Bluegrass

Nashville, TN: Carolina Road bandleader and Daughters of Bluegrass co-founder, Lorraine Jordan, has released a new song, "Nothin About Trains", with the 2012 SPBGMA Traditional Female Vocalist of the Year, Jeanette Williams. The tune is featured on Pickin' Like a Girl, the latest Daughters of Bluegrass box set from Blue Circle Records.Written by Dixie Hall, the "Nothin' About Trains" compares one's love affair to the experience of riding a train. "This track, created for the latest release from the Daughters of Blue Grass, is a fine traditional song with hard driving music," said Lorraine Jordan. "Jeanette and I sing a duet during the verses and Gena Britt joins us during the chorus." "Nothin' About Trains" also has the talents of Gena Britt on banjo, Becky Buller on fiddle and Rebecca Long on guitar as well as Jordan on mandolin and Williams on bass. Make Welcome Entertainment provides management and publicity services for bluegrass, roots and country artists. With offices in Nashville, Tennessee and Washington, DC, Make Welcome is well positioned to focus on the details so artists can focus on making great music. To learn more about Make Welcome Entertainment, call 1-800-838-6087 or visit www.MakeWelcome.com Tags: Lorraine JordanJeanette WilliamsNothin About Trains

Over the past several years, the Mountain Park Old Time Band has been creating a stir in old time music circles. The group has five members, all of whom are versatile and talented musicians. Johnny Gentry plays guitar, dobro, and fiddle as well as doing vocals for the band. Nancy Gentry plays upright bass and sings. The only thing better than one fiddler, is two fiddlers. Roger Stamper also plays the fiddle. C. T. Janney plays the washboard – an “instrument” rarely played today. Dr. Mark Handy plays banjo and does vocals. When he’s not playing old time, Dr. Handy practices medicine in Abingdon, Virginia. Saturday, May 25th, 2013, at 7:30 p.m., the Carter Family Fold in Hiltons, Virginia, will present a concert by the Mountain Park Old Time Band. Admission to the concert is $8 for adults, children 6 to 11 $1, under age 6 free. The Mountain Park Old Time Band has played at the Blue Ridge Music Center, the Mountain Music Jamboree, and at Bristol’s Rhythm and Roots Festival. They have also been featured on National Public Radio. The group has released two CDs – Fire on the Dance Floor and Dancing with Sally Goodin. Mountain Park recently performed at the annual Carter Family Festival. Fans of groups like the Whitetop Mountain Band will love the Mountain Park Old Time Band. Be sure to bring your dancing shoes, and be ready for a night of down home fun. Nothing gets you out of your seat and on the dance floor faster than a rousing old time band. Don’t miss the Mountain Park Old Time Band at the Carter Family Fold! For more information on the group, go to: www.myspace.com/mtnparkoldetimeband. 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.carterfamilyfold.org. Shows from the Carter Family Fold can be accessed on the internet at http://www.carterfoldshow.com. Carter Music Center is part of the Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail. You can visit the Crooked Road Music Trail site at http://thecrookedroad.org. Partial funding for programs at the center is provided by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. For recorded information on shows coming up at the Fold, call 276-386-6054. The Fold is on Facebook – page Carter Fold – and Twitter – @carterfoldinfo. To speak to a Fold staff member, call 276-594-0676. Tags: Mountain Park Old Time BandCarter Family FoldEvent

Irish singer, songwriter, bandleader, and broadcaster Niall Toner (above), recipient of the EBMA's European Bluegrass Personality of the Year 2012 award, will soon launch a new book at an arts festival near his home in Co. Carlow, Ireland. Details are given in the press release below.On Saturday 8 June at 4.30 p.m. in Borris House, bluegrass maestro and Blackstairs Mountains resident Niall Toner launches his book The nuts and bolts of songwriting. He will give the audience a live demonstration of his teachings, and then talk about his career as a musician with actress Caitríona Ní Mhurchú. Tickets are only €10 and can be booked here. Copies of the new book will be available immediately following the event.The Borris House Festival of Writing and Ideas is part of the Carlow Arts Festival. Other speakers on this day in Borris include Martin Amis, Paolo Tullio, Paul Murray, Olivia O'Leary, John Boyne and others. Liam O Maonlai will perform that evening.

