All posts tagged: Acoustic Music

How do those bluegrass guys (and gals) play so fast? The true story!

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(NOTE from 2021: Since I wrote this post way back in 2008, the website referenced is no longer active. Nonetheless, since it saw some recent traffic, I decided to keep it here as I think you can get the gist of the report from this now-departed Onion-like online site.) Thanks to a heads up from The Bluegrass Blog, I was introduced to the perfect post-convention antidote that puts all the postings from The Daily Kos (or insert your favorite right-wing blog) in perspective. Want to know how all those bluegrass phenoms play so darn fast?  Steroids!  Check out this stunning revelation from the incredibly funny Bluegrass Intelligencer which reports on the government-funded study to uncover rampant performance enhancing drug use among all the major bluegrass bands, including Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder (see photo at top).  As one “fan” put it, “I mean, when you go to a festival and you see Cody Kilby playing those guitar solos with Kentucky Thunder, you know that it’s not naturally possible, yet everyone just looks the other way,” …

Tom Dews Concert

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My friend Tom Dews has a concert coming up this month at the historic Athenaeum in Alexandria, Virginia.  This is a nice venue in the heart of Old Town.  Tom’s concert is set for next Thursday, September 11th, at 7 p.m.  Tickets are $10/person and The Athenaeum is located at 201 Prince Street. If you aren’t familiar with Tom’s music, let me quote from the website: Tom Dews soaked up roots rhythms and fished the great rivers of the southeast growing up in south Georgia and central Florida. After sojourns in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, he resides in Northern Virginia, still churning out his brand of original guitar with simultaneous harmonica and vocals from a lived-in and karma-buffeted voice. His three CDs, EPIPHANIES & EPITAPHS, BUTTONS BALLADS BLUES, and the new DRIVING DREAMS are available at CDBaby.com. Dews holds an endorsement from the M. Hohner Co. for harmonica studio work, and has contributed as a sideman to the work of a number of other artists. Hear Tom Dews @ tomdews.com For his day job, Tom …

Irish Band Solas Plays in Arlington This Week – Recommended!

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One of the great Irish bands of the past decade will be playing twice in Arlington, Virginia this weekend.  The band is Solas and since the late 1990s they have been hailed as the best Irish band to ever emerge from the United States.  I agree.  Led by the terrific Seamus Egen, they exhibit superb musicianship that is infectious, and their new album also includes duet work with the Canadian band The Duhks.  Solas will play at a CD-release party on Friday evening, and then will follow that the next day with a concert as part of Planet Arlington’s World Music Festival. Solas is a great live band – which you can see in Arlington and (for those outside Washington) on the joint CD/DVD album SOLAS:  Reunion – A Decade of Solas.   A great concert and a great band.  More to come… DJB

Pandora Radio and Ben’s Chili Bowl

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A couple of random topics about unique institutions that you may find of interest… Pandora Radio – My friend and colleague Scott Gerloff introduced me to Pandora Radio, the Internet radio station that allows you to program your own music.  If you’ve never tried Pandora, I recommend you pay it a visit.  No matter your musical taste, you’ll enjoy it…because you get to program it! In a posting today on the Bluegrass Blog, there’s a story about the difficulties Pandora is facing due to royalty issues with the music industry.  Check out the blog, learn more about Pandora, and become a listener.  Let’s hope we can all enjoy it for a long time to come. Ben’s Chili Bowl – There’s a Washington institution celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and the blog at PreservationNation captured the celebration at Ben’s Chili Bowl on historic U Street in a posting today.  The Washington Post also had a terrific article earlier this week that covers the history – and future – of Ben’s.  After coming back from two weeks …

Practicing

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Four restful days on the Patuxent River in Southern Maryland brought our summer holiday to a close.  We used this time for unwinding from our western travels, reading, talking as a family – but mostly for being.  The sunset on the river was illustrative of the four wonderful days of weather we experienced…nary a day when the AC was required…but it also struck us as appropriate for an end-of-summer-holiday post. We’ve been fortunate enough to have access to this retreat for nine years, and there are some traditional activities we’ve taken on during that time.  While our visit was shortened this year, we were still able to visit Cone Island at Solomon’s to buy the traditional “Monster” ice cream cones that Andrew and Claire showcase below.  It just wouldn’t be a summer without a Monster! Candice and I were also able to finish some reading over the weekend.  Candice completed an out-of-print book she bought on Amazon entitled Nourishing the Soul:  Discovering the Sacred in Everyday Life and said it was transformative in its insights.  …

