, The Dave Adkins band, will begin touring this winter. The first single, “Change Her Mind” is as good as anything Dave has written to date. Quite possibly, this new CD is his best work, and certainly my favorite, especially his Chris Stapleton penned cut, “Fool-osophy.” If there was ever a voice that matched Stapleton’s pen, it’s Dave Adkins. Dave is at the top of his game
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How Blue February 2016
I can’t think of many genre’s of
music where the entire family can be in the band all at the same time. One of the neat things about bluegrass/string music is that it affords those families who choose to pursue music as a shared passion, the opportunity to share the stage and life style together.
By Greg Tutwiler
we talk about the inner workings of their family band. “The very first time my mom and dad met he was singing. And from the early beginnings of their relationship they always thought music would be a part of their journey as a marriage and their life.”
time band, and now we’ve been full time for over four years.”
Even though music was the dream, it wasn’t cemented in their relationship until much later. Lisa told me that the family music plan didn’t start taking shape until she was about twelve. “Even though I’m playing mandolin now, dad taught me how to play on guitar. My brother started playing banjo about a year after that. About that same time, we all went to a festival together, and we knew that’s what we wanted to do.”
that we’ve incorporated a lot of many different things,” she said. “Our love of music is so vast. We do a lot of bluegrass, but we also add in some country, folk, Irish Celtic, and even some swing occasionally.”
The band still plays in churches when they get the chance, and when they are at secular music festivals, they still strive to include a few gospel songs into their set. “We just love so many different genre’s
ends, very much part time, but we were getting busier and busier all the time. It just finally came to that point where they really had to make a hard decision to take a leap of faith and quit their jobs to fully invest into this band full time.” People kept asking the band to play places and we kept having to say no because of Mike and Lisa’s jobs and the travel schedule. “That was really a tipping point that caused us to ask that tough question. And
Currently, there are several family bands on the road in the bluegrass industry. I recently caught up with Sarah Harris, lead singer for the Trinity River Band in which she performs with her siblings Brianna, and Josh, and parents Mike, and Lisa. Callahan, Florida is home base for this family who spend quite a bit of time on the road as full time musicians. In their short eight years together they have been nominated for several awards, and had five charting hits including the recent, “How Blue,” which peaked at number two. From their humble beginnings as a local church/gospel band, to the national act they’ve become today, these folks have stayed true to their faithful beginnings while blending Inspirational Country, Acoustic Roots, Folk and Bluegrass music into their now popular act. Kentucky Music Hall of Famer and Award-Winning SingerSongwriter, Larry Cordle said, “Trinity River Band has an incredibly close and beautiful family harmony.”
Melodic Beginnings
“My parents both grew up around music,” Sarah told me, as
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“It started just for us really to have something to do together as a family, but more and more doors kept opening,” Sarah said. “Long before we knew it we were a part
Full Time Family First
Many bands strive to be a full time band and make a living at it. “We are so blessed to be able to do what we do. We love as a job, and it’s also our passion and our hobby at the same time,” Sarah said. “My mom was a school teacher and my dad was working at the Sherriff’s office. The band was only playing on week-
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spiritually, we were all on the same page and really felt like this is what God wanted us to do. Mom and dad had a very serious conversation with my brother and I about what this meant, and even though we were younger, we were totally committed to the plan, and to each other more importantly. It’s been incredibly special and God have been blessing the hard work.” There are pros and cons to being a family band however, Sarah says there are more pros than there are cons. “We really are such a close family. And we know it’s a special thing. A lot of families couldn’t do
February 2016
this. It takes commitment to each other, and God is the center of our lives. God comes first, our family second, and then music after that. As long as we keep it in that order, it’s wonderful. Certainly not to imply that we’re some kind of perfect family that never has problems – we’re still human. But when we have issues come up, we get it out, pray about it, and get it over with. For us, a family that plays together,
“How Blue,” by Reba McIntire was their most recent release and it turned out to be a #2 song. “As a cover song, although it felt like this was the time to record it, it also felt very risky,” Sarah said. “You just never know how people will respond. It’s a country song by a classic country artist – and we put our spin on it – so it’s just one of those things we took a chance with, and it paid off. The way we did it was so different
and prays together, stays together. That’s how it works for us.”
from her version, I feel like we made it our own. It just made us feel really, really good, and accomplished for doing it in the right way. The response was very unexpected, but it was so nice to have people love our version of that song.”
