americana rhythm issue #36
DESCRIPTION
December 2011 issue featuring Dale Ann Bradley.TRANSCRIPT
December 2011
FREEMusic Culture of the Shenandoah Valley, Central Virginia, Blue Ridge, Piedmont, South West,Virginia Highlands, and beyond
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Dale Ann BradleyDale Ann Bradley IN THIS ISSUE:v Fiddle Timev Music Trailv Artist Lifev CVille Stop
IN THIS ISSUE:v Fiddle Timev Music Trailv Artist Lifev CVille Stop
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December 2011
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December 2011
Americana Rhythm is published six times a year. All correspondenceshould be sent to PO Box 45, Bridgewater VA, 22812 or email [email protected]. Copies of Americana Rhythm are madeavailable free at various pick up locations within the publication’s re-gion. Subscriptions are available inside the United States for $15 UScurrency made payable by check or money order sent to Subscriptionsat PO Box 45, Bridgewater, VA, 22812. Foreign subscription requestsshould be sent to [email protected]. Copyright 2008. Allrights reserved. Reproduction of copy, artwork or photographs is strictlyprohibited without permission of the publisher. All advertising materialsubject to approval.
PUBLISHER/EDITOR IN CHIEFGreg E. Tutwiler
EDITORIAL ASSISTANTSEd Tutwiler
Jacenta TutwilerLisa Tutwiler
MARKETING & PROMOTIONMark Barreres (GrassRootsNetworking.com)
ADVERTISINGGreg Tutwiler
Business office 540-433-0360
CONTRIBUTORSEd TutwilerKaye D. Hill
Wayne ErbsenRyan Babarsky
UNC Ashville StudentsAndrew McKnight
Doak TurnerBecky AllenScott Perry
DISTRIBUTIONMark BarreresDavid LaFleurNate SparksEd Tutwiler
Doug WilliamsStuart Thomas
Floyd Country StoreLetters, Comments, Suggestions
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8 Dale Ann Bradley
Table Of Contents
6 New Soul
Questions, comments, suggestions:[email protected]
Well gang, Fall is falling, you can feelit in the air. The festivals are wrappingit up for another season. I trust you gotyour fill this year - if not, there’splenty on the horizon for 2012.We’ll be taking a short break from the printedition for a month or so, but be sure to check outour on-line version atwww.AmericanaRhythmWeekly.com. We’ll haveall the latest news on fall and early winterreleases, and the prelim on spring festivals.One exciting point of interest -You’ll be able to catch our new radio show,The Edge Of Grass, on Tuesdays (10-12 AM) starting this fall on the World Wide Bluegrass.AND; did you know you can tune in our Americana House Partybroadcast on your Smart Phone? Download the Live365 App, and type“Americana” in the search bar - we’re usually the first entry!We’ll see you out there!
Check out our new musicProfiles web site!
www.AmericanaMusicProfiles.com
Listen to our streaming radiostation, 24/7/365. Click the radio
button from our web site,www.AmericanaRhythm.com10 Reflections
131415 Market Place
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The Southern
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By Edward Tutwiler
Today’s mega-marts andsuperstores have about strangledthe life from the small, indepen-dently operated shops of yester-day. The folks that work these bigplaces have been trained to be po-lite but they usually have no pas-sion or knowledge depth for theproduct that they sell; and they aresure not going to repair it for youif it breaks. It is for reasons suchas these that when one encountersa survivor that does business theold fashioned waywith knowledge, pas-sion, and love; and ifthat business is asso-ciated with Ameri-cana roots music aswell, there is cause forrejoicing. Recently, wehere at AR wentsearching for such aplace and we found itin the Barr’s FiddleShop located in Galax,VA.
Barr’s Fiddle Shop isowned and operatedby the father and son team of Tomand Steve Barr and sets alongMain Street in Galax, VA, or asSteve would have it, along the“Crooked Road”. Barr ’s FiddleShop will have its 30th anniver-sary next year and has been at thesame location there on Main Streetfor the last 20 years.
I caught up with Steve Barr re-cently and got him to talk aboutthe shop a bit for us. He begin bytelling me that his dad, Tom Barr,started the shop in a little shedbehind his house up on ColdCreek Road just outside of Galax.In this little shop, he would buildand repair instruments. Stevesays, “When I was a kid, I remem-ber people coming from all aroundto get Daddy to repair their gui-tars and fiddles. There really wasnot anyone doing that sort of thingback then.” Tom Barr studiedfiddle making under Mr. AlbertHash who lived on White TopMountain and banjo making un-der a famous banjo maker namedKile Creek who lived in the neigh-borhood. Steve added, “Folks thenstarted coming around asking Dadto show them how to build instru-ments and getting him to repairbroken ones.”
One Fiddle at a TimeA Family Affair
Steve told me how the businessstarted, “Dad worked in granite asa monument maker and startedthe fiddle shop as a side job. Mymom trained as a physical thera-pist while dad was doing themonument work. When she fin-ished her schooling and becameemployed as a physical therapist,she was able to help him get themusic business up and running.
This was a time when theeconomy was beginning to reallyclick so that helped everything togrow.”
Steve went on, “After a while,there were so many people com-ing by the house that Dad decidedto rent a little cinderblock build-ing just up the road.” Tom rentedthat building for about a year andan half and then a building be-came available in West Galax. (Aninteresting side note is that therewas a barbershop near by oper-ated by Beverly Davis—his dadwas Doctor Davis who was one ofthe folks that helped start theGalax old-time fiddler’s conven-tion. The other barber was CharlesHawks. Both of these men wereexcellent musicians.)