Interviews with Dobro Master Jerry Douglas

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My father sent along the news that WPLN public radio in Nashville featured an interview on August 18th with Dobro master Jerry Douglas that some readers will find interesting.  The interview and an on-line web extra are available at WPLN’s web site.   Many of you will recognize Douglas’ name from his work with Alison Kraus + Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas, but those of us who’ve been listening to bluegrass and new acoustic music since the 1970s know that he’s played with just about everyone – from the Country Gentlemen (his first professional gig as a teenager), to J.D. Crowe and the New South (with bandmates Tony Rice and Ricky Skaggs), to Boone Creek, to Nashville session man extraordinaire from the 1980s on.  At least one regular reader of More to Come thinks Jerry Douglas is God.  If you want to see him live, go to YouTube to see this great set from Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival featuring Vince Gill and Jerry Douglas. This posting reminds me that I haven’t made my quarterly update on …

IMT Concerts Begin Fall Season

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I have found one of the best acoustic music/folk concert series in the Washington area is hosted on Monday evenings during the school year by the Institute of Musical Traditions.  IMT is headquartered at Takoma Park’s House of Musical Traditions, but the concerts are held at St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church on Old Georgetown Road in Rockville.  Click on the link to find this fall’s schedule.  This is a very friendly venue, where IMT sells homemade cookies and other treats in addition to CDs of the featured artist.  Over the course of several years, I’ve heard some tremendous musicians (including the great guitarist John Jorgenson and west coast bluegrass fiddler Laurie Lewis among many others) and have run into good friends and music lovers like Max and Mary van Balgooy and Tom Dews (a well-respected regional singer-songerwriter in his own right).  For this fall, several acts caught my eye, including the great Irish fiddler Kevin Burke on September 29th and the band Nightingale on October 6th.   I was introduced to the latter by my Staunton friends Jim and Constance Harrington & …

Rafting the Rio Grande

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We awoke early this morning as we were heading out to raft the Rio Grande River south of Taos (see photo at left).  As everyone in town had promised, the rainy, cool evening gave way to a beautiful, sunny, yet cool morning.  Bundled up with fleeces, but in our quick-drying shorts (i.e., bathing suits and gym pants) we shivered our way to the little town of Pilar to meet with our guide from Far Flung Adventures. Claire has a classmate named Pilar, so we began by taking 12 different photographs around the “Pilar Yacht Club” (actually, a little hole in the wall – see photo below) so they could post a Where in the World is Pilar? album for her Facebook page.  Then we met up with Hank, Bill, and Erica – the three Far Flung Adventures guides. After a quick safety lecture, we joined up with Hank – a late 50s river guide, metal artist and all-round outdoors guy who was perfect for the four of us.  With Andrew and Claire in the front, Candice and …

Lovell Sisters at Strathmore Music Center

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It was a beautiful evening in Bethesda, Maryland as a few hundred fans stretched out on the lawn in front of the Strathmore Mansion with picnics in hand to enjoy a free concert by the Lovell Sisters Band.  This band of three young sisters from Georgia played two spirited sets bringing together bluegrass and country classics with some very tasteful original music.  All three sisters – Jessica on fiddle, Megan on Dobro, and Rebecca on mandolin and guitar – are excellent instrumentalists and the harmony singing is as good as expected from three musical siblings.  While all three sisters had their moments, the standout for me was the youngest, Rebecca – the writer of much of the original material and the owner of a nice bluesy voice that will only get better as she matures.  She also played some spirited mandolin breaks, trading licks with guitarist Matt Wingate.  During the concert I turned to my wife and said “that guitarist is good,”  so I wasn’t surprised to find out later that he is a former Merlefest guitar …

MVYRadio – A Wonderful Source for Good Music

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I discovered MVYRadio (Martha’s Vineyard Radio) when I was unable to attend the 2008 Merlefest Celebration in Wilkesboro, NC.  Remembering their advertisements at previous Merlefest events, I checked them out online and found they were streaming live from the festival and had a rich archives of performances from past years.  Check out the archives section and you’ll find performances from a number of great festivals. Recommended! DJB