Bluegrass

Dangem Bluegrass announce in their latest e-newsletter:No need to play that banjo alone. Join us at one of the following events:Beginners only 5-stringThe Spectrum Centre, 331, Shankill Rd, Belfast, Co. Antrim, BT13 3AA, 028 9050 4555Friday 24 May 7.00-9.00 p.m. (this is for Beginners Only)OrThe next Dangem get-togetherLagan Valley Island Arts Centre, Lisburn BT27 4RL, 028 9250 9292Saturday 25 May 2013 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon Bring along your banjos, guitars, mandolins, fiddles, dobros, and bass or just come along and enjoyItinerary: 10.00-10.30 warm up10.30-11.00-ish Break out time; rest of players jam time11.00 to 12.00 noon All back togetherLook forward to seeing as many of you who can attend.AlsoThe Belfast SessionsTuesday 4 June 8.30 p.m. to who knows.The Errigle Inn, 312-320, Ormeau Rd, Belfast, Co. Antrim BT7 2GE, 028 9064 1410Email: info@errigle.comDangem Bluegrass, 101 Belfast Rd, Magheralin, Craigavon, Co. Armagh, BT67 rp UK

With the retirement of Richard Hawkins, originator and manager of The Bluegrass Ireland Blog, the task of keeping the enthusiastic Irish bluegrass scene informed online has fallen to Ray O’Brien, who keeps things up to date with the Bluegrass In Ireland Facebook group. Ray invites everyone [...]

Thanks to Ray O'Brien for forwarding the latest news on Hard Station, Ireland's newest, hard-driving bluegrass band, composed of musicians with years of solid experience: above (l-r), Johnny Gleeson (dobro), Vinny Baker (guitar), Roy Brennan (double bass), and Joe Meehan (mandolin).The Dublin bluegrass community can hear Hard Station when they play at JJ Smyth's, 12 Aungier St., Dublin 2, on Tuesday 28 May, the venue's 'Dublin Guitar Night'. Doors 8.00 p.m. (music 8.30 p.m.), €10.

Singer, songwriter, bandleader, and broadcaster Niall Toner (above), recipient of the EBMA's European Bluegrass Personality of the Year 2012 award, will launch his new book The nuts and bolts of songwriting on Saturday 8 June at 4.30 p.m. in Borris House, Co. Carlow.The launch will take place as part of the Borris House Festival of Writing and Ideas, which itself 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.Niall 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 (€10) can be booked here. Copies of the new book will be available immediately after the event.

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