Word Gets OutSteve says that it was not long be-fore people started coming fromnear and far to get his Dad to dorepairs. Steve added, “I rememberas a kid my Dad’s first cash regis-ter was a cigar box and we’d makechange out of that old cigar box.It is unbelievable the people thatcame in that shop. A few that I re-member include: LarryRitcherson, a famous banjo player,
Charlie Waller of Country Gentle-man fame and James Baliey, an-other famous banjo player. JamesKing once worked in the fiddleshop, and he still comes by to hangout when he is in town. Any of thefamous musicians that camethrough Galax came by the shopto get Dad to work on theirfiddles.” “You know”, says Steve,“This area where the “CrookedRoad” comes through is full ofmusic and there are a lot of peoplethat have come out of here that areincredible musicians. We’ve had alot of them come through the storeover the years.”
Steve continued, “At this point,Dad started building more instru-ments and the next thing he knewhe was running out of room.About that time, a building be-came available on Main Street inGalax. Dad had saved enoughmoney to buy that building andanother small building next doorthat he later turned into one bigbuilding. It was at this point withits main street location that thefiddle shop started getting reallybig. Lots of people knew about theshop because they had come to getrepairs but this new locationcaused an increase in traffic asfolks would just happen upon it.We’ve been in Galax for almost 20years now right here on MainStreet.”
Tom ran the shop with Steve add-ing part time and after-hours as-sistance until health problems be-fell him several years ago. WithTom needing to take time to slowdown and recover, Steve left hisjob as a quality control specialistat a furniture factory and cameinto the shop full time. His takeis, “When you are family, you dowhat must be done.”
Time For A ChangeTom’s health eventually got betterbut as he neared 70 years of agehe decided to take time off totravel and spend some time inFlorida in the winter. Steve saysthat Tom will search out instru-ments on his trips that he can re-pair; and takes things to Floridawith him that he can work onwhile he’s there. Plus, he will buildsome dulcimers and old-time ban-jos.
Steve took over the shop, added acandy store, and changed the storeto accommodate more modern in-struments. But he hastened to add,“We still do all the repairs and in-strument builds that we have al-ways done. We want to keep it inan old style where folks can comein and do jam sessions and pickand play music. We still have apicking bench in the shop andkeep the shop a place wherepeople feel comfortable to justcome in and start playing. Duringthe last year, we have been remod-eling the whole store. We are inthe process of putting in a mu-seum to showcase the old musi-cians that have come through thestore over the years. We’re plac-ing pictures on the walls andhanging up records from the olddays.” Recently, music historianshave determined that the famous1920’s musical group The Hillbil-lies was formed in the old build-ing that was incorporated as partof the Barr’s Fiddle Shop location.
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Steve has obtained some of theirold pictures and records and otherhistory and has made these itemsa central part of the display. By theway, this group was one of the firststring-music bands to bring na-tional attention to Americanaroots string music. They were oneof the first entertainers of this typeto make recordings of their per-formance. They also made a 15minute movie of them performingin that formative time, and Stevesaid that he is in the process ofobtaining a copy of that movie toshow in the museum.
Memories Live OnSteve went on to say, “The latestproject, after we finished thecandy store and museum, is todevelop a custom shop in thebasement. It will be finished bynext spring, and we will be build-ing custom instruments there. Thehope is to make a place wherepeople can come through to lookor to learn some building tech-niques.” Steve’s hope with thiscustom shop is to produce hand-made instruments more on a de-mand level and have them avail-able in the shop for sale. His takeon this is, “With the economy be-ing what it is these days there arenot many stores making it. We are
not going to be carrying manyfancy Martin and Gibson itemsbecause there are not many of ourcustomers that can afford them.That’s why we are going to try tobuild a custom instrument thatwill be comparable to somethinglike those models. That is what
people are wanting now. Theywant the one-on-one uniquenessof a custom built instrument.”
I wondered if Steve had alwaysbeen part of the shop and he re-lated this story to me. “I’ve alwaysworked in the shop every since Iwas a kid until I went off to col-lage. I played music my whole life.I won a local, then state, and fi-nally an international teen talentcontest sponsored by The Churchof God. My banjo playing earned
me a scholarship to attend collegewhere I studied business to pre-pare myself to take over and runthe fiddle shop and expand thestore into a full-scale music storeinstead of just a repair shop. WhenI returned from college, I wantedto do some hands-on work withwood so I took a job at a local fur-niture factory as a traveling qual-ity control specialist. This worktaught me about wood qualitiessuch as colors and so forth. I knewthat I wanted to work with thewood and build musical instru-ments just like my Dad. WhileDad had to learn about wood byhimself, the factory experiencehelped teach me about woodtypes.” When Tom’s health gotbad, Steve knew that it was timefor him to step in.
Steve has always played music aswell as help run a music store;however, so did his dad and mom,Becky. Tom and Becky were mem-bers of the old-time band namedWhite Top Mountain for manyyears. As White Top MountainBand toured nationally as well asoverseas, they took Steve alongand brought him out on stage toplay with them. While Tom andBecky were old-time musicians,Steve has moved into bluegrassand continues to play.
Alright, AR readers, you see thereare still folks around that do busi-ness the old fashioned way. Now,I can’t speak for you, but I’m sureglad it is still a fact. If you getdown Galax way for the fiddler’sconvention or if you take that longplanned drive along the “CrookedRoad”, be sure to stop in and visitBarr’s Fiddle Shop at 105, SouthMain Street, in Galax, VA. If youcan’t get down there, visit themon-line atwww.barrsfiddleshop.com.
Here is how Steve summed up hisview of the Barr’s Fiddle Shop.“We are not fancy—there isenough fancy out there already.We’re just old fashioned. We tryto do it just like they did it in theold days. When people come in,we tell them to help themselves.We are not one of those high styleretail places. We want folks tocome in, choose an instrument, sitdown and pick a tune. We wantfolks to walk around, and look atthe pictures. If they buy some-thing, that is great but if not, westill tell them to come back to seeus again sometime.”
