Bluegrass

Come support the I'll Fly Away Foundation Scholarship Program, enjoy great food in a fun atmosphere at Margaritaville Nashville, and be entertained by award winning and exciting talent! All for a great cause! The lineup includes: Grammy and Award Winning songwriters, Cordle Jackson and Salley, Sony Music Artist The Rhett Walker Band, International Bluegrass Music Association Momentum Band of the Year Monroeville, Atlanta GA favorites The Deadfields, Commedian Josh Phillips, and many more new up and coming acts! Three of Nashville's premiere songwriters, Lary Cordle, Carl Jackson and Jerry Salley, have written for names such as: Garth Brooks, Ricky Skaggs, George Strait, Patty Loveless, Alison Krauss, Diamond Rio, Gene Watson, Pam Tillis, The Osbourne Brothers, Reba McEntire, Vince Gill, Mel Tillis, George Jones, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Glen Campbell, Nancy Sinatra, Dolly Parton and a host of others. Now, as Cordle, Jackson and Salley, the trio offers the crowd a glimpse into their Grammy and industry award winning minds by performing and telling the behind the scenes stories of some of their greatest musical hits and original compositions. This outspoken 25-year-old son of a preacher was born and raised around the South, his mellow yet animated voice a sure mix of Georgia and the Carolinas. In that drawl, he tells an intense wild oats story tempered by God’s grace, a testimony that fuels the deep-fried rock and deep- down worship on Rhett Walker Band’s debut, Sony/Provident/Essential Records recording, Come To The River. Embracing a crossover sound between progressive bluegrass and acoustic country, the 2012 International Bluegrass Music Association’s Momentum Band of the Year, Monroeville, has caught the attention of music lovers on both sides of the track. Based out of the Smoky Mountains and Gatlinburg, TN, each member is multi-instrumental, and has been nominated for and or won awards from Dove, CCMA, IBMA, and or the GRAMMYS®. They have appeared at events such as Grey Fox, NASCAR, Rocky Grass, and devote much of their time with youth projects while on tour, appearing in front of already 12,000 kids in schools the first of 2013 alone. Their new project is slated to be released this summer. Americana/Folk-Rock group from Atlanta, GA, The Deadfields' live show is full on, honest energy from start to finish. Whether performing to a packed house or just the lucky few that happen to discover the room, no matter, The Deadfields’ show is something you can’t forget. The I'll Fly Away Foundation was establlished for educating young people through musical expression while preserving our musical heritage and providing scholarships for those who wish to go to school for a career in the music industry. Click here for more information. Presented by the Sheri Clark Agency, The AcoustiCana Journal and Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, Nashville. For more information and updates: http://www.acousticana.us/acousticana-series-cma Tags: CMAFly Away FoundationAcoustiCanaMargaritaville NashvilleBenefitEvent

Here’s our Special Bluegrass Correspondent with this week’s weather report.  

Hiltons, VA --Saturday, June 1 st , 2013, at 7:30 p.m. the Carter Family Fold in Hiltons, Virginia, will present a concert by an old time band - Wayne Henderson and Friends. Performing with Wayne will be Jeff Little, piano player extraordinaire. Concert admission is $10for adults, $1 for children 6 to 11, under age 6 free. Wayne Henderson’s top-notch finger-picking is a source of great pleasure and pride to his friends, family, and neighbors in Grayson County, Virginia. His guitar playing has also been enjoyed at Carnegie Hall, in three national tours of Masters of the Steel-String Guitar, and in seven nations in Asia. In addition to his reputation as a guitarist, Henderson is a luthier of great renown. He is a recipient of a 1995 National Heritage Award presented by the National End owment for the Arts. He produces about twenty instruments a year, mostly guitars; he is almost as well-known for the mandolins he has made. Doc Watson owned a Henderson mandolin. Some of Henderson's instruments are intricately decorated, but they are most respected for their volume, tone, and resonance. Blues guitarist John Cephas said that Wayne Henderson “is probably the most masterful guitar maker in this whole United States.” There is a waiting list for Henderson's guitars made up of the “famous (and not-so-famous).” He built a custom guitar for Eric Clapton. Above and beyond his great talents as a musician and instrument maker, Wayne Henderson is known as a “friend to everyone” and shares his talents and knowledge unselfishly. Hotshot rockabilly pianist Jeff Little comes from Boone, North Carolina, in the heart of the Blue Ridge, where he grew up surrounded by music. Jeff began to play piano at age five. His family owned a music store, and musicians of all persuasions dropped by to play a few tunes with the kid, which helps account for Jeff's mastery of a range of styles. But Jeff’s critical influence was Appalachian singer and guitarist Doc Watson, a neighbor and close family friend. His uncompromising approach helped shape Jeff's approach to music. Known as a keeper of deep Appalachian traditions, Watson was a rockabilly guitarist when he began visiting Little’s Music Store in Boone to play a few tunes with his young friend. Today Jeff Little is still conversant with a range of music, but finds his greatest joy in performing two styles that were hot when he was growing up in the music store – rockabilly and traditional Appalachian music. An astounding performer in the rockabilly genre, he obviously owes some inspiration to Jerry Lee Lewis. “Oh sure, you had to know some Jerry Lee when I was coming up. His tunes would buy you a burger; you didn’t have to live on peanuts. But even back then I never did get to thinking I was Jerry Lee. I kept a lot of me in my music.” Jeff Little’s approach to the music of his native Blue Ridge is based upon the traditional dance of the area and a regional piano style. Made famous by Al Hopkins of The Bucklebusters on 1920s Brunswik recordings, the piano style was also performed by Woodie Blevins and others. Hopkins lived at Gap Creek, between the ancestral homes of Doc’s and Jeff’s families. But there is also an echo of more contemporary mountain tradition in Jeff’s performance. His lead solos, much influenced by the flat-pick guitar tradition, are breathtaking in their speed, precision and clarity. They tell that he learned much from Doc Watson. Rounding out Wayne’s group of friends accompanying him will be Helen White on fiddle and guitar, Greg Cornett on banjo and vocals, and Herb Key on bass. For one of the best nights of old time music you can imagine, don’t miss Wayne Henderson and Friends with Jeff Little. Be sure to bring along your dancing shoes –and your friends! Carter Family Memorial Music Center, Incorporated, is a nonprofit, rural arts organization established to preserve traditional, acoustic, mountain music. For further information on the center, go to http://www.carterfam

Bluegrass Breakdown again, Mark Beck's MP3's I am playing the Banjo and I added the guitar.

Here is Milo Farineau’s first gallery of photos from DelFest 2013.  

Deering Banjo.. sounds great!

1999 Gibson RB-75 listed in classifieds

Like Earl Scruggs played it on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's album on the first break, then my own thing on the 2nd.

In Standard tuning, key of C.

The New Acoustic Gallery at Wuppertal, Germany, announces that a new CD by the Kruger Brothers, Remembering Doc, can be ordered at a unit price of €17.90 from the Gallery's online shop. The album is a collection of new recordings of songs from Doc Watson's vast repertoire, plus a recording of the Kruger Brothers' performance of 'Shady Grove' with Doc at the MerleFest 15th anniversary celebration.Tel.: +49 (0)202/94672730; e-mail. New Acoustic GallerySchloss Lüntenbeck - Lüntenbeck 142327 WuppertalGermany