Tag: Dan Tyminski

You Gotta Hear This: New Music From Dan Tyminski, Liam Purcell, and More

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Americana, alt-folk, bluegrass – whatever form these tracks may take, You Gotta Hear This! Our premiere round up this week includes plenty of Texas, a dash of Missouri, and a heaping helping of the Southeast, too. From new bluegrass numbers by the legendary Dan Tyminski and up-and-comers Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road to thoughtful and intentional Americana by John Calvin and Goodnight, Texas. Plus, there’s a musical tribute to Godfrey, Missouri, a small town on the mighty Mississippi River, by Lost on the Metro and the Steel Wheels reunite with Malena Cadiz on a Paul Simon cover.

Our second-to-last installment of our DelFest Sessions – featuring Mountain Grass Unit – is included here as well, as it premiered on the site earlier this week. It’s a mighty fine collection of music and you know what we think… You Gotta Hear This!

John Calvin, “Austin Chalk”

Artist: John Calvin
Hometown: Recently Boca Raton, Florida, but this record was written living in Dallas, Texas (and this song is very Dallas-centric).
Song: “Austin Chalk”
Album: Greener Fields & Fairer Seas
Release Date: July 25, 2024 (single); January 24, 2025 (album)

In Their Words: “North Texas rests on an ancient deposit of chalk and marl that sits about five feet below the topsoil and runs for hundreds of feet below that. Living in North Texas, you realize how much of our present is determined by an ancient past. The Austin chalk formation leaves torrential rain with nowhere to go. Rivers, like the Trinity River, flood easily and entire neighborhoods and can be underwater in a matter of hours. There are beautiful communities on the banks of the Trinity like Joppa and Bonton that were only able to stabilize and grow with the extension of the levee system by the Army Corps of Engineers in the early 1990s. Our foothold is always more tenuous than we think, and that’s truest for those that can least afford to move.” – John Calvin

Track Credits: Written by John Calvin.
Produced by Nate Campisi.
John Calvin – Vocals, acoustic guitar
Greg DeCarolis – Piano, bass, electric guitar, OB-8 synth
Pat Coyle – Drums, percussion
James Hart – Pedal steel
Eric DeFade – Alto, tenor, baritone sax
Robert Matchett – Trombone
Joe Herndon – Trumpet
David Bernabo – Brass arrangement

Goodnight, Texas, “A Bank Robber’s Nightmare”

Artist: Goodnight, Texas
Hometown: San Francisco, California (Avi Vinocur) and Chapel Hill, North Carolina (Patrick Dyer Wolf); the real town of Goodnight, Texas is the exact mile-for-mile midpoint between the two locales.
Song: “A Bank Robber’s Nightmare”
Album: Signals
Release Date: July 19, 2024
Label: 2 Cent Bank Check

In Their Words: “We’re enjoying some light world building. Our most recent single, ‘The Lightning and The Old Man Todd,’ fleshes out the tragic story of a character from a previous song of ours, ‘The End of the Road.’ Meanwhile, ‘A Bank Robber’s Nightmare’ checks in a decade later on the once carefree, now world-weary and estranged heroes of our 2014 song, ‘A Bank Robber’s Nursery Rhyme,’ which has been a fan favorite and staple of our live shows. The scene is kind of a bittersweet reunion, emphasis on the bitter. What do you say to your former partner in crime?” – Patrick Dyer Wolf

Lost on the Metro, “Godfrey”

Artist: Lost on the Metro
Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri
Song: “Godfrey”
Album: Resonance and Regrets EP
Release Date: July 25, 2024 (single); September 20, 2024 (EP)

In Their Words: “We have this giant river confluence here in St. Louis, and it’s common to take a drive along the river road from St. Louis to get away from the city for a while. Godfrey is a real town along the Mississippi River. Imagine bluffs, eagles flying overhead, touristy shops and restaurants, and the river road cutting through it all carrying cars, trucks, boats, bikes, to some unknown destination. The lyrics focus on getting older in a relationship, and the doubts that creep in, and that need to find a way to clear your head. There’s a dark element to Godfrey as well. It’s definitely a driving song on the surface, but the undercurrent holds all the worries and doubts and fears and hopes that float around as we find our way alone. It’s those thoughts in your head that you’re not sure you want other people to know you’re thinking. Driving down the river road with an open window and the wide Mississippi next to me lets me think those thoughts and then let them go.” – Lost on the Metro

Track Credits:
Jilly Morey – Songwriter, lyricist, lead vocals, percussion
David Morey – Songwriter, composer, arranger, rhythm guitar, vocals
Chris Dunn – Composer, arranger, lead guitar, vocals
Lucan Stone – Composer, arranger, bass, vocals
Josh Bayless – Composer, arranger, drums, vocals

Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road, “Old Man’s Dream”

Artist: Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road
Hometown: Deep Gap, North Carolina
Song: “Old Man’s Dream”
Album: Yellow Line
Release Date: April 5, 2024
Label: Pinecastle Records

In Their Words: “This song is one of the most personal stories I’ve ever released. I wrote it one day while my father and I were working at my folks’ place in Deep Gap. The land next door had been sold off for housing development and we had to prepare for them to widen the road. Over the next few months, I watched the trucks come and go, watched the bulldozers change the shape of the mountains, and watched the destructive path of progress as it made its way through our little mountain community.” – Liam Purcell

The Steel Wheels, “Gone at Last” featuring Malena Cadiz

Artist: The Steel Wheels featuring Malena Cadiz
Hometown: Harrisonburg, Virginia (The Steel Wheels) and Kalamazoo, Michigan (Malena)
Song: “Gone At Last”
Release Date: July 19, 2024
Label: Big Ring Records

In Their Words: “This Paul Simon song has been a favorite of ours for awhile. The plain spoken, down to earth writing with a gospel-sounding flare. We have been known to sing a cappella from time to time, but this was an opportunity for strong vocals with a bed of active bass and drum parts.

“Last February we were asked to play as the house band for the International Folk Alliance Music Awards in Kansas City. The house band job comes with the joy of meeting and playing with a variety of musicians. When we got a chance to play and sing with Malena Cadiz, we immediately fell in love with her voice. We were inspired to look for a chance to record together and ‘Gone At Last’ was that chance.” – Trent Wagler

Dan Tyminski, “Whiskey Drinking Man”

Artist: Dan Tyminski
Hometown: Originally from West Rutland, Vermont. Lives in Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Whiskey Drinking Man”
Album: Whiskey Drinking Man
Release Date: July 19, 2024 (single); August 16, 2024 (album)
Label: 8 Track Entertainment

In Their Words: “My first single off of the new project is one I’m very excited to release. It’s written to be a toe tapping burner in the party spirit. This one should get your juices flowing.” – Dan Tyminski

DelFest Sessions: Mountain Grass Unit

Our second-to-last installment of our DelFest Sessions features Birmingham, Alabama-based jamgrass group, Mountain Grass Unit. Videographers I Know We Should were on hand at this year’s DelFest in Cumberland, Maryland over Memorial Day Weekend to capture a collection of beautiful, fun, and engaging live sessions on the banks of the Potomac River. (See all of our DelFest Sessions here.) For their shoot, Mountain Grass Unit played a pair of exciting cover songs.

Their first selection, “Big River,” is a funky and charming re-imagination of a Johnny Cash classic with a mash-tastic, blues-inflected groove. Drury Anderson, the group’s mandolin picker and lead vocalist on the track, sings with a drawl seemingly from right down the proverbial road from Cash’s homeland (near Memphis, Tennessee). It fits the bluesy undertones of their rendition perfectly, equal parts Muscle Shoals and Bean Blossom. Cash is a common cover subject in bluegrass, and MGU’s version of “Big River” demonstrates exactly why that’s the case.