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Growing up, Holly Renee Allenmade up songs and sang them tothe horses in her family’s barn.Now, as an adult, she sings hersongs to (human!) audiences froma stage in and around Central Vir-ginia. A Charlottesville native,Allen has three primary roles thatshe fills: Single mother, singer/songwriter, and hair stylist. If thatseems like a lot, it is, but, she man-ages to do them all to the best ofher ability and with grace (Ishould know; she does my hair!).Recently, Allen finished a newrecord called Red Dirt Soul, anAmericana/Country album full ofher original material.
Allen was blessed with a musicalfamily: “My dad is a fiddle player.He plays bluegrass. Even now heplays fiddle for money… My sis-ter Brenda plays piano and my sis-ter Becky plays guitar. I learned alittle piano and a little mandolin,but the guitar is what stuck forme.” She started composing origi-nal songs at a very early age: “Iwas going through some stuff theother day and found some songsI had written when I was like 12. Ihad forgotten all about that!”
Started With HairAfter leaving high school early,Allen waited tables for a hot-minute (which she hated), andthen decided to go to Cosmetol-ogy school. When she finishedschool, she went to Nashville withher cousin, where she hovered onthe edge of the music scene:“That’s where I started writing alittle more seriously, but I wasnever on the inside of the Nash-ville scene. I was blessed to meeta lot of amazing people. I sangaround Nashville a little bit, butnot much; I mostly did hair.”
She then moved back to Virginia,where she sang with a trio calledTraveling Light. That trio got to dosome recording in Asheville, NC,which is where Allen met hernow-ex husband. They moved tothe Atlanta, GA area, where Allenbegan gigging regularly. It wasthere that she met Martin Kearns,who owns Down In Deep Studios,as well as a host of Atlanta-areamusicians.
When Allen got divorced, shemoved back to Virginia, where shecurrently resides with her six-year-old son. Allen currently
Holly Renee Allen: Red Dirt Soulworks as a stylist at Anne Marieand Co. Salon on the DowntownMall in Charlottesville, VA. Sheand Kearns reconnected recentlyto make Red Dirt Soul.
Red Dirt SoulThough she has recently played atsome notable venues in Virginialike The Southern inCharlottesville and Mockingbirdin Staunton, Allen’s musical careerof-late has revolved around mak-ing her record. Of making RedDirt Soul, Allen said, “I’m a singlemom working a job and it took mepretty much two years to get ap r o j e c tcompleted.It’s been agreat laborof love onbehalf of alot ofpeople. In alot of ways,I don’teven feellike it’s myproject. Som a n yp e o p l ecame upand wereso gener-ous withtheir timeand theirgifts.”
Allen hadto go downto Down InDeep Studios in Atlanta for a weekat-a-time a few times a year foralmost two years to get the projectto its completed state. She had alot of people from the Atlanta-areaplay on the album with her (Six-teen musicians played/sang onvarious tracks!), and she feels theymade all the difference on the al-bum: “I think it’s a really goodrecord. I think all I did was showup and sing and bring somesongs.” Oliver Wood from theWood Brothers guest-played onthe album, as did Shawn Mullins.The core band was made up ofAllen (guitar), Gerry Hansen(bass), Robert Henson (drums),Colin Agnew (percussion), andValerie Peyton (vocals).
There are 13 tracks on the disc, 12of which are Allen’s original tunes.She also did a cover of “OldFlames,” which was written by
Pebe Sebert and Hugh Moffattand made famous by Dolly Par-ton. The album ranges from rau-cous country rockers to soulfulballads and features Allen’s dis-tinct voice (think Patty Griffin).Now that the album is finished,Allen is working on getting a newwebsite made, and is hoping tostart booking more actively.
Writing Her LifeAllen writes songs about realthings and people in her life:“Most of my stuff happens to beabout real life and people thathave touched parts of my life.”
Her songs seem to benefit fromthe fact that she has a life outsideof songwriting: The songs are sin-cere and grounded, and everydaypeople can absolutely identifywith the themes: Nostalgia, Love,Hard Work, Loss, and Fun.
Allen’s songwriting process; com-ing up with an idea and then flesh-ing it out with her guitar: “I gen-erally write by getting a line andsitting down with my guitar andseeing where it goes.” She has agood support system at AnneMarie and Co. as well: “Part of thereason that I love my job doinghair is that I feel really supportedby the people I work with. WhenI’m not busy, I bring my guitar, Igo downstairs and I write. Theacoustics are great. Nobody both-ers me, you know, I don’t have‘mama, mama, mama!’”
To Allen, sad songs are easier towrite than happy songs, and, shethinks her best tunes are the ones“that just come.” She calls this“when the angels whisper in yourears.” She is influenced the musicshe listens to, which includes Top40 Country radio, as well assinger/songwriters like Patty Grif-fin, Emmylou Harris, BuddyMiller, Grace Potter, and BonnieRaitt.
Where To NowNow that Red Dirt Soul is fin-ished, Allen plans on spendingmore time playing out in the Cen-tral VA area. The album will offi-cially be released on November12, which Allen will celebrate byhaving a CD release party at TheSouthern in Charlottesville. She is
also singing around townwith a trio called TheHarmaniacs with KathrynCaine and her sister BeckyAllen.
Ultimately, Allen wouldlike to make her living onmusic: “I would like to be amusician full-time. I wouldlike to be out playing, butI’d also like to have a pub-lishing deal where I couldwrite with other writersand basically make my liv-ing writing.” She wouldalso like to start playing thebigger venues around townlike The Jefferson or TheParamount.
