THE GRASCALS

Great musicians will always find a way to make good music, but for great musicians to make great music, they must form a bond – one that, more often than not, goes beyond the purely musical to the personal. For The Grascals, that bond has been forged at the intersection of personal friendships, shared professional resumes and an appreciation for the innovative mingling of bluegrass and country music that has been a hallmark of the Nashville scene for more than forty years. As their releases prove, The Grascals’ rare musical empathy gives them an unerring ear for just the right touch to illuminate each offering’s deepest spirit – whether they’re digging into one of their original songs or reworking a bluegrass classic or pop standard. 

Vocally, the trio of Terry Eldredge, Jamie Johnson and Terry Smith are tighter than ever, cutting loose on driving solo vocals and soaring trios with equal fire and passion. As an instrumental unit, The Grascals have never sounded sharper, with mandolin ace Danny Roberts, fiddler Jeremy Abshire and banjo player Kristin Scott Benson leading the charge. As a result, their cutting-edge modern bluegrass is delivered with a deep knowledge of, and admiration for, the work of the music’s founding fathers. Timely yet timeless, The Grascals make music that is entirely relevant to the here and now, yet immersed in traditional values of soul and musicianship. It’s a unique sound that has earned two of their previous releases (THE GRASCALS, 2005 and LONG LIST OF HEARTACHES, 2006) Grammy® nominations for International Bluegrass Music Association’s Best Bluegrass Album.

The Grascals are among the most beloved and acclaimed bands on today’s bluegrass scene, having won SPBGMA’s Bluegrass Band of the Year award in 2010, the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Emerging Artist of the Year award in 2005 and earning its Entertainer of the Year honor in both 2006 and 2007.

Whether being light-hearted and jovial or soul-searching and reflective, The Grascals are at the very top of their game.   Though it is still – at least in bluegrass terms – a new group, the web of friendships, band memberships, recordings and personal appearances that binds The Grascals together has produced an ensemble of unsurpassed cohesion and focused artistic direction. Whether in the studio or on stage, The Grascals honor the past and forge into the future, bringing fresh yet familiar sounds to the bluegrass world and beyond.

THE RIGNEY FAMILY BLUEGRASS BAND

The Rigney Family Band hails from Normandy, TN, just outside of Nashville. Their unique, appealing blend of family vocal harmonies and innovative bluegrass instrumentation exemplifies everything that is right about family playing together. They offer traditional bluegrass mixed with fresh originals and driving instrumentation that exhilarates your soul with youthful energy, laughter, and emotion.
They play over 70 dates a year ranging from festivals, concerts, radio/TV shows, private parties, restaurants, weddings, and similar venues.  Their music is a great balance of the traditional and fresh new sounds.  Their third CD “Familiar Paths” released in September 2011.  Produced by Stephen Mougin of the Sam Bush Band, the project offers 12 original songs (three of which were written by Andrew Rigney) taking you down often-traveled paths of life.  This project also features guest vocalist Becky Buller.
Mark Rigney began playing banjo as a teenager. He gave up his beloved Gibson to buy Melissa’s engagement ring in college. He did not play again for 17 years. Then she surprised him one Christmas with a banjo under the tree and that is the beginning of their story. Mark also sings lead and harmony vocals for the band.
Melissa Rigney studied music at an early age on piano.  When the guys in the family started rolling, they wanted her to join in and she decided they needed a bass player. Now she is the bands solid beat.
Andrew Rigney (age 18) He plays guitar, mandolin, banjo, bouzouki, and bass. His hard-drivin’ smooth sound gives the band its tight drive. Andrew sings lead vocals and harmony and contributes much to the band with his original songs and arrangements.  He recently added to his many accomplishments by placing 1st in flat-pick guitar at the Tennessee State Championships for the second consecutive year and placing 2nd in Guitar at Merlefest 2010 & 2011.  Andrew keeps a busy schedule teaching guitar, mandolin, and banjo as well as recording for other artists.
Grant Rigney (age 15) He plays mandolin, fiddle, bass, guitar, and tenor guitar.  His accomplishments include 3-time National Championship Youth Instrumental Entertainer of the Year at the Smithville Fiddler’s Jamboree and 2009 Alabama State Fiddle Champion for his age category. The title track on their second CD “Never Just Once” was written by Grant at the age of 12.  He also has numerous other awards across his instruments from many contests. Grant also sings harmony for the band and often works studio sessions recording for other artists.  Grant also teaches mandolin.

