The November issue of The Bluegrass Special now in Cyberspace.
This month Rosanne Cash, Patty Loveless and Maria Muldaur talk at length about their new albums. Reviews this month include a Gospel Set pairing of the Issac’s – Naturally, and the Gaither Vocal Band’s – Reunited.
Other articles in this month’s issue include a main feature on the desperate situation in the Coal River Valley of West Virginia, where mountaintop removal coal mining is destroying the Appalachian Mountain range, the culture of Appalachia, and endangering the lives of people in the valley.
America adores its Adirondacks and reveres the Rockies, while the Appalachian Mountains – with their impoverished and alienated population – are dismantled by coal moguls who dominate state politics and have little to prevent them from blasting the physical landscape to smithereens - Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Album reviews include:
- Sam Bush – Circles Around Me
- Emmitt-Nershi Band – New Country Blues
- Ricky Skaggs – Songs My Dad Loved
- Ralph Stanley – Can’t You Hear The Mountains Calling
- Yonder Mountain String Band – The Show
Visit the Bluegrass Special Website
I Hear a Voice Calling
During the final years of Bill Monroe’s life, bluegrass fiddler Gene Lowinger took a series of on and off-stage photographs of Monroe on the road, preparing for shows, performing, interacting with fans and audiences and in informal settings with family, friends, and fellow musicians.
This book presents this collection of photos of Monroe’s last years as well as other photos documenting Lowinger’s involvement with the bluegrass scene beginning in the early 1960s. As a fiddler for Monroe, Lowinger was given unique access to Monroe’s private life, and his photographs capture poignant scenes, from energetic performances to moments of quiet repose.
Lowinger’s photos accompany his own story of a New Jersey boy obsessed with folk and bluegrass music, and he recounts college trips to country music parks in Pennsylvania to see Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, Jimmy Martin, Mac Wiseman, and Bill Monroe; his stints as a fiddler for the New York Ramblers and Blue Grass Boys; and his memories of playing at the Grand Ole Opry and music festivals. A photographic reflection on Bill Monroe’s public and private life, I Hear a Voice Calling also testifies to the bluegrass master’s profound mentorship and guidance.
I’ve known Gene Lowinger since our early days in the urban bluegrass scene of the sixties. His photographs have always offered unique perspectives on unique subjects. Now they are skillfully melded with personal remembrances of his own singular career as a ‘Jewish Blue Grass Boy.‘- David Grisman.
This amazing photo collection and others can also be seen on Gene Lowinger’s website
Capital News is Australia’s premier country music magazine. It has been around for many years and is released monthly. The magazine features the latest news in the country music field, both in Australia and abroad, and has regular album reviews, gig guides, festival guides and columns on specialised areas such as bluegrass, alternative music, cyberspace and songwriting.
One of the regular features in the magazine is Bluegrass Scene, presented by Tony Lake. It is a regular column in Capital News and features the latest in bluegrass news and album reviews.
To submit information to the Bluegrass Scene on bluegrass in Australia, please contact Tony at tony.lake@amtac.net.
The August edition of Capital News magazine is currently in newsagents. This month includes articles on country music and trucking, Liam Brew, Bellbird Music, Steve Eales, Rodney Atkins and a new collaboration between Willie Nelson and Asleep at the Wheel.
Tony Lake’s Bluegrass Scene features information on the World of Bluegrass being held in Nashville Tennessee from 28 September to 4 October, and reviews of the latest Davidson Brothers album Born to Play and Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver’s Lonely Street.
The magazine is available at newsagents on the first Thursday of each month. For more information, including subscriptions, log onto http://www.capitalnews.com.au/ or contact Cheryl Byrnes on 02 6768 5812.
This month Bluegrass Special marks the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock Festival, alongside the other signal events of 1969.
Contributing Editor Billy Altman, who attended Woodstock, looks back on that memorable decade-ending summer when the world was first changed by the sight of a man walking on the moon a month before half a million young people descended on a farm in Bethel, NY, for three days of peace, love & music, as the posters proclaimed.
Bluegrass Special’s cover subject this month is also celebrating an anniversary. Bluegrass great Doyle Lawson marks his 30th year as a solo recording artist this year. In The Bluegrass Special.com interview, Lawson discusses his powerful new album Lonely Street, his early inspirations as an artist, and the work ethic he gained from his farmer father that he’s put into practical application in sustaining one of the most productive careers in bluegrass history.
This month’s reviews include:
- Mary Flower – Bridges
- Alecia Nugent – Hillbilly Goddess
- Chris Pandolfi – Looking Glass
- Kacey Jones – Donald Trump’s Hair
- Bill Noonan – The Man That I Can’t Be
- Daryl Singletary – Rockin’ In the Country
- Russel Moore and IIIrd Tyme Out
Bluegrass Special – August 2009
Gary ‘Rainbow‘ Roberts of Strzelecki Stringbusters fame, has given us the heads up on yet another free Internet offer. This one is from the great Americana Rhythm Magazine, and is offering a free download of their current publication.
This is a no strings attached offer. I have a copy downloaded and it’s a winner.
Launched in August of 2005, Americana Rhythm’s mission is one of gathering, into one place, *Americana music, musicians, and music culture, of the Shanandoah Valley of Virginia, Central Virginia, Blue Ridge, Piedmont, The Virginia Highlands, South West Virginia, the West Virginia Panhandle, and points in, around, and in between, and this is it!
Thanks Gary
Visit the website and grab a copy now.
Acoustic Guitar Magazine has brought our attention to a new book called Guy’s Grids, the ultimate chord book—for beginner through advanced.
The fretboard is a maze of possibilities. Mastering a full repertoire of chords can be overwhelming. Guy’s Grids is a 228-page compendium of chords laid out in the most useful way for memorization.
- Easily expand your chord vocabulary by visualizing chord relationships
- Use the Grids to enhance memory retention while reinforcing understanding of chord theory
- Play the practice progressions with the accompanying CD to refine your playing skills
Visit the GuysGrids.com links above for more details.
The June 2009 issue of Bluegrass Special is now available online at The Bluegrass Special.com
This months features an interview with Michael Martin Murphy in which he discusses his long-time commitment to the American farmer and his love of the land.
The June issue also features reviews of Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver’s new CD Lonely Street and the Red Stick Ramblers CD My Suitcase Is Always Packed.
Bob Cherry has alerted us, via the Cybergrass website, to a problem in relation to the above magazine launch which we brought you news of last September.
It appears that the premier issue – to be launched at last years Jerusalem Ridge Festival – never appeared, nor has subsequent issues. It now seems that the magazine never reached its required subscriber numbers to fund the first publication.
Additional reading Cybergrass Website
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