We Write The Songs
Sarah has been nominated several times for her talent as a song writer. “It’s an art. It’s a craft, and I love it even though it’s hard work,” she said. “My dad is an amazing song writer too. I know I’m biased, but he should really win more awards for his songwriting. My brother writes a lot of our instrumentals, and even my mom has even written a few songs for us. Little sis Brianna is
starting to get pretty good at song writing too. It’s really a collective thing when we look at our original material.We also have an amazing songwriting friend that sends us amazing songs as well.
Does It Last
“We talk about it pretty often actually,” Sarah said. “We’ve talked about it very openly. We know this family unit as a band doesn’t last forever. At whatever point that mom and dad bow out, hopefully there is some other folks in the wings to take their place. I am in a serious relationship, so I can see that kind of shift happening over the next few years, but it’s okay. We really love each other so much and we love what we do, so we don’t worry about it. It will sort itself out when it needs to. We all want a long lasting career out of this, so we’ll do what we need to do to make things work out. In three to five years, you might see an extra band member, who knows. I don’t want to jinx anything. We’ve already gotten to do this longer than we could have imagined anyway,” she concluded
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February 2016
Why Nashville? We Americana string music fans sometimes assume that the so called Big-Bang in country music occurred over a few days in Bristol, VA/TN. Certainly, this 1927 event lead to the beginning of several nationally known touring acts (think Carters, Jimmie Rogers, Earnest Stoneman, and so forth), plus a countless gathering of other lesser lights who trailed close behind. And, yes, the Bristol sessions led to a treasure trove of recordings that a nation of listeners could play on their parlor crank-up record machine. However, did you ever wonder how recording sessions in a sleepy railroad town on the border of VA and TN morphed into the national musical movement in Nashville that it became? I just returned from a pleasure trip to Nashville, TN. You cannot go to Nashville without being washed over with its country music coating. This washing got me to wondering why Nashville became the
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nurturing hot bed for a genre of music which from all understanding was an unsophisticated, regional sound. It had its origins in Scot-Irish infused Appalachian Mountain ballads and reels all mixed with African influenced piedmont blues sounds. Www.visitmusiccity.com claims that music was always associated with the city. Here’s how they put it, “Nashville’s earliest settlers celebrated in the late 1700s with fiddle tunes and buck dancing after safely disembarking on the shores of the Cumberland River. Nashville’s first celebrity, the noted frontiersman and Congressman Davy Crockett was known far and wide for his colorful stories and fiddle playing.” In the late 1800s, a group of singers from Nashville’s Fisk University (a school with the mission of educating freed slaves after the Civil War) known as the Fisk Jubilee Singers made an around-the-world tour as a fund raiser for the school. After a
By Edward Tutwiler
concert performed before the Queen of England, the queen stated that the Fisk Jubilee Singers must come from the Music City— thus earning Nashville the title of Music City bestowed by none other than the Queen of England.
The Mother Church
As for the historic Ryman Auditorium now revered as the mother church of country music, it gained regional fame in 1897 when a group of Confederate veterans chose Nashville as the site of a massive reunion. They held the event at this former tabernacle in downtown Nashville. Because of the vast number of visitors to the reunion, organizers constructed a new balcony inside the tabernacle to accommodate the crowd—the same balcony that is a focal point today. Way before the Ryman Auditorium became known as the downtown home of the Grand Ole Opry, it garnered a national reputation. Enrico Caruso, John Phillip
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Sousa and the Vienna Orchestra gave performances there to great reception because of the hall’s acoustic qualities. In 1925, some Nashville business people opened a clear-channel radio station with the call letters, WSM. The station began airing a country music show that was dubbed the Grand Ole Opry. Because of its high powered signal and clear channel status, the WSM signal covered the entire eastern US thus providing a huge listening audience for this country music show. During this same era, radio receivers and record players were fast becoming desired mass entertainment media devices in folk’s homes across the land. Thus, the coming together of a powerful radio broadcast in Nashville, TN that aired a popular genre of music; new home audio devices in the form of radio receivers, phonograph records, and record players, helped secure Nashville’s reputation as a musical center and solidified the nickname of Music City.
