• Congratulations to Earl & Louise Scruggs who recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. We wish them continued happiness. Earl is picking on a regular basis with friends and its pure "Scruggs."
• Last time we reported that Congleton Country Music Club was closed down for allegedly being too noisy. Well, there’s good news and bad news. Organiser Derek Lawrence appealed for renewal of his Music Licence and was successful. The bad news from his point of view is that CCMC is restricted to acoustic music - no DI - although mics/amps are OK. All the trouble was caused by a single complaint from one person.
• The Original Dillards will be playing The Cambridge Folk Festival, August 1 & 2, 1998. Visit http://www.the-dillards.com
• Pat Cloud’s terrific book, "Key To 5 String Banjo" is virtually sold out everywhere but the book will be re-released by Mel Bay this autumn.
• The 74 page spiral-bound book of Tabs for Bela Fleck & Tony Trischka's album Solo Banjo Works is just out from Homespun for $14.95 + p&p
• Stay-In-Tune (SIT) strings, made by the SIT Strings Corp in Akron, Ohio, are claimed to be somehow pre-tensioned so that they don’t continue to stretch after they are installed on the instrument. Reputedly they initially made guitar strings to withstand the stress of pushing, vibrato, and other playing techniques. They later found that these same improvements helped the banjo, mandolin, and bass. SIT claims that their discoveries such as “Universal Dampening”, “Adjustable Pin Chuck”, “Negative Pressure Anvils”, and a host of others, are responsible. If you would like to check out their web site, it is: http://www.sitstrings.com
  This is not the April edition.... let us know if they work....
• Jack Hatfield informs of his new book/CD "Old Time Gospel Banjo Solos" (31 tunes with lyrics and slow-fast CD with rhythm in one channel, banjo in the other) just released by Mel Bay. Hatfield Music, 325 Laurelwood Dr., Pigeon Forge, TN 37863, 1-800-426-8744, http://www.hatfieldmusic.com
• While introducing his band at Grave's Mt. festival, USA, Charlie Waller said "We'll play you some country music. They're sure not doing it in Nashville."

From John Lawless (AcuTab):

• About the “Bluegrass 9X” CD series: In 1995, guitarist Clay Jones (formerly of Lou Reid, Terry Baucom & Carolina) recorded a solo instrumental project for Pinecastle. Scott Vestal produced it and I believe also recorded it in his studio. When the final mixes were ready, Clay vanished from sight. Nobody could find him and Pinecastle was very concerned since they had probably $20,000 tied up in the recording.
  
  A decision was made to release it as Bluegrass '95, a stop-gap solution, with a somewhat generic cover. All involved were surprised when it became something of a hit. The same basic bunch (Scott Vestal, Wayne Benson, Aubrey Haynie, Mark Schatz and now Jeff Autrey on guitar) released similar projects in 1996 and 1997. Bluegrass '98 is the latest incarnation.
• The new Scott Vestal tab book in the works - due out by late summer - will contain tabs for all the solos from Bluegrass '95, '96 and '97. If space allows, maybe I could squeeze Silver Eagle in there as well. Pinecastle is at http://www.pinecastle.com. I'm sure that Bill Stokes will have it in stock soon (bstokes@wans.net) as will Dave Frets (Liverpool, England).
• Sonny Osborne and I have settled on final plans for a series of AcuTab transcription books that will eventually cover the entire span of Sonny's distinguished career. I am truly honoured to be able to present his work in print and will soon be hard at work on the solos and backup from Bluegrass Collection, the focus of the first book.
• AcuTab is delighted to announce the release of our second volume of bluegrass mandolin solos. "Alan Bibey - AcuTab transcriptions, Vol I" This book contains accurate, artist-approved transcriptions for a sampling of Alan's solos from several popular recordings including:
  
  Ready For The Times by The New Quicksilver (recently re-released as Baucom, Bibey, Graham & Haley - Rebel 1743); IIIrd Tyme Out - Rebel 1691; Puttin' New Roots Down by IIIrd Tyme Out - Rebel 1703; The Young Mando Monsters - Vamp 0100 and Lou Reid & Carolina - Rebel 1728
  
  Few mandolinists enjoy the degree of critical acclaim that Alan Bibey has garnered since he first hit the scene with The New Quicksilver in 1985. Through his years with IIIrd Tyme Out and now Blue Ridge, Alan has established himself as perhaps the most influential and distinctive bluegrass stylists of his generation.
  At $20.00 (US) it features a total of 31 solos from 20 songs including Lower On The Hog / Gordon McGregor / Flying High / Thanks A Lot and Ready For The Times. Alan personally selected the songs that are included, choosing both his favourites and the solos for which he consistently receives requests for information. All songs are presented in both standard notation and tablature. Left hand fingerings are provided along with helpful performance notes from Alan.
• Scott Vestal tells me that Bluegrass '98 is out! Check with your favourite source for bluegrass recordings and get this one pronto. I heard a pre-release copy about a month ago and enjoyed it thoroughly. Scott tears Dear Old Dixie up one side and down the other. It’s an all instrumental CD, like all the series.
• I just got off the phone with Sammy Shelor who was telling me about shows he has been doing with Tony Rice. Tony is apparently feeling well and really wants to pick. They are doing shows, usually billed as Tony Rice & Friends, with Tony, Sammy, Rickie Skaggs, Ronnie Simpkins and Dan Tyminski. Woof! There is some loose talk of an album
• Steve Huber's Vintage Flathead Tone Ring:
  I got a chance to see and hear his new tone ring which promises to be a monster. Steve is a very serious and dedicated banjo craftsman and you will hear big things from him. The Vintage Flathead tone ring is now being manufactured on a limited production basis. Steve has spent much of the past three years studying the great pre-war rings - alloy composition, plating methods plus the actual process used to pour and turn the rings. After much R&D, he is finally ready to offer the to the public and AcuTab is delighted to announce that we will are distributing them to our customers and friends around the world. More info on Steve’s web site at: http://www.acutab.com/huber.html
• Further info:
  John Lawless, AcuTab Publications, P.O. Box 21061 Roanoke, VA 24018-0108.
  Tel: 001-540-776-6822 Fax: 001-540-776-6827
  [ Write to |  http://www.acutab.com ]

Updated 23rd Jan 1999