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Nine Mile Creek to Head to Wirrina SA.

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Festival organisers have announced that Nine Mile Creek will be part of their bluegrass lineup for this year’s Wirrina Festival in South Australia.

Nine Mile Creek hails from Victoria and features Mark Pottenger on mandolin, Colin Weight on banjo, Andrew Barcham on double bass, and Doug Wallace on guitar with all members of the band sharing vocals.

Nine Mile Creek is a bluegrass band playing traditional and original Bluegrass, with a touch of Swing and Americana. Lead vocal duties are shared, and two, three and four-part harmonies make for an exciting, toe-tapping musical experience. The band has a strong repertoire, and is a regular contributor to the Mountain Pickers Association’s monthly night. They regularly feature at Australian bluegrass festivals, including Mountain Grass, Kelly Country Pick, Great Alpine Creek and the Foggy Mountain Bluegrass festival.

If you’ve seen this band perform, you’ll know that South Australians are in for a treat.

Wirrina Festival Applications Closed

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Wirrina Bluegrass Festival – 1st – 3rd September 2017.

Organisers have finalised acts for the 2017 Wirrina Festival and applications are now closed. They have announced that they have some excellent bluegrass acts that have not appeared at the festival before. This includes the band Nine Mile Creek from the Dandenong Ranges, Victoria. We will bring you a more comprehensive list when it becomes available.

The festival will also feature some acoustic roots acts appearing, from all sorts of genres. You can here more on this from the Wirrina Facebook page.

Tickets are now available from the Wirrina website.

Davidson Brothers to Launch New Album in Yinnar

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Davidson BrothersBorn and bred Yinnar boys The Davidson Brothers have taken on the country music world and are returning home to launch their 8th album All You Need is Music at the Yinnar Hotel in Victoria’s Gippsland this Saturday.

It’s a bit of a homecoming gig – Lachlan Davidson.

Lachlan and Hamish recorded their latest album in Nashville, the fifth time they’ve done so, and have toured extensively, having shared the stage with some pretty big names in country music including Lee Kernaghan and Jimmy Barnes.

The duo was also recently inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Tamworth which Lachlan described as a huge honour.

“Artists that are in there have done their time and done the miles,” Lachlan said.

“We were going (to Tamworth) in ’98 when we released the first album and we saw Slim Dusty and Keith Urban in the parade, so it was an honour to be put in the hall of fame alongside them.”

Despite all the accolades and glamour, Lachlan has stayed humble and is looking forward to performing in Yinnar after two years to show everyone their new music.

“The country material is actually new territory for us, we usually do acoustic bluegrass. This is the first time we’ve recorded country tracks with percussion and electric guitar,” Lachlan said.

He said the change aimed to bring fans of the two music genres, country and bluegrass, together to create a fusion of two styles.

“We play a lot of country festivals and we’ve played on country radio a lot. Early on we got to perform with a lot of country acts in Australia,” Lachlan said.

“So the idea was to bring country fans towards what we do (bluegrass) and to bring the two together – a similar sound to draw some new people in.”

“We are excited to return to Yinnar.  It’s a great, peaceful place with a beautiful landscape. Everybody knows each other and there are not a lot of distractions,” Lachlan said.

“We recorded our first album at the dinner table back in ’98 and released it at the Yinnar Hotel, so we’re going back to where it all began.”

The Davidson Brothers will be performing at the Yinnar Hotel at 9pm on Saturday.

2017 Pittwater Bluegrass Retreat

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Pittwater Bluegrass RetreatWe have just received news that the 8th annual Pittwater Bluegrass Retreat is now open for bookings.

Here’s a great weekend of good company, amazing scenery, delicious food (all provided) and non-stop picking. What more could a bluegrass or old-timey picker ask for?

The Pittwater Bluegrass Retreat is set for 26th-28th May 2017 at Pittwater YHA (Lovetts Bay- access by ferry from Church Point.

The weekend will cost $140 or just $30-40 day pass

If you are into bluegrass or old-time music then here is the weekend for you. Click here to pre-purchase your tickets.

Please pass this on to all and any whom you think may be interested.

New Album For The Pipis

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Pipi PickersThe Pipi Pickers are back in Dunedin this month recording their new album. The album will be available for sale later in the year.

The band has spent 8 days in the studio and will be performing a set of songs from the new album at the New Edinburgh Folk Club on Saturday, 22 April.

The New Edinburgh Folk Club perfomance will be the bands last for a while as they their winter break. Keep an eye out for them come Spring.

2018 Illawarra Festival Applications Now Open

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Expressions of interest to perform at the 33rd Illawarra Folk Festival are now open until 30th May 2017.

The Illawarra Folk Festival is presented by volunteers from the Illawarra Folk Club and is a non-profit incorporated association that aims to present and encourage folk music and folklore as it exists in Australia and abroad, in all its most genuine, and valuable musical, social, historical, cultural and pleasurable forms.

