Categories
Bluegrass Music Songwriting

More Songwriting Woes

Maybe I’m losing it.

Songwriting for me the past few years has been a big challenge. I have written a few songs and posted them on my ReverbNation page (http://www.reverbnation.com/mitchmatthews), but I keep downing myself because I’m not as proficient as I was in my 30’s. Back then I was playing in/leading a country-influenced alternative band (what today we would call Americana music), and I could easily write a song a week that I was proud of. Heck, I was writing for a female lead singer.

I took on the reins of songwriting in my bands then because no one else had the will to do it. I never wanted to be in a cover band. All of my bands did play covers, but we were selective about the songs, and wanted to stress our originality.

As I phased out of the band-member role and considered myself more of a songwriter, this was about the same time that I delved happily into my love for bluegrass music. I found that many of my previous compositions could transfer well to bluegrass, so I have recorded some in that vein. My writing style changed as well toward the bluegrass format.

Back in 2011 or so, when I attended the IBMA World of Bluegrass Conference, I started meeting other people like me – not into playing much but working more with songwriting. It was a great experience, and I was rewarded with co-writes with two people now more prominent in the bluegrass industry as songwriters.

However, I have struggled getting any more recognition. Part of the reason is that I have a full time job in Detroit, so I am not able to travel to Nashville (let alone live there) more than twice per year. I try to hit as many bluegrass shows as possible using my time off so that I can network with touring bands, but I hit a lot of brick walls by not getting any feedback.

In a recent online discussion at SongwritingPro.com, the topic of discussion came up regarding networking as well as the quality of the demo recording to give to a prospective artist. Like I said, I try to network in any way that I can, so that was not a concern. However, recordings of demos has always been a burr in my saddle.

When recording one of my demos, I usually have just guitar, bass, and vocals, with either some harmony vocals or another instrument (mandolin, dobro). I would think as a song, giving it to an artist or producer, that would be sufficient. However, many still want a full band recording.

Think about it. A bluegrass band, no matter how great or even unique they are, all have the same basic set-up of guitar, bass, banjo, mandolin and fiddle, give or take an additional instrument. Is it necessary for me as the songwriter to do the job as producer/arranger so that the artist can hear what the song sounds like in a full band setting?

I have mentioned this phrase before in previous blogs – “It all starts with a song.” A good artist or producer should be able to hear a good song in its rawest form and know what he/she wants to do with it. “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” is a great example. Richard Thompson recording his version was just his fingerpicking guitar and vocals. The Del McCoury band heard a hit with the song, THEN recorded it as a band.

Knowing that I may have to up front money to get a band to record my song demo (and try to find reliable bluegrass musicians willing to learn an original song here in the Detroit area) gets to be defeatist. With that, I tend to lose energy to want to write some more. I have loads of tidbits of songs in my notebook, but I find myself staring at them and not being motivated.

I have plans to hit Nashville in November to use up some vacation time, and have been contacting people down there for possible songwriting sessions or even just meetings. So far I have one “maybe.” It is two months away, so it’s not like I am calling on them last minute. It gets frustrating, but I realize that I am not well-known in the industry, only having one minor songwriting hit and a few other non-bluegrass writing credits.

We shall see how this all plays out.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Music

Perfect Song #14: “Wicked Path of Sin” by Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys

This is the song that pretty much set the standard for bluegrass three- and four-part harmony singing with little or no accompaniment. Bill Monroe knew what he was doing, or at least found to right people to do it and let him take credit (which was often the case).

The minimal instrumentation is rhythm guitar, bass, and mandolin picking a simple riff in between verses and choruses. The charm is the vocals. Four voices doing their particular jobs perfectly, not competing with one another. Recorded in September 1946 in Chicago, the lineup of the famous 1946 Blue Grass Boys was not even a year old. The recording consists of Bill Monroe (tenor vocals, mandolin), Lester Flatt (lead vocals, guitar), Earl Scruggs (baritone vocals), Birch Monroe (bass vocals), and Howard Watts (bass).