February 2016
pay homage to its roots. It is the longest-running radio show in the US having been in continuous production for more than 85 years. The web site words tell it this way, “It has ignited the careers of hundreds of country stars and lit the fuse for Nashville to explode into a geographic center for touring and recording. The modern-day empire of Music Row, a collection of recording studios.”
The Ryman, Nashville TN
New pickers and singers of country music emerged from the hills and villages to converge upon Nashville, TN hoping to get on The Opry, record a record, and cash in on the fame that wide exposure could provide.
Still The One
The Opry is still staged live every week and even though it has spawned an entertainment Mecca in the form of a resort hotel and performance venue, it returns to its mother church every December to
broadcasted a popular nurturing stage show in an historic venue that spawned record production and publishing to all come together and form an entertainment industry on the banks of Cumberland River in central Tennessee. The perfect storm occurred
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“Record labels, entertainment offices and other music-associated businesses, populate the area around 16th and 17th Avenues South. Nashville’s connection to music is unequaled, and its reputation as Music City has been consistently proven for over 200 years. Nashville is the city where music is written, recorded and performed every single day.” So, the answer to why Nashville— is because a powerful radio station
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February 2016
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
Ryan Cain and the Ables premiere. It may not sound like a big deal to have a song playing on the jukebox during a bar scene in a TV show, but to a rockabilly band from West Virginia it is a really big deal. That show was seen by 2.3 million viewers on the night it aired. There is a whole legion of fans of the show that we were unaware of at the time. Downloads of the song immediately increased and the streaming increased by over 1000%,” he told me gleefully.
FEATURE ARTISTS
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ne of the earliest forms of rock and roll music came out of Memphis in the early 50s on labels like Sun Records. This hyped up, rhythmic music became know as hillbilly, or rockabilly music, and took the nation by storm. Like all forms of music, rock and roll changed over the years, and rockabilly slid into the ranks of nostalgia. Occasionally it makes a return to the limelight with groups like Brian Setzer’s Stray Cats, but mostly the sound is carried forward by committed traditionalist like our feature group this month, Ryan Cain and the Ables. Formed in 2011, this quartet from Clarksburg, WV released their first CD in late 2012, titled My Pistol Rides Shotgun. The CD features a collection of songs penned by front man, Ryan Cain, and it charted well on the Roots 66 chart, and the Roots Music Report. It was the most added CD on the Americana chart in December of that year. In addition to Ryan on vocals, lead guitar, and piano, the current lineup features Evan Jones on acoustic guitar, and electric bass Gary Hamrick on drums, and Brandon Elmore on upright bass, and acoustic guitar.
Consumed
“Ryan lives Rockabilly, he is rockabilly,” Gary told me. “Not just the music, but the lifestyle. Nothing about him is contrived.” The band
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prides themselves on their versatility to blend other like genres into their music, like Honky Tonk, Hillbilly, Western Swing, and Doo Wop. “A lot of rockabilly bands like to take songs and amp them up into rockabilly. We consider ourselves traditionalists and try to stick with authenticity,” Gary said. A Ryan Cain and the Ables show is a history lesson on the early influences of rock and roll. Their web site says; “Equally versed in guitar, standup bass, and piano, Ryan covers music from Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eddie Cochran, Elvis Presley, and a whole lot more. The Ables perform much more than a concert. It is a musical journey paying tribute to the pioneers of rock and roll, rockabilly and early country music.”