Who	The Grascals with The Rigney Family Bluegrass Band
When	Saturday, May 5, 2012 1:00pm - ALL AGES
Where	The Volcano Room at Cumberland Caverns (map) 1437 Cumberland Caverns Rd McMinnville, TN, USA 37110

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Stephanie Taylor and the Boxty Bluegrass Band, featuring Barry Waldrep
People always ask me what type of music I play. I find that question difficult to answer because I play it all, classical, bluegrass, Irish, country, rock. I’d rather tell people about the music I love because bluegrass music and bluegrass musicians are second to none. Just throw me into a bluegrass jam with the amazing Nashville pickers and I’m in heaven. But bluegrass, like me, is not all that easy to define because it is influenced by all genres of music.
The Boxty Bluegrass Band features some of the best songs and instrumentals from Ireland, about Ireland and inspired by Ireland. A world traveler, there is no place I feel more at home than Ireland. Some of my fondest travel memories include picking up a fiddle at Trad Sessions in Ireland and making music with the locals. With the help of my musical friends Troy Engle, John Fox and Barry Waldrep, we have created a musical experience that combines our bluegrass roots with Irish influences. Sing along, dance a jig and become part of our Trad Session, Bluegrass Underground style.
Growing up on a small farm in South Dakota, Stephanie began studying Suzuki violin and old-time fiddle at the age of three. Her skills as a violinist helped her earn a full scholarship to study music and the University of Nebraska followed by law school. Since moving to Nashville, Stephanie Taylor has played fiddle with numerous artists including Grammy nominated country artist Chris Young, country duo Joey + Rory, award winning singer/songwriter Billy Yates, rock legend Billy Falcon, bluegrass talent Dana Romanello and the unforgettable bluegrass picker, Barry Waldrep. Stephanie is a member of the South Dakota Old Time Fiddler’s Hall of Fame and an active member of the International Bluegrass Music Association. Stephanie spends her days helping her clients make a living making music as the head of the entertainment law group at Bone McAllester Norton in Nashville, TN.

Shannon Quinn

Shannon Quinn is the latest young musician making her mark on Canada through performance. At 21 years of age, Shannon Quinn is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, dancer and composer. Having been performing with her father Tony for 13 years, she has been featured among many successful recording artists, and in turn has become one herself. She was born and raised in beautiful Halifax, Nova Scotia, a place full of musical talent.

 In Halifax, Shannon performed a live radio program for CBC shows “Canada Live” and “Atlantic Airwaves”. As well as performing, she has become very inspired to write music for film, an interest that has sparked within the last few years. She first composed original music for the CBC documentary entitled “Unknown Child” – about a missing boy from the Titanic, and since then her original music has been showcased in films that have been viewed in film festivals from Halifax, to New York. Shannon has had the pleasure of performing with Cirque Du Soleil in Montreal, and the widely acclaimed Irish group The Chieftains in both Halifax, and Charlottetown. She was the youngest ever performer to be accepted into the Charlottetown Festival’s Young company, and also the youngest recipient of the Maud Whitmore Scholarship for Vocal studies.

In Toronto, recently she has performed alongside Jazz wizard Chris Potter, and performed with Terence Blanchard this March with the Humber College  “A” Band. Her most recent performance was in Nashville, TN for the Music City Roots show at the Loveless Barn, co-headlining with artists such as Alison Brown, and Maura O’Connell, and broadcast live on Legendary WSM 650 radio, home of the Grand Ole Opry. 

Her musical style is highly influenced by that of her ancestors, originating from County Clare, Ireland. Inspired by a wide variety of genres and musicians, Shannon is extremely passionate about creating music, and is currently in her final year of a music degree in performance, composition and production in Toronto, ON. Her debut album entitled “The Irwin Lake Sessions” was released in March ‘ 08, as well as the launch of her new music production/publishing company “Cowbell Music”.

Who	The Boxty Bluegrass Band with Shannon Quinn
When	Saturday, March 17, 2012 1:00pm - ALL AGES
Where	The Volcano Room at Cumberland Caverns (map) 1437 Cumberland Caverns Rd McMinnville, TN, USA 37110

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Bluegrass Underground is closing out what by any measure has been a year of seismic proportions. The biggest news is that the BGU experience is now as close as your TV. With its fall debut, Bluegrass Underground became Bluegrass Underground, National Public Television’s hottest new music show, taking viewers from around the country deep into Cumberland Caverns for a high-def look at “Austin City Limits-meets-Nova.”

But even as the show has gone nationwide, (and of course, worldwide on the Web) some of the most memorable moments of 2011 were the most intimate: the haunting majesty of Ralph Stanley singing “O Death” to a pin-drop-silent sellout crowd back in March. Or the power going out in the middle of New Found Road’s June show, as, without lights or sound, the band didn’t miss a lick, Joe Booher going into an extended mandolin jam, before Tim Shelton rang through the pitch black, singing – what else? – “Ain’t No Sunshine.”  There were bluegrass legends like Larry Sparks and Doyle Lawson, great new bands like Milk Drive and Greensky Bluegrass as well as major legends-in-the-making like New Found Road, Sierra Hull and the all-star Boxcars.

Now, I’ve seen a lot of concerts in my time, starting before I was 10, when my parents took me to see people like Van Cliburn and Mahalia Jackson, and going on to a 25-year career covering music for daily newspapers, as well as 40 years of playing music professionally (yes, I’m old). But I have never seen a cooler venue than the Volcano Room. Amazing what a few million years of construction can do. And it helps to have an infallible Architect, of course.

But even after that momentous year, 2012 promises to steal the show. Look no further than the weekend of Feb. 24-26, as Bluegrass Underground TV shoots its second season.