It is interesting that Bill brought in his brother Birch to sing the bass. Either he did not have enough confidence in any of his current band members, or he had been working on the song at home and his brother was assisting. Either way, it worked. The chorus having Birch start it off, then the rest of the singers answering, then Lester does two lines with the question/answer, then Bill takes two lines with his high lonesome tenor, continuing the question/answer, finishing off with Lester doing one line and the entire quartet singing the last line — that is genius!

Plenty of bluegrass bands have covered this song, including New Grass Revival, the Stanley Brothers, Blue Highway, and Old & In The Way. However, it is the Blue Grass Boys’ version that is the most stirring. It needs no improvement — it is raw yet polished in its outcome. It is a gospel song, but never spends a lot of time talking about God or Jesus, only that he feels safe with his Savior. The beginning theme is that the world (even in the 1940s) was sinful, and that the singer is looking forward to arriving at the Pearly Gates to hear the bells and singing angels, as well as to meet all of the dear departed friends and relatives.

Everything about the bluegrass format can be traced back to Bill Monroe and his concept of it. We have so much to be thankful for from what came from his musical mind. This beautiful song is just one example.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Music

Billy Strings’ New Video

Apologies for being a day late on this week’s blog. My allergies have knocked me out this weekend.

Well, Billy Strings does it again. When I think that he cannot get any better, he one-ups me again! So he’s a fantastic musician, a great songwriter, and a decent human being, but his creativity keeps showing how amazing he is.

A few weeks ago, his team sent me a link to his brand new video for his song “10,000 Miles From A Friend,” which is off of his new album So Much For Goodbyes. It starts off with Strings as a cashier at a truck stop talking to a trucker. One would think that this is going to be about the boring life of a truck-stop cashier, but he is only doing a cameo. The focus and story changes to the trucker, his life on the road and struggles trying to support his daughter and granddaughter.

Man! I was actually shedding a tear at the end of this one! Powerful hardly describes the theme of the video. The background on the video is that Strings and the video’s director interviewed a number of truckers to get the storyline going, and the trucker in the video is an actual trucker.

The album is a fantastic listen, to be sure. This was recorded in January of 2026, just months after the death of String’s mother. Many of the songs have a feeling of his sorrow, and the album’s artwork includes many creations by his mother. The final cut, “Debra’s Waltz,” is for her.

I am not going to laud any more about Strings or this album. Let the music speak for itself. Strings is pushing the boundaries of bluegrass while not getting above his raisin’. I hope to shake his hand some day.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Music Country Music

Dolly Parton RIP (I Will Always Love You)

By the time that this gets posted, the news of the passing of country music legend Dolly Parton is well known. To say that she was an icon is cutting it lightly. Her voice, talent, good looks, and business sense made her loved by millions of people, whether they were music fans or not.

Her life story is posted throughout the internet, so I won’t go into it here. What I will talk about is my early experience of her music and her love and respect for bluegrass music.

Growing up, our family vacations consisted of two weeks during the summer staying at an uncle’s cottage at Higgins Lake, Michigan. Back in the 1970s, the area was still backwoods, despite a building up of tourist motels for those flocking to swim in the beautiful lake. It always seemed to rain at least one Saturday of the time there. Television was a black-and-white tube set with rabbit ears that barely picked up two stations from the Traverse City area. If stuck in the cottage on a rainy Saturday afternoon, we would watch the grainy syndicated The Porter Wagoner Show. His duet partner at the time was Dolly. My uncle used to make fun of her, but my dad loved her. I could see that she had that Southern Belle charm that any man would fall for. Unfortunately, the show was never available in the Detroit area, so that was the only time I got to see this angel with the powerful voice.

Of course, she would eventually leave the show, go off on her own, and create an amazing solo career, along with recording the Trio sessions with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt. Her talent was not only in music, but was showcased also in a number of television shows and movies. As she became more wealthy, instead of just buying tons of cars and houses, she invested in a number of business dealings, most notably the Dollywood amusement part in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. She also started many charitable organizations, among them the Imagination Library, which gave books to pre-school kids so that they had reading skills when starting their education.