Takin’ It To ‘Em
“A lot of rockabilly bands gear towards rockabilly scenes,” Gary said. “If you live in areas with larger populations, such scenes are much easier to find. Since we’re from
West Virginia, there is not a population base here that really supports any one style of music. We see the band as taking Rockabilly to the masses.” Gary said that they feel fortunate to have been able to amass a large following. “People that are new to our shows may not even know what rockabilly is when they arrive,” he said. “But if the music is good enough, that doesn’t matter. Ryan tries to educate the audience on rockabilly during the show. We are trying to preserve not only a genre of music, but a generation.”
Honered By Airwaves
The band’s song, “Yes Indeedy” was featured in Episode 1, of season 10, on the television show, Supernatural. “That was a great honor. It actually all came about because of a guy who liked our CD. Turns out, he was a television producer and passed it along to the music supervisors. A couple years later I got a call letting me know that they would be using it in the season 10
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Although Ryan is a prolific song writer, the band likes to mix up the music for live shows. “We do a blend of covers/originals,” Gary said. “Our CD, My Pistol Rides Shotgun, has sold really well. But we need to cover rockabilly to show where the music came from. Most people don’t realize that as great as the Stray Cats were, a large portion of their music was covers. Great songs need to be played, regardless of who wrote them.”
Multi-Skilled
As with most bands, summertime is the biggest season for Ryan Cain and the Ables. Gary said, “It seems like a full time job then, but we are all involved in other work. Ryan is a School bus driver, Gary works as an investigator in the prosecuting attorney’s office, Brandon is a laborer, and Evan owns one of the oldest music stores in the state.” While the band spends warm weather months playing fairs and festivals and winter months doing everything from casinos to private functions, their sights are set on the next chapter, a new CD set to be released summer of 2016.
www.CainandtheAbles.com
February 2016
Along
the Shenandoah Music Trail By Martha Hills
Heart And Soul Of The Jam Editor’s note: If you are a regular at any sort of JAM or Music Circle, you will likely know someone like the gentleman featured in this article. There are those that follow, and those that lead, and we need both. It’s nice to know that communities of musicians have leaders hanging around like Danny Lam. Even if you don’t know Danny, you’ll likely say, “hey, I know that guy.” There are musicians, and then there are master musicians; and on occasion there are those who move beyond, and selflessly work in every way to preserve and promote their music for others. Danny Lam, the patriarch of the Elkton,
VA area’s bluegrass music is a master musician and a singer who exemplifies this selfless work. I first met Danny when I moved to Virginia eight years ago when my husband Don took me to my first bluegrass festival. Every year the band Nothing Fancy hosts a music festival in Buena Vista, VA. One evening, in the middle of a field, musicians were playing in groups everywhere. Being new to the bluegrass culture, it was a surprise to hear what I thought was Bill Monroe’s band resurrected. As I got closer, I could see musicians playing at breakneck speed while moving heads together to hear each
other’s harmonies. Danny was right in the middle singing tenor, and each time the songs would end he would shout out another song, and telling the other musicians, “good job, that was a great break, or never heard you play so well.” What a night to remember!
