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August 2015
Let life be like music.~ Langston Hughes ~
In my interview with Robert Earl Keen for the cover of this issue, he saidthis: “I don’t ever want to do anything else ... I don’t have otherdreams about anything – either I’m going to keep going or I’mgoing to find some other way of doing it ... You just keep mov-ing and doing things that help keep making it all work.”
That seemed like a fitting introduction. These pages are filled with stories,and interviews, and advertisements for events and happenings that allseem to be rooted in this commitment and dedication. One story is about afestival that’s been around for 50 years, another for 80. We have a storyabout luthiers who are super dedicated to making a superior product. Wehave advertisers that are eager for you to check out the event they’ve beenworking so hard to put on. And there are bands and artists with greatnew music available for the summer season. And all this because thesefine folks don’t really want to do anything else. This is their dream, andthey keep finding ways to make it happen. So, take a little time this sum-mer to thank someone for putting out a great CD, or hosting a great event.They couldn’t really do it without you.
Questions, comments, suggestions:[email protected]
Americana Rhythm is published six times a year. All correspon-dence should be sent to PO Box 45, Bridgewater VA, 22812 oremail to [email protected]. Copies of AmericanaRhythm are made available free at various pick up locations withinthe publication’s region. Subscriptions are available inside the UnitedStates (only) for $16 US currency made payable by check or moneyorder sent to, Subscriptions at PO Box 45, Bridgewater, VA, 22812.Foreign subscrip t ion requests should be sent [email protected]. Copyright 2014. All rights reserved.Reproduction of any content, artwork or photographs is strictlyprohibited without permission of the publisher or original owner. Alladvertising material subject to approval.
PUBLISHER/EDITOR IN CHIEFGreg E. Tutwiler
Associate EditorEd Tutwiler
MARKETING & PROMOTIONMark Barreres (GrassRootsNetworking.com)
ADVERTISINGBusiness office 540-433-0360
CONTRIBUTORSEd Tutwiler
Wayne ErbsenDonna Ulisse
Don and Martha DePoyAndrew McKnight
DISTRIBUTIONEd TutwilerZebra Media
Associated Dist.
Letters, Comments, [email protected]
PUBLISHER
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During this magical, mystical,Americana string-music tour thatI’ve been so blessed to take, I havehad the privilege to document thestories of many fine instrumentmakers. Some have been renownedmusicians who also construct a spe-cial instrument that delivers theperfect sound to their ears and thenbuild a copy of that instrument oneat a time for special friends. Oth-ers have been fine craftspeople,with some musical talent, who doquality woodwork and have the
ability to put that knowledge intofine stringed instruments that theycustom-build upon order. Once, Imet a creative artist whose artisticexpression just happened to beunique, exotic guitars with perfectsound and constructed to the fin-est standards. His finished workwas more art to be admired anddisplayed as such for its uniquebeauty than for playing music.
What Makes A LuthierThis time, I will tell you about twospecial people who are musicians,luthiers, and skilled craftsmen butwho are also pragmatic business-men with a primary goal to buildfine quality, great sounding guitars;and to sell them in volume as asuccessful business venture. Whoare these men, you ask—they areJeff Huss and Mark Dalton andthey are the creators and drivingforce behind the internationally
known and respected HUSS &DALTON acoustic steel-string gui-tar. I sat down with misters Hussand Dalton in their Staunton, VAproduction center recently at theend of one of their busy days, andasked them to tell us how they putit all together and made it all hap-pen.
Jeff Huss began by telling me thathe entered the music instrumentmaking world in June 1985 whenhe started working at Stelling Banjo
By Edward TutwilerBuild It,They Will Play
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Works. Jeff tells it this way, “I playguitar and banjo and that interestled me to going to work for Stellingand I worked for him (editor note:him, being Geoff Stelling) for thenext nine years. While there, I be-came interested in how guitars aremade. I got some books and beginstudying, and I built my first gui-tar in 1989.”
Jeff went on to say, “Around thatsame time I met up with MarkDalton (who is a very good banjoand guitar player by the way) I hadmade a few guitars on my own andeventually made a guitar for Mark.I had a shop at home in my garagewhere I was building guitars onmy own. I eventually transitionedcompletely out of Stelling’s shopand started building guitars forhim to market as his branded of-fering.”
Improving SkillsAs Huss began ramping up hisone-man operation, Dalton wentto work for Stelling doing the fin-ish work on Stelling’s banjos. (Markcomes from a finishing backgroundand trained in his father’s autobody repair shop.) Jeff injected,“Finishing is my weak area. I wasdoing the building but I did notknow much about finish work.”
In 1995, Mark Dalton left Stelling’semploy; and he and Jeff Hussformed their own company. Markspoke up and said, “This year, 2015,is our 20th anniversary.” Jeff con-tinued, “So, we ended up in mygarage—just the two of us—andhalf of our output was StellingGuitars. This was a good thing asit meant that we had half of all webuilt pre-sold. That guaranteed in-come gave us the opportunity todevelop our own line of guitars,which we could market on ourown.” Mark added, “We were alsodoing the inlay work on theStelling banjos in our shop as well.So, in the early days we were bothclosely associated with StellingBanjo Works first as employees,and then as suppliers of finishedguitars, as well as subcontractorson some of the fine finish work thatthe banjos needed. In the begin-ning, when it was just Jeff and me,we could build four finished gui-tars a month—two of which wereStelling guitars and two of which
were Huss and Dalton guitars.That’s how we started.”
Mark continued, “By 1996, wemoved to larger rented quarters inStuart’s Draft, VA and hired ourfirst employee. In 1999, we boughtthis building here in Staunton, VA,moved our operation to thispresent location, and hired more
employees. In 2008, we bought theadjacent building, and here we arein 2015.”
I asked about the fact that theyboth were musicians as well asluthiers, and Jeff said, “Yes we are.Everybody who works here nowor who ever worked here plays amusical instrument. I think thatfact (that is; being a musician) is
what draws people to make instru-ments for their living.”
IdentityI asked how they decided upon thestyle or design that their signatureguitar would have. Huss said, “Itis a traditional design. When Istarted, I was studying a book thatdiscussed flat-top, steel-string gui-
tars.” Did it de-scribe a standarddesign, I won-dered? Jeff contin-ued, “Yes. We’venever been ones toexperiment aroundwith different de-signs. We love oldguitars and do notwant to deviatefrom those tradi-tional designs—those designs aretried and true.”
Mark added, “Almost all steel-string instruments are really justcopies of everything that everyoneelse has ever made. It is a real tra-dition-based world. Even in theelectric guitar world many peoplemake copies of the Telecaster,Stratocaster, and Less Paul designs.You can make an electric guitar intosomething weird and people will
still purchase it; however, theacoustic guitar world is very tradi-tion based. We do our little take onever part of the process—ourunique stamp—but for the mostpart our guitars are copies of gui-tars that were made in the 1930ssuch as the Martins and Gibson’s.We have a few models that aremore unique to us; and as I saidbefore, everything has our stampupon its process in some way.”
I ask them to comment on the pro-cess of building their guitars, andJeff told me that their process cov-ers the range of modern manufac-turing techniques but there is stilla great bit of handwork involvedas well. Jeff added, “There is a lotof handwork; however, we haveand use a CNC machine so we canhave perfect parts one after theother. Even the leading companiesnoted for their innovation still have
portions of thebuild process thatis handwork.”
I asked if they de-sign to achieve acertain soundfrom their gui-tars, and do theirguitars have aunique sound?Jeff answered,“The sound is aproduct of theway we build
rather that us saying we want acertain sound and experimentingwith the build until we achieve thatsound. We figured out how tobuild our guitar the way wewanted it to be, and the sound thatresulted was the sound of our gui-tar. People seem to think that ourguitars have a distinctive charac-teristic to their sound but that
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unique sound is the result of thebuild. The sound is fairly close forall of our guitars. Most of the soundcomes out of the top of the guitarand that is where we need to beconsistent. Some people certainlydo tap testing and use a bit of blackmagic to achieve uniformity insound. We have a fixture that weuse that applies a standard pressureto the guitar top and measures thetop’s deflection. In effect, we aremeasuring the stiffness of each top.We then sand the top until it meetsour specifications. Therefore, whilethe thickness of the top can vary,the stiffness of the top is main-tained to our standards. This tech-nique seems to give us very consis-tent results. We do some customwork with exotic woods in ourbacks and sides. That is part of thefun part of the whole thing. Thedifferent backs and sides certainlywill color the sound. A mahoganyguitar will sound different than arosewood guitar. If one uses theexotic woods enough, one can startto recognize the sound resultingfrom each type. During one period,we used a lot of Honduran rose-wood. Those guitars have a verydistinctive sound to them.”
