americana rhythm magazine issue #43
DESCRIPTION
2012 wrap up; flashback story with 2012 Hall Of Fame Doyle Lawson - looking ahead to a great line-up for 2013, along with all the regular features including our loved SPINS section.TRANSCRIPT
#43
CONTENT VALID THRU FEBRUARY 2013CELEBRATING
7 YEARS!
See Our Ad on the back page for great prices!
w w w . A M E R I C A N A R H Y T H M . c o m
Bluegrass, New Grass, Old Time, Mountain Blues, Folk, Roots, String, and all things music in between!
Doyle LawsonDoyle Lawson
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Old Space Is New
2012 Looking Back
The Banjo Uke
Top 25 Of The Year
... and more!
2012 Hall Of Fame:2012 Hall Of Fame:
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Old Space Is New
2012 Looking Back
The Banjo Uke
Top 25 Of The Year
... and more!
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February 2013
3
February 2013
Americana Rhythm is published six times a year. All correspon-dence should be sent to PO Box 45, Bridgewater VA, 22812 oremail to [email protected]. Copies of AmericanaRhythm are made available free at various pick up locations withinthe publication’s region. Subscriptions are available inside the UnitedStates for $15 US currency made payable by check or moneyorder sent to Subscriptions at PO Box 45, Bridgewater, VA, 22812.Foreign subscrip t ion requests should be sent [email protected]. Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.Reproduction of copy, artwork or photographs is strictly prohibitedwithout permission of the publisher. All advertising material sub-ject to approval.
PUBLISHER/EDITOR IN CHIEFGreg E. Tutwiler
EDITORIAL ASSISTANTSEd Tutwiler
Jacenta TutwilerLisa Tutwiler
MARKETING & PROMOTIONMark Barreres (GrassRootsNetworking.com)
ADVERTISINGGreg Tutwiler
Business office 540-433-0360CONTRIBUTORS
Ed 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
Questions, comments, suggestions:[email protected]
Hey! You’re still here? ... sorry, I justto get my Myan poke in before the jokegets old. Of course the world didn’t end.We’ve got way too much music left toplay!
Seriously, Merry Christmas, and a muchanticipated happy new year to you and yourfamily. We’re still here and planning to havean awsome 2013 right along with you.
Before we close out the year, let’s take apeak back at the year and remember allthe neat things we’ve gotten to experience.And don’t forget to be thankful for all thegreat music out there - hug a musician whenyou get a chance - they help all us fans have agreat time through out the year. Peace!
Table Of Contents:46781012131415
15
Memory Lane
Shenandoah Music Trail
Ukin’ It
ANDTHE WEB:
Preview
Market Place
Doyle Lawson
Listen tous on line:
Tell us about it!Is there a venue, in-strument maker,band, artist, musicschool, or hot newCD we should knowabout?
Send your ideas andsuggestions to: [email protected].
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February 2013
By Edward Tutwiler
Renewing The Space, Preserving The PastOn several occasions, we’veprofiled theaters from a by-gone era that have risen fromruins to become again a vibrantpart of a community as well astold you stories of others whoare still struggling to return totheir former glory.
Many small towns up anddown the Appalachian Moun-tains have experienced thishappening—not always to asuccessful conclusion but neverfor any lack of effort. Thesestories seem to have a commontheme of a wealthy benefactorwishing to give back to acommunity in a way thatwould enhance and enrich thelives of the average folks livingthere. Then, as times and tasteschange, these wonderful pal-aces of silver screen and per-forming arts slowly waste away.They end their lives eitherabandoned to fall down or asbig storage containers forsociety’s all-fall. However, forsome, a new life is given bynon-profit organizations thatjust cannot stand to see theseonce grand dames fade away.
We here at the magazine have asoft spot for any venue thatfeatures live performances be itmusic, dance, or play, and wethink you do also. That is whywe seek out stories about thesefaded palaces from yesteryearthat are once again houses ofAmericana treats. This time wewant you to know about theLincoln Theatre in Marion, VA.
Somewhere Out ThereMarion, VA lies in the highlandsof southwest VA along the GreatWagon Road or WildernessRoad (I-81/US-11) that heads ontoward TN. It is a town of 6400citizens and serves as theCounty Seat and the hub ofcommerce for Smyth Countyand is the home of the LincolnTheatre.
According to the information onits web site, “The LincolnTheatre is one of three existingArt Deco Mayan Revival the-aters in America.” The LincolnTheatre is listed as a Virginiahistoric landmark and is alsolisted on the national register ofhistoric places. After undergoinga complete restoration in 2004to the tune of $1.8 milliondollars that included a soundand lighting system that is state-of-the-art, the Lincoln Theatre isan impressive palace for theperforming arts that seats 500attendees. The Lincoln featuresa year-round schedule of per-forming arts and is also avail-able for touring companies,groups, and individual artists.To you readers who are alsoNational Public Radio andtelevision fans, you probablyknow that the well-receivedshow, Song of the Mountains ispresented monthly on theLincoln Theatre stage. Theseperformances are recorded andedited for public televisionairing. If you don’t know, Songof the Mountains is an award-wining concert series that fea-tures bluegrass, old-time, and
Celtic music as well as newmaterial performed by originalartists. However, we are speak-ing of now, and to get to nowwe must trace the path of theLincoln Theatre from then.
Who Done ItIn 1928, a prominent localbusinessman named, CharlesWassum returned to Marionfrom a trip to New York Citywith an idea to build an elegantapartment building and a mo-tion-picture theater. He envi-sioned these projects to be amonument to Marion’s future.Wassum did build an impres-sive four-story apartmentbuilding of stone and brick inthe town’s downtown; however,instead of building the theater,he sold that property to CharlesLincoln who owned a furniturefactory and was the town’swealthiest citizen. Mr. Lincolnhad a desire to build an up-to-date movie theater for the town.Based upon the impression thata large theater he had visited inAtlanta had made upon him,Lincoln employed the designerof that Atlanta building todesign and build his theater in
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Marion. Thus a New Yorkdesign studio, Novelty ScenicStudios, decorated a theater inMarion, VA.
