International News

Chris Davis Joins the Grascals

10 May, 19 by Greg McGrath Leave a Comment

The Grascals have announced the addition of bluegrass veteran, Chris Davis on guitar and lead vocals. Davis is no stranger to bluegrass music, having worked with some of the top bands in the industry since he was a teenager. Growing up in the bluegrass hotbed of southwestern Ohio, Davis follows in the tradition of The Osborne Brothers, Larry Sparks, Dave Evans, and more bluegrass stars who got their start in the Dayton, Ohio area.

Chris is a third generation bluegrass musician. Chris’ father, Danny Davis, is a respected traditional bluegrass singer in the Miami Valley of Ohio. It is with his father and grandfather (Elzie Davis) that Chris got his start as a teenager playing alongside them in the Davis Brothers Band. Chris remained a fixture in the regional bluegrass scene for many years, before bursting on to the national scene with Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time in 2006.

In addition to Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time, he has worked with some of the biggest names in bluegrass and beyond. Over the years, Davis has provided support to Melvin & Ray Goins, Larry Sparks & The Lonesome Ramblers, Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice, Wildfire, Marty Raybon & Full Circle, and even country superstars, Diamond Rio.

Chris Davis’ talent as a harmony vocalist and a multi-instrumentalist is very well known to bluegrass fans. However, he is really excited for the opportunity to showcase his abilities as a lead singer and guitarist.

I’ve always wanted to play guitar and sing lead in a band, and I never dreamed it would be with The Grascals! I am so excited for this change in my music career, and I can’t wait to hit the road and get in the studio… this is going to be great – Chris Davis.

The Grascals are really looking forward to this new chapter. Having been a fan of Chris for a long time, they are excited to showcase his talents, and show audiences why his lead singing is the “best kept secret in bluegrass,” according to Danny Roberts, founding member of The Grascals.

We (The Grascals) can’t wait for our fans and friends to hear Chris Davis with us in his new role as lead singer/guitar player, along with John Bryan.
Chris is a gifted, soulful singer and a great guitar player, and the vocal blend with Terry (Smith) and John (Bryan) is outstanding! The Grascals are very pleased to welcome Chris Davis to the band — Danny Roberts.

The Grascals’ award-winning banjo player, Kristin Scott Benson previously worked with Davis and can speak first hand for what he brings to the table.

I traveled with Chris for five years prior to The Grascals, and I always enjoyed working with him — musically and personally. I’m really stoked that he’s one of us (The Grascals) now – Kristin Scott Benson.

The addition of Chris Davis to The Grascals follows founding member, Terry Eldredge’s decision to leave the road. The Grascals wish Terry all of the best in his future endeavors. He has been a veteran of the bluegrass industry for decades, and has been a hero to many, including Kristin Scott Benson.

I grew up watching Terry Eldredge play and sing. He’s a hero of mine and it has been an absolute privilege to stand beside him for eleven years – Kristin Scott Benson.

More importantly than gracing bluegrass stages for three decades, Terry Eldredge has been a friend to the entire bluegrass industry, and we will definitely miss his smile on the road. Fellow Grascals founder, Terry Smith shares these words about his good buddy, “El”.

It has always been hard for people to think of one Terry without thinking of the other. After nearly 30 years of performing together, it’s tough for me to even imagine being on stage without him. I have never had a better friend or a better band mate than Terry Eldredge. I will certainly miss him and I wish him the very best.
I have known Chris Davis and his musical talent for some time. He is a wonderful musician and singer and I am looking forward to having him as one of the Grascals – Terry “Smitty” Smith.

We wish you the best, El. Once a Grascal, always a Grascal. Thanks for the memories.

The Grascals are currently working on a new album for Mountain Home Records, slated to be released in 2019. For information on the band, visit their website, www.grascals.com.

Bluegrass Country Soul Movie Restoration Almost Complete.

5 May, 19 by Greg McGrath Leave a Comment

Crowd Funding Campaign Aims to Save Classic Film Made at Legendary Festival

Reportedly the first feature film about bluegrass music (Washington Post, July 6, 1972), Bluegrass Country Soul is approaching a deadline in its crowd funding campaign on 15th May, 2019, when naming opportunities for the restoration project must conclude.