Heart Of The Jam
Over the years, I have had the honor to hear Danny play and sing in various venues: benefits to raise money for musicians in need, lawn parties, jams and churches. Then two years ago Don and I started hosting a jam session in Elkton, Virginia every Tuesday. Danny Lam was right there to help us in any way he could. It was there that I realized what a huge contribution he makes to the community. His presence was enough to make the jam sessions successful and very enjoyable. Danny told me he started playing the mandolin when he was five
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years old, and by age six, he started to play guitar. By age nine he was regularly playing bass with his uncle, Norman Dean. That band consisted of Danny’s mother, Mary, on piano and autoharp, her brother Norman Dean on bass and fiddle, her other brother Eugene Dean on fiddle, Ashby Hensley on piano, continued on page 18
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February December 2016 2015
Here’s A Look Ahead To What’s On Tap For 2016 JANUARY Winter Village Bluegrass Festival January 29 - 31, 2016 Ithaca, NY www.wintervillagebluegrass.org
FEBRUARY SPBGMA Bluegrass Music Awards February 4 - 7, 2016 Nashville, TN www.spbgma.com Bluegrass First Class February 19 - 21, 2016 Ashville, NC www.bluegrassfirstclass.com Folk Alliance International Conference February 17 - 21, 2016 Kansas City www.folk.org Neuse River Music Fest February 19 - 20, 2016 Kinston, NC www.neuseriverfest.com
Upper Potomac Spring Music Weekend March 11 - 13, 2016 Shepherdstown, WV www.upperpotomacmusic.info
Chantilly Bluegrass Festival May 27 - 28, 2016 Floyd, VA www.chantillyfarm.com
Suwannee Spring Festival March 17 - 20, 2016 Live Oak, FL www.suwanneespringfest.com
DelFest May 26 - 29, 2016 Cumberland, MD www.delfest.com
APRIL
Kerrville Folk Festival May 26 - June 12, 2016 Kerrville, TX www.kerrvillefolkfestival.org
Old Settler’s Music Festival April 14 - 16, 2016 Austin, TX www.oldsettlersmusicfest.org Merlefest April 29 - May 1, 2016 Wilkesboro, NC www.merlefest.org Charm City Bluegrass April 30, 2016 Baltimore, MD www.charmcitybluegrass.com
MAY Doyle Lawson Bluegrass Festival May 5 - 7, 2016 Denton, NC
Gardner Winter Music Festival February 27 - 28, 2016 Morgantown, WV www.www.gwmf.org
http://www.farmpark.com/doyle-lawson-bluegrass/
Everglades Bluegrass Festival February 26 - 27, 2016 Aventura, FL www.southfloridabluegrass.org
Loudoun Bluegrass Festival TBA May, 2016 Tysons Corner, VA www.bluegrassloudoun.com
MARCH Cabin Fever Pickin Party March 3 - 5, 2016 Virginia Beach, VA www.cabinfeverpickinparty.org Richmond Bluegrass Virginia March 6, 2016 Richmond, VA www.rvabluegrassjam.com
Central VA Family Bluegrass May 19 - 21, 2016 Amelia, VA www.ameliafamilycampground.com Bloomin’ Barbeque & Bluegrass May 20 - 21, 2016 Sevierville, TN www.bloominbbq.com Hills Of Home Bluegrass Festival May 26 - 28, 2016 Coeburn, VA www.drralphstanleyfestival.com
Email festival listings to info@americanarhythm.com
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www.AmericanaRhythm.com www.AmericanaRhythm.com
Little John Mountain Music Festival May 26 - 28, 2016 Snow Camp, NC www.littleJohnsMountainMusic.com Crooked Road Dulcimer Festival May 26 - 29, 2016 Ferrum, VA http://crookedroaddulcimerfestival.org/ Gathering In The Gap TBA May, 2016 Big Stone Gap, VA www.gatheringinthegapmusicfestival.com Fiddlers Grove Festival May 27 - 29, 2016 Union Grove, NC www.fiddlersgrove.com
JUNE Graves Mountain Festival June 2 - 4, 2016 Syria, VA www.gravesmountain.com Bluegrass In Cherokee June 2 - 4, 2016 Cherokee, NC www.adamsbluegrass.com
February 2016
Listen to the expanded interviews at www.spreaker.com/show/ americana-music-profiles, or search Americana Music Profiles in iTunes!
Bobby Bridger
Mary Beth Cross
Washboard Slim and the Bluelights
Huston Texas’s Bobby Bridger has traveled the world performing his historical trilogy, A Ballad of the West since 1974. Audiences from America, Canada, Europe, Australia, and Russia have experienced this highly-acclaimed, epic, one-man show.
Wisconsin singer/ songwriter, Mary Beth Cross, is no stranger to Americana music. Her most current CD, Beyond Good And Evil, is a folk Americana collection of original and cover tunes, and earned her the Rural Roots Music Commission Folk-country CD of the Year in 2014.