Dolly loved all kinds of music, and because of her growing up in Tennessee, bluegrass music was in her heart and soul. Many of her country music albums, as well as the Trio recordings, had an acoustic bluegrass feel to them. However, in the early 2000s, she decided to record a trilogy of more strict bluegrass albums. It started with 1999’s The Grass is Blue, followed by Little Sparrow (2001) and Halos & Horns (2002). Some of the best bluegrass musicians in the industry were on these recordings, and along with original material, she recorded some non-bluegrass songs (“Shine” from Collective Soul and Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven). “Shine” won her a Best Female Country Vocal Performance the following year.

Bluegrass fans and artists have always loved her back. Her compositions “Jolene” and “Coat of Many Colors” have been recorded and performed live by numerous bluegrass bands, as they so perfectly fit into the genre.

It is hard to accept that Dolly is no longer with us. Perhaps because she had such a long and successful career, we all thought that she would be with us forever. Fortunately, her music will always be with us. And we can pretty much guarantee that she is singing with the Angel Band right now.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Music

Pat Enright RIP

Last week, we lost another great bluegrass voice and musician, Although exact information is still forthcoming, Pat Enright passed away at the age of 81. While his name was not as well-known to the general music audience, he was a stalwart in the bluegrass community, having been a member of two influential bands and a voice that was on a multi-platinum album.

Born in Indiana, he originally wanted to be an architect. However, he got bit by the folk music bug during high school. He joined the Navy in 1965 to avoid the draft, and while stationed in Washington, DC, he discovered bluegrass music. After the service, he moved to San Francisco and played in a number of area bluegrass bands. He moved to Nashville and secured a job at Gruhn Guitars. While working on a guitar, a string snapped and hit his left eye, causing it blindness.

In 1979, he was invited by Bela Fleck to join Tasty Licks, which had him move to Boston. They would later move back to Nashville and form the Dreadful Snakes. That band’s only album, Snakes Alive, is considered one of the most important bluegrass albums of the time.

In 1984, he and Alan O’Bryant formed the Nashville Bluegrass Band, The band’s 20-year run would leave an indelible impact on bluegrass music, as they not only stressed the traditional side, but included heavy influences from black Gospel, old-time string bands, and the blues. So many of the NBB songs included four-part harmonies arranged by Enright.

The highwater mark of his performing career came in 1999, when he recorded vocals for the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou?. That is his yodel on the recording of “In the Jailhouse Now,” as well as the harmony singing on “Man of Constant Sorrow.” During the Down From the Mountain US tour, NBB served as the house band to back up many of the vocalists from the soundtrack.

NBB won numerous IBMA awards during its tenure, and of course, he received a Grammy for the soundtrack for OBWAT. After the band retired in 2004, Enright stayed away from the music scene for the most part, occasionally performing at the Station Inn or other Nashville venues. My memory of him is getting to talk to him at a few IBMA World of Bluegrass conferences around 2010. We talked about old Martin guitars and the video that NBB had made for vocal harmony instruction. As with so many bluegrass artists, he was extremely humble and cordial to me and anyone else that wanted to talk. NBB has always been one of my favorite bluegrass bands, particularly due to those amazing harmonies, courtesy of Pat Enright.

Sir, your voice will surely be missed down here, but I know that you are now singing with the Angel Band.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Music

Bluegrass Internet Radio

Call me late to the party.

So I have had internet access at my house for almost a year. After years of dial up, hot-spotting off of my phone, and stealing access from neighbors that didn’t use a password, I finally can work on the web whenever I need to at my computer.

So sitting around a few days ago, I realized that I can now listen to an internet radio station to my choosing 24/7. After quitting Sirius/XM years back due to cost vs. selection, my bluegrass listening was limited to four hours on Sunday through CJAM-FM out of Windsor, Ontario, or digging through my CD collection if I wasn’t that lazy.