Bluegrass Country Soul features performances from first-generation bluegrass icons such as Earl Scruggs, Ralph Stanley, Chubby Wise, Jimmy Martin and Mac Wiseman as well as stars of today such as Sam Bush, Del McCoury and Ricky Skaggs. Others in the film are: J.D. Crowe, The Osborne Brothers, Tony Rice, The Lilly Brothers with Tex Logan and Don Stover, The Bluegrass 45 (from Japan), The New Deal String Band, and, in a rare appearance, Roy Acuff.

Earlier last month, we were finally able to see how much the old 35mm print has faded. Fortunately, with the assistance of modern digital technology, Bluegrass Country Soul can still be restored – Albert Ihde, the film’s producer/director.

This is a labor of love for Ihde and his wife, Ellen Pasternack, who is the Executive Director on this project.

Bluegrass fans who join the campaign at a minimum of $100 will receive a multi-media box-set when they come out on 1st September, and can choose to have their name, and/or the name of someone they wish to honor, in the closing credits of the film and book. Higher levels of sponsorship are available too – Ellen Pasternack.

This newly restored version of the film will premiere at the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum in Owensboro, KY, on 2nd November, and will be donated to the museum’s permanent collection.

The box-set includes a Blu-ray, high-definition and a standard DVD combo pack, a coffee table book with tons of photos, a brand-new documentary about the festival and film, two CDs of music not heard in the film, and more.

We’ve been interviewing musicians and others who were at the festival, and they will be included in a second commentary track. Noted bluegrass historian Fred Bartenstein is updating his earlier commentary track – Ellen Pasternack.

To order a box-set, learn more about the contents, for sponsorship details, videos, and to sign up for our newsletter, please visit the Bluegrass Country Soul website.

For additional information, please contact us at info@bluegrasscountrysoul.com or call: (805) 965-1508. YOu can also write to:

Bluegrass Country Soul
PO Box 23211
Santa Barbara, CA 93121

Kruger Brothers – Three of a Kind

16 Apr, 19 by Greg McGrath Leave a Comment

The Kruger Brothers are unique in the world of bluegrass music as they blend their instruments and voices to a wide variety of music styles from classical to traditional bluegrass and beyond. For those of us familiar with their music and those who have seen them perform live in several parts of Australia , here is an article from the Greenville Journal in North Carolina, now their home state.

It’s a rare band whose most recent lineup change came 30 years ago, but that’s when bassist Joel Landsberg joined Jens and Uwe Kruger in the aptly named acoustic music group the Kruger Brothers. The European-born Kruger siblings (Jens plays banjo and Uwe plays guitar) have been together as a band since 1979, crafting a daring-but-beguiling blend of folk, classical, and bluegrass music that’s surprisingly flexible.

Nefesh Mountain on Tour.

11 Apr, 19 by Greg McGrath Leave a Comment

Critically acclaimed, pioneering bluegrass band Nefesh Mountain will embark on a 26-city tour from April to August of 2019. The group is the first of its kind to blend old-time musical traditions with a rich, Jewish cultural heritage. The American leg of the tour will include appearances in Nashville, Portland, Denver, Miami, and Washington, D.C., among many other cities across the country. The band will also appear at the Jacob’s Ladder Festival in Safed, Israel. The band looks forward to weaving its unique blend of bluegrass, old-time, and American roots with its own backgrounds as Jewish Americans as they crisscross the globe on their upcoming tour.

Creators, band leaders, and husband and wife team Doni Zasloff and Eric Lindberg are the heart of this eclectic offering, and along with longtime band mate and fiddle player Alan Grubner, they are now joined by David Goldenberg (Bradford Lee, Rachel Baiman) on mandolin and Max Johnson (Molly Tuttle, Jeff Austin) on bass. National Mandolin champion Goldenberg was one of the first mandolin graduates from the Berklee College of Music and has garnered a reputation as a rare player who maintains a revolving affinity for bluegrass mandolin styles, fiddle tunes, and the craft of songwriting. Johnson is “an intrepid composer, architect of sound, and beast on the bass” (NYC Jazz Record) who harvests the wild energy and joy of bluegrass and jazz traditions alike. This newly formed quintet is adept with a string virtuosity that is reflected in their arrangements of modern folk/bluegrass combined with songs of the heart and a sense of oneness and purpose that inspires all of their work.