New Haven, Connecticu t based Washboard Slim and the Bluelights have been performing together for over 40 years, and have evolved into “one of the most versatile and original of jug bands around.” Led by founder Peter Menta (a.k.a. Washboard Slim), the act features not only the washboard, but also instruments like the wash tub bass, jug, banjo, kazoo, harmonica, fiddle, and drums. The band combines this with powerful harmonies to sell out dance halls all over the northern US, and Canada.
His professional recording career began in 1967 in Nashville while recording for Monument and Nugget Records. A 1970 signing with RCA Records led him to Hollywood where he recorded two albums - Merging of Our Minds, and, And I Wanted to Sing for the People. In 1973 he left RCA and headed to Mexico’s Chihuahuan Desert to, as he says, “reinvent myself and focus on a career as an epic balladeer.” He’s appeared on several PBS shows, ABC, CNN, A&E, and NPR. And he has performed at 27 consecutive Kerrville Folk Festivals, eventually penning, “Heal In The Wisdom,” which has become the official festival anthem. It has now been sung for 36 years at the conclusion of the festival. A Ballad of the West trilogy features 34 songs that chronicle the American West “in verse and song” from 1822 to modern times, “all historically documented,” he said. “A relative, Jim Bridger, born in Richmond, VA, is widely known as the premier mountain man of the 1820s and 30s out in Wyoming. His career was very long and colorful in the American West.” he said. “When I discovered I was related to him, it really fired me up, and sparked the writing of the trilogy.” Bobby’s last commercial record, Heal The Wisdom, was released in 1980. “In the years after, I did mostly theater with plays I wrote,” he said. “In 2013, a friend convinced me to do a kick starter campaign. We were very successful with it, so I decided to make another record.” The new release is titled Vagabond Heart. “I’m so excited about it,” he said. “I’ve been working on this in my mind for a while now, and it’s nice to be able to get all these songs together in one place and share them with an audience.” To find out more, visit www.bobbybridger.com
Mary Beth’s rural Wisconsin upbringing and the Rocky Mountains where she currently lives make for a vivid backdrop for many of the songs she writes as she heads back to the studio for her new CD due out later this year. Her musical career began in the 70s and has been influenced by artists Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Kate Wolf, Jackson Browne, Judy Collins, and Emmy Lou Harris. Dave Bechtel, Nashville producer who produced her CDs, In My Right Mind, and Beyond Good And Evil, said, “What is so compelling about Mary Beth’s music to me is that it both educates and moves me. Her love and understanding of the struggles of the people for whom this great country was founded creates compelling stories. For her to tell these stories that so few have ever heard gives a voice to those who were born in a time when not everyone was treated as equal. This reveals Mary Beth’s compassionate heart.” “I enjoy the creative process,” she said. “Not that I need to be in charge, but I love being a part of helping put it all together. And I enjoy telling the back story behind these songs – where the inspiration comes from.” Mary Beth has this uncanny way of putting herself into the shoes of those she’s writing about and imagining things from their perspective. “This next CD will be about where I make my home here in Colorado. Chris Pandolfi of the Infamous String Dusters will be at the helm for this one, so of course there will be plenty of banjo, fiddle, mandolin, and guitar,” she said. “Not a lot of news events in this one,” she chuckled. Feels Like Home, will be the title, and Cross says, that it will indeed feel more like home.