For now, Allen is simplytrying to budget her timewisely so that she can be amother, work, and play mu-sic: “I work three days a
week at Anne Marie and Co. I leftmy weekends open so that I canplay. I am constantly developinga support system for my kid sothat I can play. He’s six, and he’sgetting big enough that he cancome and do some things withme. Sometimes he’s interested andsometimes he’s not. I’m hopingthat I can get him playing some-thing so that he’ll want to playwith me.”
You can check out Allen onFacebook and Youtube, and shehas a Reverbnation page as well.She is currently in the process ofbuilding a new website. Once it isreleased on November 12, RedDirt Soul will be available at hershows, as well as online. Also lookfor her live shows around CentralVA!
By Ryan Babarsky
December 2011
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The Shenandoah Music Trail(SMT), a kin to the popular“Crooked Road” in the southernpart of Virginia, is an initiative tobring together Shenandoah Valleymusicians and their audiences.The SMT started in 2007 with thecreation of the Shenandoah ValleyMountain Music Makers Associa-tion, Inc. SVMMMA is a Virginia
based all-volunteer, membershipbased non-profit 501(c)(3) publictrust corporation chartered in2009 with a mission to: preserve,promote and maintain the integ-rity and roots of this great acous-tic music tradition and its variousconfigurations including: blue-grass, old-time string band,American fiddle/banjo traditions,Appalachian folk songs, shape-note, gospel, and acoustic old-timecountry.
The MissionOur desire in this new feature ist o s h o w c a s e V i r g i n i a ’sShenandoah Valley as a well-spring of folk music dating backto the days of the early settlers inthe early 1700s. The ShenandoahMusic Trail is a series of drivingloops designed to show-case Val-ley music and promote theValley’s rich history and naturalbeauty. The Trail covers 14 coun-ties and is divided into 3-sections.The upper, central, and lower val-ley regions feature easy drivingmultiple-loop excursions fromWinchester to Roanoke that high-light current musical venues andtrail stops featuring mountainmusic, along with historical placesand musicians that have had sig-nificant impact on American mu-sic.
One of Central Valley’s favoritejams is the “Spike Jam Session” inTimberville, Virginia. The late“Spike” Stroop and his wife VallieMay were the founders of theSpike Jam Sessions. As you mayremember, “Spike” and VallieMay toured with Don Reno andRed Smiley for years as the ValleySweethearts. “Spike” is also the
co-author of abanjo instrumentalfavorite “Followthe Leader”. Theseweekly jams areheld at The PlainsCommunity Cen-ter in Timbervillee v e r y F r i d a yevening from 7pmto 10pm, and are astellar example ofthe heart and soulof ShenandoahValley music heri-tage.
The Spike Jams area family-oriented music jam thatperpetuates an oral music tradi-tion that keeps the music freshand alive for others to enjoy forgenerations to come. The jams arefree and open to the public and alllevels of musicians (Donations arewelcome). Snacks and drinks areavailable. And there is no dresscode, so just come as you are!
What is a music jam?It’s the creation of instant perform-ing art. Typically musicians youngand old come together, take turnsaround the circle and play a vari-ety of songs. These songs includeinstrumental pieces with indi-vidual solo breaks and bluegrass,traditional country or gospelsongs often sung in 3-part har-mony. Like its Jazz cousin, thepractice of creating music by earwithout written notation has beengoing on in the valleys, moun-tains, garages and front porchesfor many generations. All alongthe music trail you will find thebest musicians playing music as away of life. Glad you could join us!
If you would like to know moreabout SVMMMA,the ShenandoahMusic Trail, live music venues orwant to become a SVMMMAmember please visit uson line www.shenandoahmusictrail.comor call 540-209-3540
Along the ShenandoahMusic Trail By Don DePoy
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Somewhere South Of Crazy By Greg Tutwiler
How does the daughter of aPrimitive Baptist preacher fromthe hills of East Kentucky findherself one day the three-timewinner of the IBMA Female Vo-calist of the year award? It’s thekind of story that makes one ap-preciate the charmed life so manyof us have lived, and yet recog-nize the tenacity and enduranceit takes to achieve your dreamswhen you know most of yourworld is against those comingtrue.
Dale Ann Bradley was born in1964 not far from the hometownof famed country singer LorettaLynn. In fact, Dale Ann acknowl-edges that they had very similarupbringings. Loretta grew up afew counties away, in JohnsonCounty from Dale Ann’s home inCumberland Gap area on the Ken-tucky side. Coal mining was defi-nitely a huge part of our growingup,” she recalled. “Until I was asenior in High School, thingshadn’t changed in the mountain,probably since my great grand-mother was living there. You werestill on party lines with yourphone service. And a lot of peopledidn’t have vehicles; neighborswould often drive folks to thenearest town. When I went up toJohnson County to Bucher Hollerthere, it reminded me a lot of thearea I grew up in.”
In A Paper Shack“I grew up in a tar paper shack; Ireally did; with no running wateror outside bathroom facilities. Wehad one socket, and that’s whatyou hooked everything up to. Thehouse wasn’t always in the best ofshape either. The house in themovie Coal Miners Daughter wasreal close to the one I grew up in.We had the newspapers for wallpaper for a while. The roads werepretty bad too – places were hardto get to. And of course peopledidn’t take to change very welleither. It’s easy to get stuck in yoursame way of life.”
Dale Ann remembered that herdad got a job working in the coalmines, and that improved theirway of life somewhat. He wasmaking a little better money, sothey bought a mobile home – butstill didn’t have running wateruntil she was a senior in highschool. “But, we survived,” shesaid.
