Greg McGrath

Blue Highway – CD Release

Through the Window of a Train

Blue Highway’s latest release, Through the Window of a Train, debuted at #2 on the Billboard Bluegrass Charts and has been critically acclaimed for its stellar musicianship, an album you’ll listen to for a lifetime.

At the 14-year mark, Blue Highway is indisputably one of the most esteemed and influential groups in contemporary bluegrass. The band’s eight exceptional albums and compelling live performances give credence to the stellar reviews, Grammy nominations, and numerous awards earned by the band since it first took the stage on December 31, 1994. Blue Highway’s hallmark is an unwavering commitment to the ensemble, the democracy of the band that makes Blue Highway a powerhouse.

Individually, Jason Burleson (banjo, guitar, mandolin), Rob Ickes (Dobro), Shawn Lane (mandolin, fiddle, vocals), Tim Stafford (guitar, vocals), and Wayne Taylor (bass, vocals) are masters of their respective roles. Together, in Stafford’s words, they are democracy in the best sense of the word; five gifted artists selflessly merging their talents into a seamlessly brilliant group sound. As a result, the band moves from strength to strength, more mature and impressive with each new album.

Blue Highway has five gifted writers in its ranks. Rob and Jason turn out the heart-pounding instrumentals, while Shawn, Tim and Wayne give Blue Highway a depth of songwriting talent unprecedented in sixty years of bluegrass bands. With eight highly-acclaimed albums to its credit, Blue Highway has garnered two Grammy nominations, a Dove Award, topped the Bluegrass Unlimited radio charts, and won numerous International Bluegrass Music Association awards. Refusing to coast on past glories, Blue Highway continues to push its music to new levels of accomplishment. Artfully balanced between tradition and innovation, it remains in the forefront of contemporary bluegrass music.

Paul Thompson Photography

10 Jun, 08 by Greg McGrath

Some time back Ed Lowe (from WA) advised me that he’d met a photographer called Paul Thompson on his recent trip to South Australia. Paul, a professional and highly competent photographer, was in the process of setting up a new website for the South Australian Bluegrass scene.

The site contains many high quality and images of the South Australian band Bluegrass Junction in action. Bluegrass Junction will be appearing at Redland’s Festival this July. Paul’s site is well worth a visit.

However, there is much more. Of equal interest, especially to mandolin pickers and purveyors of fine quality instruments is the photographic expose on the work of Charles Derrington and the Gibson F5 mandolin from the late 1990’s. Derrington attempted to faithfully re-create Loar F5 using the designs of the master mandolin maker Lloyd Loar.

Lloyd Allayre Loar (1886 – 1943) came to fame for his musical instrument development, while working for The Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Company of Kalamazoo in Michigan. While many agree that the creative development of the Gibson instruments was attributed to Orville Gibson himself, Gibson’s ideas were built on again and again by a host of his employees, none more so that Llyod Loar who worked for Gibson from the early 1900’s.

Additional reading: –

Playmakers to Air on ABC Radio

26 May, 08 by Greg McGrath

Workshop featured on ABC’s ‘Into the Music’

Submitted by Stephen Loss for the Australian Bluegrass Blog.

Instrument making is usually a solitary pursuit, but when professional and amateur makers gathered in

Albany in south-western Australia, there was a palpable sense of camaraderie and collaboration. The weekend workshop held in February this year was part of the Perth International Arts Festival and featured world-renown luthiers Steve Gilchrist from Victoria with Paul Duff and Scott Wise from Western Australia. [Read more…] about Playmakers to Air on ABC Radio

National Folk Festival Workshop – 2008

20 May, 08 by Greg McGrath

Bluegrass Fiddle Master Class with Donal Baylor.

All who attended the Bluegrass Fiddle Master Class with Donal Baylor arrived in Canberra for the three-day workshop full of enthusiasm and curiosity. We all went away from the workshop with a sound sense of the place in history of bluegrass music as initiated by Bill Monroe, portraits of leading bluegrass fiddle players and a bunch of fiddle techniques to hone our skills on.

Donal’s selection of tunes for the workshop were appropriate for particular fiddle styles and techniques: the haunting fiddle of the Bill Monroe’s solo, Can’t you Hear me Calling?, Sally Goodin was brought to life with power and volume, fiddle improvisation on Florida Blues and twin fiddling with Texas Gallop.

Donal challenged us with the use of the fourth finger (ouch!), finding the invisible string (what!) and the development of a repertoire of licks.