Sadly, Charles Lincoln died ofpneumonia several months intothe $150,000 project build-outby the firm of Eubank &Caldwell. Fortunately, his sons,Charles, Jr. and John, inheritedcontrol of the father’s empireand completed the project.The designers of the LincolnTheatre created an Art Decointerior and enhanced it withimages of an ancient Mayantemple. They adorned theinterior with painted appliquésof exotic creatures and mytho-logical gods. They opposed thisdesign with six very largemurals that depicted scenesfrom national and local history.These murals were painted by alocal artist, Lola Poston. Theinterior was completed with ahigh ceiling, modern lighting,and the latest in projectionequipment. The end result of allthis was that the Lincoln The-atre immediately became thepremier movie house of south-west VA. The Lincoln opened inJuly of 1929. About 1000 folkspacked the house and hundredsmore were turned away becausethe building would not holdthem. Over the ensuing years,the Lincoln Theatre screened1000’s of movies and its stageshowcased performances bynationally known movie stars,entertainers, and musicians.
The Lincoln Theatre operatedfor 44 years before closing inDecember of 1973. Operatorsattempted to reopen it in the
mid-1970s; however, lack ofcustomer support doomed theireffort, and itclosed again.After this, thebuilding and itssystems fell intosevere disrepair.
Back AroundAgain
Sometime in thelate 1970s, anon-profit group,The LincolnTheatre Founda-tion, purchasedthe building withpreservationhopes in mindbut to no avail.The building satneglected untilthe 1990s whenthe Foundationrevived theirplan. This re-newed effort metwith success andthe Foundationraised more than$1.8 million
dollars to restore the Lincoln.The group chose a regionalgroup to do the restoration.Hundreds of volunteers addedtheir efforts to aid in the recon-struction of the structure and itsdecorative interior. This restora-tion effort included the installa-tion of modern sound andlighting systems. Restorationincluded the removal and refur-bishment of those huge muralsmentioned earlier to the tune of$20,000 for each mural. Therestoration also included theaddition of dressing rooms andrehearsal space and removal ofsome seating capacity to accom-modate a large stage extension.
The Lincoln Theatre reopenedon May 16, 2004, with a perfor-mance by the Grammy Award-winning group, Riders in theSky. The Lincoln Theatre standsin downtown Marion today as aviable, successful venue thatoffers events year-round.
As with most of these restoredgrand ole dames of silver screenand performing arts, the Lincolnrelies on grants and endow-ments as well as the gate re-ceipts for sustainability. Thekeepers of the flame reach out tothe public for help to sustainsuccess of The Lincoln Theatre.Folks who wish to help may callthem at (276) 783-6092.
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February 2013
By Wayne Erbsen
“Don’t Sing!”
Wayne Erbsen has been teaching banjo,fiddle, guitar and mandolin since dino-saurs roamed the earth (really about fiftyyears). Originally from California, he nowmakes his home in Asheville, North Caro-lina. He has written thirty songbooks andinstruction books for banjo, fiddle, guitarand mandolin. Check out his web site athttp://www.nativeground.com/ or email orcall for a FREE catalog: (828)299-7031or banjo[at]nativeground.com.
These are the words that wereindelibly etched on my teenagemind in the far away past. Actually,the year was 1963. Let’s go backthere.
In the 1958 the Kingston Triorecorded the North Carolinamurder ballad, “Tom Dooley.”This recording went on to become#1 on the Billboard charts andhelped to usher in a major revivalof folk music in the late ‘fiftiesearly ‘sixties. At that time I wasliving in southern California wherea number of folk clubs sprang up,including the Ash Grove, theTroubadour, and the Ice House.One night a week each of theseclubs had a “Hootenanny,” whichwere evenings with an open micwhere anyone with a guitar andenough courage could get up topick and sing. The term“Hootenanny” was actually coinedby Lee Hayes, who was a memberof the Weavers, a controversialfolk group that was formed inNovember, 1948 by RonnieGilbert, Lee Hays, Fred Hellermanand Pete Seeger.
Havin’ A HootPeople then started havinghootenanny parties in their homes.These “hoots,” as they soonbecame known, caught on like hulahoops and Slinkies. It was at oneof thesehoots in1963where Iwassingingaway on some popular folk song.Back then we sang songs like “TheWater is Wide,” “This Land isYour Land,” “Pastures of Plenty,”and many of the hits of Peter, Pauland Mary, the Tarriers, theKingston Trio and Joan Baez. Wewere just starting to get intobluegrass. I had hardly finishedsinging my first song when the guysitting next to me with a banjoslung over his shoulder lookeddirectly at me and said, “DON’TSING.” I couldn’t believe my ears,
so I looked at him and said,“What?” He stared directly at meand very slowly and deliberatelyenunciated these same words,“DON’T SING.” I can still see hislips slowly forming each word. Icouldn’t believe he said that. Ofcourse, I knew I didn’t have thepolished voice of a trained singer,but I couldn’t understand whysomeone would go out of their wayto demand that I stop singing a folksong. His rude comments hit mebone deep. It felt like he not onlystabbed me with his dagger, but hetwisted it in for good measure. Asyou would expect, I’ve never quitegotten over it. In fact, It changedmy life.
Sing Along AnywayThe good news is that it changedmy life for the better. Even though Iwasn’t consciously aware of it, Imust have made a secret vow tomyself that in spite of his rebuke, Iwould sing anyway. And sing a
LOT. So atevery hoot,there I was,singingaway. Astime went
on, my repertoire increased and Iwas learning songs by thebucketful. In fact, my memory wasso sharp back then that I could heara song once or twice, and I had thelyrics forever stitched into the fabricof my brain. At one point, I made alist of all the songs I had in my headand the list topped seven hundredsongs. Only recently have I startedlosing my grip on the lyrics of someof the obscure songs that I rarelysing.