Friday, Feb. 24, it’s the first-ever evening Bluegrass Underground, with a truly jaw-dropping lineup that includes the IBMA’s newest Hall of Fame inductee, Del McCoury, with his  Del McCoury Band, plus future IBMA Hall of Famer and BGU perennial fave Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. Add to that the hottest Americana act to come out of Nashville in years –the duo of Joy Williams and John Paul White, better known as The Civil Wars, whose Jan. 12 Ryman show sold out instantaneously. The David Mayfield Parade fills out that very special night.

Not a bad start, but then, on Saturday, it’s Country Music Hall of Famer Vince Gill and his all-star western swing band, The Time Jumpers, owners of Monday nights at The Station Inn, the hottest weekly ticket in Middle Tennessee. The Time Jumpers feature one of the best singers alive,  Dawn Sears, as well as cowboy music great Ranger Doug. Add to that Nashville’s reigning steel man, Paul Franklin, and a bunch of other session aces and it really doesn’t get any better. But wait, there’s more, as they say in those infomercials.  Jim Lauderdale, a man of many hats, from Americana to Bluegrass to mainstream country, will make his Bluegrass Underground debut. And, in the newcomer slot, dynamic singer/instrumentalist Sarah Jarosz.

Sunday’s 1 p.m. show features one of the greatest instrumentalists of our time in any genre – dobro master Jerry Douglas, taking a break from his regular gig with Alison Krauss and work with everyone from Elvis Costello to Paul Simon (he’s also been playing in an electric  jazz fusion trio he jokingly describes as “Jethro Beck”). Jerry will top a young, Americana-edged lineup with the Black Lillies, singer/songwriter and former V-Roy Scott Miller and Jackson Mayo’s favorite band, The Vespers.

It’s all coming soon to your TV, but why wait? You know it’ll be even better live.

Larry Nager

 The other was less immediately eye-catching. It was also by a young guy, leading a young band, except for a white-haired bass player.

That was Ramblin’ Bluegrass, Larry Sparks & The Lonesome Ramblers’ national bluegrass debut and, looking back, it was just as forward thinking and influential as that NGR album.

Where NGR gleefully broke the rules, Sparks bent them. The singer-guitarist came up in the rough-and-tumble bluegrass bars of Southwest Ohio, where he would sing displaced Kentuckians back home after a day on the assembly lines of Frigidaire, NCR and Fisher Body. Those honky tonks turned out some of the greatest names in bluegrass – Red Allen, The Osborne Brothers, Frank Wakefield, Roy Lee Centers. And Larry Sparks. Sparks got his big break with Ralph Stanley, replacing his late brother Carter. He’s still got that Carter Stanley-style lonesomeness in his voice. But he also developed a hard-edged, bluesy lead guitar style and became a master at classic country music (check out his album of Hank Williams songs on County). And whatever he does, he does it with absolute authority and real soul.

He also has a finely-tuned ear for great songs. No other bluegrasser of his generation has so many signature songs – “John Deere Tractor,” “It’s Too Late to Walk the Floor,’” “A Face in the Crowd,”  “I’ve Just Seen the Rock of Ages,” “Tennessee 1949” – it’s a long list.

And his sound, combining a deep sense of tradition with a modern viewpoint has served him – and the hundreds of neo-traditional bluegrass bands that came after him – very well.

Dozens of albums later, his 2011 release, Almost Home, his Rounder debut, mixes fine new songs (“Blue Mountain Melody”) with classic country (Hank Locklin’s “Send Me the Pillow That You Dream On”) and hard-driving gospel (“Somebody Touched Me”).

Back when Sparks released that first Starday album, the rest of bluegrass seemed to be heading full tilt into a wimpier version of what NGR was doing, doing rock and pop songs with a bluegrass touch, trading the timeless drive of Scruggs-style banjo for the fad of frilly chromatic licks.  And unlike NGR’s hard-edged, funky bluegrass jams,  other young bands aimed for a commercial, soft-rock, country-pop sound.

Instead, Sparks stood his ground, emulating his idols, singing with passion and power and keeping the sound and feel of first-generation bluegrass alive in the ‘70s.

Through the years, that never changed. That flame still burns today. Nov. 19, Larry Sparks brings his lonesome sound down to the Volcano Room.

Opening that day in the cave will be one of the grandchildren of NGR. Mikdrive is a hot new band out of Austin that features mandolin and fiddle champ Dennis Ludiker with equally accomplished multi-instrumentalists Noah Jeffries and Brian Beken and bassist Matt Mefford (who played with Beken and Ludiker in the South Austin Jug Band). Milkdrive has been causing a ruckus with exciting live shows (including Music City Roots) and their 2011, made-in-Nashville studio debut, Road From Home.

Don’t miss this one, folks. The future of bluegrass may depend on it.

 - Larry Nager

I was sitting in the Nashville Convention Center ballroom for  the IBMA Fan Fest a few days back, when those words came hissing from the row behind me.

Alison Krauss was onstage, doing one of  her unearthly beautiful ballads, accompanied by the guitars of Dan Tyminski and Ron Block.