Nefesh Mountain is planting new seeds for the 21st century, an age ripe for more cultural diversity and harmony. Their most recent album, Beneath the Open Sky, has been featured in Rolling Stone, Billboard, No Depression, and Bluegrass Today.

4.05 – Miami, FL – Temple Sinai – North Dade
4.06 – Miami, FL – Temple Sinai – North Dade
4.12 – Washington, DC – Washington Hebrew
4.13 – Laurel, MD – Oseh Shalom Synagogue
4.14 – Chevy Chase, MD – Ray’s Meadow Park
5.03 – Sandy Springs, GA – Temple Sinai
5.04 – Sandy Springs, GA – Temple Sinai
5.08 – East Rockaway, NY – Hewlett Jewish Center
5.16 – Tiberias, Israel – Jacob’s Ladder Festival
5.17 – Tiberias, Israel – Jacob’s Ladder Festival
5.18 – Tiberias, Israel – Jacob’s Ladder Festival

5.18 – Tsfat, Israel – Mystic Mountain Brewery
5.29 – Evanston, IL – Space
6.02 – Louisville, KY – Shalom Music Festival
6.03 – Lexington, KY – Woodsongs at the Lyric Theatre
6.07 – Sands Point, NY – The Community Synagogue
6.19 – Nashville, TN – The Station Inn
6.21 – Washington, DC – Adas Israel
7.06 – Kunkletown, PA – Camp Harlam
7.11 – South Sterling, PA – Camp Havaya
7.20 – Denver, CO – The Walnut Room
7.21 – Carbondale, CO – Steve’s Guitars

7.22 – Aspen, CO – Aspen Jewish Congregation
7.24 – Decatur, GA – Eddie’s Attic
7.26 – Cleveland, GA – Camp Coleman
7.30 – Portland, OR – Newcaje Conference
7.31 – Portland, OR – The Old Church
8.02 – Vail, CO – B’nai Vail
8.03 – Vail, CO – B’nai Vail
8.04 – Lenox, MA – Duffin Theatre
8.08 – Cambridge, MA – Club Passim
8.09 – Middletown, CT – The Buttonwood Tree
8.17 – Idaho Springs, CO – Private Event

The Michael Cleveland Story Now Available

6 Mar, 19 by Greg McGrath Leave a Comment

He’s a bluegrass superstar and a rising talent across other genres. He’s an icon and an inspiration. He is eleven-time IBMA  Fiddle Player of the Year and even a Grammy Award nominee, but that’s just a small part of Michael Cleveland’s story. Some even consider him the greatest fiddle player of all time.

Michael Cleveland was born blind and with a cleft palate, and in early childhood lost 80% of the hearing in his left ear. In spite of physical challenges, he undertook a musical career undeterred and has ascended to the highest possible echelons of his genre.

Flamekeeper: The Michael Cleveland Story now released online, is a feature-length documentary for audiences worldwide.

Director John Presley brings his expert eye and heart for storytelling to the project. The film, while visually engaging, was also designed with Cleveland himself in mind.

I learned that our visually impaired friends see the world in an entirely different way. One of my goals was to create a film that Michael would be able to experience and enjoy through sound alone. I have felt deeply honoured to tell his inspirational story and present his talent to new audiences around the world – John Presley.

Years of commercial and short film work, along with his experience as a musician, led the director on a journey to uncover how Cleveland became the artist—and person—he is today.

When I was first approached about the idea of a documentary film about me, I was definitely surprised, and it still seems so surreal. For as long as I’ve been playing music professionally, I have made it a point to keep the focus on the music and not the fact that I am visually impaired. I decided that if I was going to have a career in music, I wanted to make it on my abilities as a musician and not the fact that I was blind. After I talked to John and took a few days to think it over and run it by my family and the rest of the Flamekeeper team, I realized that this could be an inspiration to some young kid somewhere with a dream that looks as impossible as it seemed to me when I was growing up and dreaming of a career in music – Michael Cleveland.