My ability to memorize the lyrics toso many songs has certainly comein handy. I could be mistaken, butto me it seems like many bluegrassmusicians have a fairly smallnumber of songs in their heads. Ithappens frequently that when I’m ina jam many of the singers invariablyforget some of the lyrics. When thathappens, I’m usually the one whojumps in there to prompt them onthe forgotten words to the song.And when nobody could think ofanything to sing, I’m there with abag full of songs, so I’m often thede facto singer.
Inking It DownAs I learned and collected more andmore songs, of course, I keptpersonal songbooks of lyrics that Ihad copied from LPs or heardpeople sing. Being interested inhistory made me want to dig deeplyinto the origins of the songs as wellas the stories of the people whosang them. In 1982 I startedpublishing a series of songbooks onsuch themes as old-time, bluegrass,railroad, Civil War, pioneer,cowboy, outlaw and gospel. Todate, I’ve edited and publishedtwelve songbooks under my
Kingston Trio
publishing company, NativeGround Books & Music. Bypublishing these books, I like tothink I have helped to keep manyof the old songs alive. In mybooks I’ve tried to make it clearthat you don’t have to have agreat voice to get out there andsing. In fact, you don’t even haveto have a very good voice at all.As long as you follow good jametiquette and remember not to singduring performances, except wheninvited, you’ll be fine!
So all you closet singers, I hopeyou’ll take a lesson from me andventure out from under the coatsand umbrellas and sing your gutsout, good voice or not. And don’tforget to sing by the “letter”method. Just open up your mouthand let ‘er fly! We can’t wait tohear you sing.
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7
February 2013
Along
Music Trail Shenandoahthe
By Don DePoy PhD
Irish music has been in theShenandoah Valley since the mid-1700’s when the mostly Scot-Irishfamilies established their first settle-ments along the South Fork ofShenandoah River. They brought anassortment of dance-step tunes includ-ing jigs, reels, hornpipes waltzes, qua-drilles, gallopedes (barn dances),schottisches, cotillions (contra) andother popular country dances. Manyof these tunes and dances are stillpopular today, and you can hear someof the tunes every Sunday evening inHarrisonburg, Virginia.
There is an Irish music session eachSunday from 7 to 10 PM at Corgans’Publick House. The session’s leadmusicians include: Erin Murphy play-ing Uillean pipes & flute, Carole Seaseplaying accordion, and Jim Gaskinsplaying fiddle. Regular attendees in-clude Phyllis Gaskins who playsmountain dulcimer, Steve Kasdan ontenor banjo, Rae Kasdan, playing key-board, and Cheryl Tobler rounds outthe regular session playing flute andfiddle. Elkton born Phyllis Gaskinsexplains, “We gather in the traditionalIrish way of sharing our love of themusic. Players of the music are wel-come to join us and listeners will hearsome of the best traditional music theValley has to offer.”
Traditional TalentPhyllis and her husband Jim have per-formed in old-time and Irish musicbands for over thirty years, includingElk Run String Band, Frosty Morn-ing, Port Road String Band, and High-lander String Band. Their love of tra-ditional American music and its ties tothe valley led them to study with oldfiddle masters of the Appalachianmountains. Tracing the roots of thismusic led them to the Irish and Scot-tish fiddle tunes and songs tradition.To explore and expand their study ofthis root music trips were made to Ire-land to study with fiddle and singingmasters there as well as to CapeBreton, Nova Scotia Canada, wherethey studied with traditional Scottishmusic with fiddle and piano masters.
Phyllis’s musical passion is her inter-est in the traditional playing style ofthe mountain dulcimer. It quite possi-bly is the only instrument other thanthe banjo that was created in theUnited States with its ancestry includ-ing many different varieties of instru-ments, commonly referred to asscheitholts, brought into theShenandoah Valley by early Germansettlers. The late Junior Davis, a localfiddle maker from Linville, Virginiawas considered to be the last traditionalscheitholt maker in the world. Phyllismet him in the 1980s and has severalof his instruments. Although her firstlove affair with the mountain dulcimerstarted with a Kentucky/North Caro-lina style, it quickly switched to theolder Virginia style. This drone andnoter playing style fits in especially wellwith the sounds of fiddles and banjosplaying traditional dance tunes. Afterplaying traditional Appalachian musicon the dulcimer for many years, Phyllissoon discovered that it rings well intraditional Irish and Scottish tunes.
Phyllis has several CDs to her creditand has just published a new bookGalax Dulcimer- A Job ofJourneywork. Phyllis and Jim are co-hosts of a traditional old-time musicjam on Wednesdays, 7 to 9 PM, at 34Court Square in downtownHarrisonburg, Virginia. Phyllis and co-director Marsha Harris are currentlymaking plans for Crooked Road Dul-cimer Festival 2013 Memorial Dayweekend at Ferrum College, Ferrum,Virginia more information visit http://crookedroaddulcimerfestival.org/
You can purchase Phyllis’ new bookonline at www.virginiadulcimer.com.The Irish Music Sessions are free andopen to the public and held each Sun-day evening from 7 to 10pm atCorgans’ Publick House, 865 PortRepublic Road, Harrisonburg, Vir-ginia 22801 (540) 564-2674.
Reach Shenandoah Music Trail atwww.shenandoahmusictrail.com or
contact Don DePoy [email protected].
8
This past fall Doyle Lawson wasinducted into the IBMA’s Blue-grass music Hall Of Fame - itcouldn’t have happened to a moredeserving fellow. In the fall of2007 I had the privilege to speakwith Doyle. And in honor of hisprestigeous award, we are re-printing that article here.