I asked if they ever produced a cus-tom guitar. Here is Mark’s reply,“We do a lot of custom work butwe do not change the structure.The structure must match whatwe do. We do not change our brac-ing design; and we don’t modifyor omit this or that brace. Any cus-tom work we do will be mostly cos-metic or using special woods. Onecan do a long list of things to cus-tomize a guitar, and we do mosteverything. With bindings, inlays,and wood choices, there are nu-merous things one can do tochange a guitar in a custom man-ner.”
AquisitionWhen asked how someone couldbecome an owner of one of theirguitars, both Mark and Jeff quicklytold me, “We sell to stores. We donot sell direct to the consumer. Wewholesale everything to the retailstores. While most of our output issold when we build it, it is sold tothe retail outlets. We are manufac-turers not retailers.” Mark contin-ued, “You can not do both. You ei-ther must be the builder or the re-tailer. If you have a production line
at all, then that is what you mustconcentrate upon. You can not dodirect sale. If you have dealers thatretail your product, you can notcompete with them. That justwould not work.”
Currently, Huss & Dalton produceseveral hundred guitars a year forthe retail market. Before the recentrecession, their production wassomewhat greater but they neededto cut back due to that economicsituation. Mark, expanded, “Wewould always like the productionnumber to grow. When the reces-sion came along, we had 13 em-ployees. By late 2007 to early 2008we begin feeling the effects of theslowdown. Many of our employ-ees are young and they tend tocome and go so we were never inthe position to need to lay anyoneoff from their job—everyone al-ways got 40 hours of work eachweek. That took us down to sevenfolks but we just recently addedsomeone to take us back to eightemployees at present. We thinkthat our current work load is grow-ing and maybe we can add anotherperson this year. We remain con-servative about adding folks tooquickly. It is hard to train manypeople at one time. It takes a verylong time to train people to do whatwe need them to be able to do. Thework is all very skilled. We spendtime trying to take some of the skillout of the work and make it easierfor someone to come in and do ajob but our system is not such thatyou can just pull someone off thestreet and put them to work.” Jeffadded, “Even the guys that go toschool still need to learn our sys-tem the way we do it. We have hadgood employees that were schooltrained and we have good employ-ees off the street that we’ve trained,and we had some that were not sogood from both places; it more de-pends on the person.”
Spreading Talent AroundDo not get the idea that these twomen sit in an office somewhere andnever get their hands on the prod-uct they produce. When asked ifthey were still hands-on, Mark andJeff replied in unison, “Yes, verymuch so. At least 80 percent of Jeff’stime and 96 percent of Mark’s timeis spent in the production room.”
concluded on page 9
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As I sit here in the quiet of myhome office with the computerscreen throwing contrived lightingacross my hands, I am remindedof how natural and unchanged thecraft of song writing is. We can in-vent all these wonderful new toolsto use for writing songs but it stillcomes down to the very basics; agood idea and the ability to tell agood story in a musical way. At theend of a day, all you need is sometime, a pen and paper and perhapsan instrument. Gosh, in the daysbefore folks could documentthrough writing things down inbooks and pamphlets, history wasretold through ballads and poems,passed down from generation togeneration in a rhythmic way thatcould be memorized and kept alive.They wrote songs for the ages, lit-erally!
To a degree we are still doing thatvery thing today. When a greatevent happens, songwriters sit
down and write about it. The sor-row or joy experienced by a drivenauthor must be purged and ex-pressed. When 9/11 happened therewere sad, comforting, unitingsongs written and recorded. Onethat comes to mind is AlanJackson’s self-written song, “WhereWere You” (When the WorldStopped Turning). I rememberhearing that song for the first timeand connecting to the lyric. Hetapped into what so many Ameri-cans were feeling because he wasfeeling it too. He poured hissongwriting heart into capturing amoment in time and by doing soit is now preserving that part of ourhistory. Writing how you feel at themoment of one of these life experi-ences is important and a bit liketaking on the role of a historian.
I was told once that to be believ-able, to capture and hold a listeneryou must write what you know.For a long while I was unsure that
I knew enough of anything to beable to sell a song. There is some-thing to be said for having a littlelife behind you, some experiencein living the ups and downs, walk-ing through a few trials, havingfelt loss and known triumph firsthand so that you can pull fromthese emotions and put them tomusic.
I am no longer hung up on the feel-ing that I must live through oneof these experiences to write aboutit. I now use a well to draw fromthat I have been accumulating foryears. If I had my feelings hurt, Ithrew that into my well, if I hadan “ah ha moment” I tossed it inthe well, if I felt a love that tookme up to the heavens, into thewell; all these things are safelystored and ready to be dredged upwhen needed.
These days I take my songwritingjob so seriously that I actually go
out and interview and research formy lyrics. If I haven’t lived throughwhatever I’m writing about, I tryand name what emotion needs tobe present in the body of the song,pull from a past, similar emotionhidden in the well and then goabout finding out details and writethe story as accurately as I can.
My husband and I wrote a song afew years ago that is loaded with afictitious plot of characters and amade-up storyline. It is during theCivil War, which we all know Ididn’t live through. To make thestory thrive we did a little researchand came up with some detailsthat added a believable edge. I wantto share this example of writing asong that I did not live through butby pulling on emotions that aremine and by adding some accurateelements I feel as though we gavethis story life. The melody is veryold-time, Celtic, haunting, CivilWar, campfire like…very fitting forthe lyric.
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Mark added, “We don’t sit here inthe office.”
Each one has his special areas ofexpertise and responsibilities. Jeffworks upstairs doing the neck andinlay work plus overseeing thoseemployees while Mark runs andprograms the CNC machine. Hepreviously was involved in thesetup work but is slowly movingout of that area. Of course, theyrun the business together. Marksummed up, “It is a small businessso we all wear a lot of hats. It is atypical small business—it just hasan unusual product.”
When Jeff and Mark started build-ing one guitar at a time, theylearned to do things smarter andquicker as they grew. Now, theymust get new folks to that point alot quicker. I asked how they dothat. Mark said they were stilllearning and Jeff chuckled andagreed. Mark went on to say, “Weare always trying to improve thesystem by improving the methods,the procedures, and the fixtures. Italways needs improvement. We
Huss & Dalton Continued are always trying to do that. Wecan achieve quality but we are try-ing to achieve quality easier. We arealways trying to figure a better wayto put a certain part into a specifichole consistently instead of havingto shape each part individually tofit the hole.”
Uniquely Their OwnI wondered about what makestheir guitar unique and desirable.Both guys replied but each had asomewhat different view. Jeff said,“I think it is just the sum of all ofthe parts. We didn’t go at it thatway to see how we could make itstand out. Rather, we decided tomake a really good guitar becausewe believed that is what peoplewanted.” Mark’s take was, “Thedifference between us and our com-petitors, which are all bigger thatus, is very subtle. Our guitars lookjust like theirs when they are hang-ing on the dealer’s wall. We all haveour signature sound but when onedoes enough research and gets pastthe generalizations, there are justsubtle differences between us andthe others, and we reach our niche.It as a musical instrument to its fullpotential.”
SHADY GLENWords and music by Donna Ulisse and Rick Stanley© Uncle Hadley Music/Pop ‘N Paw Music (ASCAP)
(recorded on An Easy Climb by Donna Ulisse)
The misty town of Shady Glen lay just behind the mountainHome to northern soldier ghosts sprung from Hell’s own fountainNo one seeks the valley’s edge where spirits roam uneasy‘Cause angry men are walkin’ dead through Shady Glen by evenin’
Red Leg soldiers lost their lives in eighteen sixty fourKilled between the moon and sun as told in town folkloreAll laying by their loaded guns, still wearin’ boots and daggersNow those fallen men still walk, ‘cross Shady Glen they stagger
Those soldier boys, they had their way with all the towns good womenThey shot the old men, burned the fields and plundered for provisionsThe terror that they wielded cut a path of tears and sorrowThose Yankee blues, they did not know their time was only borrowed
Shady Glen is broken land and fit for no one livin’‘Cause restin’ in the Devils hands are souls gone unforgiven
Now Molly Vaughn of Shady Glen, she gained the soldiers favorHer body was her saving grace; her crafty ways would save herShe trapped and cooked a rabbit stew, enough to feed a kingdomAnd stirred in poison with a smile as the sun was slowly sinkin’
She brought her kettle to the camp dressed up in lace and scarletServed her stew in army tins and danced beneath the starlightThe soldiers ate their fill and watched as Molly turned and swayedThe poison moving like a snake, fillin’ up their veins
Molly Vaughn of Shady Glen was home before the day brokeNews of how she’d spent her night was known by all the town folkThey were grateful for the stew that stopped those men from breathin’But now those Red Leg soldiers roam through Shady Glen by evenin’
Shady Glen is broken land and fit for no one livin’‘Cause restin’ in the Devils hands are souls gone unforgiven
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FEATUREARTISTS
Thanks to our partnership with ReverbNation (www.reverbnation.com) we are honored to give you apeak at a few of the nation’s hardest working indie artists. Each month we select one entry to showcasefor you here. Enjoy!
