John Lawless' AcuTab News
 By John Lawless(with his Stealth banjo) I get all sorts of questions relating to “How do I learn to do so-and-so in Bluegrass.” A recent one related to the Sammy Shelor Video and “how does someone walk into a studio and play a song that they never heard before? Is it special talent, or what?” The same thing relates to jam sessions; it’s a common problem. Well, of course Sammy has special talents, but it is more a matter of familiarity and experience - resulting from many years of practice. It seems amazing from where you sit, but it is far less awesome an accomplishment than it may seem. It is a very common thing for a player at this level to walk in to the studio, learn a song, and record in within a half hour or so. But for the less accomplished player it’s a case of listening, watching, learning, practising and becoming very familiar with the general structure of pieces and chord progressions. When we recorded the Knee Deep In Bluegrass project back in '99, many of the tunes were done that way. Tony Trischka had sent a tape and a lead sheet for Buffalo Creek, and a couple were well known to the pickers, but the rest were seat of the pants. In fact Daddy's Dream is one that Sammy thought of recording after the fact. We were all sitting in the studio listening to a playback and he said ”Hey... there is another great song we could cut. If we don't do it here, I'll just save it for one of my projects.” Everyone listened to a tape that Sammy had and agreed to try it. Within an hour, the rhythm tracks were down and the whole thing was recorded over the course of that day. Nobody had heard it before and the song sounds like they had all been playing it for years! Very impressive! Check out the CD. It's a killer! Review Sammy Shelor tells me that he will be back in the studio this fall to record his second solo project for Sugar Hill. He says that he has a good bunch of tunes already chosen and is hunting a few more choice ones to complete the project. If all goes according to early plans, the band will be made up of Tony Rice, Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas among others. Kenny Smith of Lonesome River Band is also hard at work on a solo effort, this time with his wife Amanda. Folks in the UK may not be familiar with Amanda's terrific singing voice but that will surely change when they finish this recording. I heard some of the rough, unfinished tracks just recently and it is mighty strong! Terry Baucom reports that they are also hard at work on a new Blue Ridge CD. They previewed a couple of the cuts in their videos. Be on the lookout for a great cover of "Prayer Bells Of Heaven," which some may recall as a Jimmy Martin cut from the 60s, plus a screaming version of "John Henry." We just recently shot instructional video projects for Alan Bibey and Terry Baucom. I hope that they will be ready by mid-summer though I know that many of our UK friends can not easily use videos in the NTSC format. Our plan is eventually to offer them in both PAL and SECAM formats but am not sure when that will happen. I'm very pleased that your Editor has let me put in this big plug for our super Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend, 2001 November 9-11, 2001 This annual three day instructional seminar at the Hotel Roanoke and Convention Center in Roanoke, VA, features instruction and performances from some of the most celebrated artists in bluegrass music. Sessions run concurrently for students of B/M/G and attendees can choose from the various sessions throughout the course of the weekend. The tutors are Pete Wernick, Joe Mullins and Craig Smith (banjo); Jim Hurst, Richard Bennett, Orrin Starr, David Grier and Brad Davis (guitar); Herschel Sizemore, Chris Thile and Roland White (mandolin). There are two, three-hour sessions each day and registration is limited so that everyone can feel a part of each session. Each tutor will teach in a minimum of two, three-hour sessions. Pete Wernick will also offer a three-hour version of his acclaimed jam camp on Friday night. This is a hand-on seminar designed to help less experienced pickers become more comfortable and familiar with the jamming environment. There will be small groups of banjo, mandolin and guitar, with roving instructors helping demonstrate the topics that Pete covers. For more advanced players, Jim Hurst will be covering improvisational bluegrass skills at the same time as Pete's jamming workshop. At the Saturday evening concert most of the tutors perform in a loose, jam-like setting. These very spontaneous shows are always a weekend highlight. Jamming also goes on every night until the last picker crawls off to bed. More details on the web at: http://www.roanokebluegrass.com AcuTab is delighted to announce the imminent release of our very first book for Dobro - or slide resonator guitar as some purists would have it. We are even more delighted that this initial offering features the playing of Blue Highway's Rob Ickes! The book will contain tab transcriptions of Rob's solos from the first three Blue Highway CDs (It's A Long, Long Road, Wind To The West and Midnight Storm). As with all of the AcuTab transcription books, these tabs were prepared with Rob's assistance and cooperation so you can be sure that they are dead on accurate. Get more details on the Internet at: http://www.acutab.com/ickes Mike Auldridge writes on the back cover "Rob never fails to excite the listener... his approach is always full of passion and unexpected notes and phrasing. His playing style fits the great Blue Highway band perfectly, and if you have only half as much fun as I've had trying to pick his mind and incorporate some of his ideas into my "swipe book", you'll be happy you bought this!" See the report in this issue of NWBN Huber arch top conversion tone rings now available: Steve Huber is now offering an arch top conversion tone ring which will allow you to get the critically-acclaimed "pre war sound" of the Huber Vintage Flathead tone ring on an arch top pot without the need to cut down or modify your rim. Steve has also announced some minor price changes - with some good news and some bad news. The stock tone ring has gone up a few dollars to $350 (US) while the triple gold ring has dropped to $410 (US). He has eliminated the standard gold ring entirely and is offering just the nickel and triple gold options. Full details at: http://www.acutab.com/huber
John Lawless, AcuTab Publications -
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