During the workshop, Donal encouraged discussion and made inspirational comments about practice: –
• have your fiddle where it is out of the case and easily accessible
• don’t just entertain yourself when practicing
• have a plan and aim to get better
• learn chord progressions
• above all, learn from others but also find your own interpretation of the music

We also discussed fiddle set up, use of on-line tools and who/what is inspirational to learn from. Of particular interest was a sneak view into Donal’s bluegrass library where he brought along some of his favourite books on bluegrass and fiddlers.

If you are interested in bluegrass fiddle, a workshop with Donal is one way of setting yourself on the right track and establishing a sound historical and technical base for future bluegrass fiddling.

During the festival, the new National Folk Festival venue, Henley Theatre, presented ‘High Lonesome – The Story of Bluegrass Music’ which traces the evolution of bluegrass music and presents the heart and soul of its founder, Bill Monroe. This movie presentation was a fantastic back up to the workshop.

Participants comments:

Donal’s workshop was well organised – one of the best I’ve been to. His enthusiasm for bluegrass is infectious!

…the Bluegrass fiddle class from ‘the master’ has given me confidence and inspiration to move outside of my ‘fiddle comfort zone’. In particular, to find that ‘imaginary’ extra string. Loved the organisation and sequentiality of the course.
…fantastic Bluegrass fiddler. Thanks for sharing your skills so patiently and enthusiastically, Donal. Your manner of teaching is clear and I’ve learnt heaps. Thanks for the supporting information CD and the written notes – your program was well prepared and presented.
…what a terrific few days! Donal has channeled the talents of Chubby Wise, Bobby Hicks and other fiddlin’ greats. We have explored the joys of listening, playing and learning bluegrass. I have loved trying to play double shuffles, tricky licks and twin fiddle tunes – lots of practice when I get home. I hope Donal does some more classes like this one, thanks.
…a dream come true to get into this class. It far exceeded my expectations and to have a music teacher who has classes ‘structured’ is an added bonus. Thanks, Donal, for a wonderful few days.
…loved it. Had a great time. I now have a better understanding and appreciation of Bluegrass music and some great new skills and tunes. Thanks.
…enjoyed the Bluegrass workshop immensely – good coverage of the music techniques and discussion of the genre. I’ve been encouraged, inspired and reinvigorated in my playing – thanks.
…thoroughly enjoyed this workshop. Many things I had never thought about in Bluegrass, Donal showed to me. I have improved in the last three days so much.
…Donal Baylor’s 3 day Bluegrass Fiddle masterclass preceding this year’s (2008) National Folk Festival in Canberra was the best fiddle masterclass I have ever attended. Donal was superbly prepared with music notation handouts and special compilation CD’s for everyone, along with a list of references and source books, all of which will prove of immense value to the talented players present who take up the cudgels of playing Bluegrass. For those who might have found such a bit beyond their reach, Donal’s revelations and demonstrations could only have provided a much enhanced appreciation and insight into Bluegrass fiddling, and the dedication and the skill that goes into playing it. Thanks Donal.

Thanks to Donal and the National Folk Festival for organising this great workshop which covered all aspects of Bluegrass, including the history. It suited fiddlers of different competency and coming from different musical backgrounds.
Submitted by Lorraine Sly – Mornington, Victoria – for the Australian Bluegrass Blog

Mike Compton’s National Tour Washup

20 Apr, 08 by Greg McGrath

Riding High in the wake of their National tour.

Bluegrass Parkway members were fortunate in being able to tour with one of our true heroes, a man who has spend years mastering his craft, seeking out the source and refusing to tolerate mediocrity. The opportunity to tour with Mike Compton could, therefore be leapt upon with blind enthusiasm or approached carefully with more than a little dose of soul searching. We paid a visit to each camp. [Read more…] about Mike Compton’s National Tour Washup

Guitar Gallery Hails New Owner

11 Apr, 08 by Greg McGrath

Guitar Gallery Workshops

Gerry Hale (of Uncle Bill fame) is now the proprietor of the Guitar Gallery at 30 Johnston St, Fitzroy. The Guitar Gallery specialises in acoustic instruments. The focus of the shop has broadened to include a great selection of banjos, mandolins, and dobros as well as guitars.

The Guitar Gallery is owned and staffed by musicians who also run workshops and take classes and lessons in guitar, banjo, dobro, mandolin in various styles such as Irish and bluegrass. The tutors have many years of experience as performers and teachers of their chosen instruments. They create a warm and encouraging environment for students, from beginners to advanced.

The gallery is now running monthly beginner workshops in mandolin, banjo and dobro on Wednesday nights from 7pm – 9pm. The next workshop is beginner mandolin on April 16th. Bookings and enquiries Ph 03 9417-2252. If you don’t have an instrument you can attend the workshop and use one from the shop. It is a great way to get started with a maximum of 6 people in each workshop.