Visit the Website for more information and to register.

Meet Folk Instruments Australia’s Leon Reihana

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Leon Reihana
Leon Reihana

Some eight years ago Leon Reihana started building banjos at his home in Carrun Downs Victoria. He now provides a valuable service to banjo enthusiasts across the country.

Leon discovered the banjo when he lived in Frankston around 2002-2003. His friend – a guitar player – returned home from a festival with a banjo.  Leon was captivated by the sound of the banjo and more importantly transfixed on the number of components that, from first observation, made up the banjo.

Leon is a motor mechanic who commenced his trade in the field of drag racing. The art of finely tuning a drag racing engine requires the careful assembly and tuning of many critical parts. Leon saw a similar need for the assembly of the banjo. Here was an instrument that required careful assembly of a collection of vital parts to make a fine sounding instrument. He was smitten.

Leon bought his first, affordable, banjo. Thinking it was a top-notch instrument he went to see Jim Golding (Coolgrass fame). Jim quickly set him straight on what a good banjo needs – good tone and action.

Leon found a copy of Earl Scruggs book and followed the instructions on how to make a block rim.  This rim greatly improved the sound of his newly acquired banjo. Harking back to his drag racing experiences he discovered that you could change the engine in a banjo and get a better sound.

Leon was on the road to discovery. There was a good number of banjo enthusiasts in Australia, some of whom were already making banjos. He set off to meet with them and increase his knowledge on the composition of a great banjo. Leon tracked down and met with other instrument makers such as Rodger Buckmaster, Pat Doole, Ray Black, Alan Funk, Wayne Beckett, David Aumann, Greg Deering and many more over time.

He then spent months and years talking with American builders and banjo pickers via email and web chats. He got to talk with international companies who make  Huber banjos, Hatfield banjos and smaller known luthiers and pickers like Sonny Osbourne, Kenny Ingram, Glenn Millar to name just a few.

Like a sponge, Leon soaked up all of his learnings and through continued study, practice, testing and experiments, enjoyed many failures and breakthroughs. Being on this new journey was one of his life’s most exciting experiences.

During his time of research and testing, he partnered with a friend of his called Peter Elias and together they created Banjo Brothers Australia. They spent time trying to sell the idea that a cheap banjo could be improved for a few hundred dollars by changing the rim and doing a professional set up. They invested time in visiting local festivals to show that a cheap banjo can sound quite good for a budget shopper who does not want to spend what to some would amount to big money. Peter and Leon got a fair bit of interest and made sales and made some people very happy.

Each of the partners felt that the next step was to try to match the sound and quality of established makers such as  Gibson and Stelling in the USA and the locally popular Grundy banjos from Australia.  They believed in their skills and new-found knowledge. Thus was born the Banjobrothers Eureka, a direct Gibson banjo clone. They chose the vintage Huber tone ring and other components as well as V2 Waverly tuners with flame maple for the neck and the engine room.

We have never been prouder of our 2 demos which we both still own and treasure. We love putting them in people’s hands to experience the quality, the sound and the feel – Leon Reihana.

The company enjoyed many sales but sadly few were prepared to invest the $4,500 for their treasured Eureka model banjo. Some of the banjos now reside in New South Wales and Queensland.

Today Leon is on a path to kick-start a community based Australian business. wanting to promote his fellow bluegrass friends, be it advertising, sharing, finding help, finding a teacher or jamming partner etc.

Leon is mostly making banjo rims and bridges these days while replacing real skins on banjos, ukuleles, mandolins etc. He still undertakes banjo set ups.

I try to get my customers to stay and watch me work and ask questions. 99% stay and enjoy the experience of seeing their banjo stripped to 50 pieces then reassembled correctly with a major result in sound quality. Your banjo will never leave the shop sounding worse than it came in. They also see that I respect their instrument and there is no smoke and mirrors or cheating their pockets – Leon Reihana.

Leon’s newest adventure is a light weight resonator banjo that will suit people with injuries, women and children. The banjo will still pack a punch and ring like a bell. So far Leon claims that the results are exciting with a weight of 7.8 pounds not 12 plus pounds. Sales of these rims have commenced.

I would like to thank everybody I have helped over the years for trusting me with their prized instruments. If you are not pleased call me, I am happy to say not one of you has ever come back with complains in the past 10 years. I just want to spread the knowledge and help people carry out their dreams and wild ideas customizing the banjo – Leon Reihana.

Leon now operates under the name Folk Instruments Australia and can be contacted through the website.

We wish Leon all the very best for the future and thank you for sharing your experiences with us all at AustralianBluegrass.com.

An Interview With Bela Fleck

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Béla Fleck is recognised as one of the world’s most innovative banjo players. This week he visited New York city for a concert and while there, took time out to do a live video interview and answer questions from fans through the New York Times.