Flamekeeper features interviews with 14-time Grammy Award winner Bela Fleck and 21-time Grammy Award winner Vince Gill. Also appearing in the film are such music notables as Sam Bush, Jens Kruger, Jeff White, the Bibelhauser Brothers and Andy Statman.

It’s wicked to see how much music he pulls out of a bow. He’s untouchable – Vince Gill.

Flamekeeper was produced by Validate Films and is Presley’s first feature-length documentary film. Presley was joined on the project by co-producer Cortlandt Ingram, a familiar name in the bluegrass world. After winning over one hundred fiddle contests early in his career, Ingram founded a company providing audio and lighting resources for events across the nation. Ingram’s knowledge of the bluegrass genre was an invaluable asset to the film’s production.

Vale Mac Wiseman 1925 – 2019

26 Feb, 19 by Greg McGrath Leave a Comment

Mac Wissman has occupied pride of place in the bluegrass arena for more than 70 of his 93 years. He was born on 23rd May, 1925, in Crimora, Virginia.

Mac Wiseman was part of the foundation of bluegrass and modern country music. He remained a valuable mentor and ambassador for both genres until his death this month 24th February.

Wiseman early hits included Jimmy Brown The Newsboy and ‘Tis Sweet To Be Remembered. While he went on to record over 200 or so projects.

His musical career began as upright bass player for country singer Molly O’Day’s Cumberland Mountain Folks. He later went on to play with Flatt and Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys and with Bill Monroe’s band The Bluegrass Boys.

In 1951, Wiseman released his first solo single, Tis Sweet to Be Remembered. The success of this release was the beginning of his solo career.

Mac Wiseman was one of the founders of the Country Music Association (CMA). In 1986 he co-founded the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA).

Wiseman was often referred to by a radio personalities as The Voice with a Heart. Other songs he recorded and became noted for are Shackles and Chains, I’ll Be All Smiles Tonight, Jimmy Brown the Newsboy, and Love Letters in the Sand.

More recently, in 2014, he released an album of songs inspired by his mother’s handwritten notebooks of songs she heard on the radio when Mac was a child: Songs From My Mother’s Hand.

Mac Wiseman was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honour in 1993. He also received a 2008 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States’ highest honour in the folk and traditional arts. In 2014 he was inducted into the Veteran Era category of the Country Music Hall of Fame, which is given to an artist who achieved national prominence more than 45 years ago.

Flamekeeper: The Michael Cleveland Story

14 Feb, 19 by Greg McGrath Leave a Comment

Michael Cleveland Movie — L-R Cortlandt Ingram, John Presley, Michael Cleveland, Sam Bush, Ricky Skaggs, Bela Fleck. Photo: Peyton Hogue

Last night, the stirring biographical documentary, Flamekeeper: The Michael Cleveland Story, premiered at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The film tells the story of Michael Cleveland, an iconic and sought-after fiddle player who has overcome great personal hardship to become one of Bluegrass music’s most revered instrumentalists.

Michael Cleveland is the International Bluegrass Music Association’s 11-time, most-awarded, Fiddle Player of the Year, and he has won Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year six times. Cleveland also fronts the 5-time Instrumental Group of the Year, Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, which he founded in 2006.

Director John Presley brings his expert eye and heart for storytelling to the project. The film, while visually engaging, was also designed with Cleveland himself in mind.

I learned that our visually impaired friends see the world in an entirely different way. One of my goals was to create a film that Michael would be able to experience and enjoy through sound alone – John Presley.

Years of commercial and short film work, along with his experience as a musician, led the director on a journey to uncover how Cleveland became the artist and person he is today.

I have felt deeply honoured to tell his inspirational story and present his talent to new audiences around the world – John Presley.

When I was first approached about the idea of a documentary film about me, I was definitely surprised, and it still seems so surreal,. For as long as I’ve been playing music professionally, I have made it a point to keep the focus on the music and not the fact that I am visually impaired. I decided that if I was going to have a career in music, I wanted to make it on my abilities as a musician and not the fact that I was blind. After I talked to John and took a few days to think it over and run it by my family and the rest of the Flamekeeper team, I realised that this could be an inspiration to some young kid somewhere with a dream that looks as impossible as it seemed to me when I was growing up and dreaming of a career in music – Michael Cleveland.

