Tag: bluegrass music

Alison Krauss – Toy Heart: A Podcast About Bluegrass

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

We could hardly think of a better guest with whom we’d conclude our second season of Toy Heart than 27-time Grammy Award winner, Alison Krauss. Arguably the most prominent bluegrass musician in the genre’s nearly one hundred year history – certainly the most well-known in her own generation – host Tom Power’s laughter-filled conversation with Krauss weaves through her childhood and upbringing, from her grandparents immigrating to Chicago (then her parents to Champaign, Illinois) and Alison’s first fiddle contests all the way to her first Grammy win as a young adult.

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In a rare podcast interview, Krauss is funny, charming, and open, her candor painting a picture of the bluegrass community’s lifelong support and the winding journey that has brought her to the present, as one of the most recognizable voices and musicians in American roots music. From her earliest hits like “Steel Rails” and “Every Time You Say Goodbye” to collaborating with Robert Plant, James Taylor, the Cox Family, and more, to her Buddy Cannon-produced 2017 album, Windy City, Power and Krauss talk about song selection, her early days touring and road-dogging with Union Station, and how it felt when her musical career really began to take off.

But these stories aren’t just about awards and accolades. They chat about many moments, the big and small, that define Krauss, the festivals that became like homes, and the bonds that music forged with her band, Union Station, and her many collaborators. They explore how Krauss creates on the boundaries of many roots genres – plus what she views as bluegrass and what’s not bluegrass – the authenticity that she’s tried to capture throughout her career, and the cultural waves made by projects like O Brother, Where Art Thou? and the Down From the Mountain tour.

From personal anecdotes about Ralph Stanley and Larry Sparks to her feelings about Billy Strings’ massive success to a jaw-dropping and exciting revelation that she and Union Station are working on a new bluegrass album, our season finale with Alison Krauss is truly one of our best Toy Heart episodes to date.

Photo Credit: Randee St Nicholas

Jody Stecher – Toy Heart: A Podcast About Bluegrass

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

For the latest episode of Toy Heart, we embark on a journey through the primordial musical ooze that birthed bluegrass, old-time, and country music with the incredible Jody Stecher. A multi-instrumentalist adept in many styles and traditions – he even plays sarod, a Hindustani instrument – Stecher’s entire career is a fascinating case study in the interconnectedness of American folk music styles.

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Host Tom Power begins their engaging and philosophical conversation by asking Stecher about his childhood in New York City. A grandchild of Eastern European immigrants, he “discovered” country and bluegrass like many in his generation, listening to the Wheeling Jamboree radio program on WWVA and hearing first generation pickers like the Osborne Brothers and Jimmy Martin & the Sunny Mountain Boys, including “Baby Crowe,” a young, just-hired banjo player who went by “J.D.” Soon after, Stecher replaced mandolinist (and one-day industry power player) Ralph Rinzler in bluegrass band The Greenbriar Boys, before joining another group, the New York Ramblers.

From those early years, cutting his teeth in local, regional, and eventually national outfits to iconic albums like Going Up On The Mountain and his current status as a venerated expert and acclaimed elder in American roots music, Jody Stecher utilizes music and his expertise to demonstrate how blurry the lines really are between these folk genres. Power and Stecher discuss teaching, David Grisman – and collaborating with Jerry Garcia! – meditation and music, early sounds and recordings by folks like Bill Monroe and the Stanley Brothers, being a member of Peter Rowan’s band, his duo with Kate Brislin, Utah Phillips, and so much more.

Whether you’re a lifelong fan of roots music or new to these scenes, Tom Power and Jody Stecher’s Toy Heart episode will inspire, highlighting stories, traditions, and techniques that make bluegrass, old-time, and country music exactly what they are today.

