THE BOXCARS

Five top-notch bluegrass veterans recently joined forces as The Boxcars, and 2010 marks their first year together on tour. According to Travis Tackett of Bluegrass News,The Boxcars may be the newest bluegrass super-group!

ADAM STEFFEY (mandolin and vocalist) and Ron Stewart (banjo) have wanted to “pick together” for a while. Adam hails from East Tennessee and got his start in the thriving Tennessee-Virginia bluegrass scene. With two other founding members of the near-legendary group Dusty Miller, he jumped to the big time by joining Alison Krauss and Union Station. Nearly seven years later, with several Grammy awards and IBMA trophies in hand, he left Union Station, eventually joining The Isaacs, of bluegrass gospel fame.

RON STEWART brings three decades of experience playing banjo, fiddle, guitar, bass and mandolin, to The Boxcars — plus considerable expertise in engineering and producing. He grew up in rural southern Indiana, an hour and a half down the road from Bill Monroe’s Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival. After ten years fronting his family band, Ron worked with a “Who’s Who” of bluegrass — Lynn Morris, Curly Seckler and Lester Flatt. Then came six years with JD Crowe and The New South and most recently the Dan Tyminski Band. Ron was also an engineer and fiddle player on The New South’s release “Lefty’s Old Guitar,” nominated for a 2008 Grammy.

HAROLD NIXON crossed paths with Ron at JD Crowe and The New South. A working musician since he was 15 years old, Harold spent a six-year stint as a bass guitarist with The New South, collaborating with Ron on “Lefty’s Old Guitar”. Known for his keen ear and rock-solid sense of rhythm and timing, Harold was Adam and Ron’s first choice for The Boxcars’ bassman.

When KEITH GARRETT and John Bowman came on board, it was magic from the first note! Keith learned to play guitar from his dad at the age of 13 in his hometown of Citico, Tennessee. In 2000 he became a founding member of Blue Moon Rising, an East Tennessee-based bluegrass band named in honor of Bill Monroe’s legendary “Blue Moon of Kentucky”. There Keith honed his talent for singing and songwriting, as Blue Moon Rising earned national acclaim and was nominated for the IBMA’s Emerging Artist of the Year Award (2006).

JOHN R. BOWMAN (fiddle and vocals) also has deep bluegrass roots. Born in “Mayberry” (Mt. Airy, North Carolina), John was exposed to the rich musical heritage of southern Virginia from an early age. Doyle Lawson asked him to join Quicksilver in 1991, where John made four recordings in one year. That summer he met up with Adam Steffey and Barry Bales from Dusty Miller, which was playing with a young lady from Champagne, Illinois, named Alison Kraus. A year later, Alison asked John to join her band, and he played with Union Station for about 15 months. John married Becky Isaacs of The Isaacs in 1994, and he has worked with the bluegrass gospel group on various levels for more than 12 years.

It’s a rare treat to have several strong lead vocalists in the same group, so watch for dynamic performances from Garrett, Bowman and Stewart, plus Steffey’s distinctive baritone!


SIERRA HULL

Nineteen-year-old Sierra Hull is a leading light in the new generation of bluegrass musicians. The Byrdstown, Tennessee, native began playing the mandolin at age eight and quickly became known on the national festival scene for her fluid, inventive picking. Along the way, Sierra won several mandolin and guitar championships. She started singing publicly just two years ago, but you’d never know it from her tender, eloquent performances!

Sierra has been a featured performer on the Great High Mountain Tour, which featured an all-star bluegrass lineup performing songs from the soundtracks of the hit movies “O Brother Where Art Thou” and “Cold Mountain.” She has appeared several times on the Grand Ole Opry radio and television shows as well as on Garrison Keillor’s “Prairie Home Companion” radio show. And she has shared the stage with bluegrass legends such as Alison Krauss, IIIrd Tyme Out, Sam Bush, Mountain Heart and Ricky Skaggs.

A PASSION FOR BLUEGRASS
While still in high school, Sierra released “Secrets” — her national debut album on Rounder Records. Ron Block, producer for Alison Krauss and Union Station and co-producer on “Secrets”, immediately recognized Sierra’s passion for bluegrass. “She has an intense desire for excellence, a love of good songs, and an attention to detail that is not often found in someone so young . . . . She’s only going to get better and better as time goes on. It’ll be intriguing to watch how her vision and creativity affect the future of bluegrass in the coming years.”

Sierra was nominated for the 2009 IBMA Emerging Artist of the Year Award as well as Mandolin Player of the Year. While still in high school, she was recruited by Boston’s acclaimed Berklee College of Music, and since then she has balanced a demanding performance schedule with her musical studies.

Despite the praise and acclaim that swirls around her, Sierra remains down-to-earth and gracious. That’s why bluegrass legends like Alison Krauss are her mentors. “Sierra is a remarkably talented, beautiful human being,” says Alison Krauss. “Success could not come to a more worthy person. I adore her.”