Flamekeeper features interviews with 14-time Grammy Award winner Bela Fleck and 21-time Grammy Award winner Vince Gill. along with such music notables as Sam Bush, Jens Kruger, Jeff White, the Bibelhauser Brothers and Andy Statman.

It’s wicked to see how much music he pulls out of a bow. He’s untouchable – Vince Gill.

The evening was hosted by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Peter Cooper and was attended by a who’s who of bluegrass icons including Fleck, Bush, Gill, Ricky Skaggs, The Whites, Jeff White, Becky Buller, and others.

Flamekeeper will be released globally to audiences online through Amazon and other streaming platforms on 1st March 2019. For more information visit FlamekeeperFilm.com.

Grammy Win for The Travellin’ McCourys

12 Feb, 19 by Greg McGrath Leave a Comment

Congratulations must surely to The Travelin’ McCourys on their Grammy win for Best Bluegrass Album, announced today in Los Angeles, California. The band’s eponymous debut album was released on 25th May of last year. After several decades of playing, touring and performing the Grammy award points to the band members’ work ethic and their innovative style of bluegrass which honours the genre’s tradition and drives it forward.

In the acceptance speech Rob McCoury thanked Del and Jean McCoury, saying “without them, none of this would have happened.” And it’s true; few, if any, have blazed a musical path for their children the way Del has. Taking the torch, the Travelin’ McCourys have proven that not only are they worthy; they’re comfortable blazing a trail of their own.

The McCoury brothers, Ronnie on mandolin and Rob on banjo, were born into the bluegrass tradition. Talk about a source abundant and pure; their father, Del, is among the most influential and successful musicians in the history of the genre. Years on the road with Dad in Del McCoury Band honed their knife-edge chops and encouraged the duo to imagine how traditional bluegrass could cut innovative pathways into 21st-century music.

With fiddler Jason Carter, bassist Alan Bartram, and latest recruit Cody Kilby on guitar, they assembled a group that could take what they had in their DNA, take what traditions they learned and heard, and push the music forward. In fact, the band became the only group to have each of its members recognised with an International Bluegrass Music Association Award for their instrument at least once. There were peers, too, that could see the McCourys’ brand of bluegrass as both historic and progressive. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, The Allman Brothers Band, improv-rock kings Phish, and jamband contemporary Keller Williams were just a few that formed a mutual admiration society with the ensemble. The members of Travelin’ McCourys who also share duties in Del McCoury Band have now won three Grammy awards including Del’s two previous wins for Best Bluegrass Album. This win brings Cody Kilby’s Grammy Awards total to five after four wins during his time in Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder.

The Travelin’ McCourys is a brilliantly executed set overflowing with inventive style, stellar musicianship, and, of course, plenty of burnin’ grass, the 14-song collection is a true culmination of their decades-long journey. From the headwaters of Bill Monroe and the waves of Jerry Garcia to a sound both rooted and revolutionary, soulful and transcending that belongs only to the Travelin’ McCourys.

The album definitely shows what we’ve evolved into as a band. And, it’s a pretty good representation of what’s happening with the whole genre. The old bluegrass material is something I love but it’s been done many times. We’re forging ahead with our own sound. That’s what you have to do to make it all work – Ronnie McCoury.

On Feb.13th, The Travelin’ McCourys will celebrate Del McCoury’s 80th birthday at the “Grand DEL Opry” alongside Marty Stuart, Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, Vince Gill, Old Crow Medicine Show, Dierks Bentley, and more. After the Opry, the band hits the road for a headlining tour including a number of The Grateful Ball dates (with Jeff Austin Band). Festival-wise, catch the band at Winter WonderGrass, DelFest, High Sierra Music Festival, ROMP, Rhythm & Roots, and more.

Listen to the Grammy winning album here.

For more information on The Travelin’ McCourys, please visit their website.