Watch the full session here.

Photo Credit: Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road by Pinecastle Records; Dan Tyminski by Jeff Fasano.

Willie Nelson’s ‘Bluegrass’ Underlines His Lifelong Relationship with the Genre

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

“He was exceedingly cool and easy,” long-time Bill Monroe bassist Mark Hembree remembers about Willie Nelson’s presence at a 1983 recording session where Nelson sang and played with Monroe. “I never had a say in Bill’s mixes, but they had Willie’s guitar way up and as we listened to playback he mentioned it, then turned and asked what I thought,” Hembree wrote in a recent exchange of messages. “I agreed, a little surprised he would ask me.”

People who hear about Willie Nelson’s latest album, Bluegrass, before hearing the music might ask, “Wait, what? What does Willie Nelson have to do with bluegrass music?”

Upon listening, at least two answers come to mind: 1) Much more than you might think. 2) Don’t worry so much.

With tunes by Nelson, one of the best American songwriters, played by notable pickers, the record contains strong music that should sound welcome to fans of Nelson, of bluegrass, and of the field with the loose label, “Americana.”

It’s a given that in more than 60 years of major-label recording, Nelson, 90, has been better known for presenting his own songs, enduring tunes such as “Crazy,” “Hello Walls,” and “On the Road Again,” the last of which is heard here in a new version. But he’s also made his name with notable covers – like “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,” “Seven Spanish Angels,” “Blue Skies,” and others – in a welter of styles, including blues, pop standards, and even reggae. Nelson’s core music enfolds ‘40s and ‘50s country, traditional fiddle tunes, four-square gospel, ragtime, some swing flavorings, and definitely a heap of blues. The mix also includes more contemporary pop. Subtract some of that last bit of material, throw in some lonesome mountain banjo and ballads, and you’ll find, in different proportions, foundational bluegrass as designed by chief architects like Bill Monroe and Earl Scruggs.

Legacy Records, the Sony division putting out Nelson’s Bluegrass disc, says the style “was given a name by Kentucky songwriter/performer/recording artist Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys, whose post-war recordings profoundly influenced Willie’s songwriting sensibilities and the direction of American country music in general.” They go on to say, “Willie chose songs combining the kind of strong melodies, memorable storylines and tight ensemble-interplay found in traditional bluegrass interpretations of the roots (from European melodies to African rhythms) of American folk songs.”

And it’s pretty much on target. But what else speaks to Nelson’s involvement with bluegrass?

Let’s return to the early ‘70s, when he famously abandoned a Nashville scene where he had achieved songwriting fame and a recording career. But Music Row had flagged in creativity and opportunity, he and others thought. And yes, at the end of 1969, his house had burned down. By 1972, Nelson’s persona was changing as his new approach revisited his Texas roots. The year saw new-breed stars like Kris Kristofferson showing up at the first Dripping Springs Reunion, a Texas country music festival. The show, which was to morph int0 a string of outdoor throwdowns known as Willie’s Fourth of July Picnic, presented a bluegrass contingent led by Monroe, with foundational figures Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt leading their post-breakup bands, as
well as additional notables including Jimmy Martin.

Jo Walker, executive director of the Country Music Association, told the Austin-American Statesman that the trade group was delighted to hear about the Dripping Springs Reunion. “So many of the rock festivals and similar events have reflected so unfavorably on the music industry that we are particularly happy that your reunion will be a Country Music show.” But with Nelson embracing a new, youth-driven fan base and a long-haired, bandana-ed look, what did country music even mean?

There was a growing correlation, it seemed, between the increased popularity of bluegrass and the emergent outlaw (read: long hair, free-thinking, whiskey-drinking, dope smoking, etc.) movement in country music, led by Nelson and Waylon Jennings. Its bluegrass surge was sparked in part by the Earl Scruggs Revue’s broad acceptance in non-traditional venues like college campuses and hot sales for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Will the Circle Be Unbroken. Back in Nashville, in 1973, wider acceptance of bluegrass also meant that Monroe, his former Blue Grass Boy Flatt, the brilliant wildman Jimmy Martin, and the great brother team of Jim & Jesse McReynolds would join Nelson amid the crowd of stars at CMA’s second annual Fan Fair celebration.

In 1974, both Scruggs and Monroe, as well as Grand Ole Opry stars Ernest Tubb, Jeanne Pruitt, and Roy Acuff appeared on stage singing with another wildman, country-blues rocker Leon Russell. That’s documented in a photograph of this period, likely from a Willie’s Picnic. Quite a lineup.

A version of the picture found on the web says the shot is from A Poem is a Naked Person, a documentary on Russell by esteemed filmmaker Les Blank shot between 1972 and 1974, but not released until 2015. Nelson appears in the movie to sing “Good Hearted Woman” – also on this new album – playing guitar bass runs that would work fine in bluegrass. He also backs up fiddler Mary Egan, of the Austin “progressive-country” band Greezy Wheels, on an energetic version of the bluegrass-country perennial “Orange Blossom Special.”

In 1974, Nelson went to work in the soul-music capital of Muscle Shoal, Alabama, to record a milestone disc on his road to making records his own way. The album, Phases and Stages, which won over both fans and critics, contains prominent five-string played Scruggs-style on the hit “Bloody Mary Morning,” which also returns on Bluegrass.

The 1983 Bill Monroe session referenced above came after a last minute February 22 phone call from Nelson to let Monroe know he was available to appear on the in-progress Bill Monroe and Friends album for MCA Records. That’s according to a passage in the indispensable book, The Music of Bill Monroe, by bluegrass scholars Neil Rosenberg and Charles Wolfe.

“[Engineer, Vic) Gabany recalls that on February, 22, 1983, Monroe called the studio and asked if it was free that afternoon,” Rosenberg and Wolfe write. “Willie Nelson was in town, and he wanted to rush in and cut the duet with him. Fortunately, it was. Moreover, the Blue Grass Boys were all available, and Haynes was able to round up studio musicians Charlie Collins and Buddy Spicher.”

Monroe’s original tune with Nelson, “The Sunset Trail,” shows the impact of another style, cowboy music, that both men favored. Nelson reaches into his upper range to sing below Monroe, who’s going way up there, as was his wont. “It’s a thrill of my life to be here with you,” Monroe says as he and Nelson exchange praise in the track’s introduction.

In 1990, Monroe accepted Nelson’s invitation to perform at the April 7 Farm Aid IV concert in Indianapolis. “We’re glad to be here with Willie Nelson!” he said to kick off a set marked by powerful singing, crisp mandolin picking, and a little crowd-pleasing buck dancing. The show placed Monroe, 79, in a lineup that included stars such as Elton John and Lou Reid. The Indianapolis Star estimated the crowd at 45,000.

During Monroe’s last years — he died in 1996 — he often spoke to Nelson on the phone, according to a person who didn’t want to be identified, but often spent time at Monroe’s home on the farm outside Nashville during that period. “He valued their friendship immensely,” the person said.

Bluegrass‘s 12 songs contain several Nelson compositions that became standards of his repertoire, along with less familiar tunes that also fit in the recording approach overseen by Music Row’s Buddy Cannon. A songwriter and producer, Cannon is known for delivering big songs, like “Set ‘Em Up Joe” for Vern Gosdin, and chart hits for more recent mainstream acts such as Kenny Chesney, John Michael Montgomery, and Reba McEntire. A frequent Nelson collaborator, Cannon assembled a list of Nashville co-conspirators: Union Station members Barry Bales, on bass, and Ron Block, on banjo; former Union Station member and current rising star Dan Tyminski on mandolin; fiddler Aubrey Haynie; Dobro man Rob Ickes; Seth Taylor also on mandolin; as well as harmonica player Mickey Raphael, who’s worked for decades in Nelson’s band.