THIS MONTH’S FEATURE: By Greg Tutwiler
Carolina Story
Carolina Story is Ben and EmilyRoberts; Ben from Pine Bluff,Arkansas and Emily from Lennox,South Dakota. They met inMemphis, and now hail from EastNashville. So, you may wonder,where did the Carolina part comefrom? I did too. “When we firststarted dating, I took Emily on aweek long camping trip in WesternNorth Carolina, outside ofAsheville,” Ben said. He had gone tocollege there for a time and hadbeen a whitewater rafting guide onthe French Broad River along withseveral others nearby. “It was andstill is one of my favorite areas inthe lower 48 and I simply wanted totake her there so she could see it forherself and hopefully fall in lovewith it like I had.”
One night near the end of the tripwhile sitting around the campfire,Ben and Emily decided maybe thattwo heads were better than one,musically, and a light bulb. “Weshould start a band and give it a gotogether,” Ben recalled. “On theway home, Emily mentionedCarolina Story as a name. Wewanted our songs to tell our storyand the stories of others, and NorthCarolina just so happened to bewhere the band idea was firsthatched. It sounded folky androotsy enough, and we didn’t haveany better ideas, so it stuck.”
Choirs And FendersBen grew up singing in the churchchoir and said he’s always been alover of music, song, melody. “Mydad was always educating me andmy sister on different bands andartists that he grew up on too. Wewere raised on the sounds of NeilYoung, Cat Stevens, George Jones,Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, TheBand, Led Zeppelin, Old Countryand Rock n’ Roll.” Ben startedplaying guitar when he was 12 aftertalking his parents into buying him aFender acoustic, “a guitar I stillhave to this day,” he said. Theymade him promise to take lessonsand practice diligently. “I took afew months worth of lessons,learned four or five chords, thedifference between major andminor and figured I knew enough,so I joined a band at the start of 7thgrade.” He said. “We playedtogether until my senior year ofhigh school.”
Ben ended up going to college on afootball scholarship and transferredaround to several different schoolsover the course of several years.“During this time, I sort of put the
guitar down so to speak,” he said. “Ididn’t play much, except for aroundthe campfire at parties and withfriends.”
It wasn’t until he enrolled at VisibleMusic College in Memphis, TN inthe fall of 2007 that he really pickedit back up. “You could say thatEmily had a huge impact on me,” herecalled. “I met her in the parkinglot of the school and helped hermove a couch into her dorm room.It was love at first sight for me.”
Devising A PlanBen devised a plan to bring to find away to spend more time with hisnew found love interest. “Emily wasinto the music of an artist namedBrandi Carlile,” he me. “I learnedseveral songs off of her album, TheStory and told Emily that we shouldsing some of the songs together forfun. She agreed, and we learned thesong, “Josephine.” That’s where itall started. We then began craftingour own songs, mainly with Emilyas the lead and me only accompany-ing. We never really set out to starta band or anything. We both knewthere was a natural chemistry there
so we went with it. The two weremarried two years later and wenton their first tour a week after thehoneymoon.
They returned to Memphis afterthat first tour because Ben had ayear of school left. “We lived inMemphis during that fall semesterbut I got clearance from the schoolto finish my last six spring semes-ter hours from the road. I literallywould video chat with my class inthe afternoons from the road. Wewould load in at venues and Iwould Skype in and sit there videochatting with my professor andclassmates, often having to stepout a few minutes early to go
sound check,” Ben recalled.
On The Road AgainTouring has always been a big partof Carolina Story. “It’s how we’vebuilt our fan base,” he said, “oneshow at a time.” Since then, Caro-lina Story has played nearly 800shows in 43 states. “Now that ourson and first child is in the picture,”Ben said, “we tour a little less forthe time being but he’s been toevery show since he was born inSeptember. I think he’s been to 12states already.”
As a song writer, Ben said, “I am allabout the song. I’m constantlychasing after it. I would definitelysay that my personal travels andtravels as a band influence ourwriting a great deal. Differentcultures of people, different placesand things. There’s enough thingsthat we see, hear, feel in one givenday that could inspire you and thenext song. I just try to keep myeyes and ears peeled for that kind ofstuff. You’ve just got to be recep-tive to it.”
www.CarolinaStory.com
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If you’re old like me, you may re-member the TV show, “Kids Saythe Darndest Things,” which airedon Art Linkletter’s House Partyfrom 1945 to 1969. Of course,kids aren’t the only ones to say thedarnest things. Adults sometimesdo too. One of my banjo studentsrecently asked me “Are my armstoo short to play the banjo?” Ifyou’re a person with short arms,you may be pondering the samequestion. If so, you may be think-ing that the autoharp may be moreup your alley.
First, let me tell you that banjosare practically defined by theirlong necks. They are the giraff ofstringed instuments. But if youthink the avarage banjo has a longneck, you should see one of thebanjos that are copied fom PeteSeeger’s1942 invention that had
By Wayne Erbsen
three extra frets and was mega-long. In fact, according to AlanLomax, Pete Seeger’s long andlanky frame made him “look like abanjo.”
The truth is that people with long,short, skinny and fat arms have al-
ways played the banjos. Starting inthe 1880s, banjos became fashion-able instruments for ladies of highsociety. Even though I wasn’t thereto measure their arms, I guaranteemany of them had short arms, andI’m guessing that a great numberof them became quite adept at play-
ing the banjo.
Even the mostseasoned andgrizzled banjoplayers can re-member back totheir early daysof playing thebanjo. Eventhough many ofthem appearedrough and tough,their left arms of-ten hurt, becausethey simply were
not used to holding their arm outso far to the left while holding upthe neck of the banjo.
Here are a number of solutions tothe “short arm problem” if you’reso afflicted.
1). Use a banjo strap. Be sureto wear the strap so it isplaced over your head, notjust resting on your rightshoulder. If you use astrap, you won’t have tohold up the banjo withyour left hand. I realizethat Earl Scruggs restedthe strap on his right shoul-der. However, the onlyreason he did that was be-cause he often changedfrom the banjo to the gui-tar during a typical set, andhe didn’t want to have totake off his cowboy hat todo it.
2). When you’re playing thebanjo sitting down, thenormal place to set thebanjo is on your lap be-tween your two legs.When your left arm getstired, simply move thebanjo over to your rightleg. Suddenly the neck justgot shorter.
3). The neck of the banjodoesn’t necessarily need
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Pete Seeger
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to be pointed up at a steepangle, which makes youhave to hold your arm uphigher. Lower the neck ofthe banjo down so it’smore parallel to the floor,and your short armtroubles will practicallybe over.
4). Use a capo on the 2nd or4th fret. This will makeyour banjo neck ridicu-lously shorter. Rememberthat when you capo up,you’ll need to raise the 5th
string up too. Music storesand outlets typically sellwhat are called 5th stringcapos. However, I muchprefer having a miniaturemodel railroad spike pro-
August 2015
fessionally installed onthe fingerboard of thebanjo under the 5th stringat the 7th and 9th fret. Whenyou want to capo up twofrets, you’ll also need toraise up the 5th string twofrets. In that case, simplyslip the 5th string under thelip of the spike at the 7th
fret. If you capo up fourfrets, you’ll slip the 5th
string under the 9th fret.Having the spikes in-stalled will be painless(to you) and is normallyvery inexpensive.
5). If you play in G tuning onthe banjo, many of thenotes you’ll play will be“open” strings, meaningyou won’t have to fret thestring with your left hand.When that happens, youcan lower your left handand give it a quick rest.
6). If you love the sound ofthe banjo, but are thor-oughly convinced thatyour arms are too short,there are a number ofother banjo-like instru-ments that feature a banjopot with a much shorterneck. Common amongthese kind of instrumentsare banjo-mandolins and
banjo ukes. Around theturn of the last centurytiny picallo banjos aswell as banjeaurineswere popular, but theyare harder to find thesedays than hen’s teeth orfrog’s hair.