Cream always rises to the top.And, that’s no different in themusic world. Longevity doesn’tnecessarily translate into noto-riety, but in this case, Bluegrassicon Doyle Lawson has had along and notable career, and heand his band Quicksilver areone of the bluegrass industriestop acts. Doyle and his bandhave recorded more than 30albums, and received numer-ous awards including nearlyten IBMA (International Blue-grass Music Association)awards, and recently nomi-nated in five categories thisyear including, MandolinPlayer of the Year, Vocal Groupof the Year, Album of the Yearfor More Behind the Picture Thanthe Wall, Song of the Year for“Sadie's Got Her New DressOn,” Entertainer of the YearGospel Recorded Performanceof the Year.
Doyle was born nearKingsport, Tennessee in 1944,where he began his career as abluegrass musician in 1963with Hall of Honor memberand bluegrass pioneer JimmyMartin. For the next 15 years hehoned his skills doing what heloved best, singing and playingthe mandolin, in emergingbluegrass groups the KentuckyMountain Boys, and the Coun-try Gentlemen. “From the timeI was a small child I knew thiswas my life, what I was goingto be doing as a career, and Inever strayed from that,”Doyle told me recently.
And in 1979 he struck out onhis own, forming the bandQuicksilver. Those formativeyears paid off as Doyle Lawsonand Quicksilver rose to the top.
February 2013
They released aseries of ac-claimed al-bums—includ-ing the pioneer-ing all-gospelRock My Soul in1981. Stickingclosely to thetraditional blue-grass roots,Lawson devel-oped a style thatblended tradi-tional and gos-pel elementswith some pro-gressive influ-ences that be-came the dis-tinctive Lawson/Q u i c k s i l v e rsound.
Gospel Be-ginnings
Much of thegroups early music was influ-enced by drawing on materialcontained in Doyle’s father’sshape-note hymnbook collec-tion, and on the sounds of Af-rican-American gospel quar-tets and southern gospelgroups he heard as a young kid.They recorded more than 15all-gospel bluegrass albumsthat featured a wide range ofstyles, making a powerful im-pression in the bluegrass com-munity. He was also a memberof Bluegrass Album Band,which helped bring the reper-toire and musical approachesof the music’s early giants tonew generations of musiciansand fans in a series of ac-claimed albums made between1980 and 1996. All of thathelped to solidify DoyleLawson’s position as a majorplayer in bluegrass music to-day.
I spoke with Doyle about hiscareer and his music, and histake on things recently. I askedhim if he ever thought his ca-reer would lead him to wherehe is now. “My sights were seton that (a career), but certainly
not to the extent it has become.In my early days, I had no in-tent on becoming a bandleader. All the good things thathave come my way, or the ac-complishments; I never lookedat it that way, I wanted to playmusic and be on stage with aband,” he said. “But then youmature, and as you mature asa musician, and as an adult.You start looking at thingsfrom a different perspective,and then it evolves into what-ever it becomes. But the morethings that start happening,you seize that moment andyou start to see how you canenhance that or broaden it, ordo more with it, or take it tothe next level.”
One Lucky GuyAfter more than 40 years inany industry, one generallycontemplates retirement. NotDoyle. “I’m a lucky guy. I getto do what I love to do, andearn my living doing it,” hesaid. “I love to travel, eventhough I’ve been all over theworld, I still like the countryside. I love the west too. Itdoesn’t bother me at all if I
decide to leave East Tennesseeand drive to Southern Califor-nia. It probably bothers mydriver more than me,” helaughed. “I just love the coun-try, and the views that we have.I enjoy this part of the worldthat God has allowed me to livein. There’s always somethingthat I can see that I never no-ticed before. But the love ofmusic, the being on stage,that’s the reward for all theother stuff I do to stay in thisbusiness. My reward is gettingto get up on stage and perform,and hopefully bring a smile topeople’s faces and put a littlejoy in their heart, and makethem glad that they came.Hopefully they’ll go away withless of a load on their shoul-ders if they had a rough weekor whatever. That’s the rewardfor me.”
Although the music haschanged, Doyle Lawson strivesto stay true to what he knowsare the roots of bluegrass mu-sic, and believes are importantto preserve for future genera-tions. “There are vast differ-ences in music today,” he said.Not only in our music, but mu-sic in general, simply becauseof the passing of time, and theimplementation of the com-puter world, and the internetages that we live in. You know,we’re able to reach peoplemore quickly either by email orour web site – people go on itand they can order your record-ings, read about the band, andcheck your schedule. And ofcourse the venues we play, asfar as bluegrass, are bigger andbetter as far as the environ-ment and sound capabilities.”
“And the music itself haschanged somewhat. But thatgoes hand in hand with thepassing of time. With each gen-eration of musicians you havea little bit different outlook onthe approach of the music.There’s a lot of great music be-ing played - new music. Not totake anything away from
By Greg TutwilerHall Of Famer, Doyle Lawson
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February 2013
anyone’s talent, but there ismusic being played today thatI may not necessarily considerauthentic Bluegrass. It’s veryvery good acoustic music, butmy own take on it is that themusic was defined with themusic of Bill Monroe, when headded Earl Scruggs on theBanjo. That kind of solidifiedthe style that became know asBluegrass.”
“And I think now, some of ourmusic is just a little far to theleft, or right. But again, I wantto emphasize that I’m not say-ing that it’s bad music. In factsome of these new folk’s abil-ity are almost beyond my com-prehension, but when you talkabout authentic bluegrass, theMonroe style is the base line. Ithink we need to be cautiousin some ways to not have blue-grass go the same way countrymusic has as far as driftingfrom their original roots. Youknow, progress has its price. Idon’t think there’s any sure firesolution, but I hope that blue-grass doesn’t arrive at thepoint where what people call
bluegrass music, and marketas bluegrass music, has no kin-ship at all with where it started.I believe in progress, and Ithink there’s room to grow andprogress and still remainwithin the boundaries of tradi-tion.”