The music mostly doesn’t come off as hard-core bluegrass in the mode of, say, the Stanley Brothers. But it leans on the elements that Nelson has in common with the style — lonesome melodies, classic country, swing and blues.

The mournful “You Left Me a Long, Long Time Ago,” from 1964, reflects the straight-country songwriting to which Nelson and others brought a terse, modern beauty in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s. It was a time when bluegrass enjoyed a closer co-existence with mainstream country, as opposed to straining against the tight format borders that limit today’s music business. Among the many artists who crossed back and forth freely were guitarist-songwriter, Carl Butler, fiddler Tommy Jackson, and Cajun star Doug Kershaw. They all worked with Monroe.

A new version of “Sad Songs and Waltzes” mourns in tones not too different from Monroe favorites ranging from “Kentucky Waltz” to “Sitting Alone in the Moonlight.” The song also recalls the 3/4 time Lone Star tunes that Nelson might have heard at the Texas Fiddlers Contest and Reunion.

That show got going in 1934 in Athens, Texas, just one year before Nelson arrived on the scene in Abbott, less than 90 miles away.

The fiddle contests that influenced so much of Texas music beginning in the 19th century, had parallels in the 18th century Southeast, where contests featured both the fiddle and the banjo, with its African roots. This music went around, and it still comes around.

The sock-rhythm backing of “Ain’t No Love Around” recalls early Blue Grass Boys recordings such as “Heavy Traffic Ahead,” recorded September 16, 1946, and featuring Earl Scruggs’ first recorded banjo solo. Elsewhere, the laidback favorite, “On the Road Again,” gets a more intense reading from Nelson, with some vocal and instrumental improvisation to spice it up. The mystical “Still is Still Moving to Me” leaves plenty of room for pickers to range far and wide on banjo, mandolin, fiddle and Dobro.

“You give the appearance of one widely traveled,” Nelson sings in “Yesterday’s Wine.” He’s singing from a faraway spot in time, in myth, in history. It’s a stance that’s earned a place on bluegrass playlists for more recent songwriters such as Guy Clark, David Olney, and Gillian Welch.

“Bloody Mary Morning,” from Phases and Stages gets the most recent of several revivals from Nelson, who led a jam-grassy version in the 1980 film Honeysuckle Rose and later sang it in a duet with Wynonna Judd. The song’s forthright tale of fighting the blues by having a highball on a plane seems somehow classier than the constant tales of beer and pickups that populate country radio.

In the end it seems clear that for decades, both Willie Nelson and bluegrass music have served, in different ways, as a conscience of country music. Just as the Solemn Old Judge, WSM radio announcer George D. Hay, commanded, they “Keep her close to the ground, boys,” although their paths have diverged, at times.

In any case, this new collection brings Nelson together with bluegrass pickers for music that might even work to serve that same worthy purpose.

Photo Credit: Pamela Springsteen

33 Must-See Roots Artists at This Year’s Bourbon & Beyond

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Since 2017, Bourbon & Beyond has become one of the BGS Team’s favorite annual events. The music, spirits and food festival held at the Kentucky Expo Center in Louisville, Kentucky, always boasts a roots-forward lineup – on and off the BGS Stage.

In anticipation of Bourbon & Beyond kicking off Thursday, September 14, and running through Sunday, September 17, let’s preview all of the artists gracing our stage throughout the weekend – and we’ll throw in a few we’re excited to catch on the main stages as well. 

Limited tickets are still available! Join us this weekend at Bourbon & Beyond in Kentucky. Scroll to see the full schedule for the BGS Stage. 

The Arcadian Wild – BGS Stage

We’ve been a fan of this bluegrass-infused Nashville string/Americana band for more than a few years now. In 2021 we invited the Arcadian Wild to perform a Yamaha Artist Session, for which they performed two songs, “Hey Runner” and “Finch In the Pantry.” They hit the BGS Stage at B&B on Sunday.

Armchair Boogie – BGS Stage

We recently caught this jammy Wisconsin outfit, Armchair Boogie, at Earl Scruggs Music Festival, where they burnt down their late-night set. You have two opportunities to see them on the BGS Stage, as they’ll kick us off both Friday and Saturday.

The Avett Brothers – Main Stage

These Saturday headliners need no introduction to our BGS readers and followers, as the Avett Brothers have been a staple of our community for nearly our entire lifespan. Looking at the Bourbon & Beyond lineup poster, it’s hard to believe we didn’t book this entire event! 

Jon Batiste – Main Stage

Fresh off the release of a brand new album, World Music Radio, in August, don’t miss Americana renaissance man Jon Batiste when he hits the B&B main stage on Sunday. We can certainly appreciate this Louisianan’s love for blurring genre lines – a perfect fit for Bourbon & Beyond.

Brandi Carlile – Main Stage

Let’s return to MerleFest 2019, the last time we had a stage at a festival Brandi Carlile headlined – and she brought her pals the Avetts out to sing “Murder In the City.” A BGS classic! We’ll be running from the BGS Stage to see Brandi on Thursday evening for sure.

Brandy Clark – Main Stage

Appropriate that Brandi and Brandy would end up as list neighbors and both on the Bourbon & Beyond main stage lineup, as the former produced the latter’s stunning new self-titled album. Clark has been a Music Row mainstay as an artist and songwriter for decades, but with her new record and her hit Broadway show, Shucked (penned with Shane McAnally), she’s finally getting her well-deserved flowers. 

Clay Street Unit – BGS Stage

We crossed paths with Denver, Colorado, country-folk-grass group Clay Street Unit earlier this year at WinterWonderGrass, so we’re more than pleased to have them on the BGS Stage on Thursday afternoon. 

Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper – BGS Stage

Fiddlin’ phenom Michael Cleveland has performed for BGS at Bourbon & Beyond before, but with his new critically-acclaimed album, Lovin’ of the Game, and his recent selection as our March 2023 Artist of the Month, it’s the perfect time to get him back to Louisville. It’s basically home turf for Cleveland, and his set Thursday evening is not to be missed.

The Cleverlys – BGS Stage

Bluegrass’s preeminent song-interpreters – or song skewer-ers, depending on how you look at it – are a humorous hoot, bolstered by fantastic picking and on-stage personas pulled straight out of a caricature book. If you’ve never seen the Cleverlys live and in person, now’s your chance to catch covers like this waltz version of Radiohead’s “Creep” like you’ve never heard them before. 

Della Mae – BGS Stage

Our old pals Della Mae brought an outsized energy and charisma with them to their sets at Earl Scruggs Music Festival a couple of weeks ago, wowing the crowds in North Carolina. Now the groundbreaking bluegrass foursome set their sites on the BGS Stage at Bourbon & Beyond. There’s a reason why this group of all women remains a stalwart in bluegrass, old-time and Americana.

Myron Elkins – BGS Stage

If you’re not familiar with guitarist and Americana alt-rocker Myron Elkins, you’re about to be! His debut album, Factories, Farms & Amphetamines, was produced by superstar musician-engineer-producer Dave Cobb and released on Elektra. Catch him as he ascends on the BGS Stage on Thursday, kicking off the entire weekend for us at 12:30 p.m.

Fantastic Negrito – Main Stage

Fantastic Negrito is a one-of-a-kind performer. An expert in blues – and a purveyor of post-blues, neo-blues, and the tastiest of fringe Americana – Fantastic Negrito occupies a stage like no other. He’s a Bourbon & Beyond veteran as well, and his past performances are seared into our memories of this amazing event. Do not miss!

First Aid Kit – Main Stage

Indie folk duo First Aid Kit, made up of Swedish sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg, are a favorite of BGS readers – the kind of readers who equally love Bill Monroe, Nickel Creek and boygenius. Get a taste at their Saturday main stage set or check out our 2018 feature on the group.

Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors – Main Stage

Don’t you just wish Drew and Ellie Holcomb and the Neighbors were your neighbors? (Sigh…) It just seems like it would be lovely. At any rate, you can catch up with these fine folks from next door on the main stage at B&B on Thursday. 

Brittany Howard – Main Stage

A god of rock and roll incarnate, Brittany Howard’s particular brand of roots rock is enormous and will fill the Bourbon & Beyond main stage and then some. If you haven’t caught the Alabama Shakes front person recently, now is your chance. Howard hits the main stage on Friday.

The Lil’ Smokies – BGS Stage

Formed in Montana, the Lil’ Smokies combine so many contemporary bluegrass influences into a Western-influenced, jam-forward sound. We enjoy every chance we have to cross paths with this group – if you miss their set at Bourbon & Beyond, catch the Lil’ Smokies at AmericanaFest in Nashville very soon.

Lindsay Lou – BGS Stage

Roots singer-songwriter Lindsay Lou is entering yet another new era of her career, with her signing to Kill Rock Stars and upcoming album, Queen of Time, due out later this month. At Bourbon & Beyond you’ll have two chances to hear current and past sounds from Lindsay Lou – on both Saturday and Sunday on the BGS Stage.

The Lone Bellow – Main Stage

One of our all-time favorite rootsy, folky, string band trios. It’s been too long since we’ve reconnected with our friends The Lone Bellow and we’re grateful B&B will give us that opportunity when they play the main stage on Thursday.

Lola Kirke – BGS Stage

Lola Kirke, who you can see on Friday on the BGS Stage at B&B, is an accomplished actress whose dream is to be a country singer – dream, achieved! She makes joyous, lyrical, story-rich music that pulls as much from country’s grit as its glitz. (And an appearance from lineup-mates First Aid Kit on “All My Exes Live in L.A.” is the cherry on top.)

Joy Oladokun – Main Stage

Intricate and involved indie folk is Joy Oladokun’s medium, her songs dripping with pop sensibilities and led by an agnostic approach to genre that builds on work by predecessors like Aimee Mann, Ani DiFranco, Tracy Chapman, k.d. lang, and many more. Oladokun continues to rise through the music-industry ranks, her latest album Proof of Life building more momentum off the ex-evangelical’s heart-forward, earnest, stoner indie pop.

Old Crow Medicine Show – Main Stage

Old Crow Medicine Show bring the Jubilee to Bourbon & Beyond! Don’t miss the party as the world’s most renowned and rollicking string band celebrates their just-released album on the B&B main stage on Saturday. And keep an eye out for a BGS feature on the new record coming soon to the site.

Pixie & The Partygrass Boys – BGS Stage

Another of our WinterWonderGrass pals headed to Bourbon & Beyond! Catch Pixie & the Partygrass Boys on the BGS Stage kicking off our final day of music on Sunday. You’ll certainly enjoy the party – unless you’re a fascist, in which case, avoid our stage altogether or you might get eaten by some chickens.

Darrell Scott Band – Main Stage

Darrell Scott is a musical shapeshifter, effortlessly moving from Music Row country to dyed-in-the-wool bluegrass to rocking and rolling. At his Bourbon & Beyond main stage set on Friday, you’re sure to hear new tracks from his recent album, Old Cane Back Rocker, made with the Darrell Scott String Band, as well as original hits like “It’s a Great Day to Be Alive” and some tasty covers, too. We never get enough of Darrell Scott! (Watch for an interview with Scott coming to BGS soon.)

Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen – BGS Stage

If this is the kitchen dirty, let’s never clean it up! Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen are a shredding bluegrass jam band certainly worth sticking around for on Sunday evening. You’ll hear music from their most recent Compass Records album, Hold On, which recently turned one year old, and plenty of mind-(and string-)bending solos.

Mavis Staples – Main Stage

Put the legendary Mavis Staples’ main stage set (Friday, 3:50 p.m., Oak Stage) on your calendar and circle it. And underline it. And set a push notification. We are grateful every single time we get to occupy the same space and air as Mavis, and this time will be no different. It’s a privilege to walk the earth at the same time as this civil rights leader and musical oracle! 

Billy Strings – Main Stage

Not so long ago our old friend Billy Strings would have been playing our BGS Stage, but not anymore, this flatpickin’ global sensation has decidedly hit the big time! We’ve so enjoyed watching Billy move up and up and up in the world and we can’t wait to see his main stage set at Bourbon & Beyond Thursday night. With such a stacked lineup, the special guest opportunities are exciting and limitless. 

Town Mountain – BGS Stage 

Western North Carolina string band Town Mountain have built up their sound over the past few years to where they feel and sound something like Ricky Skaggs in his country days — bluegrass bones, but fleshed out country. Their songs still go by you like a rousing honky tonk dance band, bluegrass or no, but with spit and polish and thousands of miles under their belts. Worth an add to your B&B to-do list!

Twisted Pine – BGS Stage

Another group that blew us away at Earl Scruggs Music Festival, Twisted Pine turns the jamgrass model on its ear, building their vibey, virtuosic songs and tunes with as much jazz interwoven as bluegrass, old-time, and country. They’re like Lake Street Dive and Crooked Still, mashed up together and lingering a bit longer in string band traditions – from across the Americana continuum – before taking off. Plus, bluegrass just needs more flute, right? See them Friday on the BGS Stage.

Two Runner – BGS Stage

We’re glad to be bringing some California sounds to Kentucky with Two Runner, old-time and Americana duo of Paige Anderson and Emilie Rose coming to B&B. They bring to mind duos like Hazel & Alice and Anna & Elizabeth, combining country harmonies and old-time instrumentation – all dragged through the coastal evergreen woods of Northern California. Hear them Thursday on the BGS Stage.

Dan Tyminski – BGS Stage

Dan Tyminski headlining a BGS Stage is simply a dream come true! This multi-hyphenate, lifelong bluegrasser has been a member of so many seminal and groundbreaking bluegrass groups and projects. He’s had a full career within and outside of bluegrass, but lately has returned to the genre that made him with a new band, a new album, God Fearing Heathen, excellent songs, and that voice – fit for George Clooney. 

Kelsey Waldon – BGS Stage

Kelsey Waldon on her home turf! Though she hails from West Kentucky, the entire state is certainly this country singer-songwriter’s domain. We’ve collaborated quite a bit with Waldon across her career, and are looking forward to her headline set closing out our first day of Bourbon & Beyond on the BGS Stage. She may be country, but her bluegrass roots run deep – and will be on full display at B&B for sure. 

Sunny War – BGS Stage

 One of our favorite guitarists of the last several years has released one of our favorite albums of 2023, Anarchist Gospel. If you’re unfamiliar with her work, you won’t want to miss Sunny War perform on the BGS Stage on Saturday. Her right hand is confounding and inspiring, an often textural and tone-setting device in her bigger sounding recent songs that combine punk, blues, indie and more. Not to be missed! 

Hailey Whitters – Main Stage

It’s no secret BGS loves some good country. Hailey Whitters is certainly some of the best to come out of Music Row in recent memory, releasing radio-ready bops that are fun and exuberant, yes, but also have a rich and subversive well of influences, content and production styles. That Whitters is connected with all the best pickers and singers in Nashville and has a penchant for bluegrass are nice little details to remember about this TikTok phenom. Worth a mosey to the main stage on Sunday, certainly!