The religion she grew up with,Primitive Baptist was very strict.There were no musical instru-ments allowed for the perfor-mance of their musical worship,which made it quite hard for ayoung gal so interested in music.“It was very hard to get recordedmusic of any kind in those days,”she recalls. “We sang out of an oldbook called a gobal in church. Itwas all acapella. ”
If there was a nearby neighborthat had a guitar or banjo, DaleAnn would hang out with themand try to get back to the housebefore anyone knew anythingabout it. “I had to be a little rebel-lious,” she recalled. “There was aboy that was close to my age thatI grew up with that wasn’t in thesame denomination of church thatI went to. He was into a lot ofJames Taylor and finger stylepickin’ guitar, and he had someJames Taylor and Jim Croche songbooks. He taught me a lot on theguitar. And when I got older Icould check out stuff from the li-brary and listen to that. I wouldround up pop bottles and cashthem in. And if I got to go to townI could pick up some music.”
It Pays OffFinally, when she got to highschool she joined the band andstruck up a relationship with thedirector and his wife. “They hada little show they did at PineMountain State Park – he was therecreational director there for thesummers – and they invited me toplay with them. That opened up avenue for me that my parentswere kind of okay with becausethey knew them. We had a little
trio for about a year, and then puttogether a little band. And by thattime I was 18, so they (parents)kind of had to go along with it. Butonce they got into it, my dad hasbeen my biggest supporter.”
When Dale Ann graduated, shewas offered a music scholarshipfor vocals and trumpet toCumberland College inWilliamsburg, KY., but decidednot to take it. “I ended up stayinghome and working odd jobs andplaying music in small groupsaround,” she said. “It was gettinga little better as far as modern stuffmoving in to the area; we got aKroger grocery store, and cableTV. Life progressed some, but itwas still a mountainess Appala-chian rural area where coal wasthe way to make a living. It’s hard
to do that now though. There wasa time when it was booming;people were making money, butthen mining went out. And a lotof people lost a lot of stuff, andthen they lost their health too. Alot of them have died too youngthat I knew that worked in themines,” she lamented.
Dale Ann played a lot with a re-gional band, and actually hadsome success. they got into the fi-
nals of the Kentucky FriedChicken Bluegrass festival – andthen into the Marberral CountryMusic Round Up; cut a couple 45rpm records; and built up a namefor themselves. “I learned a wholelot through that experience,” shesaid.
But then she took a sabbatical. Shegot married and moved to Jack-sonville, FL. “I had culture shockpretty bad. My ex-husband was inthe Navy. He was shipping out forabout eight months, and I was ex-pecting with my son, so I camehome to Kentucky. For about twoor three years I didn’t play. Butmusic is in me. I just couldn’t notplay. So when my son was about14 months old I went to RenfroValley, in 1989, and started gettingback into it that way.” Renfro is a
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barn dance show, very much likethe Grand Ole’ Opry. Their radioshow is running second only tothe WSM broadcast in Nashville,TN. A lot of musical heritage camethrough there; like Red Foley, Os-car and Lonzo, and the originalCoon Creek Girls.
Second ChanceDale Ann’s original contract ranfor five years with them as a fea-tured vocalist. “I made goodmoney that first couple of yearstoo. I was working all the time.And I sang harmony with otherpeople too, was part of a quartet,a trio, and many other things go-ing on there in Renfro Valley. Blue-grass was my roots, and at the
time this was totally a traditionalcountry music show, so I reallywasn’t performing any of my ownmusic. When I got an opportunityto play with the new Coon Creekgirls, I got an opportunity to delveback into my bluegrass roots.”
Dale Ann officially left the RenfroValley show in about 1999 as a fulltime part of the program, but upuntil about three years ago wasstill a part of a few things goingon there. “My touring schedulejust wouldn’t allow me to be thereanymore,” she said. “The road,being with a touring band is actu-ally what took me away fromthere In 1997 the new Coon Creekgirls broke up and I formed myown group; still carrying the nameCoon Creek; but in 2002 wedropped the Cook Creek andwent with the just the Dale AnnBradley Band.”
And that is where Dale Ann cameinto her own as a performer. Somuch so, the industry recognizedhere three years in a row, 2007,2008, and 2009 as the IBMA femalevocalist of the year. “I was alwaysjust thrilled to be in the nomina-tion,” she said, “but when I wonthose three consecutive years in arow that was just wonderful. Icherish that and appreciated thatso much.”
I asked Dale Ann for her thoughtson where she had come from tothe present state of her career;“Oh, It’s been a long journey,” shesaid. “A lot of trial and error too.It’s been a lot of just standing myground too. And knowing this iswant I was supposed to do, plus Ihad a child to support. After thesabbatical I just knew that musicis what I wanted to do. So I be-came pretty animate about that.”
New Old MusicHer new CD, Somewhere SouthOf Crazy, has just released, and isright up there with the caliber ofmusic that won her those awardsin the past. My favorite though ishere cover of the Seals & Croftclassic, “Summer Breeze.” “I lis-tened as a kid to whatever I couldget my hands on,” she said. “Andthose folk songs that we grew upwith, I loved them. But bluegrassmusic and the banjo was my firstlove. I just knew those songs couldbe adapted though. You know,they’re the same melody, same lyr-ics as bluegrass – Summer Breezeis Celtic. The words are verySouthern. I don’t ever pick out onejust for the sake of having a covertune, but I really enjoy that be-cause there are so many songs thatI love that I grew up with that Iknow can lend themselves to thebluegrass style in a beautifulway.”
Dale Ann did write some for thisnew CD, but says that writing isnot her main stay. “I don’t write alot like other musicians do. A songhas to find me. And every once ina while a song will bore a hole inme and just stick, and I know Ihave to write it. I co-write sometoo like I did on this album, but asong really has to be impressedupon me and really find its waythrough for me to write it. Ofcourse Pam Tillis and I co-wrotethe title cut of this CD, “Some-where South Of Crazy.”