ChangesWhen I spoke with Doyle, hewas rehearsing a new bassplayer. After 28 years as a bandleader, I suppose you wouldexperience changes in yourline-up. “Changes are alwaysgoing to occur, sometimesmore than others,” he said.“Sometimes one will drop out,sometimes a couple will go atonce. I’ve had three quit at thesame time. But a part of it isthat I have always freely fea-tured people in my band byputting them out front. Insome ways that could probablyshorten their stay here, but onaverage you’ll get four to fiveyears from somebody. I’ve hada couple that stayed almost tenyears though.”
“The thing you’ve got to re-
member is, if the music hadstopped with Bill (Monroe), Iwouldn’t have a job today. Any-thing that doesn’t grow willdie. So while I would like tokeep people in the same spotsfor the duration of the band,you know it’s not going to hap-pen. I look at the guys whohave gone on from Quicksilver,and see their careers now, andit feels good to have been apart of their career. I feel likein some way, I helped the mu-sic as a whole continue on, andthat’s the bottom line. It’s notif some key musician leaves,the music’s going stop. Youshouldn’t look at it that way.When changes occur you justgo on, wish them the best, andhopefully in turn, they willpass along something to some-one else.”
About The Songs“We do write some of oursongs. But mostly I tend tolook outside for our material.I have people that are what Iconsider my favorite writers.They just seem to turn outgood songs consistently. Not
every song will fit what I do ofcourse, but they’ll fit some-body. That’s the mark of a goodsongwriter. They can writesongs that will fit more thanone artist.”
Doyle Lawson has establishedhimself in this industry, andhas made major contributionsto it musically as well. ForDoyle, it is about doing whathe loves to do. And it’s abouthis convictions to his faith andthe tradition of bluegrass. “Idon’t ever want to record any-thing that I would be ashamedof for my children or grandchil-dren to hear, or would be a badinfluence on some young per-son,” Doyle said. “But my faithis a very viable part of who Iam too. I’m quick to tell any-one that I’m the instrumentthat God uses for the good ofwhat He wants to accomplish.So I always try to give Himcredit first. I just do what He’sallowed me to do to the bestthat I know how to do it. Butmy faith and my religious con-victions are very important tome.”
I’m parting a little from tradi-tion in this issue. Normally inthis column I visit with one of ourindustry artists for a window intotheir life as an entertainer; andthat will return in the next issue.For the moment, I’m in a seasonof reflection, looking back over thepast eleven months at all that’shappened in the music world – es-pecially our little corner of it; andmore directly, my little cornerhere with you.
It’s crazy how quickly the days,weeks, and months fly by. I re-member my elders saying tome when I was little, “youthink life is fast now, wait untilyou get to be my age.” It’sfunny; I got there, and fortu-nately some of them are stillalive. And they’re still sayingit. So, in the interest of nostal-gia, I’m throwing on the brakesfor a few minutes and lookingback before the train goes offthe 2012 track for good.
My musical journey began backin February with a trip downto Memphis, TN and the annualFolk Alliance conference andfestival. Typically, among otherthings, it has become a comingout party for a lot of newer actslooking to break out onto themusic scene. This year was noexception. More than ever, thegathering seemed to be filledwith young string based trios,quartets, and quintets filled
with aspirations of granderstages. Groups like The HardRoad Trio, The Roys, Blue Cac-tus Choir, The Side Street Step-pers, and Tillers Folly, rubbedelbows with veteran perform-ers like Kathy Matea, SuzyBogguss, and Jim Lauderdale.It’s a family reunion atmo-sphere dripping with some ofthe most honest roots music in
By Greg TutwilerLookin’ Out My Back Doorone place you’ll likely ever ex-perience. And it was a fittingbeginning to my year in music.
Reflect The InkAmericana Rhythm prints sixtimes annually, and over theyears I have been blessed withthe opportunity to speak withsome fabulous folks that havebeen featured on the cover. AsI perused back over the last sixissues I was amaze at the onesI had forgotten about. So, Iwanted to share just an excerptor two from those intriguingconversations.
Issue number 37 featuredHonky Tonkin’ Moot Davis. It’snot exactly acoustic music, butAmericana just the same. Mootput into words what I suspectevery songwriter would sayabout their music; “I writeabout what happens to me;things I’m going through,wants, desires, and nightmaresof what I don’t want; mostly allpersonal in some aspect.” I likethat.
In the next issue (#38) it wasRussell Moore, band leader forIIIrd Time Out. Russell wenton to win the IBMA Male Vo-calist Of The Year in Septem-
ber. I caught a lis teningroom set from them a fewmonths ago, and I must say,the award was well deserved.Reflecting on the groups 20years in the industry, Russellsaid, “I feel like we’re justgetting started after twentyyears.” That’s what we like tohear!
In the first spring issue, (#39)I got to re-visit with one of thefirst guys we featured nearlyseven years ago. Trent Wagleris front man for his band, TheSteel Wheels. They are a primeexample of how this businesscan flourish the right talentinto a major presence. Trenthas gone from small town, lo-cal act to (along with his fellowband mates) budding national
roots householdname. How truethis statement is,not only in music,but nearly everyaspect of life;“We were toldthat to be a partof this biggercommunity youneed to just keepshowing up andlet people knowyou’re seriousabout the longhaul.”
Issue 40 broughtme to Southernbluegrass favor-ite Loraine Jor-dan of CarolinaRoad. Loraine’slong history intraditional blue-grass musicserves her fanswell. She’s an ac-
complished mandolin player,and loves that Monroe style.Loraine cited her family rootsfor the foundation of theband’s success. “My grand-mothers inspired me well. I gota little of both of them in me.One had a big heart andwanted to take care of everyonewith a smile, and the other wasa business woman.”