 

The Bluegrass Situation Stage – Daily Schedule

Thursday, September 14

5:45 p.m. – Kelsey Waldon
4:15 p.m. – Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
3 p.m. – Two Runner
1:45 p.m. – Clay Street Unit
12:30 p.m. – Myron Elkins

Friday, September 15

5:45 p.m. – The Lil’ Smokies
4:15 p.m. – The Cleverlys
3 p.m. – Twisted Pine
1:45 p.m. – Lola Kirke
12:30 p.m. – Armchair Boogie

Saturday, September 16

5:45 p.m. – Town Mountain
4:15 p.m. – Della Mae
3 p.m. – Lindsay Lou
1:45 p.m. – Sunny War
12:30 p.m. – Armchair Boogie

Sunday, September 17

5:45 p.m. – Dan Tyminski
4:15 p.m. – Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen
3 p.m. – The Arcadian Wild
1:45 p.m.- Lindsay Lou
12:30 p.m. – Pixie & The Partygrass Boys

Purchase your Bourbon & Beyond tickets here.

 

BGS Returns to Louisville for Sixth Consecutive Bourbon & Beyond

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

BGS is excited to announce the full lineup and schedule for our Bluegrass Situation Stage at Louisville, Kentucky’s Bourbon & Beyond – for our sixth year in a row! Since 2017, BGS has curated a bluegrass-forward roster for the premier bourbon, food, and music festival’s only music stage outside of their main stages, Oak and Barrel. The 2023 edition of Bourbon & Beyond will be held September 14 through 17 at the Highland Festival Grounds at the Kentucky Expo Center. Tickets are still available.

Each evening of the event, the BGS Stage will culminate with performances by Kelsey Waldon (Thursday), The Lil’ Smokies (Friday), Town Mountain (Saturday) and Dan Tyminski (Sunday). The full schedule includes performances by Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, Lindsay Lou, The Arcadian Wild, Della Mae, Sunny War, Twisted Pine and more. See daily BGS Stage schedules below.

This year, as in the past, there are acts and bands all across the Bourbon & Beyond schedule that feel like they were pulled directly from the pages and stories of BGS. On the Oak and Barrel stage roots music fans can hear artists like Jon Batiste, Billy Strings, Midland, Brandi Carlile, Brittany Howard, Joy Oladokun, Darrell Scott Band, Fantastic Negrito, Hailey Whitters, Brandy Clark, Mavis Staples, the Avett Brothers, Old Crow Medicine Show, and so many more.

But that’s not all! For the foodies and bourbon hounds alike, there will be wall-to-wall culinary demonstrations, bourbon experiences, and more featuring celebrity chefs such as Edward Lee, Amanda Freitag, Chris Santos, Sara Bradley, bourbon expert Fred Minnick, and many others. If you’re curious which Kentucky straight bourbon whiskeys will be available for sipping and guzzling at the Big Bourbon Bar, it’s pretty much every distiller you could ever crave: Angel’s Envy, Bardstown, Brother’s Bond, Bulleit, Doc Swinson’s Whiskey Collection, Elijah Craig, Four Roses, George Dickel, Green River, Heaven’s Door, Jack Daniel’s, Jefferson’s, Kentucky Peerless, Larceny, Legent, Maker’s 46, Michter’s, Middle West Spirits, Monk’s Road, Old Forester, Rabbit Hole, Resilient Bottled in Bond, Starlight Distillery, Wilderness Trail and Willett Distillery.

Bourbon and bluegrass and beyond – what more do you need? We hope you will make plans to join us in Louisville for the 2023 edition of Bourbon & Beyond!

 

The Bluegrass Situation Stage – Daily Schedule

Thursday, September 14

5:45 p.m. – Kelsey Waldon
4:15 p.m. – Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
3 p.m. – Two Runner
1:45 p.m. – Clay Street Unit
12:30 p.m. – Myron Elkins

Friday, September 15

5:45 p.m. – The Lil’ Smokies
4:15 p.m. – The Cleverlys
3 p.m. – Twisted Pine
1:45 p.m. – Lola Kirke
12:30 p.m. – Armchair Boogie

Saturday, September 16

5:45 p.m. – Town Mountain
4:15 p.m. – Della Mae
3 p.m. – Lindsay Lou
1:45 p.m. – Sunny War
12:30 p.m. – Armchair Boogie

Sunday, September 17

5:45 p.m. – Dan Tyminski
4:15 p.m. – Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen
3 p.m. – The Arcadian Wild
1:45 p.m.- Lindsay Lou
12:30 p.m. – Pixie & The Partygrass Boys

 

Photos L-R: Dan Tyminski by Scott Simontacchi; Kelsey Waldon courtesy of the artist; Michael Cleveland by Amy Richmond

Check Out the Full Bourbon & Beyond 2023 Bluegrass Lineup

Posted on by Amy Reitnouer

BGS is thrilled to announce the full lineup for our fifth-ever bluegrass stage at Bourbon & Beyond 2023, held at Highland Festival Grounds of the Kentucky Expo Center in Louisville.

In addition to main stage headliners including Billy Strings, Brandi Carlile, The Avett Brothers, The Black Keys, Jon Batiste, and many more, BGS will once again be taking over the Bourbon Tent from September 14-17, presenting some of our favorite bluegrass and Americana acts for fans to enjoy, all while sipping samples from over twenty distilleries.

Full bluegrass stage lineup below. Bourbon & Beyond tickets are on sale now. Discover more at BourbonAndBeyond.com

THURSDAY
Kelsey Waldon  |  Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
Two Runner  |  Clay Street Unit  |  Myron Elkins

FRIDAY
The Lil’ Smokies  | The Cleverlys
Twisted Pine  |  Lola Kirke  |  Armchair Boogie

SATURDAY
Town Mountain  |  Della Mae
Armchair Boogie  |  Sunny War  |  Lindsay Lou

SUNDAY
Dan Tyminski  |  Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen
The Arcadian Wild  |  Lindsay Lou  |  Pixie & the Partygrass Boys

LISTEN: Michael Cleveland, “Sunny Days (Are Comin’ Once Again)”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Michael Cleveland
Hometown: Henryville, Indiana
Song: “Sunny Days (Are Comin’ Once Again)”
Release Date: October 28, 2022
Label: Compass Records

In Their Words: “I first heard ‘Sunny Days (Are Comin’ Once Again)’ in 2020 when we were in the middle of the Covid pandemic and everything was shut down. The band wasn’t playing and if it hadn’t been for all the great sessions I got to play on from home during that time, I probably would’ve gone out of my mind. I was asked to play on this original song written by Greg Poulos and I instantly liked it — it was such a positive tune about better, sunny, days ahead. I’m so thankful Greg agreed to let me have it, and Jeff White and Dan Tyminski absolutely nailed the vocals!” — Michael Cleveland

Photo Credit: Amy Richmond

Dan Tyminski Tips His Hat to Tony Rice on New Tribute EP

Posted on by Editor

Not unlike the rest of the acoustic music community, Dan Tyminski is still grieving the loss of bluegrass guitarist Tony Rice, yet he laughs as he recalls the memory of following his hero around like a documentarian. “Oh, I stuck video cameras in his face and said, ‘Man, just do this for me for a second!” Tyminski recalls with a smile. “I remember having a camcorder, and it was just the opportunity. You know, you can’t pass something like that up.”

Bluegrass has long paid tribute to the masters, which obviously and importantly carries the tradition forward. Beyond that, there are just songs in the bluegrass canon that are beloved among generations — such as Rice’s timeless interpretations of Norman Blake’s “Church Street Blues.” His graceful touch on landmark acoustic albums are too numerous to mention. In the spirit of collaboration, Tyminski gathered his friends and fellow admirers for One More Time Before You Go, an EP that reflects an admiration for Rice without simply replicating those classic records. Instead, it’s a well-curated look into Rice’s life and career, and perhaps a gateway for a new generation to discover the guitarist’s artistic genius, too.