“We’ve probably had the busiesttouring season of my career thisyear. And we’re looking forwardto the promotion of this new CDas we continue on with our cur-rent schedule. We’ll be going toIreland, Japan and Canada withthis tour, so it’s very exciting. Ilove what I do, and I love gettingto share this music genre’ aroundthe world. I can’t think of anythingelse I’d rather be doing.”
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Did you ever enjoy something somuch that you wanted it to neverend? That is the way an Americanastring music festival affects me. Ijust spent three days at the BristolRhythm Roots Revival (BRRR).Mercy, what a good time we had.
This is not going to be a wish youwere there at Bristol so much as it isa story that can apply to just aboutany festival you and I could attend.
Nevertheless, I wish that you hadbeen sitting next to me in the Para-mount theatre as my man, DarrellScott, made tears run down mycheeks. Maybe you’d lean back inyour seat and groove to three ladiesfrom New York City who call them-selves Red Molly as they croon sweetmountain sounds.
Maybe we’d flat-foot together in thedance tent as the Roan MountainHill-Toppers sawed out dance tunesfrom 100 years ago, and kept timeto the tunes with a wash tub bass.Or, you might have sat down andfoot-tapped time as the White TopMountain band put the old-timeback into country just like they havesince 1948.
Would you have screamed andstomped with me and 5000 othersas Marty Stuart left it all on a StateStreet stage for two hours? Wouldyou have helped me clap and cheeruntil blues singer Chris King cameback on that stage for one moresong?
Grandma Called ItAs I’ve said before, my mother calledit all “string music” many years agowhen she sat with me by the radio
Festival Reflectionsand listened to the Grand Ole Oprybroadcast over clear channel radiostation WSM. I wish she could havesat next to you and me as we heardthose sounds of old made new againby, singing fiddles, ringing mando-lins and laughing banjos from highenergy bands like The Black Liliesor The Steel Drivers.
I once heard a story about someoneasking a fellow festival attendee if
he was picker or singer. The manreplied, “I will tell you this. I can’tplay, and I can’t sing; however, myLord gave me ears with which I canhear and a heart with which I canfeel, and that is all I need to appre-ciate this music.”
Looking BackI’m an old man now, and folks donot pay much attention to what Isay; nevertheless, I want you to con-sider this thought: Music festivalssuch as the BRRR that I attendedover three days recently are the onlyplace that you can hear the stuffthat I told you about in this story.If you like Americana string musicno matter what style it mightpresent itself, attend a music festi-val. You can find one close to homeall up and down our blue, smokyhills. Alas, all earthly music festivalscome to an end but I leave you withthis hope of mine: I sure hope myheavenly father allows string musicin heaven; and if he does, I sure hopehe counts me worthy to have a goodplace to sit and listen.
By Edward Tutwiler
Listen in your car!Download the Live365App for your SmartPhone, and type inAmericana ... We’re #1.
December 2011
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By Wayne Erbsen
The Headless BalladWhen twenty-one-year-old CarterStanley stood before the WCYBradio microphone in Bristol,Tennessee, in1947, just beforehe and brotherRalph begansinging “JealousLover,” heintroduced it likethis: “Nowfriends andneighbors, righthere’s anotherduet number meand Ralph wouldlike to sing foryou all today.It’s one you’dhave to hunt wayback through theold songbooks to find. We hopeyou’ll like it today; it’s called the‘Jealous Lover.’”
Carter was right. Versions of thissong did appear in numerous old
moldy songbooks under such titlesas “Lonely Valley,” “Flo-Ella,” “TheLast Night in November,” “Down
Beyond the Hillside,” “Blue-EyedElla,” and “Pearl Bryan.” The balladwas apparently based on the murderof Pearl Bryan on Friday night,January 31, 1896, near Fort Thomas,Kentucky. Her headless body was
Down in a low green valley,Where the violets bloom and fadeThere sleeps sweet blue-eyed EllenIn a cold and silent grave.
She died not broken heartedNor by disease she fellBut in one moment partedFrom the one she loved so well.
One night when the moon was shiningAnd the stars shone brightly tooDown by her lonely cottageHer jealous lover drew.
Wayne Erbsen’s is Director of the Ap-palachian Music Program at WarrenWilson College in Swannonoa, NorthCarolina and president of NativeGround Music, which produces record-ings and books on old time music. Wayneis an active teacher of banjo, fiddle,mandolin and guitar. Contact NativeGround Books & Music, 109 Bell Road,Asheville NC 28805 (800) 752-2656.http://www.nativeground.com/ Freecatalog available.
found in the woods, but she wasidentified by her feet, as PearlBryan was said to be web-footed.Two young dental students by thenames of Scott Jackson andAlonzo M. Walling were soon
arrested and found guilty. They werehanged for their crime on March 20,1897.
Come love let’s take a rambleOut in the woods so gayAnd there we’ll sit togetherAnd name our wedding day.
The way grows dark and drearyAnd I do not wish to stayOf wandering I’m so wearySo let’s retrace our way.
Retrace your steps no neverYou have no wings to flyAnd in this lonesome mountainSweet Ellen you must die.
Farewell my loving parentsI’ll never see you anymoreBut long you’ll wait my comingAt the little cottage door.
Down on her knees before himShe pleaded for her lifeAnd in her snow white bosomHe plunged his fatal knife.
Retrace your steps no neverNor over the hills to roamBut bid farewell foreverTo parents, friends and home.
Story takenfrom thebook ...
December 2011
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By Greg Tutwiler
One of my favorite things aboutbeing a publisher of a music maga-zine is all the great music, musi-cians, and venues I get to experi-ence. In the early days of AR wediscovered a listening room inCharlottesville on the downtownmall called Gravity Lounge. It wasa basement area filled with uniquebooks and a stage area. It was sucha unique space, and I was sad tosee it close.