From the exaggeratedly cantankerous tone, I at first thought that it had to be a joke. But apparently not, even though AKUS has had that sound for more than 20 years. Of course, when Block hoisted his Mastertone for some straight-ahead banjo-driven ‘grass on the next song, it stopped the hisser dead for the rest of their show.

Never mind that Alison’s roots are deep in traditional bluegrass and fiddle music. You can read more about that in my profile of her and the band in the current issue of Bluegrass Unlimited (www.bluegrassmusic.,com).

But the real answer is that, nowadays, of course, that is bluegrass and has been since the late ‘60s, when folks like The Osborne Brothers and The Country Gentlemen were bringing new songs, songwriters and instruments into Bill Monroe’s music.

Lately, more and more bands are following that same path, mixing hard-driving bluegrass with other material, as band members change instruments and drop the banjo to change moods.

 New Found Road is one of the best young bands doing this, as they proved at their most recent BGU show, when the power went out and mandolinist Joe Booher played a solo jam that led into the very apropos “Ain’t No Sunshine,” perfect for the (temporarily) pitch-black Volcano Room.

Oct. 22, Mountain Heart, another BGU favorite, and another versatile band with a very entertaining case of schizophrenia, returns to Cumberland Caverns.

Mountain Heart’s gone through its share of changes since winning the IBMA Emerging Artist Award back in 1999. Its ranks have included hot pickers like mandolinist Adam Steffey, now with the Box Cars, and a couple of guitar wizards named Clay – Hess (now with Sierra Hull) and Jones.

The current lineup includes the virtuoso fiddling of Jim Van Cleve, the driving, funky banjo of Barry Abernathy, hot mandolin from Aaron Ramsey, blazing lead guitar by Jake Stargel and the rock-solid upright bass of Jason Moore. But  singer, guitarist and keyboardist Josh Shilling is the band’s secret weapon, giving Mountain Heart a whole new sound when he trades his flattop for a keyboard and belts out Southern rock tunes like the Allmans’ “Whipping Post” For everybody but those purists who treat young bluegrass bands like trespassing kids (“Hey, get off my ‘grass!”), it’s a change-up that really works.

Mountain Heart has been keeping busy since they last rode the Willy’s Jeep with Wally down to the Volcano Room Stage, spinning records on WSM with their “That Just Happened” show (you can find it archived at WSMonline.com), showcasing at this month’s American Music Association Festival and even showing up on cans of Vietti Chili (“Have you seen this band?”).

But most of all, they are a great live act, so be there when Mountain Heart goes subterranean at the October Bluegrass Underground.

Opening the show will be  The Westbound Rangers, a young Nashville band on the cutting-edge of old-time music.  

Larry Nager

 It’s a question that’s almost as old as the music itself. Which, of course, isn’t really very old. It was December 8, 1945, just 4 years and a day after Pearl Harbor, that Bill Monroe stood onstage at the Ryman with Lester Flatt Earl Scruggs, Chubby wise and Howard “Cedric Rainwater” Watts and introduced a new music to Grand Ole Opry listeners.

Opry pioneer Uncle Dave Macon watched Scruggs change just about everything he thought he knew about the banjo and could only respond, “Yeah, but he ain’t a damn bit funny.” It was a brave new world.

In the ‘70s, during the first big progressive-bluegrass movement, the future of bluegrass looked like leisure suits, electric basses, soft-rock songs and noodling chromatic banjo players. But thanks to that great JD Crowe and the New South album with Skaggs, Rice and Douglas, it was back to the future, as contemporary songs and arrangements mixed with classic Flatt & Scruggs and Bill Monroe material driven by that all-powerful Scruggs-rooted Crowe banjo.

Today of course, there are lots of  futures for bluegrass. from hard-driving young traditionalists to folks using bluegrass as an ingredient in a whole new kind of stew.

This month’s Bluegrass Underground artist and banjo explorer Ryan Cavanaugh is firmly in the latter camp. Ever since Bela Fleck showed there was not only a new way to play and feature the banjo, there was a huge audience for it, other great players have followed, like Switzerland’s Jens Kruger and Nashville’s own Scott Vestal, a man equally at home driving a band Scruggs-style or reaching beyond boundaries.

Sept. 24, the future of bluegrass comes to Cumberland Caverns with cutting-edge picker Cavanaugh and his No Man’s Land band.

Cavanaugh tore the roof off the Loveless Café a few months back on Music City Roots. Like Bela Fleck (who introduces his new banjo concerto with the Nashville Symphony on Sept. 22-24), Cavanaugh frames his banjo in a new setting, avoiding the traditional bluegrass lineup for a jazz-fusion rhythm section of electric bass, drums and keyboards. Discovered by jazz-fusion guitarist John McLaughlin in 2006, Cavanaugh honed his jazz chops for years, touring the world with former Miles Davis saxophonist Bill Evans.

Cavanaugh, who’s won all the usual festival banjo contests, sees his music as a continuation of jazz tradition, when the early days of the music featured tenor and plectrum banjos driving the rhythm sections. That was the sound Earl Scruggs heard on  the original version of “Farewell Blues” before turning it into a bluegrass standard.