In the next issue (#41) I got thechance to speak with the bighearted, big talented MichaelCleveland on the band FlameKeeper. The nine time IBMAfiddle player of the year over-came a disability (blindness) tobecome one of the industry’stop respected musicians. “Ittook me years to be able toeven hold the thing or playanything at all,” he recalled.“But I knew even then I wantedto play bluegrass.”
Woody Platt with theSteep Canyon Rangers
Michael Cleveland
The Steeldrivers
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February 2013
We rounded out the year withTim Shelton, lead singer/founder of New Found Road.With a sound more countryprogressive than traditional,
Tim was a late bloomer bymost standards, but has par-layed that into one of the festi-val circuit’s hottest acts. “I wasa late bloomer coming to mu-sic,” he told me. “I didn’t singa note until I was 18. I neversang in front of anybody, Imean not a soul.” You’d neverknow it today, if we hadn’t toldyou.”
Moving OnEvery year we lose a few moreof the music’s voices; LevonHelm, Etta James, Joe South,Dave Brubeck, all gone this
year. But probablycloser to home thanany are Earl Scruggsand Doc Watson.Earl died in Marchof 2012. He was onepart of the Flatts andScruggs duo and hishard-driving banjopicking style influ-enced generationsover the course ofhis life. He was in-strumental in mas-tering a three-fingerpicking style thatwould bring thebanjo from therhythm section to alead instrument. Hewas probably mostpopular for their hit“Foggy MountainBreakdown,” andthe “The Ballad OfJed Clampett,” buthe also helped shape
the “high lonesome sound”signature to today’s traditionalbluegrass music.
Doc Watson, an Academyaward winning accomplishedflatpicking guitarist, followedEarl by just a few months, leav-ing us this past May. His folk-mountain rooted sound wasloved by generations of fansand often mimicked by guitar-ists world wide. His lightning-
fast style finger work has influ-enced guitar lovers every-where. Doc was instrumental inbringing the guitar out front asa alternative lead instrumentand a viable compliment to thetraditional mandolin. RickySkaggs was quoted as sayingabout the passing of DocWatson, “An old ancient war-rior has gone home.”
A FestivalEvery WeekendI have this fantasy of climbingin an RV and hitting the roadevery weekend, begin-ning about May andlanding at a festivalevery week until theend of September. Ok,so it didn’t happen thisyear, but I pretended.I got in my SUV everyweekend in Septemberand landed in someplace special eachtime. What a monththat was!
We kicked it off at theShenandoah ValleyMusic Festival’s mini-bluegrass day whichculminated in a top-notch performance bySeldom Scene. The followingweekend we got to hang out attwo; First, The Grottoes MusicFestival, in Grottoes VA whichfeatured Loraine Jordan, Chris
Jones and Night Driver, andMichael Cleveland. The nextday, a trip over to Pickin’ In ThePanhandle treated us to TimShelton, and The KentuckyHeadhunters. Ah, the memo-ries.
Jim Lauderdale
A week later we loaded up thebus (not really) and headeddown to Bristol, VA for the an-nual Bristol Rhythm & RootsReunion. It had been on my listfor several years and justhadn’t worked out. Wow! Whathave I missed! This is oneamazing weekend. There wereoodles of music performances;Steep Canyon Rangers, DoyleLawson, Steeldrivers, VolumeFive, Peter Case, Gibson Broth-ers … I’ll run out of space if Ikeep going. And the cabaret of
street vendors and food choicesare tantalizing to say the least.
Next stop; The Nothin’ FancyFestival in Buena Vista. The hostsof this event are a group of sea-soned performers that deliver atop notch show every time out.You were able to see these guysthree days in a row – and add tothat, Marty Raybon, RhondaVincent, and a host of others fabu-lous entertainers.
We rounded out the month witha stop in at the Misty MountainMusic festival in Crozet’ VA, a CDrelease party in Harrisonburg,VA, and two dinner hall showsin Staunton, VA. Whew! Would Ido in again? You bet! Just tell mewhere to sign up.
I hope you’ve enjoyed comingalong my little trip down memorylane. If you were at any of theseplaces, you know how much funthey were – and I look forward toseeing you again this coming fes-tival season.
Doc Watson
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February 2013
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Americana Music
By Edward Tutwiler
As often happens when we getolder, we get to settle estates anddisperse keepsakes and treasuresfrom bygone days. It is not a taskto take lightly as you are dispers-ing someone’s memories and youneed to treat them in a respectfulmanner. Alas, such a task fell tome some years ago. As I wentthrough my mother’s life accumu-lation, a cute little stringed musi-cal instrument came to surface. Iremember the story from my child-hood as it being something that shehad given to my father way beforeI was a gleam in either of theireyes. It was old but in reasonableshape. I had very little idea of whatit was so I poked it in a closet andthere it reposed until recently.
Old StringsThis past winter, I helped with theAmericana Rhythm Music maga-zine show booth at the Folk Alli-ance gathering in Memphis, TN.The booth near ours held the dis-play of an instrument maker. He
had the usual assortment of gui-tars on display but what caught myeye was the multitude of banjo-ukuleles on display. These werewell made instruments—finelyhandcrafted and finished in richdetail; and not inexpensive. Theywere the handiwork of a youngbuilder and player and severaltimes during the week, he wouldcrank one up and lay some listendown for us.
By now you have connected thedots and know that the instrumentthat I saved from my mother’sthings and leaned in my back closetwas a banjo-ukulele. I decided thatI needed to know a bit about thisinstrument and thought that youmight also.