Wayne Erbsen has specialized inteaching total beginners to play thebanjo for over fifty years. Whetheryou have long or short arms, checkout his many instruction books:Bluegrass Banjo for the CompleteIgnoramus, Bluegrass Jamming onBanjo, Clawhammer Banjo for theComplete Ignoramus, SouthernMountain Banjo and StartingBluegrass Banjo From Scratch. Hisnewest banjo book will be out laterthis summer, Clawhammer Banjo –Tunes, Tips & Jamming. Visitwww.nativeground.com.
piccolobanjo byKevin Enoch
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August 2015
Texas singer-songwriter, RobertEarl Keen began his professionalrecording career in 1984 with hisdebut album, No Kinda Dancer.Since then, he has recorded 18full-length albums and writtensongs that have been covered byvaious artists from the country,folk and Texas country musicscenes including George Strait,Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith, andthe Dixie Chicks, just to name afew.
Although Keen is today mostcommonly considered an Ameri-cana artist, his roots are in blue-grass music. In his early days,Keen played and sang bluegrassmusic with a four-piece band offellow Texas A&M Aggies, call-ing themselves the Front PorchBoys. “I always felt like the gen-esis of my songwriting comesfrom my lifelong love of blue-grass,” he explains in a pressstatement. “I’m sure it’s shapedthe way I wrote certain songs andcertainly shapes the way that Ilike certain songs, in that a lot ofbluegrass stuff is really narrativein nature.”
So, it seems like a logical nextstep for him to come back tobluegrass, if you will, with hismost recent CD; Happy Prisoner,The Bluegrass Sessions.
Robert told me, “We’re what onewould call a touring band. I amalways touring – all year round –we come home long enough tochange our laundry,” he laughed.And fans have come to expect acertain kind of show from Rob-ert Earl Keen and his band. Andfor the most part, they’ll get it,with a few minor adjustments.“The departure here is that ev-ery time I put out a record, I comeout and play a few songs fromthe new record, but I’ve neverdone that thing where I dedicatemyself to the new record andplay it from back to front,” hesaid. “However with this record,because it’s bluegrass, we had to
put down our electric instrumentsand pick up all these acoustic ones– so it’s important to somewhatreflect what’s going on with therecord more fully.”
“This time, not only are we go-ing to be playing what’s on therecord, we will also be playing ourback catalogue too, but in a blue-grass style. I think that’s going tobe really exciting because thepeople that are going to be com-ing are not coming because of thebluegrass, they’re coming to seeour show and hear what we’veplayed in the past. I’ve got hun-dreds of songs in our catalogue,and so we’re still going to be play-ing some songs from that, but inthis acoustic style.”
Back To Bluegrass“It was just a drive I guess, a com-pulsion.” Keen said that he hadthought about doing this projectfor many years, but for whateverreason just hadn’t been able topull it off. “I guess about twoyears ago now, I got to do thispoint where I said to myself, ‘I’vegot to do this bluegrass albumnow.’ So we got the wheels inmotion,” he said.
The CD includes 20 songs, butsurprisingly, no originals. “I reallywanted to pay tribute to bluegrassmusic,” he said. “I learned howto play the guitar behind contestfiddlers. At the time, I only knewa handful of chords. I ran into aguy who was a contest fiddlerthat went to fiddle contests allaround the state. So I started go-ing to those events. I played songslike, “Tom And Jerry,” and “LimeRock,” over and over. It was greatback up for me. Playing thesechords over and over, you reallyget to where you can play. Rightoutside on the parking lot there’salways a bluegrass band too. I hadalready known about bluegrassand bluegrass songs but I didn’tknow that I could step up thereand play with them, and that iswhere I really got excited aboutit.
It was a huge part of my begin-ning in music so I didn’t feel likeI was meant to say, ‘oh, I can writea bluegrass song too.’ I wasn’t in-terested in that part of it. I wasreally interested in the music thatI loved that already existed.”
A Happy Prisoner“It came from some pajamas mywife and I and our two girls wear,”he quipped. “During the holidayswe watch movies and eat popcornand wear these horizontal striped
pajamas we all have. We call themour Happy Prisoners. I though itwas a really good title for thisrecord. The great dichotomy inbluegrass music is that the musicis happy, but the stories are tragic.I was looking for something thatdefined that, and one day Iopened up my drawer and therewere my Happy Prisoner paja-mas. It just made sense.”
Keen took the show to Merlefestthis year, plus they performing at
By Greg TutwilerRobert Earl Keen: Happy Prisoner
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August 2015
Redwing Roots in Virginia; andat the Telluride Bluegrass festival;the Big Sky festival and severalothers. “I’ve played almost allthese in the past, but I’ve neverplayed them all in the same year.I’ve been able to be part of agreater and a wider road of mu-sic this year, rather than just play-ing theaters and honky tonks,” hesaid.
Brute Force And IgnoranceKeen spoke once about that mo-ment when it felt like there wasvalidation for all the hard work hehad put into his music. “All of asudden, I heard my song on theradio (San Antonio’s KRIO) back-to-back with a Sheryl Crow songthat was popular at the time, andI thought, ‘Man, this is cool!’ Itwas the first time I really felt likeI was a real part of the music busi-ness, despite having been in it al-ready for a pretty long time. Andright after that, I went to a showin San Antonio and there were1,500 people there! Up to thatpoint I’d been playing to, max,maybe 150. That was the real ah-
hah moment for me that really gotme going and kept me going, be-cause before that I’d been doingthis for eight or 10 years and hada lot of rejection but very littlesuccess.”
I asked Robert to describe themusician’s life from his point ofview, and how he’s been able tomake it this far. “Brute force andignorance,” he said. It’s toughsome days, it’s real tough. Andyou can really get down, we alldo. But for some reason, I be-lieved in myself. I believe I was
meant to do this. Regardless ofthe opposition, I still am going tocontinue to do this.”
Whatever It TakesKeen’s done a lot of other thingsalong the way too. “I’ve done ev-erything,” he said. “I was a rough-neck on an oil rig for five yearsout of high school and into col-lege. I’ve done carpentry, Iworked for the railroad commis-sion; I even worked for the IRS.I’ve done tons of little crappy jobsalong the way too. When I firstwent to Nashville, I worked forfive different temping agencies.”
“I don’t ever want to do anythingelse though,” he said.” I don’thave other dreams about any-thing – even if I get knockeddown, I rub my face and think‘either I’m going to keep going orI’m going to find some other wayof doing it. I’ve done both –forged ahead, and I’ve figured outhow to do other things. You justkeep moving and doing thingsthat help keep making it allwork.”
The Right StuffThere’s another key ingredi-ent too that seems to have amajor influence into the suc-cess of Robert’s band. “I runmy business like a business,”he told me. “I listened to mu-sicians early on, from thevery beginning, complainingthat they never got to be onthe record. This band hasbeen recording together al-most since the very beginning– this band. Occasionally.we’ll bring in some guest
members here and there, but thecore band always makes therecords.
Further, all my guys have insur-ance and a retirement program.It seemed to me that the answerwas, of course, have really goodplayers, but then give them thesame benefits everybody else haswith their job. You need securityin this world. And it made senseto me to make that part of thisbusiness too. I try to do right bythem and in turn they try to doright by me.”
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Back in the winter, we attended the DC BluegrassUnion’s indoor festival. It was a top notch festivalheld in the ballroom of an up-scale hotel andunique in that we stayed on the same floor onwhich the ballroom stage was located. This conve-nience provided plenty of opportunity to minglewith the performers between sets.
One particular act that caught my attention wasMountain Fever Record Company recording art-ists, Gold Heart. Gold Heart, features three tal-ented young sisters (Tori on mandolin; Jocey onguitar; and Shelby on fiddle. They have been tour-ing since 2005 but are justnow getting the recognitionthey so richly deserve. Thusfar in their young lives, theyhave appeared at hundredsof live performances and pro-duced four albums that showcase their rich talent.