To find out more, visit www.marybethcross.com
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“In the late 60s, Jug bands were part of the underground folk scene,” Peter told me. “It was a rougher, bluesier alternative to the mellow main-stream folk music prolific at that time.” Jug bands were first recorded in the 1920s in Louisville, KY, and then in Memphis, TN. “They were race records for the most part,” Peter said, “Performed mostly by African Americans, on a combination of home made and conventional instrument. They sold pretty well as 78 rpm singles. A lot of it was party music, some of it was down and dirty blues music, and some of it was even jazz and gospel oriented,” he said. The band strives to honor that tradition. Their current CD, Back To The Well, features a slight deviation though. “We drew from the well of southern traditional roots music to re-interpret and update old gems and to write new ones,” Peter said. “Of course we included jug band and blues music, but we also took in Cajun, gospel and early country string band styles.” Also featured is the distinct sound of rockabilly, and it’s not by accident. “We’ve invented a style that’s a cross between jug band music and rockabilly that we call jugabilly,” Peter said “This record is a little more fire and brimstone and little less traditional jug band,” he said. “It’s a different direction for us, and for a jug band.” Legendary blues/ folk artist, Eric Von Schmidt described Washboard Slim and the Bluelights as “traditional music on overdrive.” To find out more, vivit www.washboardslim.com
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February 2016
Music From The National Scene
Music From Your Neighbors
welcome to another edition
of SPINS! Feast your ears on all this ear candy! (in no special order) - This collection will keep you busy for a while - Wow! Grab your iPad or Smart Phone and dial up some of these fine folks. We bet you’ll love them all like we do! It’s a new year with lots of new music in store. Enjoy! www.AmericanaRhythm.com Uncle Woody, The Spin Doctor PO Box 45 Bridgewater, VA 22812
Jeff Crosby And The Refugees Waking Days
www.bearfamilyproductions.com
Chuck Mead and the guys with BR5-49 hit America by storm in the mid 90s as a must see honky tonk band. In 1996, a German TV show captured the magic - and here it is, one for the good times. This is SO much fun
Singer/Songwriter Peter Cooper steps away from the pen on this one. “It’s not a tribute,” Peter says, “These are songs I most wanted to sing.” We’re glad you did, Peter. Well done!
Old-time, Appalachian, roots music duo, Debra Clifford and Becca Wintle have created an authentic, almost haunting sound with their new CD, The Farwells. Hints of mountain, bluegrass, and celtic set this one apart
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Performing 250+ dates a year, Jeff Crosby is on track to make his name known for sure. His brand of 70s inspired, Americana folk is just what this generation needs; A memory lane experience
The Grascals And Then There’s This
Nouveaux Honkies Blues For Country
Tammy Jones Robinette & The Drive
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D. L. Duncan
Black Foot Gypsies Handle It
The Farwells Debra Clifford & Becca Wintle www.thefarwellsband.com
Peter Cooper Depot Light Songs Of Eric Taylor
BR5-49 One Long Saturday Night
D. L. Duncan
www.redbeetrecords.com
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www.jeffcrosbymusic.com
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www.blackfootgypsies.com
www.dlduncan.com
www.grascals.com
www.tnhband.com
www.tammyjonesrobinetteandthedrive.com
Handle It marks the debut CD for this re-tooled four piece roots, blues act. It is said “The Blackfoot Gypsies create a rock 'n' roll pace and angst that keep your heart alive, all while pounding to a true Nashville beat.” It’s a full dose roots rock and then some
Dave “DL” Duncan’s two song wtiting gold records, and two nominations for Blues Music Association’s Song Of The Year award set the stage for this new self titles release. It’s contemporary blues at it’s finest and well worth a spin. DL wrote eight of the 10 tracks
Two time IBMA Enterainers of the Year, and three time nominated Grammy act The Grascals got their start as Dolly Parton’s tour band. They’ve had numerous chart topping hits. Their latest CD welcomes new band mate John Bryan. Good stuff
Americana duo, Tim O’Donnell and Rebecca Dawkins make up this funky, bluesified, country Americana set they call Blue For Country. It’s a bubbling gumbo of roots, Texas swing, honkytonk, and a shake or two of spice for good measure
Gospel grass crossover artist Tammy Jones brings her award winning talents to the bluegrass ranks with her new CD. Two consecutive awards as a Sounthern Gospel #1 writer, Tammy puts pen to grass classics here
Larry Keel Experienced
Robert Hill Have Slide Will Travel
The Welfare Liners Just Stars For Light
Bluegrass Stuff The Old Brigade
Bill Emerson & Sweet Dixie
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www.larrykeel.com