So I did a quick search for “bluegrass internet radio station” and Live365 had a list of Bluegrass stations. I sampled a bunch, but most seemed to mix a bluegrass song in with some classic country music. Two that I have been spending time with are “Catgut ‘n Jugs Bluegrass Show” (which leans toward the modern popular bluegrass charting songs) and “Rideout’s Bluegrass Farm” (heavy on Tony Rice, Billy Strings, and Garcia/Grisman).

It is nice to have a dose of bluegrass at the touch of a button on the keyboard, and it does run 24/7 on my computer (since I am paying for internet by the month). Howver, I am noticing that both stations tend to program the same way as SiriusXM’s “Bluegrass Junchtion” channel, which is why I unsubscribed from it. One will hear very little variety, sometimes the same song by the same artist will play two hours later than the first play.

There is so much material out there, so if it is because some computer is doing the programming, then perhaps someone at one of these stations needs to be a lot more attentive and put some personality. This is just like the old days (for me, still exists) with the car radio of twisting the dial or pushing buttons to change a station to get something different.

Yes, it is nice to hear bluegrass first thing when I wake up (“Bill Monroe for Breakfast,” or some reasonable facsimile), as well as when I walk into the house after a hard day at work. Right now, I need to check out other stations, hopefully one with more variety.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Music Musical Instruments

US 12 Yard Sale/More Billy Strings News

This weekend was the annual US 12 Longest Yard Sale, and I took Friday off from work to do my annual trek. While I will grab just about anything that I think is a bargain or treasure, I am mostly looking for musical instrument related items. In past years, there have been about a dozen vendors selling some such items, but this year, it was down to four, and three of them were pretty much a joke.

The US 12 Heritage Way website this year included a map of vendors that listed items that they were selling. I earmarked a few of them, and the results were pathetic. One had a Taylor 3/4 size gigbag for $40.00, and Elixer guitar strings for $5.00 per set (which I can get from Temu for half of that price). Another vendor’s idea of a “musical instrument” was a giant rug shaped like a keyboard.

There were a few vendors selling a few drum pieces or an old trumpet. One vendor had a few acoustic guitars, including a Harmony archtop that looked interesting. He was asking way too much, as well as high prices for two headphone amplifiers that looked like they had seen better days. Toward the end of my drive in a town called Allen (which calls itself the Antique Capital of Michigan), there is one vendor that is there every year, selling mostly fishing and hunting equipment, but has some musical instruments. They are mostly clarinets and trombones, but he does have a few guitars. However, they are all cheap department store types like First Act that are not worth anything.

In short, other than a few Hot Wheels cars that I bought for a co-worker, the only thing that I purchased for myself was a Godzilla Sandwich from Randy’s BBQ in Onsted (https://www.randysbarbecue.com/).

One of my YouTube subscriptions is to Billy Strings’s channel. When he is on tour, he will often post his opening song live. On Friday, I noticed that he was wearing a hockey helmet while performing. I figured at first that it was some kind of joke because he was playing in a hockey arena.

Then I read the following story:

https://stereogum.com/2507707/billy-strings-wears-protective-headgear-after-getting-hit-by-object-the-previous-night/news

What is with some idiots these days? Billy is a pretty laid back guy, and he has done his best to make up for cancelled shows due to his leg injury earlier this year. There is no doubt that he and his band put on a fantastic live show, and his fanbase has grown to amazing numbers over the past few years. However, there always seems to be one or two morons that want to ruin it for the thousands that paid good money for the show.

Billy had just started talking to the audience about how glad he was to be there, when an object (most likely a disposable lighter) was thrown from the crowd and hit him in the head. Suddenly, Billy’s demeanor changed drastically, and he not only called out the unknown assailant, but asked the crowd to “sodomize” the jerk.

Can you blame Billy? He is up there literally unprotected from any flying objects, and even something like a lighter hit in the right spot could do damage. I hope to read in the news soon that the assailant was found and charged with some crime. In the meantime, I also hope that Billy understands that the does not reflect the thousands of true fans who value his musicianship and love for his audience.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Fiddle Lutherie

Goodwill Strat Finished/Fiddle Stem Separation

I finished up on the Squier Stratocaster that I bought on the Goodwill website two months ago (https://luegra.design.blog/2026/05/17/shopping-goodwill-online/). Estimating the time, parts and effort put into getting back into playable condition, I will definitely lose money when selling, hopefully not much.