But Cavanaugh isn’t looking to take the banjo back to 1925 or put it in a contemporary version of classic jazz like recent National Folk Festival performer Don Vappie and his Creole Jazz Serenaders. Instead, he’s the next step in the ongoing evolution of the banjo. And despite what the governor of Texas may say, there are no gaps in Cavanaugh’s evolutionary theories. In his hands, the banjo grooves and rocks and swings and goes places no 5-string has ever gone before. He may be 333 feet below sea level in the Volcano Room, but come to Bluegrass Underground this month and Ryan Cavanaugh and No Man’s Land will convince you that a banjo can fly.

The first thing that hits you when you see Christabel & the Jons is lead singer/songwriter Christa DeCicco’s velvety, effortless voice. Sultry, southern, and laid back, her delivery and stage presence often draws comparisons to Billie Holiday, Madeleine Peyroux, and Norah Jones. While the similarities are there, she’s also developed a sound that’s all her own, with earthy melodies that glide along with her 1950s Silvertone archtop guitar. Currently touring the country from coast to coast, she is quickly solidifying her reputation as one of the country’s finest up and coming folk/jazz singers. Multi-instrumentalist Seth Hopper adds colorful ambiance to the songs with his virtuoso assortment of violin, mandolin, trumpet, and accordion. The snappy rhythm section is led by Jon Whitlock on drums with Chris Zuhr on upright bass. The group mixes their original songs with thoughtfully arranged jazz standards, western swing, and classic country for a sound they call “Tennessee swing.”

They have released 4 albums, “Love and Circumstances” (2006), “Custom Made For You” (2008), “Live from the Walnut Room” (2009), and “The Christmas Album” (2010). Their fifth studio release, “The Same Mistake” will be recorded later this year. These new songs show the influence of 1950s-1960s exotica, bossa nova, and samba beats on the group’s country swing feel.

Past performances include: Bonnaroo, Riverbend, Floydfest, Bele Chere, Blue Plum Festival, McMenamins, Shakori Hills Festival, Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion, Bluegrass Underground, Music City Roots, Tennessee Shines, and Sundown in the City. They’ve also opened for many national acts including The Brazilian Girls, The Be Good Tanyas, The Red Stick Ramblers, The Wilders, and Loudon Wainwright.

Who	Christmas in the Cave featuring Christabel and The Jons
When	Saturday, December 10, 2011 1:00pm - ALL AGES
Where	The Volcano Room at Cumberland Caverns (map) 1437 Cumberland Caverns Rd McMinnville, TN, USA 37110

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LARRY SPARKS AND THE LONESOME RAMBLERS

LARRY SPARKS IS AN ORGINAL, A ONE OF A KIND MUSICIAN AND SINGER WHO REALLY, TRULY DOSEN\’T SOUND LIKE ANYONE ELSE. THATS RARE IN ANY STYLE OF MUSIC, BUT ESPECIALLY SO IN BLUEGRASS MUSIC. SOUNDING LIKE LARRY SPARKS IS WHAT HE ALWAYS WANTED. OVER THE COURSE OF THE LAST 42 YEARS WITH HIS OWN BAND LARRY SPARKS HAS CARVED A UNIQUE NICHE FOR HIMSELF IN BLUEGRASS AN GOSPEL MUSIC. A NUMBER OF SONGS ASSOCIATED WITH HIM HAVE BECOME STANDARDS- INCLUDING JOHN DEERE TRACTOR\” \” A FACE IN THE CROWD\” \”I AM THE MAN THOMAS\” THESE OLE BLUES\” \” GREEN PASTURES IN THE SKY\” \”CARTERS BLUES \” \” TENNESSEE 1949 \” \” BLUE VIRGINIA BLUES \” I JUST WANT TO THANK YOU LORD \” AND THE LIST GOES ON. SPARKS IS UNIVERSALLY ADMIRED BY HIS PEERS IN BLUEGRASS AND THE COUNTRY MUSIC WORLD. WHILE SPARKS IS MOST DEFINITELY A STYLIST HIS HONEST APPROACH TO THE MUSIC IS MORE THAN A STYLE , ITS REAL WITH NO GIMMICKS ADDED. AFTER ALMOST 47 YEARS IN THE SPOTLIGHT WITH 42 OF THEM WITH HIS OWN BAND LARRY SPARKS IS THE SAME PERSON ON STAGE AS HE IS OFF. POLITE, PLAIN-SPOKEN, RESPECTFUL BUT DIRECT, OLD FASHION, AND IN SOME REGARDS , SPARKS SEEMS LIKE HE COULD BE FROM AN EARLIER GENERATION. IBMA\’S \” MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR \” IN 2004 AND 2005 SPARKS IS STILL ON A ROLL. MAKING SOME OF THE BEST MUSIC OF HIS CAREER-MATURE, SEASONED AND DEEPLY EXPRESSIVE. THROUGH-OUT HIS LONG CAREER , SPARKS HAS STUCK TO WHAT WORKS, WHAT HE DOES BEST. SPARKS HAS DONE THINGS HIS OWN WAY, ON HIS OWN SCHEDULE. HE FOLLOWED HIS VISION AND HE\”S MADE A GREAT CONTRIBUTION TO AMERCIAN MUSIC. IN A WORLD GONE FAKE, LARRY SPARKS HAS KEPT IT REAL.