www.roberthillband.com
www.thewelfareliners.com
www.bluegrass.it/HOME.html
The Gospel Side Of
This is the 15th release from flatpicking master Larry Keel. The all original collection features guest appearences from headl iers; D el McCoury, Peter Rowan, Keller Williams, and Sam Bush, among others. Fans will appreciate this new set
Noted for his slide guitar work, Little Rock, Arkansas blues master Robert Hill bakes up some funky new muffins with this new collection, Have Slide Will Travel. He’s shared the stage with Chris Smithers, Levon Helm, and the like. You’ll dig this
This is the second full length CD for the Athens, GA band, The W elfare Liners. This rocked up string collection has a nostalgic, almost western feel. It almost feels like a movie sound track. nine of the ten tracks are all original
Bluegrass is not just an American past time. One of the oldest, and still active European bluegrass bands is Bluegrass Stuff, founded in 1977. Steeped in the Bill Monroe tradition, they are a treat to listen to
www.bluegrassville.com/billemeerson
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You can send new Americana CD releases for consideration to PO Box 45, Bridgewater, VA, 22812
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The Washington Post called Bill Emerson a banjo legend - we agree. The Gospel Side Of is Sweet Dixie’s fifth release for R ural Rh ythm records. Bill Emerson is a bluegrass statesman, and this disk further proof
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February 2016
Trail, Continued from page 16 Elvin Winegard on the washboard; and a young Danny Lam sitting in on bass when he could. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, this band configuration played for socials and dances in the area including the popular UTC dances just north of Harrisonburg, VA. Danny noted that his first band was a group called Grass Associates. In 1979 he joined the band, 100 Proof. Many feel this band set the Shenandoah Valley standard for hard driving bluegrass for nearly 30 years. The group disbanded in 2006 and Danny returned to playing with hometown friends who are now regulars at the Elkton Community Bluegrass Jam.
Talent A Blessing
One of the first things you notice about Danny is his amazing high, hard driving tenor vocals. He is quick to say, “it is a blessing from God.” Diagnosed with throat cancer in 1986, and four operations later, his doctor told him in 2010 he’d be lucky to talk, let alone sing. Danny tells of that day, “I wished to God it was different than that. I
went out to my truck and prayed. I had devoted most of my life to music and now I will be ready to sing for you.” Danny CAN still sing. After two years touring with the Cody Norris Band, Danny now spends his time singing and playing as much as he can. Saying, “I enjoyed it. Meeting all kinds of good people and it is blessing my heart. I enjoy singing and enjoy making music and I just love the music too much. I want to play music and sing until the day I die. It’s the best part of life.” Most Tuesday evenings, Danny Lam, along with other regulars gather at the Elkton Community Center Bluegrass Jam, where he does indeed still sing. For more information or directions for the Elkton Jam contact the Elkton Community Center at 540298-8730. For any information regarding the other weekly jams in the Shenandoah Valley or the Shenandoah Music Trail, call 540209-3540
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‘Tradition Plus’ Time Again Founded in 1988 in memory of
Eddy Merle Watson, son of the legendary Doc Watson, MerleFest has been a major fundraiser for Wilkes Community College, and a tremendous celebration of traditional plus music, as Doc always called it. “When Merle and I started out we called our music traditional plus, meaning the traditional music of the Appalachian region plus whatever other styles we were in the mood to play,” Doc said. “Since the beginning, the people of the college and I have agreed that the music of MerleFest is traditional plus.” The festival is considered one of the premier Americana music festivals in the country and features a unique mix of predominately string based music centered on “the traditional, roots-oriented sounds of the Appalachian region.” That
includes bluegrass and old-time music, alternative country, singer/ songwriter, blues, and many other variations. The four day event features artists performing on 13 different stages strategically placed around the beautiful campus. This year marks the 28th edition, and John Prine fours years since the passing of Doc Watson. Scheduled to take place, April 2 8th - May 1st, the celebration will likely again draw 70,000+ music fans to the fest. John Prine, Old Crow Medicine Show, Sam Bush, Steep Canyon Rangers, Jerry Douglas, Alison Brown, and Junior Sisk, are just a small sampling of the more than 100 top acts scheduled to perform this year. Visit MerleFest.org for complete details
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