I admit to being unfamiliarwith their performance butwas quickly won over by theirharmony singing, which Irate as the best to which I’velistened. After their first set,they presented a workshop todiscuss harmony singing inbluegrass music. Now, manyworkshops at festivals, while enjoyable, usually arejust stripped down acoustic performances. Not thisone though, these ladies presented a most throughand complete lecture and demonstration of howthey achieved the tight harmony for which GoldHeart is quickly becoming known. As soon as Icould, I met up with Ms. Tori Gold and asked ifshe would try to document for AR’s readers whatshe told the workshop gathering. What follows hereoriginated as an email that Tori sent to me dur-ing a long an arduous spring tour in an attemptto answer my request to her and her sisters at theDC festival. - Editor
The sounds of harmony can be beautiful, sooth-ing and even somewhat haunting. It is a myste-rious sound that can captivate your heart andbring tears to your eyes.
Our mom taught us to sing harmony with eachother. We grew up out in the country, and onour long highway drives to and from our home,she would help the time pass faster by singingwith us. We would sing cute songs like JesusLoves Me and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Momwould sing the tenor harmony and she wouldhave us take turns singing along with her whilethe others stayed on the simple melody. At thetime we didn’t realize what she was doing, butshe was teaching us to sing and love harmony.Dad would tune in to the bluegrass station onour way to church each Sunday and our familygrew to love the heavy harmonies of bluegrassmusic.
We’ve just released our forth recording on Moun-tain Fever Records titled, Places I’ve Been. It has12 original songs that were written by Jocey andShelby. If you have a chance to listen to thisproject, you will find very good examples of theharmony singing that we try to project. I amgoing to mention three of the songs as illustra-tions of some of the harmony parts that folkssing.
Harmonies are primarily based off of the 1, 3and 5 intervals. In our song Raleigh, we sing atraditional harmony trio. In this song, Shelby
sings lead (1) which is sand-wiched in the middle, Torisings tenor (3) which isplaced on the top, and Joceysings baritone (5) which isbeneath it all. Tim O’Brienrecently told us this aboutour harmony, “You illus-trate suspended chords inyour trio; that’s the kind ofthing you can only do if thepitch is rock solid, and itis”.
Another stack in bluegrassharmony singing is calledinverted harmony. Ifyou’ve listened to the
Osborne Brothers, then you know what we’retalking about. Steam Engine is a song on thealbum that features this style of harmony. It isa very powerful and edgy stack of harmony sing-ing. The intervals are still 1, 3 and 5, but thistime the root (1) is placed on top, with the bari-tone (5) just below. The low tenor is still a (3) inthe stack, but it’s now under the baritone.
There is also some duet singing in bluegrassmusic. Our song Truth displays duet harmony.We decided to record this song as a duet sincesinging with this arrangement can be really funfor the harmony singer. This is because it al-lows for much more freedom with the notes youchoose to sing. The fusion of our voices on thissong gives us opportunity to create a good vocaltension.
There is nothing quite like singing as sisters.Sometimes we feel as though we can read eachother’s minds. We have never really had a diffi-cult time coming up with harmony parts forour songs. It is a God given gift that for the mostpart just comes naturally. We write the vastmajority of our band’s repertoire, so we get tochoose the harmony styles that we feel fit themelody and lyrics of each song. Singing withemotion and having great harmony really paintsa picture for the listeners. It is a very importantaspect of the song. The basis of our sister har-mony comes not so much from the technicali-ties, but from the heart.
Sibling Harmony By Tori Gold
August 2015
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The Main EventsTwo of the “Americana” scene’sthree major festivals are scheduledto take place in just a few months.The Americana Music Festival &Conference, and the InternationalBluegrass Music Association’sWorld Of Bluegrass both get un-der way in late September/EarlyOctober. Musicians and fans alikeare invited and encouraged to par-
ticipate. Each provides the oppor-tunity to connect with artists andindustry leaders in a relaxed, butfestive environment.
The Americana MusicFestival & Conference takesplace September 15th - 20th inNashville, TN. The New YorkTimes called it “The coolest musicscene today.” Each year, legendary
artists and next generation risingstars, along with industryprofessionals gather for four daysof music and education. The eventwill draw thousands from all overthe world.
While artists, managers, labels, ra-dio stations, publishers, agents,promoters, retailers all gather todiscuss interests and needs by day– they venture out into the historiccity of Nashville in the evening forperformances and showcase at nu-merous venues including the his-toric Ryman Auditorium.
The (IBMA) InternationalBluegrass MusicAssociation’s World OfBluegrass and conferenceis set to be held September 29 –October 3rd for the third year inRaleigh, NC. After relocatingfrom Nashville, TN in 2012, theleading industry bluegrass event
has certainly found a new homeand new fans for the interna-tional organization.
Simply stated, the IBMA’s mis-sion “is the trade association thatconnects and educates bluegrassprofessionals, empowers thebluegrass community, and en-courages worldwide appreciationof bluegrass music of yesterday,today and tomorrow.”
“World of Bluegrass is the annualbluegrass music homecoming,”according to the IBMA site, “amultifaceted industry event andfestival with hundreds of offer-ings for every bluegrass profes-sional and fan.” The business con-ference and trade show takesplace for the first three days, withthe weekend featuring a massivefree street festival filled with mu-sic and artisans. It was estimatedthat the 2014 weekend exceeded180,000.
Any true fan of Americana/Blue-grass/String music would lookback at both of these events as ahighlight of the year. I know wedo!
August 2015
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You can almost imagine Jerry Orbach stridingacross the lawn to the pavilion, grabbing his teen-age daughter by the arm and dragging her awayfrom the evil influences of bearded Oak RidgeBoys, or wicked banjo players like Bela Fleck,or rocking guys named Smash Mouth. OrkneySprings, Virginia, home to the Shenandoah Val-ley Music Festival, is so evocative as a resorttown of yesteryear that it could be a time ma-chine to the days of Dirty Dancing andearlier…much, much earlier.
A huge four story hotel, built in the 1870s, withbalconies circling every level, presides over a tinytown of picture perfect cottages surrounded bywoods and mountains. The rich folk from theNational’s Capital once came out by train andbuggy to escape the city heat and take the cura-tive waters of Orkney’s springs. They ate in the40 by 150 foot dining hall and danced in the5,000 square-foot ballroom.
Now folks come from near and far, dine onelaborate picnics with wine and candles, thensettle back on blankets or lawn chairs to enjoyworld class performances in one far out cornerof the world. The 2015 festival consists of nineconcerts spread out over summer weekends frommid-July through Labor Day.
One Of The OldestWhat began more than 50 years ago as a sum-mer camp for orchestra conductors, evolved intosymphony concerts for the locals, which, inturn, adapted with the times to become a sum-mer long concert series encompassing a widerange of musical genres. Can there be a greatercontrast than singer Jackie Evancho, a 15-year-old classical music sensation, and the legendary,well-traveled Oak Ridge Boys, who are both onthe schedule this summer.
Few summer concerts series predate this one inthe Shenandoah Valley, about two hours westof Washington DC. In fact, it is the longest-run-ning outdoor series in Virginia. Orkney Springsis so appealing to the musicians who come toplay that one characterized his gig as “a paidvacation.”
On weekends when the Fairfax Symphony Or-chestra performs, you can stroll the streets inthe early afternoon and enjoy mini-concerts asstring players rehearse on cottage porches. Whenthe a capella group Straight No Chaser showedup last year asking where the gym was, theywere directed to an open field, where they endedup playing Frisbee football and corn hole.
With a covered pavilion that seats about 600 anda sloping lawn that can accommodate about thesame number, the music fest is an intimate set-ting, where the crowd and the performers oftenmix. Irish fiddler Eileen Ivers abandoned thestage for a dance through the aisles with a PiedPiper like line behind her. The Preservation Hall
Jazz Band encouraged a second line that tookthe stage with them. And the old basketball courtto the right of the stage often becomes a dance
floor as the spirit and rhythm of the performersmoves the audience. As one old-timer describesthe music festival “It’s a great party.”
Something For EveryoneOver the years performers have reflected bothtimeless and timely tastes with audiences en-joying the likes of Charlie Byrd, Janis Ian, JohnMcCutcheon, the Irish Breakdown, Richie Ha-vens, Arlo Guthrie, The Temptations, MaryChapin Carpenter, Kathy Mattea, Ricky Skaggs,Travis Tritt, and Kris Kristofferson.
While continuing to honor its roots with a sym-phonic show every year, the Festival also hostsfrequent bluegrass minifests. Set for Sunday,September 6 this year, the bluegrass celebra-tion will feature the Seldom Scene joined byGrand Ole Ditch, Shenandoah Alley, the Bare-foot Movement, and Springfield Exit.
The music festival actually takes place on thegrounds of Shrine Mont, a conference and re-treat center serving the Episcopal Diocese of Vir-ginia. In 1979 Shrine Mont purchased theOrkney Springs Hotel and the surrounding1,000 acres of land and restored the facility in1987.