Lee Flood playing my HUber at R.A. Fountain, May 17th, 2013

Today is the first World Fiddle Day - that is (among many other things), a day dedicated to the instrument that the Father of Bluegrass considered central to his music.The editor will employ some of the methods recommended on the World Fiddle Day website to celebrate the occasion - viz. getting out a neglected fiddle and playing it, and also listening to some of the great players of the past, such as the magnificent Ed Haley and Paul Warren. Thanks to Caoimhin Mac Aoidh of Donegal for bringing this concept to fruition.

Friday at the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival was one of the glorious late Spring days you can only wish for when you know you'll be outside in the elements. The sun shone with just enough haze to take its edge off and hold the warmth in as evening approached. The music ranged from hard core traditional to cutting edge progressive and the crowd, perhaps somewhat changing in composition as

The Danilo Cartia Trio (I) present bluegrass, blues, and other acoustic music tonight (Saturday 18 May) at the prestigious location of the Enoteca Letteraria Archeologica e Barocca, Via delle IV Fontane 130, Rome.The event begins at 20:30 and includes food and wine. Admission is €15 (students and unwaged €12). For information and bookings, e-mail or 'phone +39 0645 43 50 15.Danilo Cartiawww.danilocartia.netPhone/fax: +39 068273332Mobile: +39 3396908450E-mail

Thanks to Ray O'Brien for news of some very worthwhile prizes to be won, thanks to the organisers of two of our main festivals. Go to Ray's Bluegrass in Ireland Facebook page to enter for your chance of winning! Ray writes:A big thank you to Uri Kohen of the Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival for 2 tickets to the main event to be held on Saturday June 15th in the Wyatt Hotel, Westport, which we are currently running on the page. So get the LIKES AND SHARES in to be in with your chance of winning this lovely prize.Next week (W/C 20th May) we will be running another fantastic competition, courtesy of Tony O'Brien of the acclaimed Athy Bluegrass Festival which is now in its 23rd year. Tony has kindly given us 2 full weekend festival passes to all the concerts which will be held over the weekend in the GAA Centre in Athy this year.Thanks again to the two guys for this and I wish them both every success with both their festivals this year. Below are links to each competition:Currently running from 13th-20th - Westport main concert - 2 ticketsUpcoming next week preview - 20th May-27th May - Athy Bluegrass Festival - 2 full weekend festival passes

Preparations are underway for the 3rd Annual John Hartford Memorial Festival being held in the hills of southern Indiana at the Official Bean Blossom & Bill Monroe Music Park in beautiful Brown County, May 30–June 1. This is the third of what the festival’s creator, John Hotze, and co-promoter, Dan Dillman, hope to see as an event to preserve the legacy and music of the late John Hartford, one of America’s most beloved songwriter/performers and musicians. John Hartford won Grammy awards in three different decades, recorded a catalog of more than 30 albums, and wrote one of the most popular songs of all time, “Gentle On My Mind.” He was a regular guest and contributor on the Glen Campbell Good Time Hour and the Smothers Brothers Show. He added music and narration to Ken Burns’ landmark Civil War series, and was an integral part of the hugely popular “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” soundtrack and Down From The Mountain concert tour. But that hardly explains John Hartford. John Hartford was an American original. He was a musician, songwriter, steamboat pilot, author, artist, disc jockey, calligrapher, dancer, folklorist, father, and historian. John Hartford passed away on June 4, 2001, after a long battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Lifelong friend, John Hotze, decided to take the plunge into the festival world by putting together a memorial festival to honor the late John Hartford. The first John Hartford Memorial Festival took place on the 10th anniversary of his passing in 2011. John Hartford’s immediate family were in attendance, as well as many extended family and longtime friends, and a small group of die-hard Hartford fans and musicians, who came together to remember and celebrate John’s life, music, and ideals. The great celebration had a line up to match that included Tim O’Brien, Great American Taxi, The Infamous Stringdusters, Greensky Bluegrass, and of course Jamie Hartford & Friends, along with many other great artists and bands who continue to return to this great festival every year. Hotze, an avid music lover and entrepreneur from St. Louis, is in his third year now for putting on this event. He says, “The mood I hope to achieve at the Hartford Festival is a party mood; a mood of having lots of fun. I think that’s what John would like. He would be all over the campground picking and jamming all night long. I would like to see the jammers get up and dance to the jam-grass and others to get up and flatfoot when some good fiddlin’ goes down. I’d like to hear lots of laughter. I never started this venture for money and I would be very happy to let it just sustain itself both to honor John and provide a venue for more performers.” Headliners for this year’s festival include Jamie Hartford & Friends, Great American Taxi, Jeff Austin of Yonder Mountain String Band, The Hillbenders, Town Mountain, Mike Compton, Billy Bright & Geoff Union, Larry Keel & Natural Bridge, Rumpke Mountain Boys, and Bawn In The Mash, in addition to other great artists such as Branded Bluegrass featuring Dwight Dillman, park owner and former Bluegrass Boy, along with his son Derek Dillman who performed with Jimmy Martin, and The Henhouse Prowlers, The 23 String Band, Wil Maring & Robert Bowlin, Betse Ellis, Eric Lambert & Friends, and a host of regional and local string bands such as Ryan Spearman & Kelly Wells, The Whipstitch Sallies, Woodstove Flapjacks, The Indiana Boys, Leadfoot, and many, many more. Hotze went on to say, “My vision is to narrow the scope of the festival to be Hartford centered, that is, book bands & entertainers that have been greatly influenced by John, ones who performed with and were good friends of John, also entertainers that cover John’s songs.” This statement is evident by the genre busting line-up featuring bluegrass, old-time string bands, and jam band music as well as singer/songwriters, not to mention the ticket prices. Kids 12 & under are free. Tickets:Advance ticket prices:Single day - $40 Full festival

