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On his latest album, Songs My Dad Loved, bluegrass master Ricky Skaggs revisits the Appalachian folk ballads and country gospel tunes that his father Hobert used to play around the house during his formative years in Kentucky.

To call it a deeply personal collection would be underestimating the emotion and effort Skaggs poured into this project – he sang and played every instrument himself, painstakingly overdubbing acoustic and electric guitars, banjos, piano, bass, mandocello and, of course, his signature mandolins.

Read the full review on Gibson.com

Review Ricky Skaggs

Wishing Well – Karen Lynne

The first thing you notice about this album is the clean sound and a great selection of easy listening songs. Karen has selected a range of songs that suit her vocal range and singing style perfectly.

The other noticeable surprise is the quality of the music behind the vocals and a look at the liner notes explains why. With Rod McCormack, Ian Simpson, Trev Warner, Michel Rose, Mick Albeck James Gillard in tow, Karen Lynne is in great musical company on this album.

The CD kicks off with the title track, Wishing Well (Blues), written by Marshall Willborn – husband and bass player for the famed Lynn Morris and her band. Karen’s version of this song is smooth and silky with an beautiful  musical arrangement offered up from the aforementioned super group.

Another track that stands out is Karen’s arrangement of Paul Craft’s Jealous. This may well become a classic arrangement with its unusual bluegrass and jazz feel.

The album also includes Karen’s collaboration work with Richard Porteous, Blue Mountain Rain, a depiction of lost love no doubt inspired by a rainy day amid her home town in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.

The remainder of the CD offers up more of the same with some very pleasing musical arrangements, excellent harmonies and high quality musicianship jointly produced by Rod McCormack and Herm Kovac and released on ABC’s new Heartland label.

This album showcases Karen Lynne at her very best. It is little wonder that she has been nominated for and awarded so many accolades during her 20 year career.

Karen has released eight albums, received twelve major awards, been nominated for over forty major awards, completed three international tours, over ten Australian Country Music Radio Chart hits and a number of overseas chart hits, and now a place in Country Music Capital’s Historic Hands of Fame Park,

Karen is doing bluegrass music proud in Australia.

Review Karen Lynne

Bushfire Band – Bluegrass Live

Bushfire Band hail from south-east Queensland and offer a blend of down to earth Aussie arrangements, with Dave Luxmoore on fiddle, mandolin and guitar, Tracey Davis on bass, Rob Davis on banjo, and Phil Eizenberg on guitar and Dobro.

The CD opens with a very bouncy and fast version of the Salty Dog Blues, in fact the band presents some great bluegrass classics in their selection of tracks which include Oh Suzanna, Ol’ Joe Clarke and Comin’ Round the Mountain. They do a great job of it and clearly enjoy their time together. They have also included some other favourites recently brought to light through the movie and soundtrack of Oh Brother Where Art Thou? with tracks such as In The Jailhouse Now and Man of Constant Sorrow.

Unlike other albums from this fine band, Rob Davis does most of the lead singing while Tracey and Dave support with fine harmonies. Tracey gives us a bouncy rendition of Keep on the Sunny Side, originally penned in 1899 and made accessible by the Carter Family in the early 1900’s.

In all, this is a great introduction to bluegrass music from a band that needs no introduction to the Australian bluegrass music scene. Award winning Bushfire Band have been playing and performing around the south east corner of Queensland for many years.

You can visit their website Bushfire Band.

Review Bushfire Band

Our mate Ted Lehmann, has posted up a couple of articles featuring this year’s IBMA Fanfest. Ted’s forte is great story-telling and photography as evidenced by his blog.

Among other things, Ted’s life seems to consist of traveling to bluegrass festivals – which is where I met him  -  talking photos and writing stories for the Ted Lehmann Blog.

Be sure to visit and take in Ted’s work:

• Fanfest part 1
• Fanfest Part 2
• IBMA Business Conference

Review IBMA, Ted Lehman

This week I was fortunate enough to receive a copy of Bluestone Junction’s new CD, Turn Your Radio On, which I thought I should share with you all.

The album kicks off with Mick Harrison’s driving banjo on the first track titled, As The Nights Grow Long, a toe tapping song penned by Mike St Clair-Miller. In fact of the 12 tracks on this CD, all but four are originals written by the band members.