Fast forward a couple years to aguy named Andy Gems; a guyseeing a need for a small concertstyle venue in the Charlottesvillearea, and seeing an opportunity tomake it happen. The old Gravityspace was vacant and waiting onAndy to breathe new life and anew vision into it.
Andy grew up in a musical house-hold – dad played piano, sistersang, and the family had a fasci-nating record collection. Hestarted playing drums in the 4th
grade, and then the guitar andbass not long after that. He fed hisgrowing passion for music with asmall paper route, taking in showsand buying more records. (Re-member records?) That interest
Southern Philosophy
eventually led him to pursue re-cording and live sound produc-tion. All of this, of course, set thestage for Andy to walk into a placewhere his musical backgroundcould be put into action.
Southern Philosophy“I saw an opportunity and tookit,” Andy told me about his newcafé and music hall, now calledThe Southern (located at 103South 1st St., on the Downtownmall, Charlottesville, VA). I feltstrongly that there was a need fora small venue in Charlottesville,and I felt like I could provide thatneed.” This is not your typical barthough. Andy has a pretty clearvision in mind. “The approach isto provide a comfortable familyfriendly environment for peopleof all walks of life to enjoy livemusic of all genres and styles,while featuring local, regional,and national artists. We promotethe vast majority of our shows toinclude all ages. I've been going
to shows most of my life and Iknow I was always upset when Icouldn't see a show because I wasunderage,” Andy said.
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Andy appreciates that soundquality is crucial too. On one par-ticular evening I attended, I notedthat the sound was so crisp thatyou almost couldn’t tell it wasthere. The artist that evening,Peyton Tochterman (pictured),sounded quite naturally ampli-fied. Andy tells me that’s no acci-
dent. “We let the system speak foritself. It was professionally de-signed and installed by ReidHenion of Stage Sound out ofRoanoke, VA, and he did a greatjob. It's the right amount of rig forthe gig with a nice Midas analogmixer at FOH and a solid miclocker for a room of our size.”
About The MusicU n d e r s t a n d i n g t h a tCharlottesville is quite diverse init’s musical tastes, Andy relies inhis knowledge of genre’s as wellas personal interests when book-ing the entertainment. “I generallyonly book artists that I would liketo see myself - and it's good thingthat I love all kinds of music, frombluegrass to hard rock to singer/songwriters to indie rock,” Hetold me. “I don't generally bookcover bands and I don't generallydo dance parties. I look for highquality artists and always strive tobring in great bands - regardlessof genre/style. Bringing in greatbands is always what's most im-portant to me. I want to demon-strate a strong sense of integrityand be able to say that every showthat happened on the stage - re-gardless of the financial success/attendance, was a great show.”
Find out how your band and/orCD can be the next
Americana Music Profile!www.AmericanaMusicProfiles.com
Of course what would a café bewithout some great food and de-sirable libations. Andy says thesame philosophy is applied to theselections he offers. “I want to likeit, though of course, there's morewiggle room there. We of courseserve beverages that I don't nec-essarily drink, but I'm not going
to avoidstocking apopular beeror avoidserving ap a r t i c u l a rdish becauseit's not some-thing that Io r di na r i l yeat or drink.It's tricky toavoid lettingyour ownp a r t i c u l a rtastes dictateto otherpeople. Casein point - Ilove avoca-dos so we al-ways keep a
lot of fresh ones on hand and in-corporate them into our food asmuch as possible.”
When I asked Andy what the longterm goal was, he heartedly said,“to keep the doors open!” But ona more serious note he exclaimed,“This is a tough business to be in,and we opened right smack dabin the middle of a very rougheconomy. However, I believe inmy model of providing a comfort-able family friendly environmentfor people of all walks of life toenjoy great live music, and I be-lieve it can work. Ultimately mylong term goal is to establish theroom as a great place for anyoneand everyone to see great livemusic. I'd like to earn a sense oftrust among live music lovers thatif a show is happening here, it'sgoing to be a good one and theyshould come check it out whetherthey know the band or not.”
To see an updated schedule, visitwww.thesoutherncville.com.
“Blind Reverend” Gary Davis
Written by UNC Asheville students enrolled in the Liberal Studies IntroductoryColloquia, “The Art of the Blues” (Fall 2005) and “Jazz and Blues in AmericanCulture” (Fall 2003) Supervised by Project Advisor: Bryan Sinclair.
“Influenced by ragtime, country string bands, traveling medicine shows, and popu-lar song of the early 20th century, East Coast Piedmont Blues blended both blackand white, rural and urban song elements in the diverse urban centers of the South-east and mid-Atlantic region. In contrast, the Delta blues style of rural Mississippi isbelieved to have less of a white influence, as it was produced in a region with ahigher concentration of African Americans. Although it drew from diverse elementsof the region, East Coast Piedmont Blues is decidedly an African American artform. The Piedmont blues style may even reflect an earlier musical tradition than theblues that emerged from the Mississippi Delta.” http://toto.lib.unca.edu/sounds/piedmontblues/
East Coast Piedmont Blues
By Arielle Carlson, former UNC Asheville students
"Blind Reverend” Gary Davisgraced over five decades withhis musical contributions.Despite the fact that Davis wasborn partially sightless andgrew com-pletely blind bythe time he wasan adult, heself-taughthimself theguitar. Hebegan playingat the age of sixand was one ofthe best bluesguitarists of hisera by the timehe was 20. Hismusic influ-enced otherblues singers such as BlindWillie Johnson and Blind BoyFuller, and went on to inspirefamous modern folk/rock/bluesmusicians such as Bob Dylan,Taj Mahal, and the GratefulDead.