Tyminski called BGS from the recording studio to speak about One More Time Before You Go.

BGS: “Church Street Blues” is a fitting way to start this EP. Was that the song that got you turned on to Tony?

Tyminski: It’s one of the first songs I remember trying to pick apart and study how he did it. When I saw him do it for the first time, for sure, I realized his right-hand technique is almost uncopy-able. And then I obsessed on it for a little while. It was the best way I could pay tribute to him. He made my brain work really hard for that one.

Do you remember what kind of reaction you had when you first heard him play?

I can remember the first solo. A friend of mine called me over to a little horse stall where we were camping out at a bluegrass festival in upstate New York. And he played me Bluegrass Album Band, Vol. 1, “Blue Ridge Cabin Home,” and the first guitar solo — I had never heard a guitar solo done in such a way. At that point in time, man, that was unheard of. And it just parted my hair. It was amazing, and that was when I first realized how much I loved the guitar. Even over the banjo, because I was a banjo geek up until that point.

Tony’s ability as a guitarist is obviously well-known, and he had that gift for finding and recording great material. But I wanted to ask you about his sense of rhythm. How crucial is that, do you think, to the Tony Rice sound?

I don’t even know if it can be stressed high enough. That is ultimately what pulls me in to all of his music. It’s his sense of rhythm and timing. He has the most interesting right hand on an acoustic guitar that I have ever heard. No one else is able to pull off the techniques that he used to play that stuff. Each note that came out was highly dependent on the note before it, so if any one note were off, the whole thing derailed. When he was at his peak, he did stuff simply no one else could do.

In the song you wrote about Tony, “One More Time Before You Go,” there’s a lyric where you reference his life and legacy. I’m curious, to you, what is the legacy?

To me, it changed the world of guitar. It changed how it was played and how it was looked at. I don’t think there are any new musicians in bluegrass right now who don’t have an element of Tony Rice’s playing in them.

When you finished writing that song, who did you play it for first?

Like all things, I played it for my wife first. (laughs) She is always supportive and kind. And then, you know, I didn’t really play it for anyone for a little while because I didn’t write it as something that I necessarily wanted to publicize. I wrote the song truly as a way to self-heal. I was in mourning and I called someone else who I knew was in mourning as well – Josh Williams. He spent some of the last years touring with Tony. He came over to the house, and through our own stories and talking about it, we came up with this song. At the time I wrote the song, I didn’t really have this EP in mind. This song was kind of the birth of wanting to get enough material to make it sensible to put that song out.

I appreciate the fact that this EP isn’t overly reverent or stiff. There’s a liveliness to it that you don’t always get on a tribute record. Did you go into these sessions with a certain sound in mind, or a vibe you wanted to capture?

I wanted to capture the essence of who I thought the players were. Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas and Todd Phillips — there were critical moments in all that stuff they recorded with Tony that kinda made them sound like who they were. We didn’t grind out and try to make the most perfect recording we could. We played full passes through and I wanted to capture the essence of what each individual sounded like to me.

Was there a combination of sadness and happiness at that moment?

Bittersweet doesn’t even cover it. I was thrilled and excited to have some of my heroes here in my little studio at home, and at the same time, there’s no way not to consider the reason why everyone is there is because we all miss the man.

You have a natural voice for “Ten Degrees and Getting Colder.” Why is that song special to you?

The era that it came from. It was on that record that got me into bluegrass music in the first place. When I heard the 0044 record [J.D. Crowe & The New South from 1975] with Tony and Jerry and Ricky and Bobby Slone, that record set a mark for me for the rest of my bluegrass career, for sure. That was one of the highlight songs for me. The kickoff on that is probably one of the best guitar kickoffs of all time and I wanted to take my crack at it.

To sing it, did you get inside of that character in the song?

In the case of this, I really did. I really tried to make sure that I listened to the song and had the feel of what he was trying to [convey]. A few things surprised me, going back. I really did try to pay homage and do it in very close tempos and give it due consideration that way. That one’s almost faster that I thought it was! I’ve played it for years by myself but I’ve never played it against the record. And son of a gun, when it came down to recording it, I realized, that was right up there! It made my right hand work a little bit.

I think of that as a road song, and hearing you sing it reminded me of seeing Tony on tour with Alison Krauss & Union Station back in 2007.

That was a dream come true when we got to do that with Tony. That was the most time we got to spend and actually talk to him about personal stuff, and how records came to be, and how solos came to be. That’s a dream come true, to get to have your hero out on the road with you.

Did he accept the role of hero? Or did he deflect from the attention?

“Deflect” might not be the word that I’d choose, but you can’t not be aware that everyone is looking at your every move. So, he handled it with grace, and he was always willing to share. He was just a kind man.

I watched an interview where you said that Tony decided to drive to all the tour dates, rather than get on the bus.

He would not fly and he would not get on that bus. We insisted, in fact, that he take a driver with him. You know, a co-pilot. So, if he was going to drive, he would have someone else, because all of our drives were through the night to the next city. It turns out those were just Tony’s hours. He had a co-pilot but that other man never touched the wheel. Tony drove everywhere. That was his style.

There’s also a line in “One More Time Before You Go” about him being a mystery untold.

He was. Because in a quiet room, he wasn’t boisterous or loud – you didn’t get a lot out of Tony. But what you got was gold. He was really confident in the things that he did say. I think he was aware that he had that kind of power over a room, but he never abused it. He was just the man who could do that one particular thing better than everyone else.

I liked hearing “Where the Soul of a Man Never Dies” with Billy Strings on there.

And I’ve got to credit Billy with the pick, because there were a lot of duet songs you could choose from. That was one of the first songs that came back from Billy and it took about a flat second to say that’s the perfect one. Because with Billy, I wanted him to play guitar, and it gave me a chance to play a little bit of mandolin. That was just a totally live cut. We sat there and jammed for a little while, and took track #3 of #4 or whatever it was. It was so much fun and his right hand is so unique and great. You can hear Tony and Doc – you can hear a lot of people – in Billy’s playing.

Have you known him a long time?

No, I hadn’t known him a long time at all. I met him once before and we got together for the session. We’ve since booked stuff together. Hopefully I’ll spend a little more time with him. He’s an interesting guy and a great player.

Isn’t that something how bluegrass can bring people together and you feel a chemistry right away?

Well, for me, it’s always been a community. When I was little, growing up, what attracted me more than anything was the ability to go to bluegrass festivals and meet new people and instantly pick together and play together and eat together. There was a sense of community that you could just feel. That’s big in bluegrass.

If you could introduce Tony to a new bluegrass listener, where would you start?

That’s a good question because there’s a lot of different eras of Tony. I think different eras of Tony’s career appeal to different appetites of music. It would depend a lot on the person. It would depend on the situation. He has a lot of landmark music. You could pick almost anything he did and say, “That’s going to be someone’s favorite music.”

For me personally, as I get more and more into him, I can go back and listen to the earliest stuff I can find of his where you can hear the evolution of Tony Rice. How he went from his early Clarence White-style to who he ultimately became. His whole career fascinated me, mostly in the right hand, and how he went after his solos and his rhythm playing. Outside of his solos, I can tune into his rhythm playing and not even have to wait on a solo. I’m satisfied with just his rhythm. He was a monster.

For those listeners who already love Tony’s work, what do you hope they’ll take away from this project?

Just a love for the instrument and how much influence he had on other people who are doing it now. There are a bunch of young people out there who are not just carrying the torch, they’re stoking the fire and making it bigger. Tony’s a big part of what has made these young people want to do that.