The band comprises Donal Baylor on fiddle, with Chris Jacobs on guitar, Mick Harrison on banjo, Pete Fidler on dobro and mandolin and Mike St. Clair-Miller on bass. The musicianship on this CD is exceptionally high as is the quality of song writing and the musical arrangements. Bluegrass songs can be somewhat introspective at times but these guys have produced some real memorable lyrics and melodies which sit in good company on the album with additional tracks by Monroe and Stanley.

The album includes an original instrumental too called Deep Dish Rag written by Chris Jacobs and gives the lead instruments great opportunity to shine. Speaking of instrumentals, Donal Baylor is as mean a fiddle player as this country has, I believe. It’s not hard to hear why he is in demand at festivals and workshops across the country.  I have often admired Mick Harrison’s banjo style too. He is one on the rare banjo players who plays tastefully and always unobtrusively. Mick’s banjo adds depth and sparkle to every track on this album.

No bluegrass album would by complete without the mandatory ballad on heartache, unrequited love our just plain misery, and the boys from Bluestone Junction deliver us three originals in Day By Day, This Heartache and I Never Knew. These are as mournful a collection of country ballads as I’ve heard and to which Chris Jacobs’ voice is well suited, with great harmony support from the rest of the band, and Pete Fidler’s masterful dobro.

In short this is a must have album if you’re into Bluegrass Music. Well done Bluestone Junction. I have included a sample of one of the songs below written by Mike St. Clair-Miller and Chris Jacobs.

Rich Man – Bluestone Junction

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Review Bluestone Junction

This year’s National Folk Festival presented another fantastic mix of musical experiences for the packed crowds who attended Canberra’s Exhibition Park over the Easter weekend. Across 18 venues, more 170 acts from Australia and overseas demonstrated why this Festival maintains its status as the number one Folk gathering in Australia.

Flying the Bluegrass flag amongst these performers was Victoria’s Bluestone Junction & Coolgrass,  each of whom performed several shows separately to packed rooms.

Coolgrass’s irreverent take on the genre was very popular with large crowds at their two shows, with new material demonstrating their vocal and instrumental arranging capabilities are still top notch. This band has a great grasp of dynamics, and after many years with the same line-up, have developed a seamless stage show that is very entertaining.

Bluestone Junction’s Easter weekend was particularly busy, combining four high quality performances showcasing their traditional sound with five Bluegrass-related workshops over the weekend. Amongst their shows was a live national broadcast on ABC radio from the 2,000 seat Budawang auditorium, where they demonstrated why they are considered one of the better bands on Australia’s Bluegrass scene.

The Bluestone Junction workshops covered Bluegrass fiddle, banjo and dobro, each lead by the respective players who provided great tips on the finer points of performing bluegrass on their chosen instrument. Complimenting these were a gospel harmony workshop (packed to the rafters), and an intimate workshop session on How To Get That Bluegrass Sound which consisted of a free-flowing discussion on building the essential instrumental elements, player awareness (etiquette) and a general history of the genre. This workshop was extremely informative, which was evident by the high level of audience feedback and participation.

Late on Sunday night, members from both bands were spotted belting out tunes together in the legendary Session bar, displaying that brotherly perspective that makes our Bluegrass fraternity so great. Onto the next festival…

Submitted by John

Review National Folk Festival

A small but very appreciative crowd ventured out on a damp Wednesday night, to The Old Museum Concert Hall in Brisbane. This beautiful old building rang with the fabulous vocal harmonies of The Redlands Bluegrass Boys, who kicked off the concert, treating the crowd to some new songs Rain and Snow, Where I Come From and Dim Lights, Thick Smoke as well as songs from their self titled CD.

I think it would be fair to say,  most of the concert goers were already Peter Rowan fans, but without exception they left the venue even bigger admirers of Mr Rowan. He had us all spellbound with his amazing story telling ability, not only the wonderful stories between songs but the stories told in the songs themselves.

In his distinctive and familiar tenor voice he treated us to some of his hit songs, Panama Red, Moonlight Midnight and Land of the Navajo. Accompanied only by his fabulous guitar playing, Peter knows how to hold an audience.

If you have a chance to see this legend and his music, you won’t be sorry.
Posted by Sue Dwyer

Review Peter Rowan

On the weekend of 9th to 11th January I attended the Girgarre Moosic Muster to play in a concert and to host a workshop for banjo pickers. I was unsure of what to expect, having never attended the event before, and had never before visited the small township of Girgarre.