MILKDRIVE

MilkDrive, the Austin alt-folk-progressive acoustic string band, released its debut studio album in April 2011, ROAD FROM HOME, produced in Nashville with Bil VornDick (Alison Krauss, Bela Fleck, Bob Dylan, Ralph Stanley).

It actually got its start in the northern climes of Idaho, where principal songwriter-multi-instrumentalist Noah Jeffries grew up playing bluegrass and gospel in his family’s band and started writing amazing tunes at age 14. The first band he put together, 36 String Swing, toured the state as Jeffries studied jazz performance at Boise State University. He also played with Jason Boland and the Stragglers for seven years.

Jeffries moved to Austin and moved in with fiddling champion-mandolin player Dennis Ludiker, whom Jeffries had met long ago when both were kids competing in the National Old-time Fiddle Contest in Weiser, Idaho – as well as the young Brian Beken, who also would ultimately join the band.

Jeffries began recording his own tunes under the name The Noah Jeffries Project and then with Ludiker, the duo trading duties on guitar, mandolin, fiddle and bass on an underground demo called “BoLth on the Rampage.” Soon after, Beken, a multi-instrumentalist, too, who has toured with Bruce Robison, joined the band so it could perform live.

With the addition of bass player Matt Mefford, who was in South Austin Jug Band with Ludiker and Beken, the band was complete and became MilkDrive. A year later, in June 2009, it released a live CD, MILKDRIVE LIVE ’09, with arrangements described as “impeccable” and picking so fast it’s “unbelievable.”

Ludiker, who has toured with Asleep at the Wheel, won the 2009 RockyGrass Mandolin Contest and holds titles as the 2010 World Fiddle Champion, 2009 and 2008 Texas State-Fiddlers Frolics and 2002 Walnut Valley Music Festival Winner. Beken was 2004 Texas Flatpick Guitar Champion. Jeffries won a Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival Jazz Guitar Competition.

Awards are a great measure of technical prowess, but they reveal nothing about the musical soul so palpable in MilkDrive’s music, the quartet’s sound a textural, multi-layer mix of rhythms, tempos, flavors, harmonies, improvisation – and the confidence each possesses that comes from experience with an instrument (or instruments).

The band has toured in Idaho, Colorado, California, Washington, New Mexico, Montana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah and Louisiana and in 2010, performed at River City Roots Festival in Missoula, Mont.; Four Corners Folk Festival in Pagosa Springs, Colo.; and Walnut Valley Music Festival in Winfield, Kan.

Fingers flying at breathtaking speed, original tunes that feel familiar at first but go beyond extraordinary, songs with themes universal but unique, heart and brains behind dynamic performances: It’s an uncompromising musical journey the members of MilkDrive are on.

Ticket Prices
General Admission $20.00
Group Tickets $16.00
Show and Cave Tour $33.00
Event Schedule
Larry Sparks & The Lonesome Rangers with Milkdrive 1:00 PM

Who	Larry Sparks & The Lonesome Ramblers with Milkdrive
When	Saturday, November 19, 2011 1:00pm - ALL AGES
Where	The Volcano Room at Cumberland Caverns (map) 1437 Cumberland Caverns Rd McMinnville, TN, USA 37110

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To that list, I’d like to add one more: Dale Ann Bradley, Queen of Bluegrass Soul.

There is no more expressive, emotional singer in bluegrass today. From her days with the Coon Creek Girls to her uniformly great solo albums, Dale Ann always gets to the heart of a song, to that emotional pivot point that resonates most deep and true. You believe this woman’s every note, every word, every breath. 

Now, bluegrass fans have known this for a very long time. That’s why she pulled off the unique triple play of winning three IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year awards in a row – 2007, 2008 and 2009. But even for people who don’t like bluegrass (if such a creature exists), there’s a lot to like about Dale Ann Bradley.

Raised in Eastern Kentucky, she’s got the mountain roots to pull off Jean Ritchie’s coal mining ballad, “The L&N Don’t Stop Here Anymore,” but she can take a folkish country song like “Going Gone” and make you forget Kathy Mattea ever sang it.

I’d been a fan of Dale Ann’s for a long time before we sat down in the spring of 2009 for the interview for her Bluegrass Unlimited cover story. She’d just gotten back from a festival/workshop in Alaska and was seriously mosquito-bitten and jet-lagged, But she gave me all the time I needed, and as we sat talking for hours, her love of the music, of making a living as a musician and being part of the bluegrass community, just beamed out of her.

She was raised in Bell County, Kentucky, took up guitar at 14, and within a few years was playing in local bands. One of them, Back Porch Grass, made it all the way to the regional finals in Lexington, where she met the New Coon Creek Girls. Five years later, they asked her to audition for a job as mandolin player. Which, not being much of a mandolin picker, she didn’t get. But she did land a regular gig singing at the Renfro Valley Barn Dance, where she honed her singing and guitar playing and landed that position with the New Coon Cook Girls a few years later. It was a fine band, but Dale Ann’s voice would stand out in any crowd, and a solo career was only a matter of time.