Photo Credit: Scott Simontacchi

Bluegrass Memoirs: ‘Industrial Strength Bluegrass’ and the Dayton Bluegrass Reunion (Part 1)

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

On April 22, 1989, Cityfolk, a Dayton, Ohio-based concert series, mounted their most ambitious evening to date, The Dayton Bluegrass Reunion, “An All-Star Salute to Dayton’s 40 Year Bluegrass History.” It was held at Memorial Hall in downtown Dayton.

I’m reminded of this concert now because of an essay I wrote for its program booklet: “Industrial Strength Bluegrass.” That is the title of a new book by Fred Bartenstein and Curtis W. Ellison, subtitled “Southwestern Ohio’s Musical Legacy.” This anthology presents a remarkable in-depth portrait of a key regional bluegrass scene, which co-author Bartenstein has likened to seminal regional scenes in other genres like blues (Chicago) and jazz (New Orleans).

In March, Smithsonian Folkways released a 16-track album with the same title, edited by Joe Mullins and son Daniel Mullins. On it are 16 contemporary recordings by today’s leading bluegrass artists, doing the region’s key repertoire — like “Once More,” the Osborne Brothers and Red Allen’s 1958 high lead trio, recreated on the album by The Grascals; and “20/20 Vision” by Jimmy Martin and Osborne Brothers in 1954, done here by Dan Tyminski. Joe Mullins opens the album with his band, The Radio Ramblers, doing “Readin’, Rightin’, Route 23,” an anthem to the Appalachian migrants who nurtured bluegrass in the region.

My experience with the Dayton Bluegrass Reunion began in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the fall of ’87 at an annual meeting of the American Folklore Society (AFS). One month to the day after the Earl Scruggs Celebration, I met Phyllis Brzozowska, executive director of Cityfolk, “an arts organization,” as she later wrote, “working full time to bring to the public the variety and excellence that exists in traditional arts today.” 

Phyllis grew up with Irish dancing in Dayton. By 1978 she had a Celtic music radio show on WYSO-FM, the Antioch College station, and began booking bands. “A band I knew from Pittsburgh called ‘Devilish Mary’ was coming through town. They were a great dance band that played ole’ timey music and Irish traditional music.” She and a friend organized a “ceili” at a downtown club in Dayton. By 1981 she’d formed Cityfolk. 

By 1987, Cityfolk had branched out from Irish to include other roots music in their events — including bluegrass. In the 1980s a broadening of interest in the traditional arts was nurtured through public sector folklore lobbying in Washington. The Festival of American Folklife, established in 1967 by Ralph Rinzler at the Smithsonian, led to the establishment of a Folk Arts department at the National Endowment for the Arts and the creation of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. The National Folk Festival, around since the ’30s, moved to Washington and became the National Council for Traditional Arts (NCTA) in 1976. 

These national institutions supported performing arts markets for traditional artists. Local and regional arts organizations like Cityfolk and PineCone grew and flourished during the ’80s, and public folklorists were active in the AFS. Phyllis was wanting to talk with me because I’d written a book about bluegrass. She was planning a reunion concert to celebrate 40 years of bluegrass in Dayton, applying for funding from the Ohio Arts Council and the Dayton Performing Arts Fund. She asked me if I would work as a consultant and writer for this event’s program. 

Brzozowska wanted to tell the story of bluegrass in Dayton as dramatically as possible, so they were hiring Don Baker, “one of the leading theater directors in the South.” Baker had grown up in Appalachia and started his career at Appalshop in Whitesburg, Kentucky. In 1984 he co-founded Lime Kiln, a theater in Lexington, Virginia. 

For the Reunion, Brzozowska later recalled, Baker “constructed a theatrical foundation on which the music and narrative would be presented. He also designed the set, contributed input to the script, set the pacing of the show and when the lights went up, was the perfect stage M.C. for the evening.” 

In producing the show Brzozowska took counsel from three Dayton old hands — Harley Allen, Fred Bartenstein, and Paul “Moon” Mullins. Additional input came from old-time fiddler and Dayton City librarian Barb Kuhns and writer-musician Larry Nager. As a consultant and writer, I worked with them on the planning of the concert and on program booklet. I also helped backstage on the night of the concert. 

My experiences with southwestern Ohio bluegrass began in the late fifties. Oberlin classmate Jeff Piker came from Cincinnati as a freshman in ’58. Inspired by a Pete Seeger concert at Antioch, he’d bought a used Vega banjo at a music shop in the Appalachian migrant neighborhood of Over-The-Rhine that Nathan McGee writes about in Industrial Strength Bluegrass (pp. 164, 166). It had homemade Scruggs pegs! 

That made Piker a popular guy with us campus bluegrass jammers. We all borrowed the banjo to learn how to use the pegs. During the January 1959 winter break we took it with us when we went to Yellow Springs to visit Antioch College friends. Bluegrass was catching on there. 

Chuck Crawford, Neil V. Rosenberg, Franklin Miller III at Pyle Inn, Oberlin, Ohio, January 1959

A year later, in March 1960, our band opened for the Osborne Brothers at Antioch. I’ve written about that in Bluegrass: A History (pp. 155-58). In 1962, another band I was in opened at Antioch, for Sid Campbell and Frank Wakefield, and I’ve written about that too, in Bluegrass Generation: A Memoir (119-123).

One detail from that 1960 concert I didn’t mention: when Jeremy Foster called to invite us to open the show for the Osbornes, he said he’d booked the Osborne Brothers because they were nearby and available. We knew of this band only from the sound of their MGM album, The Osborne Brothers and Red Allen. Jeremy was disappointed that they had changed — Red Allen was no longer with them. That made their music less appealing to him. But, as I learned later, Bobby and Sonny didn’t want fancy guitar backup and didn’t need a flashy lead singer. They were focused on their trio.

In the fall of 1963, when I was managing Bill Monroe’s park, the Brown County Jamboree, in Bean Blossom, Indiana, we got reacquainted when they gave their first show there (Bluegrass Generation, pp. 224-226). With Benny Birchfield playing guitar and singing the lowest voice in the trio, they had moved from MGM to Decca. Their first single, “Take This Hammer,” had just come out. Their final MGM album, Cutting the Grass, was due out soon.

They were polishing the high lead trio they’d been working on for five years. That winter I taped them guesting on the WSM’s after-the-Opry broadcast, Ernest Tubb’s Midnite Jamboree. Their harmonies were attracting attention in country music circles.

At Bean Blossom, Bobby and Sonny had told me about their regular Thursday night gigs Ruby’s White Sands in Dayton and invited me to come over some time. In May ’64, Jim Work and I took friends from California, Jerry Garcia and Sandy Rothman, to see them there. 

The Osbornes joined the Opry a few months later. By then they were coming to Bean Blossom twice a year and we’d gotten better acquainted. “Banjer” talk with Sonny was always entertaining. He had experimental bridges, banjos, and capos. On stage, he had great new licks for every show. 

With Bobby I shared an interest in bluegrass history. One Sunday in 1964 I invited the band back to our apartment in Bloomington for supper. While they were there I showed Bobby the work I was doing on the Bill Monroe discography and asked him if he was interested in doing something like that for the Osborne Brothers. He was. We began corresponding about their discography, and started trading tapes.

Benny Birchfield left the Osborne Brothers at the end of ’65. The following spring, in Cincinnati for an academic meeting, I ran into him at the Ken-Mill Café in Over-The-Rhine. He was playing bass in a band that included lead singer and guitarist Jim McCall, with Vernon McIntyre Jr. on banjo. Benny introduced me to the band as a banjo picker from Bean Blossom and invited me to sit in for a set on banjo. That was fun.

On Labor Day, 1966, Carlton Haney held his second Roanoke Bluegrass Festival in Fincastle, Virginia. The Osborne Brothers were there — riding high with their first charted Decca hit, “Up This Hill and Down.” Their Sunday trio on “I Hear A Sweet Voice Calling” with Bill Monroe was one of the high points of the festival that year — a religious experience for many who heard it. 