Photo Credit: Eric Thompson

Tim O’Brien – Toy Heart: A Podcast About Bluegrass

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

Our latest guest on Toy Heart is bluegrasser, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter Tim O’Brien. His conversation with host Tom Power begins by remembering the music of his childhood, growing up in Wheeling, West Virginia listening to Chubby Checker on his crystal radio set and attending the nationally renowned country variety show and radio broadcast, the Wheeling Jamboree. Encountering the music of Merle Haggard and Doc Watson via local radio and television, he fell in love with music as a kid before a few friends introduced him to Bill Monroe’s mandolin playing while smoking a post-gig joint as a teen.

After dropping out of college, O’Brien hitchhiked west to Wyoming, before landing in Colorado and eventually founding Hot Rize in the mid to late ‘70s with newly married and relocated Dr. Banjo himself, Pete Wernick. Over the course of their winding and dense conversation, Power and O’Brien chat about Gibson mandolins, the burgeoning Colorado string band scene, working with Bill Monroe, and the strange, circuitous story of his fiddle’s provenance.

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O’Brien’s career, as multifaceted as it has been, is a wellspring of stories, anecdotes, and yarns about the bluegrass scene of the ‘80s and ‘90s, Irish music, writing hit country songs, working with and alongside so many first generation bluegrass legends, and the inception of Hot Rize’s alter ego band, Red Knuckles & the Trailblazers. Having recorded and performed with the Chieftains, Darrell Scott, the Transatlantic Sessions, and so many others, Tim O’Brien’s career is a melting pot of styles and sounds with one primary throughline: the true originality of his own musical vocabulary. As Power puts it, “I ​couldn’t ​tell ​you ​what ​Tim ​O’Brien ​sounds ​like, ​but ​I ​know ​Tim ​O’Brien ​when ​I ​hear ​it.”

Our Toy Heart episode examines O’Brien’s expansive and impressive career at a fascinating juncture in its span, as he shifts from being a bluegrass and Americana workhorse to a forebear, mentor, and roots music elder to entire generations of young musicians.

Photo Credit: Scott Simontacchi

Laurie Lewis – Toy Heart: A Podcast About Bluegrass

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

In the latest episode of Toy Heart, we explore the roots and evolution of bluegrass in the modern era by examining the story of legendary bluegrasser, singer-songwriter, and recording artist, Laurie Lewis.

From her tales of growing up in Berkeley during what Lewis jokingly calls the “folk scare” of the ’60s to finding the joy of music through her father’s classical background and eventually becoming a pioneer for women in the genre, her lifelong career in American roots music is a perfect example of how the innovation and tradition-bending tendencies of bluegrass’s first generation continue full force today. Lewis’s musical transformation over the course of her life shows the entrancing power of bluegrass to steer and alter the course of hers and so many others’ lives.

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In our Toy Heart interview, Lewis chats with host Tom Power about the magnetic pulls of Chubby Wise’s fiddle tunes, of albums by the Greenbriar Boys, and of a formative live show by the Byrds. She talks about studying modern dance, “disappointing” her father by “rebelling” and choosing folk music forms over classical, and what eventually led to late-night jams, fiddle contests, and navigating the Bay Area’s bustling bluegrass, folk, and women’s music scenes.

Their conversation closes with a reflection on the ways bluegrass has affected Lewis the most, and, how it continues to shape the identities of its artists and listeners with an intractable, ineffable pull. Power and Lewis point out how current generations – from Molly Tuttle to Tatiana Hargreaves, both mentees and collaborators of Lewis – continue in these same traditions. Plus, Lewis shares what it was like to tour and sing with Dr. Ralph Stanley, himself.

This Toy Heart episode dives deep into the many layers of the genre, helping to demonstrate just some of the many ways bluegrass interweaves itself into musicians’ and fans’ personal and musical identities. Lewis shows there are countless joys in staying true to one’s artistic vision amidst an industry that is always in flux; her insights offer a soulful perspective on continuity and change within the genre, echoing the sentiments of a community that, much like a family, supports and evolves with its members – and that continues to rightly hold Lewis up as a trail-breaker and standard-bearer for the entire genre.

