Grass Cuttings and News
InBrief
USA and (some of the) Rest-Of-The World News
Click for UK and European
Dec 2004
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Sorry - I haven't time to chase news...
US band King Wilkie was awarded 'Emerging Artist of the Year at
the 2004 International Bluegrass Music Association awards held in October.
Click for concert report with photos. After the
concert NWBN tried to persude UK promoters to book them while they were still
affordable, but without success :-( 3rd - 6th February 2005: The 31st Annual SPBGMA (Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America) Awards and Convention) takes place at the Sheraton Music City Hotel, Nashville. Click for details Steve Kaufman reports that for the 2nd year in a row The Steve Kaufman's Acoustic Kamp won top honours in the 2004 Acoustic Guitar Magazine Reader's Poll, being voted the Gold Award for the 'Best Camps and Conferences'. The 2005 Kamp has been expanded to two full weeks in 2005: June 12-19 and June 19-26. Website | E-mail Steve | Book review "Collection of Fiddle Tunes" 12 Sept 04: Copper creek Records announce: The 2005 Bluegrass Calendar is due for release on September 15, 2004. A popular and well-received item in the bluegrass community since 1991, the calendar contains the birthdays of literally hundreds of bluegrass performers and personalities as well as the dates of important milestones in bluegrass history. Each month in the calendar features a striking photo of one of bluegrass music’s brightest stars including: Jim & Jesse; Ralph Stanley; Walter Hensley; Mac Martin; Reno & Smiley; Gloria Belle; Lilly Brothers; Jimmy Martin; Shenandoah Cut-Ups; Revonah fiddlers (Simon St. Pierre, Tater Tate, and Vernon Derrick); Red Allen; and Curly Seckler (note: Curly is the 2004 inductee to the IBMA Hall of Honour!). The 2005 Bluegrass Calendar highlights the photography of noted bluegrass entrepreneur Paul Gerry. By trade, a professional photographer, videographer, and record label owner, Paul had occasion to photograph a variety of bluegrass personalities over the years in a diverse group of settings. His earliest work dates from the 1950s when he captured on film bluegrass luminaries on stage at outdoor concerts. A devoted fan of bluegrass music, Paul turned his passion into a livelihood in the early 1970s with the formation of his record company, Revonah Records. After the founding of his label, a lot of his photographic attention was focused on acquiring images for use on the various albums that he produced and released. Over a 15-year period, Paul produced nearly 50 albums and recorded a lot of fabulous music in the process. Over the years Paul’s photographic archive evolved into a treasure trove of pictures of many of the first and second-generation bluegrass bands. The 2005 Bluegrass Calendar chronicles Paul’s best photographic work. The calendar, selling for $11.95, would make a wonderful gift for bluegrass fans during the upcoming holiday season. Calendar ‘Dealer’ discounts are available….and the calendar is also available at a discount to bluegrass associations for use as a fundraiser. For additional information, please contact: Copper Creek Publications, PO Box 3161, Roanoke, Virginia 24015. Call (toll-free) 1-888-438-2448 (1-888-GET-BG4U) e-mail info@coppercreekrecords.com Guitarist and Bluegrass/Country Vocal Stylist Charlie Waller died 18th August while picking squash in the farden at his Virginia home, just before leaving on yet another national tour with the band he founded in 1957, The Country Gentlemen. He was 69 years old.
Charlie Waller and The Country Gentlemen at The Barbican, London. Under Waller's leadership, the Country Gentlemen became stars around bluegrass and around the world. The Country Gentlemen, launched at a peculiarly dark moment when both bluegrass and country music had been officially declared dead by the experts, established a hip (if rural), rebellious image and merged the "dead" genres to lasting effect. Click for: NWBN interview with Charlie A state feasibility study has recommended against building a state park in Ohio County that would honour bluegrass music pioneer Bill Monroe. Monroe was born in nearby Rosine and was buried in the town's cemetery...and the 'Bill Monroe Foundation' wanted to create a 1,000-acre living history farm on Jerusalem Ridge, the property where Monroe was born in 1911 and spent his childhood. The foundation's annual Jerusalem Ridge festival, due to take place during Sept.30th - Oct. 3rd 2004 drew fans from 28 states last year. The study, released by the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, said the top spending priority in the Commerce Cabinet is 'critically needed' maintenance for existing state parks. Campbell Mercer, the foundation's executive director, said the site would host festivals showcasing bluegrass, old-time dance and religious music. He is quoted as saying "Not one person from the LRC came to Jerusalem Ridge to see the national treasure we have here. It's frustrating to me that I couldn't give one of them a tour of Jerusalem Ridge, so they could see the beauty of the place. We don't want a golf course or a swimming pool. We want to showcase a culture." The study states that the design of the park is 'inconsistent with stated interests of bluegrass music fans most likely to visit the home place and with standard statutory, regulatory and financial considerations that govern the management of state parks.' In 1988, the LRC rejected a plan for a museum in Rosine honoring Monroe. A decade later, the Ohio County Fiscal Court used $800,000 of coal severance funds to start the project. Now it is involved in four lawsuits, the latest LRC study said. The report concludes 'If Ohio County wants the state park, leaders on the local level need to act in unity with officials on the state level. Mercer said he hopes Commerce Secretary Jim Host, who has recently visited Ohio County and offered to help, advises Gov. Ernie Fletcher to ignore the LRC recommendation. Ohio County Judge-Executive Wayne Hunsaker said he was disappointed in the LRC report."We have a different administration now," Hunsaker said, "and I believe in the near future we will see some support from the state."
Grand Ole Opry star Ralph Stanley has been named the 2004 Virginian of the Year by the Virginia Press Association. The honourable Doctor accepted his award Friday, March 19, at a banquet during the organization’s annual meeting in Roanok. The honour places Stanley, a native and resident of Dickenson County, in the ranks of such former winners as television personalities Willard Scott and Spencer Christian, newsman Roger Mudd, musicians Bruce Hornsby, writer David Baldacci, the late June Carter Cash and the late publisher of the Washington Post, Katherine Graham. “Nothing makes me prouder than praise from other Virginians,” Stanley says. “I think that my growing up in the mountains of Virginia made my music what it is today. This is a great honor.” A multiple Grammy-award winner with more than 170 albums to his credit, Stanley holds an honorary doctorate from Lincoln University. He was a featured performer on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack album, which has so far sold more than six million copies. Stanley headlined the wildly successful Down From The Mountain Tour of 2002, a production that brought an evening of traditional rural acoustic music to concert halls across America and into Canada. Stanley will soon be taking the stage for the Great High Mountain Tour, which spotlights music from both the O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Cold Mountain movies. The tour begins May 5 at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, TN, and then moves to Schottenstein Center, Columbus, OH, May 6; U. S. Bank Arena, Cincinnati, OH, May 7: Civic Opera House, Chicago, IL, May 8; Milwaukee Theatre, Milwaukee, WI, May 9; Northrop Auditorium, Minneapolis, MN, May 11; Fox Theatre, St. Louis, MO, May 12; Fox Theatre, Detroit, MI, May 13; and concludes at Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY, May 14. The Bluegrass Patriots' have released a new CD on Cooper Creek (CCCD-0218) Springtime in the Rockies Peter Thompson sends details of Kathy Kallick's band's gigs, but I can't post all the details so Visit the website
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