I was warned it would be hot and dry, it was. I was also told there would be over 3,000 people at the Farmer’s Market on the Sunday, there was. Girgarre is a major food processing town located near Shepparton in northern Victoria. The most significant business in the town is the Girgarre Country Foods Factory which is a division of the Heinz Company, which manufactures tomato based products.

In addition to the usual festival delights, this festival provided an opportunity for people who were curious about playing bluegrass instruments to have a go in a very relaxed and casual environment. Organisers say over 300 people attended the workshops. People came from everywhere to have a go at playing, fiddle, banjo, guitar, bass, tin whistle, harmonica, ukulele and mandolin. People not only learned the basics of the instrument they chose, all within the space of an hour, but they returned to rehearse and perform for the evening concert on Saturday night.  It was an amazing sight, watching dozens of people crowd onto the stage and collectively play ‘Katy Daley’. The camp site was a city of vans and tents, while music drifted from every corner of the campsite across the weekend.

The other amazing part of the weekend – for me – was to see the townsfolk band together to so generously welcome, host, feed and accommodate the festival goers over the three days.

The evening concerts were a treat with performances from a range of bands including, Appalachian Heaven, Jimmy Fong, Won’t Go Quietly, Men in Black and a Lady, Fat Chance and the Bluegrass Playboys and Pot Belly.

If you are contemplating learning an instrument and want to have a pick on a banjo, strum a guitar or vamp on a mandolin the 2010 Girgarre Moosic Muster is for you. This is Australia’s most welcoming music festival. Loads of workshops, lots of music amid a great sense of community – a thoroughly enjoyable weekend. Thanks Girgarre.

Festivals, Review Girgarre Muster

The Whitetop Mountaineers have been touring Oz playing Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania. Our friend Stephen Loss from WA, when he is not playing double bass for Bluegrass Parkway, seems to be tripping around the Australian festival circuit taking in the best on offer.

Stephen caught the Whitetop Mountaineers in concert at Woodford Folk Festival earlier this month. Here’s what he had to say: -

I had the pleasure of attending several performances of The Whitetop Mountaineers at the Woodford Folk Festival last week. From the first note of their show, I was left in no doubt that Martha Spencer and Jackson Cunningham are the real McCoy when it comes to Old Timey music. I imagined their high lonesome mountain voices and tasteful guitar, claw-hammer banjo, fiddle and mandolin accompaniment could have come straight out of Appalachia 80 or 90 years ago. It was obvious that this music has been in their blood for many generations, and this couple have been immersed in it since their conception.
Each performance included a good mix of secular and gospel songs, plus banjo, fiddle and mandolin instrumentals, all executed with ease and simple charm. Despite a heavy workload with at least two performances every day of the six day festival, plus the high temperatures and humidity, Martha treated the audiences to her energetic and flamboyant clogging. It seemed her legs, arms and hair each had a mind of their own – she was sheer joy in motion.
If you like Old Timey music and get a chance to see The Whitetop Mountaineers as they tour NSW, Victoria and Tasmania, I would recommend it highly. It’s not often we get to see the real McCoy here in Australia. You won’t be disappointed Stephen Loss.

Review Whitetop Mountaineers, Woodford Festival

Bluegrass Parkway’s Paul Duff writes:-

When you agree to perform as one of the acts for the Woodford Folk Festival in Woodford Queensland you are signing on for so much more than your conventional, run-of-the-mill gathering of musicians, brought together to provide concerts and workshops. Woodford is not so much a festival as an ‘experience’. Now before you let out a heartfelt, ‘That’s what they all say!’ I can tell you from personal experience that this is actually the case.

There are thousands of performers supplying not only a music festival but also a dance, film, children’s, spoken word, circus, street theatre, vaudeville and comedy festival. This thing is big. Acts cover the range from international to local and the diversity is staggering. The festival site could easily maintain its own postcode and performers are shuttled to their respective gigs in vans from the ‘Green Room’ via a series of back roads cleverly concealed for the most part from the general public. The amazing thing is however that even though it is a huge logistical undertaking, the people you are relying upon to get the organisation right are all so relaxed, personal, approachable and willing to make your experience a good one. This is not to say that sometimes things don’t go to plan but when it happens, there they are, smiling and asking you what they can do to help make everything better.
Read more…

Review Woodford Festival