Here is the video of Bela FLeck being interviewed by Jon Pareles and Caryn Ganz of the New York Times.

Dailey & Vincent Release Patriots and Poets

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Patriots And PoetsOne of todays most celebrated bluegrass duos is without doubt Dailey and Vincent. They have been nominated for several Grammy Awards and are multiple IBMA award recipients; a duo of modern-day Bluegrass pioneers with their own brand of hard-driving bluegrass, soulful ballads and compelling Gospel duets.

Both Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent started out playing and singing at a very young age with their families who were always playing and singing in their houses as they were growing up;  indeed, both Jamie and Daren tell us that each of their fathers  were the primary influence in their early musical development.

When asked for a quote on their new album Darrin Vincent responds:

Our goal for the past few years was to write an album. God, family and country are three of the most important and treasures in our life. We hope these songs will encourage, and bring comfort – Darrin Vincent.

In addition to celebrating 10 years together as a duo, they’re exploring new boundaries while also going back to their bluegrass roots on Patriots & Poets, which features collaborations with Steve Martin, Doyle Lawson, TaRanda Greene, David Rawlings, and Bela Fleck.

Dailey and Vincent continue to set the standard for which all modern-day Bluegrass artists are measured by – Billboard. 

Patriots & Poets is being released through Dreamlined Entertainment Group and BFD (distributed via RED), and fans can pick up a copy on iTunes, Amazon and wherever music is sold.

Dailey & Vincent are celebrating the release of the new album by appearing this weekend on SiriusXM’s Bluegrass Junction. They will join IBMA award-winning host Kyle Cantrell for the full morning show, spotlighting tracks from the new album, along with telling stories about what inspired each song from Patriots & Poets, which marks the first project from the dynamic pair with all-new, all-original material. Fans can catch the very special interview airing on SiriusXM’s Bluegrass Junction (channel 62) Saturday, April 1 beginning at 7:00am ET.

To give fans an insight into the making of Patriots & Poets Dailey & Vincent will appear at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville on March 31 as part of the 25th Annual Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival Presented by Regions Bank. In celebration of their 10-year anniversary, 50 years of NSAI, 35 years of the Bluebird Cafe, and on the street date of their brand new album,Patriots & Poets, fans and music industry elite can catch the dynamic pair performing brand new songs. The must-see round will also include Brad Crisler, Kevin MaC and Leslie Satcher. The rest of the year includes a jam-packed tour schedule including Dailey & Vincent’s third performance at the historic Carnegie Hall, along with a performance at the iconic Ryman Auditorium.

So far this new album has been met with high critical praise, with the duo recently being spotlighted by outlets like The Boot, Roughstock, Sounds Like Nashville, Audio Driver Magazine, and more, while also creating buzz within bluegrass circles on Bluegrass Today, Cybergrass, Prescription Bluegrass, WAMU’s Bluegrass Country, Australian Bluegrass and more. The award winners will also appear on the nationally syndicated online video series The Pickup beginning April 1. Other upcoming features include The Huffington Post, Billboard, Parade.com, BackHome Magazine, WSM/Heartland TV’s Coffee, Country & Cody, Nashville Country Club and more.

Patriots & Poets Track Listing:

1. Gimme All The Love You Got
2. Beautiful Scars
3. Baton Rouge
4. Until We’re Gone (feat. TaRanda Green)
5. Bill and Ole Elijah
6. Unsung Heroes		 7. Spring Hill
8. God’s Love (feat. Doyle Lawson)
9. California (feat. Steve Martin)
10. Here Comes The Flood (feat. David Rawlings)
11. That Feel Good Music		 12. He’s Been So Good To Me
13. No Place Love Won’t Go (feat. Bela Fleck)
14. That’s What We’re Put Here To Do
15. America We Love You
16. 255 North (digital only)

 

Dailey and VincentMore About Dailey and Vincent:

Five-time Grammy award winners individually, three-time Grammy award nominees collectively, four-time Dove Award winners, and winners of 35 IBMA Awards altogether (including 3-time IBMA Entertainer of the Year Award winners and 3-Time Vocal Group of the Year Award winners), Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent, backed by one of the best bands on tour today, are some of the most reputable and elite entertainers in American music; bluegrass, traditional country and gospel music. The concoction of the fantastically instinctive vocal blends of Dailey’s tenor and Vincent’s reedy harmonies has gained them well-deserved praise for their own distinctive style and worldwide recognition as American Music gold. Dailey & Vincent has garnered world-wide attention with their first national, top-rated television series, “The Dailey & Vincent Show,” on RFD TV and over 500 airings of their PBS special “Dailey & Vincent ALIVE – In Concert.” Their most recent CD, Dailey & Vincent ALIVE, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Bluegrass charts and remained at the top position for over 15 weeks. For more information, visit DaileyandVincent.com.