After cleaning up the graffiti and stickers, I went to work on patching up the divot that was made by the previous owner. This was a task indeed. The wood filler was not curing and sticking to the existing wood in the body, so it took about five layers. When sanding it down, it was not holding too well, so the last layer I let cure for almost a week. It held, but there are a few scratches that were too deep to come out unless I kept going with more layers, and I really did not want to invest more time on that part of the clean up.

I used simple acrylic paint on the patch. Fortunately, the patch was all in the black part of the sunburst, so only one color was needed. The polyurethane that I used for clear coating was also giving me some issues. It was going on thin, and even after about 10 coats, light sanding with 1000 grit paper took me back to the wood filler and stripping off the paint. After touching up the paint and adding a few more coasts, I switched over to some final coats of Tru-Oil. The finished job is not professional, but it is way better than it was, and it’s a Squier, not a vintage Fender.

I replaced the knobs and pickup switch with Fender-style parts to match the pickup covers. The floating bridge needed a lot of adjustment, which meant removing the back cover and force-tightening the spring screws. I could spend a lot more time on setting it up, but right now, I want to get back to the green Telecaster.

Sound-wise, it is typical of the Squier Stratocaster. There is that buzz when only one pickup is activated. I could get back into the body and put in some conductive tape, but again, I don’t want to invest more time into this guitar. The selection of neck/middle and middle/bridge pickups gives that great glassy sound. However, as these are pretty cheap pickups, the output is pretty low.

All in all, it is a beginner guitar, or a decent back up guitar. Hopefully I will find a buyer.

I recently received an email from TMJ Software/VRII with a project that they are launching for fiddle players wanting to learn a song. You send them a bluegrass song that contains a fiddle, and the company will use AI to separate the fiddle from the track, then post the song without the fiddle as well as a copy of the fiddle on its own without the band on its website so that you can check it out. They call it “stem separation.”

This sounds interesting, but I am not sure how popular it will be. I have seen other companies produce backing tracks of popular bluegrass songs like Grasstrax, but I am not sure how much of a need there is for the backing track as well as the recording of the lone instrument on its own. Most bluegrass musicians that I know can pretty much decipher the solo and are more inclined to create their own version.

Only time will tell if this works out for anyone wanting to study a certain bluegrass song’s fiddle break. I went to the website (https://vrii.tmjsoftware.com/fiddle-challenge.html) and checked out the three songs that were there. The separation was good, but one would find it hard to follow the backing track, as in the case of the recording of Bill Monroe’s “Cotton Eyed Joe,” the fiddle kicks it off, yet you can’t tell when to start if you want to jam with the backing track. Anyone interested in trying to download a song can go to the above website.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Dobro

Back to the Dobro

Last week, a little voice inside of me told me to get back to practicing the Dobro. Last month when I was working the SEMBMA Petting Zoo at the Charlotte Bluegrass Festival, I was with a kid that was having a good time on one. Lately, I have been slacking off practicing any instrument due to longer hours at my job and having to take care of my brother’s house while he is on vacation.

My banjo had been leaning against the couch for a few weeks without moving, and I finally put it back in the gig bag. I had not touched the Dobro (a Regal RD-40) since I moved into my parents’ house, and I found it buried under a bunch of clothes in the basement. Surprisingly, it was still in tune when I strapped it on.

I put on a Dobro instructional DVD and found that I still knew one or two tunes. Unfortunately, my slight arthritis is not allowing for fast picking rolls. I have no problems with rhythm chops, but I do want to work on some simple leads. The DVD basically shows simple tunes, and a Jerry Douglas DVD I have is not in my plans right now (if ever). I have been watching a few YouTube beginner Dobro videos to pick up some ideas.