Photo Credit: Irene Young

IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards Reveal Nominees, Hall of Fame Inductees

Posted on by Editor

Nominees for the 32nd Annual IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards presented by Yamaha were announced today, with Balsam Range, Billy Strings, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Del McCoury Band, and The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys landing in the top category of Entertainer of the Year. Alison Krauss, Lynn Morris, and the Stoneman Family will be inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame during the show as well.

Five people who have made significant contributions to bluegrass music were named as recipients of the IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award: industry leader Nancy Cardwell Webster, broadcaster Lee Michael Demsey, Czech luthier/performer Jaroslav Prucha, musician/performer Cliff Waldron, and Boston Bluegrass Union’s Stan Zdonik.

The IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards on Thursday, September 30, at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh, North Carolina. Awards are voted on by the professional membership of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), the professional nonprofit association for the bluegrass music industry.

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

Balsam Range
Billy Strings
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
The Del McCoury Band
The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

Ronnie Bowman
Del McCoury
Danny Paisley
Junior Sisk
Larry Sparks

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

Brooke Aldridge
Dale Ann Bradley
Sierra Hull
Molly Tuttle
Rhonda Vincent

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

Darin & Brooke Aldridge
Balsam Range
Blue Highway
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Sister Sadie

INSTRUMENTAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

Appalachian Road Show
Billy Strings
Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
The Infamous Stringdusters
The Travelin’ McCourys

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR sponsored by Ron & Nancy McFarlane

Appalachian Road Show
Carolina Blue
Gina Furtado Project
High Fidelity
Merle Monroe

SONG OF THE YEAR

“Banjo Player’s Blues”
Artist: High Fidelity
Songwriter: Charlie Monroe
Producers: Jeremy Stephens, Brad Benge
Label: Rebel Records

“Hitchhiking to California”
Artist: Alan Bibey & Grasstowne
Songwriters: Wes Golding/Alan Bibey/Jerry Salley
Producers: Jerry Salley, Ron Stewart, Dottie Leonard Miller
Label: Billy Blue Records

“Just Load the Wagon”
Artist: Junior Sisk
Songwriter: J.R. Satterwhite
Producers: Amanda Cook, Junior Sisk, Mark Hodges
Label: Mountain Fever Records

“Leaving on Her Mind”
Artist: Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Songwriter: Jack Clement
Producer: Rosta Capek
Label: Billy Blue Records

“Richest Man”
Artist: Balsam Range
Songwriters: Jim Beavers/Jimmy Yeary/Connie Harrington
Producer: Balsam Range
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

ALBUM OF THE YEAR (Tie)

Bluegrass 2020
Artist: Scott Vestal, Patrick McAvinue, Cody Kilby, Dominick Leslie, Curtis Vestal
Producers: Scott Vestal, Ethan Burkhardt, Lonnie Lassiter
Label: Pinecastle Records

Distance and Time
Artist: Becky Buller
Producer: Stephen Mougin
Label: Dark Shadow Recording

Fall Like Rain
Artist: Justin Moses
Producer: Justin Moses
Label: Mountain Fever Records

Industrial Strength Bluegrass: Southwestern Ohio’s Musical Legacy
Artist: Various Artists
Producer: Joe Mullins
Label: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

Load the Wagon
Artist: Junior Sisk
Producers: Amanda Cook, Junior Sisk, Mark Hodges
Label: Mountain Fever Records

Still Here
Artist: Steve Gulley & Tim Stafford
Producers: Steve Gulley, Tim Stafford
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

BANJO PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Gena Britt
Gina Furtado
Rob McCoury
Kristin Scott Benson
Scott Vestal

BASS PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Mike Bub
Todd Phillips
Missy Raines
Mark Schatz
Marshall Wilborn

FIDDLE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Jason Carter
Michael Cleveland
Stuart Duncan
Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
Deanie Richardson

RESOPHONIC GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Jerry Douglas
Andy Hall
Rob Ickes
Phil Leadbetter
Justin Moses

GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR sponsored by Yamaha

Trey Hensley
Billy Strings
Bryan Sutton
Molly Tuttle
Jake Workman

MANDOLIN PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Jesse Brock
Sam Bush
Sierra Hull
Ronnie McCoury
Tristan Scroggins

COLLABORATIVE RECORDING OF THE YEAR

“Birmingham Jail”
Artists: Barry Abernathy with Vince Gill
Songwriter: Traditional
Producers: Barry Abernathy, Jim VanCleve, Dottie Leonard Miller
Label: Billy Blue Records

“In the Resurrection Morning”
Artists: Sacred Reunion featuring Doyle Lawson, Vince Gill, Barry Abernathy, Tim Stafford, Mark Wheeler, Jim VanCleve, Phil Leadbetter, Jason Moore
Songwriter: Mark Wheeler
Producers: Barry Abernathy, Jim VanCleve, Dottie Leonard Miller
Label: Billy Blue Records

“My Baby’s Gone”
Artists: Justin Moses with Del McCoury
Songwriter: Dennis Linde
Producer: Justin Moses
Label: Mountain Fever Records

“Tears of Regret”
Artists: High Fidelity with Jesse McReynolds
Songwriters: Jesse McReynolds/Lucille Hutton
Producers: Jeremy Stephens, Corrina Rose Logston, Brad Benge
Label: Rebel Records

“White Line Fever”
Artists: Bobby Osborne with Tim O’Brien, Trey Hensley, Sierra Hull, Stuart Duncan, Todd Phillips, Alison Brown
Songwriters: Merle Haggard/Jeff Tweedy
Producers: Alison Brown, Garry West
Label: Compass Records

INSTRUMENTAL RECORDING OF THE YEAR

“The Appalachian Road”
Artist: Appalachian Road Show
Songwriter: Jim VanCleve
Producers: Jim VanCleve, Barry Abernathy, Appalachian Road Show, Dottie Leonard Miller
Label: Billy Blue Records

“Foggy Mountain Chimes”
Artists: Scott Vestal, Patrick McAvinue, Cody Kilby, Dominick Leslie, Curtis Vestal
Songwriter: Earl Scruggs
Producer: Scott Vestal
Label: Pinecastle Records

“Ground Speed”
Artists: Kristin Scott Benson, Skip Cherryholmes, Jeremy Garrett, Kevin Kehrberg, Darren Nicholson
Songwriter: Earl Scruggs
Producer: Jon Weisberger
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

“Mountain Strings”
Artist: Sierra Hull
Songwriters: Frank Wakefield/Red Allen
Producer: Joe Mullins
Label: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

“Taxland”
Artist: Justin Moses with Sierra Hull
Songwriter: Justin Moses
Producer: Justin Moses
Label: Mountain Fever Records

GOSPEL RECORDING OF THE YEAR

“After Awhile”
Artist: Dale Ann Bradley
Songwriter: Public Domain
Producer: Dale Ann Bradley
Label: Pinecastle Records

“Grit and Grace”
Artist: Balsam Range
Songwriters: Ann Melton/Milan Miller/Beth Husband
Producer: Balsam Range
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

“Hear Jerusalem Calling”
Artist: Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers
Songwriters: Marty Stuart/Jerry Sullivan
Producers: Joe Mullins, Dottie Leonard Miller
Label: Billy Blue Records

“In the Resurrection Morning”
Artists: Sacred Reunion featuring Doyle Lawson, Vince Gill, Barry Abernathy, Tim Stafford, Mark Wheeler, Jim VanCleve, Phil Leadbetter, Jason Moore
Songwriter: Mark Wheeler
Producers: Barry Abernathy, Jim VanCleve, Dottie Leonard Miller
Label: Billy Blue Records

“When He Calls My Name”
Artist: Alan Bibey & Grasstowne
Songwriters: Alan Bibey/Ronnie Bowman
Producers: Alan Bibey & Grasstowne, Ron Stewart, Jerry Salley, Dottie Leonard Miller
Label: Billy Blue Records

Photo of Billy Strings: Jesse Faatz
Photo of Alison Krauss: Capitol Records
Photo of Molly Tuttle: Zach Pigg & Chelsea Rochelle

That Ain’t Bluegrass: Flatt Lonesome

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Flatt Lonesome
Song: “Where Do You Go” (originally by Glen Campbell)
Album: Silence in These Walls

Where did you first hear this song?

