I agree with most of Eric Kwiatkowski’s Sharon Cort & New River ranch report but felt that a double bass would have been better than an electric bass guitar, both in sound and stage presence. But they were great - can’t wait for the Shankman Twins on 5th July.

Also, it’s sad that Edale is going back to the NW; I loved every minute of Wollaton Park last May - the weather, atmosphere and bands were all ace! I would love to see a regular Bluegrass session in Nottingham, including an annual festival.

Neil White, Nottingham.

Well, you know who to get onto about BG events in Nottingham (is Geoff Bowers listening?) Sharon Cort has written also - see next letter. Ed

Hi! I saw the Steve Earl & Del McCoury band in Stockholm, Sweden - their first show on their European tour. It was a great show, about three hours. I was curious about Rob McCoury’s ex-archtop, now with a flathead Huber tonering in it. Well, the sound wasn’t the best where I sat so it was hard to tell any difference from when it was an archtop. We over here in this part of the world don’t get the chance very often to hear US bluegrass bands, so it was great.

Mats Haglund, Sweden. Write to Matt

Best wishes,

Dennis Schut, Chairman NBMA

Sorry, Dennis, we wouldn’t publish it in NWBN because there is no North West England connection. The BBMA might see it as “competition” - something we want to avoid. Ed.

I read Jean’s review of the concert at Kenilworth where she said that the Runaway String Band from Scotland were very good, and that they had a request for the song Raglan Road which Jean thought was a traditional Scottish song. In fact it’s a poem written by the Irish poet and writer Patrick Kavanagh around the late 1930’s. It was recorded as a song by Irish singer Paddy Riley and also by Luke Kelly of The Dubliners.

Tom Lonergan, Little Sutton.

May we thank Bev Williams, Chris Harrison, Mal Salisbury and Jill & John Les for the chance to go on stage at their festivals? And to Ron Stevens (Heart of England Bluegrass Club) for the offer of a gig.

We are very new and need such help; it’s very difficult for a new band, however hard we rehearse and think that we have got it right. Going on stage can change all that, be it sound or nerves. If there’s someone in the audience who doesn’t like what you do their face says it all. The more experience we get the better we hopefully will become. There are some who just pass us off as school girls who cannot sing (can they?) We hope we can prove them wrong.

We felt that our RochEdale gig wasn’t good , yet we have had a lot of kind words from Jill Harrison, The Bluegrass Brothers, the Down County’s and Steve Wright of the Slack Street Band, who did the recording of our Demo CD. They all gave us helpful hints that we will definitely take notice of.

The Sweet Storm Sextet

Do I get the impression that someone won’t give you exposure? But bear in mind one needn’t be a film maker to be a film critic... Ed.

Some comments about our Internet Site:

“You make an old-timer like me very happy to see your web site. If only we had such info available when I was an active performer with the Country Strings back in the 60’s. Keep up the good work.

Alec Davidson, Maidenhead, Berks”

Rex Jones posted this on the AcuTab list:

“For those of you who have not bothered to browse this magazine, take the time to do it now. There is one particular article, Learning To Play Bluegrass Breaks by Bill Gilson, that is useful to all players who want to make the leap from playing by themselves to participating in a jam session (or even just playing along with records). Of particular interest is the author's note regarding where the beat falls in backup as opposed to a break. When you go to the home page, click on ‘The Editor’s Choice’ for this and many other interesting articles."

Rex C. Jones, Tokyo. rex@ksw.nesic.nec.co.jp

1st July 1999