Nashville, TN -- The Americana Music Association announced nominees today for the 2013 Honors & Awards in Los Angeles at the Grammy Museum®. The ceremony featured performances by now nominated artists Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale, T Bone Burnett with Lisa Marie Presley, Elizabeth Cook and The Milk Carton Kids. The program was broadcast live on AXS TV, who will present a special encore presentation of the event later this evening at 9PM ET/6PM PT. Shovels & Rope, with four nominations, followed by Emmylou Harris and Miller, with three each, lead the nominee slate while many other notable artists were recognized including: Rodney Crowell, John Fullbright, Lauderdale, The Lumineers, JD McPherson, the aforementioned Milk Carton Kids, Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis, Richard Thompson, and Dwight Yoakam. Winners will be announced live at the annual Americana Honors and Awards, presented by Nissan, on September 18th live on AXS TV from the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN. The nominee announcement celebration in Los Angeles kicked off with an Americana tribute to George Jones featuring Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale leading their all-star band comprised of Fats Kaplin, Brian Owings and Jay Weaver. The music continued with performances by Lisa Marie Presley with special guest T Bone Burnett, Elizabeth Cook and the Milk Carton Kids. Burnett, who produced Americana masterpieces ranging from “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” to the Americana and Grammy award winning “Raising Sand” by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant, spoke to the Clive Davis Theatre audience about the genre that honors the roots of American music that has grown to prominence in recent years. This year the nominees reflect the diverse and artistic breadth of the genre, where legends and the next generation of stars share the stage. 2013 AMERICANA HONORS & AWARDS NOMINEES: ALBUM OF THE YEAR Buddy & Jim, Buddy Miller & Jim Lauderdale Cheater's Game, Kelly Willis & Bruce Robison From The Ground Up, John Fullbright O' Be Joyful, Shovels & Rope Old Yellow Moon, Emmylou Harris/Rodney Crowell SONG OF THE YEAR Birmingham - Shovels & Rope Good Things Happen to Bad People - Richard Thompson Ho Hey - The Lumineers North Side Gal - JD McPherson ARTIST OF THE YEAR Buddy Miller Dwight Yoakam Emmylou Harris Richard Thompson EMERGING ARTIST OF THE YEAR JD McPherson John Fullbright Milk Carton Kids Shovels & Rope DUO/GROUP OF THE YEAR Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison Shovels & Rope INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR Doug Lancio Larry Campbell Greg Leisz Jay Bellerose Mike Bub The Americana Honors & Awards, presented by Nissan, returns to the historically cool Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN on September 18, 2013 (as part of the Americana Music Festival - September 18-22, 2013 at venues throughout Music City). The iconic Jim Lauderdale will once again host the Honors & Awards, while the phenomenal Buddy Miller will lead the All-Star Band. Described by Paste Magazine as “…the worlds best awards show…,” the Americana Honors & Awards have featured once-in-a-lifetime moments, unforgettable performances and legendary collaborations. Tickets for the Honors & Awards show come with the purchase of Americana Music Festival & Conference Registrations. /li Tags: Americana Honors & AwardsAmericana Music AssociationAwardsHonors and Awards Show