My hope is to hit the Cirrus Guitar jam session in the next month or two and bring the Dobro. There are too many guitars there and maybe a banjo or mandolin, so a different instrument there would be a blessing. I also want to be able to throw in a different instrument besides guitar and bass on my songwriting demos and not have it sound pathetic.

While the picking fingers are the same as the Scruggs-style playing of banjo, I find that I am more comfortable picking the Dobro strings. With both, I am having some coordination concerns doing string pinching, but that is just one of my things to work on. Both instruments are tuned to an open G major chord, so trying to slide into a minor chord is a challenge without knowing some theory.

Right now, I am trying to commit myself to at least 15 minutes practice every day after work, no matter how tired I am. Yes, the Dobro is now leaning against the couch, staring at me when I walk into my living room. I also need to look for Dobro instruction books that I know that I kept but packed away during the house move.

I should be finishing up on the green Telecaster guitar body by the end of next week, and will be working on the neck and electronics next, finishing up the guitar by mid-August. Before it gets cold outside, I do want to do build another guitar, a bass that will include some routing needed to install a second pickup. I would have a lot more time if there were not outside influences. However, I cannot use any excuses, and need to plan my time far enough in advance and keep to the schedule so that I can get more things done that I want to be done.

I leave you with one of the coolest Dobro tunes Jerry Douglas has ever written.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Music

2026 IBMA Award Nominees/Byron Berline/Nashville Bluegrass Band

The 2026 International Bluegrass Music Association announced its Bluegrass Music Award nominees this week, along with inductees into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame. As for the nominees, they are pretty much repeats from previous years with the exceptions of a few names (https://ibma.org/press-releases/ibma-announces-2026-bluegrass-music-awards-nominees-hall-of-fame-inductees-and-distinguished-achievement-honorees/). However, as for the BGHOF inductees, I was glad to see two names that are finally receiving recognition,

Fiddler Byron Berline was to me one of the most talented of fiddlers in the bluegrass field. His father was a champion fiddler, and it seemed to rub off on him. By the time he was 20, after winning numerous contests, he appeared on the Dillards album Pickin’ and Fiddlin’. He soon worked with Bill Monroe, then after serving in the US Army for two years, he moved to California to work with Doug Dillard and Country Gazette. Other notable projects included Berline, Crary & Hickman (1978-90) and California (1990-96). His fiddle work went through the entire scopy of the music world, working with Bob Dylan, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Emmylou Harris, and the Rolling Stones (that is his fiddle on the recording of “Country Honk”).

In 1995 he moved back to his home state of Oklahoma and started the Byron Berline Band, as well as opening the Double Stop Music Shop in Guthrie. Unfortunately, a fire destroyed the shop in 2019, and Byron passed away from stroke complications in 2021. Fans of his not only value his contributions to fiddle and bluegrass music, but also know that he was a big Star Trek fan, appearing in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Where No Man Has Gone Before” playing with a 18th century string quartet.

The Nashville Bluegrass Band are definitely the workhorses in the bluegrass music industry. Formed by Alan O’Bryant and Pat Enright in 1984, they held to traditional bluegrass ethics while also incorporating blues and gospel. Their a capella performances were heavily inspired by black gospel music, and they were known to revive songs that were long lost in the years. They were the first bluegrass band to perform in the People’s Republic of China, and helped to make the O Brother, Where art Thou? soundtrack the success that it was. They are two-time Grammy winners, and have continually supported other bluegrass artists in the studio and at live performances.

NBB’s induction in the BGHOF is long, long overdue. While they have never received acclaim like Del McCoury or Billy Strings, they have always been the biggest ambassadors of the genre. While I have a number of the band’s CDs, one of the items that I value the most from them is and instructional video that they released on Homespun Music Instruction entitled Harmony Vocal Workshop – Gospel/Bluegrass. It shows how really powerful and talented the band is when it comes to vocalizing traditional music. For anyone wanting to learn how to best harmonize when singing country, bluegrass, or gospel music, this is a must-have video.

Chew on it and comment.

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