According to the wilkipedia.orgweb site, the banjo-ukulele is some-times referred to as a banjolele.Banjolele is a generic nickname
given to the instrument, which wasderived from the name banjolele-banjo. Technically, the instrumentis a four-string instrument with asmall banjo style body and a fret-ted ukulele neck. It combines thesmall size, tuning, and playingstyle of a ukulele with the construc-tion and distinctive tone of a banjo.The instrument achieved its great-est popularity in the 1920s and ’30s.
According to the banjoukes.comweb site, some sources credit AlvinD. Keech with the invention of thebanjo ukulele around the 1917-18time frame. Mr. Keech was a Ha-waiian who later moved to En-gland. While it is not certain if hewas the person who invented theinstrument, he certainly is the per-son who made it popular. He trade-marked the name “Banjulele,” andmanufactured a sizable quantity ofthem and marked them with theKeech name. There is also a recordof a banjo-uke being built and pat-ented in California in 1916 by a Mr.John A. Bolander. Regardless of itsname and source of origin, the rea-son for the banjo-uke’s existenceand popularity is easy to under-stand. At that time in history, the
Digging In The Closet
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February 2013
Archie Edwards
Written by UNC Asheville students enrolled in the Liberal Studies Introductory Colloquia,“The Art of the Blues” (Fall 2005) and “Jazz and Blues in American Culture” (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 bothblack and white, rural and urban song elements in the diverse urban centers ofthe Southeast and mid-Atlantic region. In contrast, the Delta blues style of ruralMississippi is believed to have less of a white influence, as it was produced in aregion with a higher concentration of African Americans. Although it drew fromdiverse elements of the region, East Coast Piedmont Blues is decidedly anAfrican American art form. The Piedmont blues style may even reflect an ear-lier musical tradition than the blues that emerged from the Mississippi Delta.”http://toto.lib.unca.edu/sounds/piedmontblues/
East Coast Piedmont Blues
By Noah Wilson, UNC Asheville Student
Archie Edwards was born on afarm near Union Hall in ruralVirginia in 1918. He workedhard on the farm and wassurrounded by music. His dadplayed guitar, banjo, andharmonica and played withmany musiciansthat passedthrough.Edwards knewthat he alwayswanted to be aguitarist. Hewould playalong to some ofhis favoriterecords byMississippi JohnHurt, Blind BoyFuller, and BlindLemonJefferson. When he wastwelve, his older brother wouldgo to house parties and bragto the musicians and otherpeople at the party about howgood Archie was. He wouldthen go home and wake upArchie, who would then goplay at the party and be justas good if not better than theolder musicians playing there.He later wrote a song called“Saturday Night Hop” aboutthose nights.
In the 1930s, he and hisbrother got a job at a near bysawmill. Archie played guitarin his spare time and wenthome on weekends to play forparties. Tired of the work that
he was doing, he left for NewJersey in 1937 to be a cookfor a family. A couple yearslater he moved back to Vir-ginia and ended up working ata hotel if Columbus, Ohio. Heand a friend decided to join
the army andserve their yearbefore the U.S. gotpulled into thewar. But near theend of his time,Japan bombedPearl Harbor. Heserved his timeduring the war asa military policeofficer.
After the war, hewent to Richmond,
Virginia, to become a barber.He set up a barbershop inWashington D.C. His barber-shop became a musicalhangout spot for many localmusicians. Through the bar-bershop, Edwards met Missis-sippi John Hurt. The twostarted playing together andjoined up with Skip James andplayed around the city for thenew white audience. WhenHurt died a few years later in1966, Archie quit playing for acouple of years in grief. Oncehe finally started playingagain, he joined the TravelingBlues Workshop and touredall through Europe. He died in1998.
Image courtasy of T-Bone’s Piedmont Web Site.
ukulele had become very popularyet some folks wanted an instru-ment that would produce morevolume. With this want in mind,an instrument with the size andtuning of a ukulele and having abanjo body to yield more soundvolume seemed to be a natural de-sign. Most banjo-ukes have a bodydiameter of between six and eightinches (do note that most modernbanjos have eleven inch bodies orpots).
Back ThenDuring the 1920s and 1930s banjomakers were the producers ofbanjo-ukes and these manufactur-ers produced thousands. Thesewere inexpensive instruments of-ten retailing for $2.00 or less. Somewere of open back design while oth-ers had some sort of resonator orclosed back. Many of the early pro-duction of these instruments arestill lying around and certainly area very real part of early 20th Cen-tury folk culture. Present day col-lectors find much diversity in themodels that can be found with thedesigns varying from the standardmodels that were produced bymajor manufacturers as well ascustom-designed craftsman mod-els.
In design and construction, thebanjo-uke parallels that of thebanjo—just on a smaller scale.They are almost exclusively con-structed of wood with metal fix-tures. The design typically featuresa neck with 16 frets. This neck de-sign produces the scale length of asoprano or, the less common, con-cert-sized ukulele. Banjo-ukes maybe open-backed, may incorporatea resonator, or may have a solidback. Originally the heads weremade of calf-skin but most mod-ern instruments are fitted with syn-thetic heads. Regardless, there aresome players who prefer the natu-ral skin heads for a more traditionaltone. The original design called fora gut string but modern instru-ments have nylon string. Some-times the third string is a woundstring. Players commonly tunetheir banjo-ukes to GCEA (“CTuning”) or to ADF#B (“D Tun-ing”).