Charli Robertson: I actually found this song on one of those days where I was just driving around, running some errands, riding around town. When I’m home, I kind of just ride around — it’s funny how you get out of the van and you want to immediately get back in the car, when you’re home. I was on a Glen Campbell kick, so I went back to all the really old albums. I listened to several of his songs and then this one came on and, as soon as I heard the first line, I knew I loved this song. Glen Campbell could sing the phonebook and make you want to sing it, he is such a good singer — the lyrics in his songs are simple, but so good.

What do you think makes it a good song for a bluegrass band?

I always said, from the first time I heard this song, that the lyrics and the song itself are so good that anybody of any genre could listen to it and appreciate it. Not only that, but you can do as little with the song or as much with the song as you want to do. You could make it a huge song with tons of instruments outside of bluegrass, or you could do it very acoustic and still make it sound good, as well. I just thought it would work. I hope that people enjoy it as much as I have.

How did you take it from Glen Campbell’s version and arrange it to be within Flatt Lonesome’s aesthetic?

This song was a little bit harder because of the range of the song — it’s got a huge range. Paul [Harrigill], our banjo player, he’s really good at that stuff, so I told him to check it out, see what he thought about an arrangement. I’m pretty sure Glen Campbell modulates like three times, which we couldn’t do because of the high harmony and the low harmony; it just wouldn’t be possible. It’s pretty impressive that Glen does that. We just got together, sang it in a few different keys, and sang through it a few different ways. We always know what works for us. We’ve been singing together forever, for as long as we’ve been breathing, so we usually know pretty quickly what works.

Bluegrass has always had this tradition of reworking and revamping popular songs — Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, Reno & Smiley all did this — why do you think this is still present in the genre?

I think that people love to be able to do songs that they have always loved, their own way. I have always loved to pick a song that I love and put my own spin on it. To do a big song, a very well known song from a big artist, I think it still needs to acknowledge the song the way that artist did it, but with enough of a unique spin on it that it’s not copying the person who did it.

You cannot recreate a song exactly the same. We’ve done this several times, with Dwight Yoakam’s “You’re the One,” and we do “Ramblin’ Fever” on stage, a Merle Haggard song. These are people are our heroes, and we will always want to do their material. Even if we don’t record it, we want to do it on stage. As long as you’re still appreciating the song the way someone else did it, and not completely changing it, it’s always cool to be able to do that. I think the fans appreciate it, too, because it’s a song they’re familiar with and something that they’ve heard before.

What’s your favorite thing about performing “Where Do You Go?”

As soon as I heard it, I knew I’d like to perform it live. I like to sing songs that are real songs. The lyrics are simple and real. I like to sing songs that the crowd can listen to one time and get it. I love the vocals. I like how I get a little bit of a solo and then it’s a trio. Any song that has a lot of harmony, I’m going to like it. I like a lot of things about it! I like the double guitar — I like pretty much everything about it. It’s going to be a favorite of mine for awhile.

Now you know that ain’t bluegrass, right?

I do know! How dare us, right? [Laughs] On our last album, there are some different things — a lot of people don’t even like it if there isn’t a banjo. I think that acoustic music can be a lot of different things. One of the reasons that I love bluegrass music is because it’s acoustic, and you can do so much with it. Real fans, people that love this music, will appreciate a very toned-down song with just guitar and a bass. For the few fans that you might lose for doing something a little different, you’ll gain more. I would encourage artists to just do what they love to do. We still have banjo. We play banjo in every set. It’s full of it. But for the one song that it’s not in, we will probably always get, “That’s not bluegrass!” But that’s okay! It really is okay for there to be a song without banjo, because we want to give the song what the song needs and it may not need a banjo. We’re fine with that.