Davis played on the streets andside corners of Harlem fortwenty years, and during thattime was drawn to the soundsof gospel, jazz, marches, andragtime music. His personalstyle budded from a fusion ofthose various beats, which hemostly combined and perfectedin Durham, NC. He first beganrecording in the 1930's, backedonly by a local businessmanwith faith in his talents. Essen-tially his first recordings weresongs mixed between gospeland blues tunes. The paymentfor this session was neverfinalized, and Davis avoided the
studio for another 19 years. Itwas in these years that he brokeaway from the bluesy side of hismusic, and concentrated onperforming purely gospel songs.
In 1937 he became an ordainedminister and refused to pursuehis blues career after that. Hemoved to New York City in theearly '40's and recorded sevensongs in 1956 that redefinedhim in the 'folk revival move-ment'. He sang songs such as"Samson and Delilah" and"Twelve gates to the City" at theNewport Folk Festival. Daviswas greatly received by the liveaudience and even went on torecord a live album under theVanguard Record Label. In1967 and 1970 there weredocumentaries already praisinghis contributions to the blues,folk, and spiritual music scene.His unique style and dedicationto music impressed a wholerange of fans, and has inspiredmusicians to further strive forgreatness and originality inmultiple genres of music.
Image compliments of Stefan Grossman’s Guitar Workshop.
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As more and morepeople discover ARMagazine, more andmore groups and labelsare getting in touch withus - Here are some ofour favorite picks! Sometell me this is their fa-vorite page - cool! Iknow the artists like tohear that. We give youa web link as often aspossible so you can lis-ten and decide for your-self. Try iTunes too. Ifyou discover somethingyou like - tell them ARMagazine sent you!
CD Submission:Americana Rhythm Maga-zine, PO Box 45, Bridgewa-ter, VA 22812.
BearfootAmerican Story
www.bearfootband.comAfter a #1 Billboard debut withtheir last CD, Bearfoot hasadded three new membersand tweaked their sound alittle, but it’s just as good ifnot better. A cross betweenbluegrass and American folk,these kids are for real.
The Zinc KingsTrade Mark
www.thezinckings.com
Flat River BandHigh Roller
www.flatriverband.comThis Piedmont string bandensemble was started as aside project at the Universityof North Carolina Greensboro.after realizing that the NorthCarolina Piedmont music wasbeing neglected. They’re fill-ing the void quite nicely.
Music From Your Neighbors Music From The National Scene
Bill MonroeCentennial Celebration
www.rounderrecords.com
With Body And SoulA Bluegrass Tribute to Bill Monroe
www.rebelrecordscomConsidered one of the mostinfluencial figures in the his-tory of American music, RebelRecords honors Bill Monroewith a great collection ofcover songs from their cata-log of artists. Another mustadd to your collection.
Junior Sisk and Ramblers ChoiceThe Heart Of A Song
www.juniorsiskandramblerschoice.comIt’s been ten years since BlueHighway has recorded an al-bum of all originals. And thisnew set is full of great tunes,true to the Blue Highway tra-dition. The band containessome of the most accom-plished musicians in the in-dustry. This project is tops.
Blue HighwaySounds Of Home
www.bluehighway.comStrong traditional vocalistJunior Sisk is back with histhird project on Rebel records- and it’s every bit as good ashis last award winning per-formance. The Heart Of ASong is hard driving tradi-tional grass at it’s best.
Stacy GrubbHurricane
www.stacygrubb.comOne of the newest membersof the Wheeling Jamboree,newcomer Stacy Grubb is outof the gate with a smokin’ hotnew bluegrass album. She’sgot a riveting country/grassstyle and strong vocal pres-ence. Watch this young gal goplaces.
This year marks the 100thanniversary of Bill Monroe’sbirth - whom of course isconsidered the father of blue-grass music . Rounderrecords celebrated with aclassic collection of Monroecovers. Good stuff.
Michael Cleveland & FlamekeeperFired Up
www.flamekeeperband.com
Peyton TochtermanA New World
www.peytontocherman.comCharlottesville, VA is home toup and coming balladeerPeyton Tochterman. Heraldedby Ellis Paul and one towatch, Tochterman’s grittyvocals and stylish lyrics seemakin to a Kris Kristoffersonperformance. We like it.
A Skaggs Family ChristmasVolume Two
www.skaggsfamilyrecords.comStaunton VA native and localmusic icon Buddy Thomashas been a mainstay in thelocal music scene for years;influencing many young gui-tar hopefuls. His la testproject, Exit 222, will be amust add for his fans.
Buddy ThomasExit 222
www.mrbuddythomas.comWhat better way to close outthe SPINS with a holiday setfrom one of Bluegrass’ lead-ing figures. Ricky Scaggs,often credited with the rebirthof bluegrass music teams upwith family members to cel-ebrate the holiday right.
The WronglersHeirloom Music
www.jimmiegilmore.comJimmie Dale Gilmore and hisband the Wronglers offer upa unique blend of string, oldtime, grass and other influ-ences to stitch together a cu-rious sound; catchy and in-teresting. It’s worth that lis-ten.
Four time IBMA instrumentalband of the year, along withMike’s ninth IBMA fiddleaward; is there any questionhow good this CD is? Someof the best hard driving grassout there today. Fired Up isright on.
You can send new Americana CD releases for consideration to PO Box 45, Brodgewater, VA, 22812
Americana/Country rock fellasfrom Nashville; the Flat RiverBand’s new CD, High Roller,sounds like a cross betweenCSN and Alabama - a nicecombo. It’s got that smooth70s FM flavor; a nice high-way rockin’ CD.
Connie SmithLong Line Of Heartaches
www.sugarhill.comOnly her second album since1978, Connie Smith’s one ofthe legendary female vocal-ists and wife of the ever popu-lar Marty Stuart. If you’re afan of classic tunes, this willbe a must add to your CDcollection.
December 2011
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