If you search a bit, you can findpickers playing banjo-ukes in old-time mountain music groups. Most
1. JD McPhersonSigns And Signifiers2. Darrell ScottLong Ride Home3. Rodney CrowellSongs By Mary Karr& Rodney Crowell4. Justin Townes EarleNothing’s Gonna Change The Way5. Little WilliesFor The Good Times6. Willie Nelson Heroes7. Lyle Lovett Release Me8. Ray Wylie HubbardThe Grifter’s Hymnal9. Old Crow Medicine ShowCarry Me Back10. Ryan Adams Ashes & Fire11. Kathleen Edwards Voyageur12. Paul ThornWhat The Hell Is Goin On?13. Bonnie Raitt Slipstream14. Shovels And RopeO’ Be Joyful15. Carolina Chocolate DropsLeaving Eden16. Lumineers The Lumineers17. Todd SniderAgnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables18. John Hiatt Mystic Pinball19. Sara Watkins Sun Midnight20. Bruce SpringsteenWrecking Ball21. Punch BrothersWho’s Feeling Young Now?22. Trampled By TurtlesStars and Satellites23. Brandi Carlile Bear Creek24. Joan OsborneBring It On Home25. Dr John Locked Down
Top 25 Albums of 2012
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February 2013
old-time players welcome the in-strument in their groups and attheir jams; however, this is not thecase among bluegrass players, andthe instrument does not show upoften in that music. Nevertheless,there are well respected musicianswho showcase their playing talentwith the banjo-uke.
So, what do I do with this new in-formation? I have certainly devel-oped a level of respect for thisquaint little musical instrumentthat my mother gifted my fatherwith all those many years ago. Infact, I’m going down to the localmusic store and get a set of stingsand see what this thing sounds like.
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Fiddler’s HolidayJay Ungar & Molly Mason
www.jayandmolly.comJay Ungar is regarded bymany to be one of America’sfinest fiddlers. His new col-lection of holiday tunes withthe Molly Mason Family Bandwill tickle your old-time fiddlelovin’ ears. This live set is wellworth the listen.
Bill EvansIn Good Company
www.billevansbanjo.com
Mike AikenAlmost Christmas
www.mikeaikenmusic.comBill Evan’s career spans morethan three decades - he hasestablished himself as a pre-eminent banjo performer,composer, author, andteacher. For this latestproject, 26 acoustic musiclegends were assembled.Hot.
American DriveAmerican Drive
www.americandriveband.com
The 1861 ProjectVolume 2
www.1861project.comThis is the second entry inthe ongoing series that fea-tures a mix of music and his-tory; the deeply moving sto-ries of Irish immigrants in theAmerican Civil War. Historybuffs will certainly appreciatethe heart and craftmanship ofthese songs.
Cow BopCalifornia Swing
www.cowbop.com.com
The 2012 Emerging Artist OfThe Year winner, DarrellWebb is one of the hottestyoung grassers on the scenetoday. His new CD, BreakingDown Barriers, is powerful -a “must add” for all contem-porary grass fans..
Darrell Webb BandBreaking Down
The Barrierswww.darellwebband.com The beauty of “Americana” is
that nearly anything string willfit - take the latest by a groupcalled Cow Bop. In the veinof Bob Wills meets BennyGoodman, this western swingmeets california jazz isunique, and very entertaining.It’s pretty cool, actually.
Lonesome River BandChronology, Vol. 3
www.lonesomeriverband.com
30 years together as a bandis an amazing feat. In a timewhere one-hit-wonders stilldominate the air waves, it’sreassuring to find a group likethe Lonesome River Band.This is the third installment oftheir tribute to 30 years ofgreat bluegrass. Good stuff.
Newcomers American Drivemade their official debut at theIBMAs this past September -to a much appreciative audi-ence - and high expectationsof good things to come. Theirfreshman, self titled CD is afine addition to the bluegrassscene.
Christians CreekI Hear Bluegrass
Shannon Whitworth& Barrett SmithBring It On Home
www.shannonwhitworth.net
An album paying tribute to theart of songwriting has possi-bly become the suprise of theyear, for me. These two ac-complished artists combine fora brilliant set penned by someof the great songwriters. Soft,genuine, real music.
Niall TonerOnwards & Upwards
www.pinecastle.com
Yea, I know I’m pushing theenvelope here - but, CCR hasinfluenced so much of today’smusic. Considered by manyto be the definitive Americanrock band - I figure it’s wortha mention that a new megacollection is now available.
Creedence ClearwaterRevival
Ultimate Creedencewww.conqueroo.com Onwards And Upwards is the
American debut for IrishmanNaill Toner. It’s a delightfulsampling of Irish strings andcatchy folksy stories. It’s gota hint of grass, a hint of coun-try swing, and a whole bunchof Naill Toner. Somethingyou’ll want to take a listen to.
DetourBluegrass Ahead
www.detourbluegrass.comMichigan based sextet isbreaking borders with theirnew CD, Bluegrass Ahead.Their new single, “QuaterlineRoad” is rockin’ all the charts- this is one band to watch. Ilove their tight harmonies andcontemporary, new grassfeel.
My hat’s always off to thehome-grown bluegrass band.Every band starts some-where, and the latest projectfrom Shenandoah Valleysongwriter Greg Eppard isproof if you want it badenough, you can do it. Theband’s latest CD can run withthe big dogs. Well done.
You can send new Americana CD releases for consideration to PO Box 45, Bridgewater, VA, 22812
Looking for some Christmastunes with a warm, down-home, feel? Americana trou-badour Mike Aiken gatheredtogether a collection of happyholiday diddies just in time forthe Santa day. They will surelyget you in the mood.
Christmas TheMountain Way
Rural Rhythm Collectionwww.ruralrhythm.com
Imagine a bunch of your fa-vorite bluegrass artists all to-gether singing some of yourfavorite holiday tunes - imag-ine no longer - it’s here. TheChristmas The Mountain WayCD fuel’s your holiday spirit.
February 2013
Donna UlisseBethlehem
www.donnaulisse.com
Accomplished singer/songwriter Donna Ulisse’snew Christmas themed CD isfabulous - not like any otherholiday CD I’ve heard. Fash-ioned in a story format,Donna wrote or co-wrote all11 unique tunes. Excellent.
Music From Your Neighbors Music From The National Scene
Our Special Christmas Selections for the 2012 Holiday’s
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