Shrine Mont’s amenities rival those of any fam-ily resort including swimming, tennis, hiking,sports activities, volleyball, shuffleboard, bocce,
hayrides and camp fires. And don’t forget thatgigantic ballroom. You don’t have to be Episco-palian to enjoy it. Individuals and groups arewelcome on a space available basis. Music Festconcert goers sometimes reserve rooms in thehotel so the evening of music under the starslingers on.
For more about the Festival and its 2015 season,visit www.musicfest.org.
50 Years Of Festival, and counting By Joan Anderson
August 2015
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Jean Ritchie, who brought hun-dreds of traditional songs from hernative Appalachia to a wide audi-ence and in the process helped ig-nite the folk song revival of themid-20th century, died in earlyJune at her home in Berea, Ky. Shewas 92.
She appeared on some of theworld’s most celebrated stages andhelped keep the old-time musicalive for an international audience.Ms. Ritchie performed jointly withsome of the best-known names infolk music, including Pete Seegerand Doc Watson. She was closelyassociated with the Newport FolkFestival, performing at its inceptionin 1959 and many times afterward.Ms. Ritchie had a quiet, strikingstage presence. Hers was not atrained voice but nevertheless pro-jected a melodious, lyrical, andplaintive sound with which she ac-companied by playing the Appala-chian dulcimer. She brought thedulcimer with her when shemoved to New York in the late1940s, and is credited with almostsingle-handedly reviving interest inthat instrument. The mountaindulcimer world owes Jean Ritchiean unmeasured gratitude for thecurrent wide recognition of thisunique American originated stringinstrument.
Without Jean Ritchie, Doc Watson,Pete Seeger, and a small circle ofothers, the modern folk revival andall that wonderful old-time Appa-lachian music would be obscure,maybe even lost, instead of beinginfused all through the Americanastring music of today.
Dinah Ansley, who is known tomany as Dulcimer Dinah and isone of the respected local mastersof the mountain dulcimer said thisabout Jean Richie and her influ-ence, “There’s less than a remnantof the incredible power and influ-ence that folk music of the 1950’sexercised that continues to resonate(in music) today. I was privilegedto witness Jean Ritchie and DocWatson share a stage at some ma-jor festival in Maryland about 7 or8 years ago. It was magic. Theywere love—love and respect of eachother; shared humor; totallycomplimenting; and making beau-tiful, beautiful music together. It’sa stream—and I have to remem-ber that no individual second in astream is like the one before or theone coming. Simultaneously all themoments of a stream are con-nected. We all pass it on as best wecan—it’s not merely how to playan instrument, it’s an honoring ofa way of being with and becom-ing the living music.”
Folk MusicLoses An IconLegendary Folk Singer Jean Ritchie dead at age 92
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August 2015
Davis Crosby
By Greg Tutwiler
Friends, Lauren Cecil and JasonJohnson, call Ruckersville, VAhome base, but their businessventure, Solid Ground Shelters,takes them all across NorthAmerica these days. Both formertravel guides, they also shared alove of the outdoors. They traveledaround the country takinginternational guests on campingtrips showcasing the greatoutdoors. “What we realized,”Lauren told me, “is that peoplereally love being in the outdoors,they really do want to turn theircell phones off and be in nature,but they hate camping,” shemused. “I think after a certain age,camping loses it appeal. I love it too,but a backpacking trip where I’mgoing to be sleeping outdoors forseven days is sounding less and lessappealing as I start getting older.”
In forming Solid Ground Shelters,Lauren and Jason had a few points
they wanted to achieve. Firstly,Lauren said, “make camping morecomfortable, and get more peopleinto the outdoors who wouldn’tnormally camp.”
You’re probably thinking by now– that’s all great – but what doesthat have to do with music? I amso glad you asked. I first heard ofthe Solid Ground Shelters, and theidea of Glamping (as they call it –glamorous camping.) when it wasfeatured as an option at a few ofthe regional festivals here inVirginia – specifically, Floydfest inFloyd VA, and The Festy, outsideof Charlottesville, VA.
In both cases, hotelaccommodations aren’t superaccessible. And thanks to theGlamping, the outdoor hoteloption is becoming more and moreappealing to folks who want toenjoy the experience of staying on
the festival grounds, don’t own atravel trailer, and don’t want tosleep on the ground.
“It’s camping with all the creaturecomforts – and allows campers toexperience all the things they loveabout a hotel. We call it a luxuryoutdoor hotel,” Lauren said. “Youcheck in just like a hotel, yourEuropean inspired canvas tent ispre-assigned, and everything isready for you; bed with a genuinemattress and linens, rug, nightstand, table and chairs … and inmany cases, 24 hour conciergeservice. If you need something,we’ll go off site and get it for you.”It’s a VIP village, often completewith perks and frills not available
to other festival goers. Atone upcoming festival,the amenities includepower in each tent, abath towel (for theshower trailer), an airconditioned restroomtrailer with runningwater, and a lounge thatincludes daily snacks andcoffee. Bring your clothesand leave the rest to“hotel” crew.
Lauren told me that typically thereis a 10 tent minimum if youwanted to engage their services forother events such as weddings orprivate and family functions.However, at these festivals, thepromoters will have the glampingarea as an option from the festivalweb site. For about the price of aluxury hotel room, this alternativedefinitely sounds like an experienceto add to your “try this” list thisyear.
For more information, or to findout which festivals will feature theSolid Ground Shelter option, visitwww.SolidGroundShelters.com orcall them at (804) 413-6143.
Fest CampingIn Sytle
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In this new series, we get a little deeper into the inside track with some of our featured artists. These stories arejust a snapshot of a longer interview that you can hear in it’s entirety by clicking the link on our web page;www.AmericanaRhythm.com.
Lee Sims is oftenreferred to as aColorado musicicon, and a“down home su-perstar.” His cur-rent CD, Deep InThe Heart OfMe, is a return ofsorts for Lee, tothe music indus-try. As a youngster, Lee’s dad would take him tojam sessions, and prod him to get up there andperform along with the adults. “My dad’s friendwould play guitar and I would get up there andsing along behind him,” Lee recalled. “I was play-ing for a mostly older audience, so it really helpedme build up my confidence.”
Lee recalled his days learning how to play a gui-tar, “I would take my parents old records andslow them down just to learn how to play certainriffs.” And in 1965 he began his music careerwith his first band at the age of 15. “While every-one else was listening to the Beatles, I was ham-mering out the Hank Thompsons and the HankSnows,” he said. “I was listening to the Beatlesand playing Johnny Cash.”
Lee left high school for college, playing music allthe way through, and full time up until about 12years ago he said, before entering the private sec-tor as a US Mail carrier. “I was fortunate enoughto be able to play music my entire life up to thatpoint.”
And now, with retirement in site, the new CD,Deep In The Heart Of Me, is laying the groundwork for a second season as a full time musi-cian. His music is reminiscent of the more clas-sic country sound. “This sound has actually re-
defined who I am as an artist,” he said. “A lotof people are in a quandary as to wheretheir listening ear is going. So I’m find-ing a new audience, which is actuallyquite exciting.”
To find out more, visit www.LeeSims.com
Lee SimsUK’s Russell Keefe says he’s been playing music sincehe was a “small child,” he mused. In and out of sev-eral bands during his music career, it was a stint withLes McKeown’s legendary Bay City Rollers that oc-cupied alengthy sea-son of hislife; 18 years,he said. Les,the originallead singer,was lookingfor a newband to tourwith. “I wascalled to goplay a TVshow withhim in Germany, just after the wall came down,” Russellrecalled. “I did one TV show, and 18 years later, hereI am. It was a lot of fun, but it was time to do some-thing else,” he said.
So three years ago, Russell formed his new band, TBellywith several other former Rollers. And while this eraof his music leans more towards original blues, Russellsaid that blues hasn’t really been mainstay for him un-til recently. “While I was growing up there were bandslike Led Zepplin and Deep Purple, that sort of thing,and I was into their music, but I don’t have a massivelegacy with it. I would always mess around with itduring sound checks and on my own. So it just camethrough that. My singing style and my voice suit it.And when the Rollers finished, I needed a new band,and this is what came out of it.”
The new band, TBelly, and their new CD, Dead MenDon’t Pray, is full of Russell’s original tunes. “Thissuits me perfectly,” he said. “I’m not 18, and I’m nota pop singer. My songs fit, and I like this style,” hesaid.