RODNEY DILLARD AND THE DILLARD BAND

Known as “The Father of Country Rock” and beloved as a member of The Darlings on the classic Andy Griffith Show, Rodney Dillard has had a long and varied career. So far, he’s had two Grammy nominations, been awarded the Outstanding Missourian Award and inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. For more than 50 years, Rodney has captivated audiences and recorded both traditional bluegrass and his own brand of “Dillardgrass”.

Rodney grew up playing guitar with his brother Doug on banjo, making music with family and friends in and around Salem, Missouri. In 1958 the Dillard brothers began recording and distributing their music and soon recruited Dean Webb (mandolin) and Mitch Jayne (string bass).

In 1962, the new group, known as The Dillards, played their first show at Washington University in St. Louis. They soon hit the road for Los Angeles, and on their first night in town stopped by a club called The Ash Grove. An Electra Records rep heard them jam on stage and by the next evening The Dillards had signed a major recording contract.

SUCCESS CAME QUICKLY
A producer with The Andy Griffith Show heard about the Electra signing and asked The Dillards to audition for the newly created role of The Darlings, a bluegrass-playing family whose patriarch would be the actor Denver Pyle. Andy Griffith and the producers loved The Dillards’ authentic sound and immediately cast Rodney, Doug, Dean and Mitch. To this day, The Dillards are seen somewhere in the world nearly every day, thanks to the enduring popularity of The Andy Griffith Show re-runs.

Over the years, The Dillards continued to modernize and re-imagine the sound of bluegrass. Rodney wrote and collaborated on now-classic songs like “There is a Time”, “The Darlin’ Boys”, “Ebo Walker” and “Dooley”.

A DRIVING FORCE FOR NEW SOUNDS
By the late 60s Rodney had transformed The Dillards. They were among the first bluegrass musicians to “electrify” their instruments and add drums and a steel guitar. The band’s flair for songwriting and arrangement influenced many up and coming musicians in the bluegrass and pop worlds, and The Dillards are widely recognized for helping set the stage for the “country rock” movements and the burgeoning progressive sounds of bluegrass.

Their legendary albums, especially “Wheatstraw Suite” and “Copperfields”, influenced many young musicians in and out of country music. The Byrds, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Ricky Skaggs, The Eagles and Elton John have all expressed appreciation for what The Dillards accomplished.

Rodney Dillard’s innovations have become extremely common in today’s music. Besides electrifying instruments that had been strictly acoustic, he started “doubling” or “layering” vocal tracks for a fuller, richer sound that can make a three-person band sound like an entire chorale. By adding orchestral highlights, he brought of bit of sophistication and a pleasing tone to bluegrass songs. Together, Rodney, Doug, Mitch, Dean and later bandmate Herb Petersen inspired literally thousands of musicians.

Today Rodney continues to record new music and videos regularly. He is excited about the musical talent of his bandmates and really enjoys touring and meeting The Dillards fans.


THE TENNESSEE MAFIA JUG BAND

From the pastoral hills, hollers, shopping malls and interstate highways of Goodlettsville, Tennessee (home of the legendary Bill Monroe, Bashful Brother Oswald, Stringbean, Grandpa Jones, Keith Whitley plus some of today’s top country music performers) comes the most entertaining "blast from the past" since Lester Moran and the Cadillac Cowboys. They're the Tennessee Mafia Jug Band — five guys and a scrubboard, with roots like wisdom teeth.

The Tennessee Mafia Jug Band has shamelessly stolen a feature of the old Roy Acuff Show — a bit known as "Pap & the Jug Band". There's only so many graveyard numbers or raunchy love songs that even the most rabid country audience can sit through without some kind of relief. This frolicking fivesome brightens up the stage with rib-tickling old time tunes. Even better, they have an utter lack of self-consciousness (and some might say any sense of decorum). The Tennessee Mafia Jug Band not only knows the music, they wear the costumes, tell corny jokes and even do slapstick gags that throw an audience into hysterics. Take that, cable TV. The Tennessee Mafia is the real thing!

Join us down under on Saturday, May 22nd at 1pm and Sunday, May 23rd at 3pm for two very special events. The performances will be filmed for nation-wide distribution on Public Television. The Volcano Room will be lit once again by world renowned lighting artist, Allen Branton. Four special performances on Saturday by Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, Cherryholmes, Mountain Heart and supergroup 18 South" On Sunday at 3pm, we will welcome Justin Towne Earle, Darrell Scott, and Monte Montgomery.

Join us down under on Saturday, May 22nd at 1pm for two very special events. The performances will be filmed for nation-wide distribution on Public Television. The Volcano Room will be lit once again by world renowned lighting artist, Allen Branton. Four special performances on Saturday by Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, Cherryholmes, Mountain Heart and supergroup 18 South"