Her latest CD is Don’t Turn Your Back, and it’s about time for another one. We need more music from singers like Dale Ann Bradley. Like she told me in that BU interview, her life and where she comes from are part of every note she sings, and that’s a big difference between her and today’s bluegrass whiz kids.

“The kids today in bluegrass, it’s a wonderful energy, but it’s a different energy,” she said. “And I think people my age might be the last of that generation that really lived those songs hardcore.”

If you want the whole story you can find it on the Bluegrass Unlimited web site: http://bluegrassmusic.com/content/2009/feature/dale-ann-bradley-wont-back-down/

But if you want the complete Dale Ann Bradley experience, head to Bluegrass Underground Aug. 20, as she and her band return to the mosquito-free Volcano Room.

As if that wasn’t enough reason to head to McMinnville, Chris Jones & the Night Drivers share the bill. Chris, of course, is the Multi-tasking King of Bluegrass. He sings, plays guitar, writes songs, hosts workshops, has built a sizable web presence and is an IBMA Award-winning Broadcaster of the Year for his Sirius satellite radio show on Bluegrass Junction. That same year, 2007, he took Song of the Year honors for co-writing the title cut of The Infamous Stringdusters’ Fork in the Road. That double play makes him the only person to win performer and non-performer IBMA awards in a single year.

He leads a fine band that includes fellow Renaissance man Jon Weisberger — bassist, IBMA Award-winning journalist, one of Nashville’s busiest songwriters and, this month, he’ll take over for me doing interviews for WSM’s Bluegrass Underground radio show. I hope he asks himself the tough questions.

Larry Nager

Their styles cover a lot of ground, but one thing they all agree on- they’re all better musicians A.D. (After Doyle).

And that’s not surprising, since the singer/mandolinist’s resume includes playing just about every instrument and being part of many of the best, most influential bands in bluegrass.

He played with Jimmy Martin’s Sunny Mountain Boys, starting out on banjo before getting to play his signature mandolin. I have a treasured reel-to-reel tape given to me by Red Allen from when he was playing with J.D. Crowe’s Kentucky Mountain Boys with Doyle on mandolin and Bobby Slone on bass. They were playing Lexington, KY’s legendary Red Slipper, the Holiday Inn lounge that became hallowed ground for bluegrass fans thanks to J.D.’s longstanding house band gig there.

Then there was Doyle’s part in the Country Gentlemen, where his smooth tenor and mandolin were integral parts of such great CG albums as The Award Winning (Rebel) and the band’s Vanguard LPs (now available on one must-have disc, featuring very young Ricky Skaggs and Jerry Douglas).

Of course, Doyle was part of the core of the Bluegrass Album Band with JD and Tony Rice. The group played state-of-the-art traditional bluegrass and, through a series of great Rounder albums, inspired a new generation to abandon rock-influenced progressive ‘grass and “play it like it was meant to be played.”

And of course, there’s Quicksilver.

Hearing Doyle and Quicksilver move from their unique spin on traditional and contemporary bluegrass to their trademark a cappella gospel was a memorable experience back when they played Cumberland Caverns in 2009. The gospel was especially powerful in that dramatic, timelessly stark setting of the caves.

When I do the interviews for WSM’s Bluegrass Underground show, the conversations almost always turn to how, even though the artists play hundreds of dates a year, BGU is special, it’s one they’ll remember. Well, even after seeing a few dozen BGU shows, hearing Doyle and Quicksilver do their a cappella songs in the Volcano Room made for some of those “cold chills” moments I’ll never forget.

  As good as bluegrass is today, those moments are still all too rare. If you want to see one of the all-time greats still in his prime, don’t miss Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. The School of Bluegrass is in session.

Becky Schlegel will be opening the show for Doyle. Originally from the prairies of South Dakota, she found a home in bluegrass as one of the new breed of singer-songwriters, earning rave reviews both as a writer and performer.

And if that’s not enough to get you down to Bluegrass Underground in these most dogged days of summer, just remember — it’s always 56 degrees in the Volcano Room. With that and those cold chills from Quicksilver, you’ll want to pack a jacket.

~Larry Nager

This is Dale Ann Bradley. She’s the 2007 & 2008 IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year and has been hailed by Alison Krauss and Ricky Skaggs as one of the greatest vocalists in country and bluegrass music. A former Coon Creek Girl and mainstay at Kentucky’s Renfro Valley Barn Dance, Bradley commands a list of awards as long as Highway 40, yet a few minutes with her tells you she is something even more than extraordinarily gifted – she’s extraordinarily human. A Primitive Baptist preacher’s daughter out of the hills of Kentucky where no musical instruments were allowed, Bradley grew up in a self-described “backwoods holler” down a rural road where electricity and running water weren’t available until she was in high school – something she has more in common with the first generation of bluegrass than her contemporaries in today’s scene.

There’s nothing wrong with bluegrass re-enactors. But as someone once said, “It’s OK to look back, as long as you don’t stare.”

For me, the best contemporary bluegrass has a firm foundation in lessons learned from the First Generation – Monroe, Stanley Brothers, Flatt & Scruggs, Reno & Smiley – but acknowledges that it is 2011, after all, not 1951.