The band will be touring the eastern part of the unitedstates for two weeks in July, and possibly back againlater this year on the west coast before dialing backinto the studio for another round of TBelly blues.
TBelly
To find out more, visitwww.tbellyband.co.uk
August 2015
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August 2015
(city/state/zip)
PLEASE PRINT CLEARLYUse seperate paper if necessary
Every secondweekend in August,folks from all overdescend on the ruralmusic community ofGalax, VA, for theannual Old FiddlersConvention. It hasbecome a staple eventfor many stringmusicians, and manymore fans, an annualpilgrimage to the oldtime music gatheringto listen, reminisce, and renew oldacquaintances.
This year marks the 80 th
incarnation of the convention.Hundreds of musicians gather toentertain, jam with others, andcompete for thousands of dollarsin prizes and coveted titles. Allforms of instruments can be heardthrough the festival groundsincluding of course, fiddles, aswell as mandolins, guitars, banjos,stand up bass, dulcimers, and
even mouth harps. And manyof these musicians have playedand performed at most of the 80events.
The Old Fiddler’s Conventionbegan in the spring of 1935 aftera few members of the (then new)Moose Lodge #733 needed away to raise funds and grab theattention of potential newmembers. A newspaper articlefrom that era is noted as sayingthat the Convention was
dedicated to “Keeping alive thememories and sentiments of daysgone by and make it possible forpeople of today to hear and enjoythe tunes of yesterday”. And thatis still the mission today.
The festival actually featuredtwo events in 1935, but by thesecond one (that fall) hadoutgrown their indoor facilityand was moved to the presentlocation of Felts Park in Galax,VA. Only once has the festivalnot held an event – duringWWII, due to travel limitations.The festival has grown so much
that now SRO (standing roomonly) is often the case.
Galax Event Turns 80
Photo credit - Tom Jones
According the festival’s web site,“In 1965, a Saturday afternoonprogram was started to relieve thepressure on Saturday night. In1967, NBC-TV covered the entirethree nights and Saturdayafternoon. A few years ago, aWednesday night performancewas added. In 1999, Tuesdaynight competition was added. AFiddlers’ Youth Competition wasadded in 2000, which addedMonday night to the schedule.”
Contestants must register inadvance of the convention;however, there is no charge for
registration.Althoughmusicianscome fromd i s t a n tstates, andat timesf r o mf o r e i g ncountries,the tunes
are often the same that have beenheard at the convention downthrough the years.
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August 2015
Did you ever attend summercamp when you were a kid? I didonce, and the only thing I got fromthe experience was learning howto lace up the sides of a flimsy coinpouch with thin strips of whiteplastic. Not a big item to mark offon my life’s bucket list that is forsure; however, if I could have ado over on that camp thing, Iknow what I’d do. I’d attend theweek-long Mountain Music Schoolto be held at Mountain EmpireCommunity Collage (MECC) inBig Stone Gap, VA this July 27through 31, 2015.
You know this will be a premierschool because MECC is no newbein the culture and music promotionbusiness. MECC is now and hasbeen for many years the SouthwestVA area’s cultural center for Appa-lachian crafts and music. Going on40-plus years, MECC has hosted aHome Craft Days festival, which hasbeen the premier festival celebrationof Appalachian culture and musicin that region.
The MECC Music School event isdedicated to the preservation andcontinuation of Appalachian mu-sic and culture, and provides stu-dents age 10 through adult the ex-perience of learning traditional old-time music in a fun and support-ive atmosphere. If you become astudent at this School, you mayselect an instrument and skill levelof your choice and that choice caninclude: beginning and advanced
o l d- t i m ef i d d l e ,claw-ham-mer banjo,g u i t a r ,mandolin,dulcimer,autoharp,and stand-up bassfiddle. Infact, if youare luckyand pickthe rightchoice, theschool has al i m i t e d
number of instruments availableby request on loan for the week.
In addition, if you are one with in-termediate or advanced skills, youcan participate in an optionalstring-band class. As an added bo-nus, you will also get to dance andsing along at daily concerts featur-ing some of the Southwest VAregion’s most gifted old-time mu-sicians. Mountain Music School
wraps up on Friday afternoon witha celebration and a rousing stu-dent/instructor concert that is opento the family and friends of stu-dents and faculty.
Tuition for Mountain Music Schoolis $150 for adults and children.Youth students can qualify for fullor partial tuition scholarship bycompleting a scholarship applica-tion form. Tuition includes lunch,snacks, and a Mountain MusicSchool t-shirt. Big note: the classsizes are limited so if you plan toattend, early registration is a must.Register at the following website:www.mountainmusicschool.org.Plus there is a ton of informationon the web site about MECC andits cultural influence and mission.
There are no wrong choices to bemade for the MECC Music Schoolexperience as you will join yourschoolmates for a week of music,mountains, and memories in a spe-cial area of VA where generationscome together to celebrate theunique richness and beauty of Ap-palachian culture—and no plasticlacing of flimsy coin pouches is in-volved in the experience.
Summer School For Musicians By Edward Tutwiler
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August 2015
JUNEWayne C. Henderson Music Festival
June 20, 2015Mouth Of Wilson, VA
www.waynehenderson.org
Music In The Mountains FestivalJune 24 - 27, 2015Summersville, WV
www.adamsandandersonbluegrass.com
River And Roots FestivalJune 26 - 27, 2015
Berryville, VAwww.riverandroots.com
Grayson Co. Fiddlers ConventionJune 26 - 27, 2015
Elk Creek, VAhttp://www.ecvfd.net/home/grayson-county-
fiddler-s-convention
South Branch Valley FestivalJune 27, 2015Romney, WV
JULYNorris Creek Pig Pickin’ Bluegrass
July 2 - 4, 2015Louisburg, NC
www.norriscreekpigpickin.com
American Made WeekendJuly 3 - 5, 2015Hot Springs, VA
www.garthnewel.org
Bishop’s JubileeJuly 3 - 5, 2015
Orkney Springs, VAwww.shrinemont.com
Wayside Bluegrass FestivalJuly 8 - 11, 2015
Stuart, VAwww.waysidepark.com
Doc & Rosa Lee Watson MusicfestJuly 10 - 11, 2015Sugargrove, NC
www.musicfestnsugargrove.org
Email festival listings to [email protected]
Tazewell Old Time And BluegrassJuly 10 - 12, 2015
Tazewell, VAwww.craborchardmuseum.com
Red Wing Roots FestivalJuly 10 - 12, 2015
Mt. Solon, VAwww.redwingroots.com
Old Time Banjo FestivalJuly 11 - 12, 2015
Alexandria, VAwww.oldtimebanjofestival.com
Highland Co. Old Time Fiddlers Conv.July 16 - 19, 2015
Monterey, VAwww.highfiddle.com
Winchester Blues House FestivalJuly 18, 2015
Winchester, VAwww.winchesterblueshouse.com
Shenandoah Valley Music FestivalJuly 2015 - September, 7 2015
Bayse, VAwww.musicfest.org
Mineral Bluegrass FestivalJuly 16 - 18, 2015
Mineral, VAwww.mineralbluegrass.com
Floyd FestJuly 22 - 26, 2015
Floyd, VAwww.floydfest.com
Appalachian String Band FestJuly 29 - August 2, 2015
Clifftop, WVwww.wvculture.org/stringband
AUGUSTPickin’ In ParsonsAugust 5 - 8, 2015
Parsons, WVwww.fiverivercampground.com
Bluegrass In The Blue RidgeAugust 6 - 8, 2015
Luray, VAwww.bluegrassinluray.com
Virginia Highlands FestivalJuly 31 - August 9, 2015
Abingdon, VAwww.vahighlandsfestival.org
Augusta Heritage Center MusicSeason
July 26 - August 9, 2015Elkins, WV
www.augustaheritagecenter.org
Oak Grove Folk Music FestivalAugust 7 - 9, 2015
Verona, VAwww.oakgrovefestival.com
Bluegrass Valley Music FestivalAugust 7 - 9, 2015
Blue Grass, VAwww.bgvmusicfestival.com
80th Old Fiddler’s ConventionAugust 3 - 8, 2015
Galax, VAwww.oldfiddlersconvention.com
Blue Ridge Mountain Music FestAugust 15, 2015Wintergreen, VA(434) 325-8292
www.wintergreenperformingarts.org
Hot August Music FestivalAugust 15, 2015Cockeysville, MD
www.hotaugustmusicfestival.com
Highland JamAugust 13 - 16, 2015
Elkins, WV(304) 642-2351
www.highlandjam.com
Vinton Old Time Bluegrass Fest.August 14 - 16, 2015
Vinton, VA(540) 345-8548
Camp Barefoot Music FestAugust 20 - 22, 2015
Bartow, WVwww.campbarefoot.org
August 2015
25www.AmericanaRhythm.com
“What is the single most im-portant money-making tipyou would give a new singer/songwriter?”