On tour:

February 13 – Nashville, TN – Grand DEL Opry
February 22 – Panama City Beach, FL – Bourbon, Beer, & Butts
February 23 – Huntsville, AL – Tangled String Studios (early & late show)
February 27 – Omaha, NE – The Waiting Room**
February 28 – Springfield, MO – Outland Ballroom**
March 1 – Louisville, KY – Zanzabar**
March 2 – Cincinnati, OH – Memorial Hall OTR**
March 3 – Ferndale, MI – Otus Supply
March 5 – Benton Harbor, MI – The Livery**
March 6 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom & Tavern**
March 7 – Bloomington, IN – The Bluebird Nightclub**
March 29-31 – Olympic Valley, CA – Winter Wondergrass

**with Jeff Austin Band; together presenting The Grateful Ball

Adam Steffey To Join Volume Five.

26 Jan, 19 by Greg McGrath Leave a Comment

Volume Five has announced the addition of Adam Steffey to their band. He is a 5-time Grammy award winner and record-holding 11-time International Bluegrass Music Association Mandolin Player of the Year award winner.

Adam Steffey has toured with an impressive list of bands including Alison Krauss & Union Station, Lonesome River Band, Mountain Heart, The Dan Tyminski Band, The Boxcars, The Isaacs and most recently The Highland Travelers. He has performed with such artists as Kenny Chesney, Clint Black, Vince Gill, Dolly Parton, The Dixie Chicks, James Taylor, Rhonda Vincent, Ronnie Bowman, Jim Mills, and many others.

We are excited about Adam joining the band. He’s a fantastic player with a lot of musical ideas. We are extremely excited to get to work with Adam and I’m sure he will be a great asset to Volume Five – Glen Harrell, Volume Five.

Steffey will play mandolin and multi-instrumentalist Jacob Burleson will move to guitar. The talented Patton Wages on banjo and Jeff Partin round out this award-winning five-piece group.

Volume Five was received two 2017 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Awards, including Emerging Artist of the Year and Song of the Year Award for I Am A Drifter written by Donna Ulisse and Marc Rossi.

In 2018, Mountain Fever Records released the band’s Milestones album that celebrates their 10th anniversary. Many tracks from the album continue to climb the charts on the Bluegrass Today’s Weekly and Monthly Charts, Sirius XM Bluegrass Junction’s Most Played Tracks and Albums, Roots Music Report and more.

Steffey will appear on Volume Five’s upcoming album to be released on Mountain Fever Records this year. The band has been recording their new album at “the house” at Everett’s Music Barn in Suwanee, Georgia.

Ronnie Reno To Retire in Late 2019

16 Jan, 19 by Greg McGrath Leave a Comment

After a career of over 60 years in the music industry, Ronnie Reno announced today that he will retire in December of 2019. The longstanding host of award-winning Reno’s Old Time Music television show will call it a day.

Back in 1955, a then seven-year-old Ronnie Reno climbed up on a milk carton, stretched up to the microphone, and performed before his first national audience on The Old Dominion Barndance. This performance would prove to be the beginning of one of the most colourful, diverse and distinguished careers in the music industry. Indeed, a career that spans over 60 years, and has put him along side some of the most legendary entertainers in Bluegrass and Country Music history.

Reno was launched into bluegrass greatness when he picked up the mandolin and joined his father’s band. His dad just happened to be banjo pioneer Don Reno and one-half of the Hall of Fame duo Reno & Smiley. While juggling schoolwork with TV tapings and top-billed performances, young Ronnie honed his chops and was a part of that act’s great recordings in the 50’s and 60’s. He earned a reputation as a fine all-round player and picked up additional work with groups like the Louvin Brothers, or whoever else might have needed him.

Ronnie Reno then joined the famed Osborne Brothers and provided part of what became the trademark Osborne Brothers sound during the height of their commercial success. In 1971, they were awarded the coveted CMA Vocal Group of the Year.

Ronnie’s talent later caught the attention of Merle Haggard. He went on to play and sang with Haggard and became Haggard’s opening act as a solo performer.

After the death of his father Don Reno in the 1984, Ronnie joined with his two brothers, Dale and Don-Wayne Reno to form the Reno Brothers. The trio also began hosting a regular TV show for the Americana cable network in 1993, which in its day was the only nationally broadcast television program to focus on bluegrass music.