That’s what makes this month’s Bluegrass Underground lineup a must-see – two great bands that draw on past greatness without being boxed in by it.

Cumberland Caverns is a year-round 56 degrees, but the June 5 headliner promises to warm things up. Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper is driven by the five-time IBMA winning fiddler, and if you’ve ever seen him play, you know why the fiddle is called “the Devil’s instrument,” because his seems to throw off sparks. He leads an all-star band that includes bassist Marshall Wilborn, banjo master Charlie Cushman (a rare picker who draws from Don Reno as well as Earl Scruggs), mandolinist Jesse Brock and guitarist Tom Adams. They’re latest is Leavin’ Town, and it’s got everything that made me fall in love with bluegrass in the first place — those high, lonesome harmonies, great songs, flashy pickin’ and drive, drive, drive.

Opening the show is Newfound Road, a band from Southwestern Ohio, an area that gave us some of the best traditional bluegrass, from Larry Sparks to Red Allen, Frank Wakefield and Moon and Joe Mullins. These guys carry that torch, but singer Tim Shelton has an ear for great songs and an uncanny ability to make them all into bluegrass. Their latest, a live album cut at East Tennessee’s Down Home Pickin’ Parlor includes, along with bluegrass standards like the Stanleys’ “Lonesome River,” Tom T. Hall’s “That’s How I Got to Memphis,” Jackson Browne’s “These Days,” and a jam band breakout of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine.”  Quite a stretch, but these guys make it all sound just like Newfound Road.

June 4 will be a real hot one at Bluegrass Underground. It’s a good thing the Volcano Room is fireproof.

- Larry Nager

With Dr. Ralph Stanley’s March appearance, BGU brought one of the genuine founding fathers of bluegrass deeper than ever before. April gave us some jam-band flavor with The Emmitt-Nershi Band.

Saturday, May 14, there’s glamour underground with Hillbilly Goddess Alecia Nugent, along with the fresh-cut sounds of Greensky Bluegrass.

From the hard-rock traditionalism of Dr. Stanley to Alecia’s more mainstream country approach is quite a stretch, but her Carl Jackson-produced Hillbilly Goddess (Rounder) manages the incredibly delicate balance of radio-friendly polish and satisfying bluegrass soul. And unlike some of her sisters in mainstream country, Alecia isn’t just another pretty Pro-Tools product. She brings it to the stage with great vocals and a genuinely engaging presence.  Even Dr. Stanley would approve.

If you were to mispronounce the name of Saturday’s opening band, you might think Greensky Bluegrass hails from the Eastern Bloc. But they’re from Bluegrass Country. Not Kentucky, but Kalamazoo, the Michigan town where all those great pre-World War II Gibson mandolins, banjos and guitars were made. 

Despite their playful name, these five guys are serious enough about their music to have taken First Place at the 2006 Telluride Band Contest. Their next big show in the area is next month’s Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in nearby Manchester.

But it’s a lot cheaper to see them Saturday in much cleaner, more comfortable conditions with actual restrooms and reasonably priced concessions. And remember, it never rains on Bluegrass Underground.

- Larry Nager

April 23, it’s back to the future at Bluegrass Underground with acoustic Appalachian music from two very different space-time continuums. This month’s headliner, The Emmitt-Nershi Band, is as forward thinking as any bluegrass-rooted band can be. Fronted by two of the leaders of the jam grass movement – Leftover Salmon’s Drew Emmitt and String Cheese Incidental Bill Nershi – the group is the next step in that genre’s evolution, blending tradition and innovation in a way that respects the music’s boundaries, while not being boxed in by them. You can hear that in their latest project, New Country Blues.

Then again, maybe the theme of this month’s Bluegrass Underground is “Six Degrees of Dock Boggs.” Boggs was the Appalachian banjo songster whose “Oh Death” was covered by Ralph Stanley for O Brother (and the song that provided one of the most dramatic moments of Dr. Stanley’s March BGU show). Boggs also wrote the even more popular “Country Blues,” covered by such notables as BGU favorite Tim O’Brien and the song that inspired the title track of Emmitt-Nershi’s new CD. We’ll ask them about that in the interview portion of their show.

But Dock Boggs also seems to be prime inspiration for opening act Frank Fairfield.

As Emmitt-Nershi head into the future, singer/guitarist/banjo picker/fiddler Fairfield is the cutting-edge of retro, heading into the past faster than a steam-powered aereoplane.  Fairfield is a 1930s Library of Congress field recording come to life, with a musical approach so un-slick and old-timey he makes fellow Los Angeles traditionalist Gillian Welch sound like Lady Gaga.

It should make for a great combination, with the newer kid, Fairfield, opening the day with a set of the kind of music that formed the roots of the traditional bluegrass that, in turn, inspired Sam Bush and the rest of the first generation of newgrass revolutionaries, who of course, led to the jamgrass movement that veteran artists Emmitt and Nershi helped lead.

It’s kind of like the BGU version of the old song, “I’m My Own Grandpa.” Back to the future indeed.

- Larry Nager