That question was asked of Fea-tured Artists at *The Standing “O”Project, and answers from 16 ofthose working musicians are col-lected in this book; some are singlesentences, others are pages long.Killing it In the Streaming Age of-fers a different take on what itmeans to have a music career inthe 21st century. And what’s reallysurprising—virtually all of the ad-vice is non-digital, real-world anddo-able.
My answer focused on the “RealMoney” you want to make andsave; “the real “currency” thatmakes this business go is how youhandle yourself – call it integrity ifyou will. The quality of your artmeans a lot less if people thinkyou’re an ...”. His thoughtful es-say on making a life and livelihoodin the 21st century music businesswill likely strike a chord with vet-
eran musi-cians aswell asthose justg e t t i n gs t a r t e d .The book isc h o c k e dfull of greatadvice andthoughtful- and oftenunique -p e r sp e c -tives.
Editors John Dillon and VivNesbitt host Art of the Song Cre-ativity Radio, a one-hour, listener-supported weekly radio programbroadcast on over 150 stationsacross North America. They haveinterviewed some of the biggestnames in the industry with a fo-cus on the universal truths com-mon to all creative expression. To-gether, he and Viv launched TheStanding “O” Project, a “sociallyresponsible streaming” site dedi-cated to overcoming what they see
as one of the biggest inequities inthe music business: dispite beingtalented creative professionals witha profound work ethic, singer/songwriters are often shortchangedprofessionally.
Killing it In the Streaming Age iscurrently available in soft cover orKindle edition.
*What’s the Standing O Project?Thanks to my visit several yearsago on the syndicated “Art of theSong Creativity Radio” (NationalPublic Radio) show, I was one ofthe guest artists invited to be partof the Standing “O” Project. Stand-ing “O” brings artists and listenerstogether deep into music thatmight be considered to have “lim-ited commercial potential.” Artistsbring their music. Fans bring theirsupport. Hosts and founders JohnDillon & Vivian Nesbitt bring hun-dreds of hours of rare interviews(including my show). In a way,Standing “O” does what your ra-dio station used to be so good at:offering surprises and rich content
that can change your day. It’s a veryexciting idea that could change theface of music, designed to connectsinger-songwriters and music fansin original and profound ways.
And here’s the best part: the fanswho support Standing “O” are alsosupporting the musicians whomake it possible. Independent art-ists share in the membership con-tributions, providing a much-needed revenue stream to helpthem continue creating music. Ba-sically, we’re all working togetherto build an artistic empire of goodmusic, human connection andflourishing creativity for the com-mon good.
Try it free for 10 days, no card re-quired. Come visit my page http://standingoproject.com/artist/andrewmcknight, and click theStart Free Trial button at the top.Andrew McKnight’s is an award-winning folk and Americana artist.Since 1996 his musical journey hastraced over half a million miles of bluehighways, and earned him a wealth ofcritical acclaim and enthusiastic fansfor his captivating performances andseven recordings.
Advice For Aspiring MusiciansBy Andrew Mcknight
26
The SteeldriversThe Muscle Shoals
Recordingswww.thesteeldrivers.com
For some bands, we just don’tneed to say much - TheSteeldrivers are just that good.Their fourth CD was recordedin the heart of Muscle Shoals,and from the first track to thelast, simply awesome.
Big Country BluegrassCountry Livin’
www.bigcountrybluegrass.com
Gold HeartPlaces I’ve Been
www.goldheartsisters.com
Not many bands stand the testof time - especially in thestring music world. So whena band releases their 18thCD, you want to take notice.True to their traditional roots,it’s another top notch collec-tion from this great group.
Dale Ann BradleyPocket Full Of Keys
www.daleann.com
The RailsplittersThe Faster It Goes
www.therailsplitters.comColorado natives, TheRailsplitters are hoping theirsophomore effort, The FasterIt Goes, will extend their earlysuccess. Rockygrass’ BestNew Band award in tow, theyare out sharing their moderntwist on the time honoredgrass tradition. We like it.
Woody PinesWoody Pines
www.woodypines.comAustin’s king of Honky-tonk iskeeping the spirit of Americanmusic alive with his new CD,Call Me Insane. Dale’s mu-sic makes me want to dig outmy copy of Smokey And TheBandit! Good ol’ toe tappin,’foot stompin,’ down homeboogie. You’ll love this.
Dale WatsonCall Me Insane
www.dalewatson.comReminiscent of a 50’s jukejoint, Woody Pines, like manyof the new groups these days,have carved a sound that isdistinctly unique. Part rock-a-billy, part twang-bang, anda little hillbilly boogie - and,we can’t stop listening.
SidelineSession 2
www.sidelinebg.comFive time IBMA Female Vo-calist of the Year winner DaleAnn Bradley has achievedinternational acclaim for hervocal abilities - this timearound she produced and ar-ranged the music herself - andmight we say, “well doneDale, well done.”.
Daily & VincentAliveI In Concert
www.crackerbarrel.com
Trinity River BandHeartstrings
www.trinityriverband.comThis family band features tra-ditional bluegrass soundssealed together by tight fam-ily harmonies, topped off bylead singer, Sarah Harris,twice IBMA nominated. Theirnew CD, Heartstrings, willearn them new fans for sure.
The Vogt SistersMy Own Dixie
www.vogtssisters.comNashville’s Eight O’Five Jive,an award winning jump-bluesband, seems to be out in frontegnighting a resurgence inthe genre’. They are a highenergy, contageous ball offire to watch, and the musicis pretty darn good too.
Eight O’Five JiveToo Many Men
www.eightofive.net
Another of our “family” bandfeatures - Kansas natives, TheVogts Sisters feature supersibling harmonies throughouttheir blend of Americana,Folk, and Country collectionon the new CD, My OwnDixie. Future looks bright.
Lorraine Jordan& Carolina Road
Country Grasswww.carolinaroadband.comLoraine Jordan is one of thehardest working women inbluegrass music today. Andto her credit, her band, Caro-lina Road, is steaming alongat full throttle. Their new CDis the stuff awards are madeof. Keep an eye on this one.
Dubbed the “Rockstars ofBluegrass” by CMT, JamieDaily and Darrin Vincent(Daily & Vincent), have a new15 song live collection exclu-sively on the Cracker Barrellabel. With multiple Grammyand IBMA to their credit - thisis a great sampling.
You can send new Americana CD releases for consideration to PO Box 45, Bridgewater, VA, 22812
These young sisters havebeen sharing their intenseharmonies with us since2005. Tori, Jocey, andShelby; a.k.a Gold Heart, canjust plain sing! Their new CD,Places I’ve Been, is one oftheir best too. Sing it girls.
Antique PersuasionDon’t Forget Me
Little Darlingwww.voxhallrecords
Brandon Rickman (LonesomeRiver Band) along with JeneeFleenor (Blake Shelton’sband) and Brennen Leighteam up for this tribute to themusic of the Carter family.They nailed it. You’ll like this.
August 2015
Music From Your Neighbors Music From The National Scene
welcome to the latest edi-tion of SPINS! Feast yourears on these delicious mu-sical morsals (in no specialorder) - How can these guyskeep making such greatmusic? Wow! Grab your iPador Smart Phone and dial upsome of these fine folks. Webet you’ii love them all likewe do! And they’re just intime to help you plan yoursummer and fall fest sched-ule.
www.AmericanaRhythm.com.
Uncle Woody,The Spin Doctor
PO Box 45Bridgewater, VA 22812
For a couple of guys just look-ing for something to do on theside, [Steve Dilling (III Tyme Out),Jason Moore (Mountain Heart),S k i p C h e r r y h o l m e s ,(Cherryholmes family band),along with newcomers Brian andDaniel Aldridge], Sideline Blue-grass is fulltime good stuff.
27
August 2015
www.AmericanaRhythm.com
We’d love to show up in your mail box six times a year!The rich culture of Americana music is the
fastest growing music today! Let’s stay in touchsubscription to Americana Rhythm. It’s only $16.
Send us your name and address along with your check ormoney order for $16 made out to Americana Rhythm, to POBox 45, Bridgewater, VA, 22812. (PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY)You can also subscribe Via PayPal on line at www.AmericanaRhythm.com
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