Grass Cuttings and News In Brief
|
Geoff Bowers (Sponsor and contributor, Nottingham) has joined the Down County Boys following an approach from leader Pete Parker. Geoff said "It's a real pleasure to play with these lads: lovely pro' attitude and a good band spirit; very nice to be in the middle of it all!" They aim to be practised up and fully integrated before the Summer. Russell Cooper, BBMA Scotland rep and Cttee member, is recovering well from recent major surgery for a brain tumour. His wife Betty said "He may have to go into a different kind of music though; with his shaved head and black eye, he looks like a real thug." But his black eye is getting better and he is expressing an interest in whisky... Earl Scruggs performs with Marty Stuart at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on May 17th in a benefit concert for the Watkins Institute Of Art. Banjo Newsletter has posted 15 MP3 sound files on the website www.banjonews.com. They consist of portions of tunes that have appeared, or will soon appear, as tabs in BNL. The name of the USA Winterhawk festival has been changed to Greyfox due to a change of ownership, rumoured to be due to an unfortunate and unpleasant split among the original partners led to the name being changed for legal reasons. One to die for: both the Lonesome River Band and Longview performed at the Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg, Kentucky in March, with special guest appearances by Dwight Whitley and Carl Jackson. Czech bluegrass-derived band Druha Trava won the annual Czech Music Academy award for Band Of The Year for 1999 (a single category covering folk, country and bluegrass music) for the second time. The official ceremony was held in March, in Prague. The first ward in 1992 when the band was 1 year old. The lead vocalist and songwriter Robert Krestan has won two Czech Music Academy awards for Country Artist Of The Year in 1997 and 1998. Darol Anger and The Mike Marshall Band have recently recorded the tracks for their second album on Compass Records, Brand New Can. According to Phillip Mann (Phil@BluegrassBanjo.org) "Napster is a great 'free' program for finding Bluegrass mp3's (or any other type of music) on the Net" Keith McReynolds, the son of Jesse McReynolds and member of Jim & Jesse & The Virginia Boys for 18 years, died 2nd February at the age of 44, He had suffered with Multiple Sclerosis. McReynolds for a long time. Josh Graves had to have his left leg amputated recently due to a blood clot caused by circulation problems. Apparently the surgery went well and, despite temporary pain, intends to be picking again soon. Jimmy Martin & The Sunny Mountain Boys former mandolin player Garland Shuping died on February 19. He had been suffering pneumonia and upper lung infection and finally went to the hospital and died on the table while waiting for tests, apparently of a heart attack. Wayne Taylor, bass player for Blue Highway, had a heart attack on in February and has reportedly made a good recovery Larry McPeak (of the McPeak Brothers) has been ill for a while and is due for a liver transplant. For something different download the Double Bass Screen Saver, free from http://www.gollihur.com/kkbass/basslink.html. Alan Stack, fiddle and mandolin player with Rarely Herd, underwent tests in February after suffering what appeared to be a heart attack. Apparently the tests showed no signs of damage. Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder member Paul Brewster has been working on a new solo project for Ceili Records; apparently he wrote five of the songs. Bill Palmer has put together a list of luthiers for general help at http://www.billpalmer.com/luthiers.htm, which also links to other luthiers. Jean Marie Redon (President, French BMA) reports that Long Distance Live on Canalweb is on Mondays 20.00 to 21.30 UK time at www.canalweb.net/vers/videontv.asp "Bluegrass Breakdown," a one-hour show from Nashville, Tennessee, can be heard live on Saturday evenings at 8:00 pm CT (2 am Sundays UK) on RealAudio at http://bluegrassnews.com/radiosat.htm Recently spotted in an advertisement: "Alison Krauss & Union Station, now featuring drums and master of the Dobro, Jerry Douglas, will be playing tonight...." Herschel Sizemore recorded his 2nd album for Hay Holler Records in April. The all-instrumental project features Terry Baucom (banjo), Ron Stewart (fiddle), Jimmy Haley (guitar) and Eddie Biggerstaff (acoustic bass). Sizemore has written several new tunes for the album, due out late June or early July. Snuffy Smith has just announced the availability of a new banjo bridge, called 'Style III'. This is the same shape and weight as the Style I, but only the choicest grain and widest growth ring patterns are used for the new Style III, which is only available ina non-compensated, 5/8", 11/16" and .656 mm. Derrol Adams died in March after spending some time paralysed following a throat op.(cancer) that went wrong. In Nashville on March 22 banjoist, composer and Compass co-founder Alison Brown celebrated her bluegrass roots on Fair Weather, due out May 9th. It featured appearances from Darol Anger, Sam Bush, Vince Gill, David Grier, Stuart Duncan, Tony Rice, Mike Marshall, Tim O'Brien, Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Claire Lynch and Todd Phillips.
|