Merlefest at 21, Doc Watson at 85

3 Apr, 08 by Greg McGrath

A Great American Music Festival and its Host At The Crossroads

by Derek Halsey.
…Doc would learn how to play that little 8-inch diameter banjo, as well as the harmonica and guitar, as time went on. As he grew older, however, the guitar would become his first love. By the 1950’s Doc was playing electric guitar in a local dance band and on the nights when the fiddler didn’t show up, he would try and play the fiddle parts with his guitar. It took him a long time to learn those riffs, but that simple adjustment set him on the path to creating the unique lead licks on the acoustic guitar that he is known for, a technique called flat picking.

Read the full story on the Swampland Site
Submitted by Ted Lehmann (New Hampshire USA)

Tom Cat & The Bluegrass Kittens

3 Apr, 08 by Greg McGrath

Brisbane Bluegrass Band

Tom Cat and the Bluegrass Kittens is an emerging Brisbane bluegrass band featuring Emma McMonagle – guitar and vocals, Amy Coles – banjo and vocals and Dominique Costelo – mandolin and vocals.

Mr. Tom Steginga, on double bass, brings an added degree of eccentricity and daring to the group. Tom Cat & The Bluegrass Kittens play an eclectic mix of bluegrass favourites and bluegrass-inspired tunes.

The band has developed a broad fan base in their four-year history playing regular gigs across the Brisbane Folk scene while often appearing at many of Australia’s bluegrass festivals including the recent 2008 Woodford Folk Festival.

Their impressive gig list to-date includes: Redlands Bluegrass Convention, Folk Redlands, Gold Coast Bluegrass Festival, Dorrigo Folk & Bluegrass Festival, Harrietville Bluegrass Convention and Imbil Acoustic Festival.

The band have a MySpace Site and feature a number of songs in preview which I encourage you to visit. Be sure to visit their MySpace Site soon.

De Gruchy Guitars

23 Mar, 08 by Greg McGrath

Australian Made – World Played

Bryan DeGruchy first established DeGruchy Guitars in 1978. Bryan’s website states that he totally handcrafts every instrument from the finest materials. Each instrument is individually constructed in his one-man workshop located in South Australia’s Adelaide Hills.

Bryan’s work focuses on quality steel-string acoustic and resophonic guitars for both flat-pickers and finger-style guitarists.

Careful consideration is given to the choice of materials (all solid choice woods) and the type of construction to meet the needs of the player to produce an instrument which has a warm, rich tone, volume, balance, sustain, stability and playability in an instrument of beauty – Brian De Gruchy.

Bryan suggests his instruments will instill pride and inspire the player. DeGruchy Guitars come in Dreadnaught, Concert, Small Body, Parlour and Resophonic models.

Checkout the DeGruchy Showcase.

Department of Bluegrass

19 Mar, 08 by Greg McGrath

A Reunion Concert

Long lost band, the Department of Bluegrass, will be having a reunion at the National Folk Festival this year. The original line up of will be back with at their best at the Troubadour at 7pm Saturday 22 March. “This is probably the first National that all the guys will be together, so a reunion gig seemed like the right thing to do. We also didn’t have a lot of choice” said John (Human Resources and Admin Manager) for the Department.

The Department was established in the early days of the 21st Century, and was orginally tagged as Chubby Thighs and the Lower Molonglo Mountain Boys. That was, however, considered irreverant and not in keeping with proper principles of governance in the National Capital. By Executive Decree (Donal Baylor, Permanent Head and general Bossman) changed the name and established an accountability and responsibility matrix – Donal Baylor (fiddle), Chris Jacobs (guitar and vocals), John Taylor (banjo and vocals), Tony Hunter (mandolin./dobro and vocals). The bass position was vacant and filled on a casual as-needs basis.

The Department debuted with Donal, Chris, John and Tony at the National in or 2002 in a gig at the Merry Muse made famous for the floor being awash due to the unseasonal rains that year. Due to the bass vacancy, Jack Sommers was recruited. The lack of a permanent bass player changed after Sam Martin was apprehended by JT (who was on duty at the time moonlighting as a Sheriff) at the Festival without a wristband. After it was established that Sam was there to play with his Dad’s bad, Collector, and would be attending the School of Music in Canberra studying the double bass he was quickly drafted into the lineup. A couple of rehearsals and a few local gigs at the Merry Muse and sundry beer gardens later and the Department were established favourites with the bluegrass/roots music afflicted in the region.
[Read more…] about Department of Bluegrass