At that festival, my first, I finally met Pete Kuykendall. We’d been corresponding and trading tapes for several years, and he’d published bluegrass discographies in the mimeo magazine Disc Collector. Now he was promoting a new bluegrass monthly, Bluegrass Unlimited. I told him about the Osborne Brothers discography, and he agreed to publish it in BU (it appeared the following July). Promoter Haney invited me to join him, Ralph Rinzler, and Mayne Smith in introducing Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys and The Osborne Brothers in a special broadcast about the festival on the local TV channel.

In April 1967 I saw them at a club outside Indianapolis. The third voice in the trio was now being sung by Harley Gabbard, later the co-founder of The Boys from Indiana. His name comes up often in Mac McDivitt’s chapter on the southwest Ohio recording scene in Industrial Strength Bluegrass (pp. 43-76). One of Gabbard’s contributions to the regional repertoire, “Family Reunion,” written with his nephew, Aubrey Holt, is performed on the new Folkways CD by Rhonda Vincent and Caleb Daugherty. 

I saw Gabbard again the following October when he dropped in and sang bass on one cut we were recording for George Brock’s gospel album at Rusty York‘s Jewel Records in Mt. Healthy, Ohio. McDivitt’s chapter also devotes a section (pp. 63-65) to Jewel and York’s remarkable careers in bluegrass and rockabilly. Here’s Harley Gabbard with the Osbornes doing what was, as of May ’67, their new single: “Roll Muddy River.”

So, during the years I’d lived in Indiana (1961-68) I’d dipped into the Southwestern Ohio bluegrass scene a number of times. I knew some of the music, some of the people and some of the history. But I had been living in Newfoundland for twenty years. Fortunately Barb Kuhns (Dayton City librarian) and Larry Nager knew the Dayton region scene deeply in a way I didn’t, which was essential, because the sequence and repertoire of the concert had to reflect the drama of the reunion story.

(Editor’s Note: Read part two here.)

Neil V. Rosenberg is an author, scholar, historian, banjo player, Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame inductee, and co-chair of the IBMA Foundation’s Arnold Shultz Fund.

Photo of Neil V. Rosenberg: Terri Thomson Rosenberg

The BGS Radio Hour – Episode 205

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

Welcome to the BGS Radio Hour! Since 2017, this weekly radio show and podcast has been a recap of all the great music, new and old, featured on the digital pages of BGS. This week, we bring you new music from Sara Watkins featuring her old bandmates from Nickel Creek, newly released tracks from Shakey Graves’ archive, and so much more! Remember to check back every Tuesday for a new episode of the BGS Radio Hour.

APPLE PODCASTS, SPOTIFY

Sara Watkins (feat. Nickel Creek) – “Blue Shadows on the Trail”

Sara Watkins recently sat down with BGS to talk about the set of film classics that defined her childhood, and are featured on her new album. With songs like “Pure Imagination” and “Moon River,” this album isn’t just for kids, even if it was first imagined as a collection of lullabies. Instead, it’s a meditative look at these songs which have impacted more than just one generation. And who could forget this classic from the 1980s classic comedy Three Amigos?

The Ladles – “Pages”

Here’s a song about the experience of reading through an old journal and being confronted with your past self — not a particularly comfortable experience. However, for Katie Martucci of The Ladles, it’s a reminder that at any given moment, we only know what we know, and we’re all doing the best we can.

The Antlers – “Porchlight”

“Porchlight” is about a powerful partnership, “knowing somebody so well as to recognize when they’re lost, and helping them find their way back home.”

Andrew Adkins – “This Old Knife”

When asked to be a part of a tribute album to singer-songwriter John Lilly, Andrew Adkins knew exactly what song he wanted to sing: one that he’d had a remarkably personal connection to the first time he heard it.

Shakey Graves – “Roll the Bones”

It’s hard to believe that Shakey Graves’ debut album Roll the Bones came out 10 years ago. Since the album’s quiet 2011 release, he’s emerged from the shadows, releasing multiple albums and garnering a substantial following. In celebration of the decade since, Shakey brings us Roll the Bones 10, a deluxe edition which also features 15 unheard songs from the same era as the original album.

Bridget Rian – “Trailer Park Cemetery”

Inspired by a trailer park cemetery seen while driving through Florida, this song is more a commentary on life than it is death. Bridget Rian says she has a “fear of being forgotten, of not making a difference” with her life – and this song was a mode of expressing this fear.

Jason Davis (feat. Dan Tyminski) – “Modern Day Jezebel”

Dan Tyminski sings lead and plays guitar on this tasty modern bluegrass tune from Jason Davis.

Peggy Seeger – “Gotta Get Home By Midnight”

Folk legend Peggy Seeger is our Artist of the Month for April here at BGS, and we’re so grateful to have been able to speak with her on her new album First Farewell, her lifelong career in folk music, her hopes for social justice and peace, and much more.

Garrison, Gordy, Hargreaves, Walsh – “Sports”

Bluegrass instrumental supergroup Garrison, Gordy, Hargreaves, Walsh have set their fun, rollicking instrumental tune “Sports” to a zany, hand-drawn music video by banjoist Danny Barnes.

Donovan Woods – “Whatever Keeps You Going”

Canadian singer-songwriter Donovan Woods recently joined BGS for 5+5 on reading lots of fiction, a memorable London show, writing with Lori McKenna, and more.

The Sweet Lillies – “My Brother’s Hill”

Boulder’s The Sweet Lillies bring us their version of a tune originally released by The Stray Birds, a song they chose because they were deeply inspired by its stunning vocal harmonies, its beautiful and meaningful lyrics, and its old-timey structure.

Giri Peters – “Fallin'”

Those who frequent bluegrass festivals in the south may already be familiar with the young savant Giri Peters. Giri and his sister Uma quickly gained popularity in the last number of years for their impeccable musical skills, not to mention at such a young age. Giri, originally known as an up-and-coming mandolinist, has continued to grow as a songwriter and solo artist. His most recent single is a testament to his musical and artistic growth, and brings much promise of an exciting career ahead.

June Star – “I Don’t Wanna Know”

“Human beings are messy emotional creatures,” says June Star’s Andrew Grimm. “Sometimes when we struggle to communicate in relationships it’s because there’s the voice we speak with and that voice in our head. ‘I Don’t Wanna Know’ bounces between a professed love to another person and a confessed loneliness on the inside.”

Miles Gannett – “Thunder River, Tumbling Down”

Miles Gannett heard the melody and some lyrics of this song, including the lines “Thunder River, tumbling down; catch your babes before they drown” in a dream — and it kind of creeped him out. He sat with it for a couple of years before it all came together in this final semi-apocalyptic song.

Photos: (L to R) Shakey Graves by Magen Buse; Sara Watkins by Jacob Boll; Peggy Seeger by Vicki Sharp

LISTEN: Jason Davis, “Modern Day Jezebel” (Feat. Dan Tyminski)

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Jason Davis
Hometown: Galax, Virginia
Song: “Modern Day Jezebel” (Feat. Dan Tyminski)
Release Date: April 13, 2021
Label: Mountain Fever Records

In Their Words: “I first got the demo of this tune four or five years ago from Daniel Salyer. I loved it the first time I heard it and knew I’d like to cut it for my next record. Luckily, nobody had put it out in the meantime. To me it’s a great modern bluegrass tune. I think it’s a cool way of telling the story of a love gone wrong and I really liked the chord progression and melody. Dan played guitar on the session and I was especially excited when he wanted to sing it. It was an honor to get to track with all the guys (and gal). They really knocked it out of the park on this one. They killed it!” — Jason Davis

Photo credit: Donn Jones