Davidson Brothers Talk About Their New Album

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Davidson BrothersThere’s no better way to learn about the Davidson Brothers than to hear it directly them. For the writing of their eighth studio album – All You Need Is Music, out April 7 – the brothers met half way. Hamish (vocals, banjo, fiddle) who’s based in Bendigo and Lachlan (vocals, mandolin) based in Melbourne booked a B&B in the small town of Benloch. Hamish said, “We got out there and wrote [lead single] ‘Take A Little Drive’ in that first session… It was sort of a bluesier thing when we wrote it.” When the song was recorded, however, country elements seeped in “and you sorta get the two colours.”

‘Take A Little Drive’, is the first taste of the duo’s new album, and the song’s jaunty tempo and irresistible chorus melody celebrates “gettin’ out of town” at the end of the working week with an accompanying video that sees the Davidson Brothers and pals jamming on a porch.

Hamish explains the sound of the new album, “Lachie toured with Lee Kernaghan for two years, and I did a lot of session work with lots of other country singers, and I think we just sorta got used to being the bluegrass sound in a country band.” But Lachie admits, “We didn’t wanna do a full record just country, ’cause I feel like we’re getting better at bluegrass after touring so hard and doin’ it live. “So we decided to do an A- and a B-side concept.”

After performing at Meredith Music Festival in 2013, Lachlan says he’s noticed the Davidson Brothers attract a more diverse audience these days, which inspired them to take a ”broader approach” on their latest record. “We didn’t wanna turn off the people who were enjoying what we’ve been doing at our live shows, but then we wanted to step it up a level, we kept the upright bass instead of the electric bass to keep that acoustic feel in there. And the drummer’s not an intense Dave Grohl kinda drummer,” he laughs.

They’ve been recording together since 1998 and at the end of 2016, with Hamish about to become a dad for the second time, Lachlan points out, “We didn’t wanna stall an album even longer”. So when he clocked Qantas were having a “big sale” (“I think it was 500 bucks each, return, to Nashville”), he immediately got on the blower to his brother.

They booked Nashville’s Sidekick Sound Studios and rounded up some hot players to work with alongside producers/previous collaborators Mark Thornton and Larry Marrs. “Mark Thornton’s a different cat,” Hamish offers. “He comes from the Jerry Reed school of musicians – he played in Jerrry’s band for 12 years – and his studio, it’s like going back in a time machine… RCA mics and they’ve even got an RCA stove in the studio, so we were cookin’ lunch on that in between doin’ dubs and things. And he’s got gear that used to belong to, like, legends and it’s got their names with little dymo labels on the mics and things – all of these guys have gone now, but it’s kinda cool.”

“And our other producer Larry Mars is also a bit intimidating if you know his past… We had to do something at Larry’s studio one night and there was a picture of Larry singing with Merle Haggard on his dunny door and he goes, ‘Oh, ain’t that kewl!’” Hamish cracks up. “He just never mentioned it, you know?” Lachlan contributes, “They record old-school style, like, old mics from the Grand Ole Opry and stuff, and we just cut everything live.” Because “all the great session guys respect those guys”, the Davidson Brothers were able to “pretty much book [their] first-choice musicians” for these sessions, Lachlan stresses. “Bryan Sutton’s one of the top bluegrass guitar players. He grew up in North Carolina, but he’s done, like, Dolly Parton bluegrass records and the Dixie Chicks stuff. “The guy that played percussion [Kenny Malone], he’s 76; he played at JFK’s inauguration and funeral….. We’re playing with the best musos in the world, in our field.”

All You Need Is Music is the fifth record the brothers have recorded in Nashville. Lachlan recounts, “Our Nan lent us money for our first album when we were teenagers, and then a banjo player lent us some money, he was a truck driver [laughs]. He wanted us to go to Nashville and make our first record there, and so he lent us a wad of cash at a truck stop… But we’ve always had people who have supported us in that way.”

It was the brother’s late grandmother who drove them towards country. “I feel like she was probably a big driver for us to win a Golden Guitar, ’cause Tamworth meant the most to her out of everyone in the family,” he continues (in fact Davidson Brothers have been awarded three of these prestigious Australian Country Music Awards to date). Nan must’ve been smiling proudly down on her grandsons in January when the Davidson Brothers added their hand prints to the Hands Of Fame monument during the Tamworth Country Music Festival, further cementing their status among the most influential artists in Australian music history.

“If you ask me all you need is music/And a little red wine/To have a good time.” And if said music just so happens to be All You Need Is Music by the Davidson Brothers? Then those good times are guaranteed. All You Need Is Music will be suitably launched at Melbourne’s newest and classiest live music venue, Longhorn Saloon. Stay tuned for support announcement, tickets on sale now.