Author: Matt Merta/Mitch Matthews

Musician and writer (both song and print) for over 30 years. Primarily interested in roots music (Americana, bluegrass, blues, folk). Current contributing writer for Fiddler Magazine, previous work with Metro Times (Detroit), Ann Arbor Paper and Real Detroit Weekly, as well as other various music and military publications. As songwriter, won the 2015 Chris Austin Songwriting Contest (Bluegrass Category, "Something About A Train," co-written with Dawn Kenney and David Morris) as well as having work performed on NPR and nominated for numerous Detroit Music Awards.

Categories
Bluegrass Music Polka Music

Tidbits #8: John Candy/Vickie Vaughn/David Mayfield Parade

I have always loved John Candy. I miss him dearly. Uncle Buck is a classic comedy, right up there with Some Like It Hot. I also treasure his cameo in Home Alone, where he plays Gus Polinski, band leader for the Kenosha Kickers polka band. Growing up around a father that was obsessed with polka music, and as a kid having to go to numerous Polish picnics and have my father talk to various band members that he grew up with, I can truly appreciate Candy’s character in the movie.

I decided to show my love and appreciation recently by ordering myself a Gus Polinski Kenosha Kickers tour jacket. Gold with red piping, the band’s logo emblazoned on back and the name “Gus” embroidered on the left breast. I ordered a 3XL through Amazon, figuring that would make it comfortable to wear. Well, when the package came a few days ago and I saw the Asian shipping address, I knew that I was going to be a little disappointed. The 3XL in Asia clothing mirrors an XL here in the US. It barely fit, and the sleeves are a bit tight. Moreover, the name “Gus” is not embroidered but is a simple patch sewn on. I did write a negative review on Amazon, but I don’t feel like going through the hassle of returning it, as I will still have to pay postage and fight the foreign company through Amazon.

Congratulations to my “kid sister” Vickie Vaughn, who this past week won Bass Player of the Year at the IBMA World of Bluegrass Awards Show for the second year! She totally deserves it, as she is a workhorse when it comes to performing live. She currently plays with both Della Mae and High Fidelity, as well as sits in with a number of other touring bands and, when she’s home in Nashville, spanks the doghouse bass on Mondays with Bronwyn Keith-Hynes at Dee’s Lounge. I suggest that you watch the Dee’s Lounge YouTube channel on Monday evenings for Bronwyn’s jam sessions.

I first met Vickie in 2014 at the IBMA Leadership Bluegrass conference. We hit it off immediately. I call her my kid sister not only because she is everything that I would have wanted in a younger sister, but that our personal lives have paralleled in many ways over the years. She knows that she can always count on me if she ever needs anything, and she stays in my heart even though our paths cross maybe once per year. Check out some of her work with High Fidelity and solo stuff on YouTube!

This past week the David Mayfield Parade (Man, I love that band!) posted a video for their single “Times Winding Up.” The Bluegrass Today website posted an article about it, stating that fans are angered by the graphic violence portrayed (https://bluegrasstoday.com/fans-outraged-at-bluegrass-bands-shocking-new-music-video/). Well, I had to check it out, and yep, I fell for John Lawless’ tongue-in-cheek review. As I stated in the comments section, DMP is a fantastic band, and I love that they did something different than the cliché bluegrass video of the band lip-syncing to the song while performing on a log cabin porch, or shots of them recording in the studio. No, this video has a storyline, and you will love it! Watch it and see what I mean.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Music Rock Music

Tidbits #7: Wonder Woman/Microphone Shock Mount/Hamilton Book Finds

I had a crazy Thursday this past week. I took the day off to get the oil changed in my car. After that, I went to see a friend that works at a local gas station. My car has manual transmission, so when I park and turn off the engine, I usually put it in 1st gear to lock it. Well, I must have put it in a higher gear (which doesn’t lock the drivetrain), so as I was walking into the station, I noticed that my car was rolling away, heading to the street. I started running to catch it, but one other man was ahead of me, and like a super-heroine, a young lady literally jumped (practically flew) through the open window of my car and pulled the parking brake. So thank you sir (I didn’t catch his name), but a special big thanks to Jessica, not only for stopping the car, but doing it in an amazing manner. Free guitar lessons to her if she ever wants to take it back up again!

For anyone using a shock mount on a large-diaphragm condenser or ribbon microphone, you know that the rubber bands used for holding the clip to the mount will stretch and wear out after a year or so. If you purchase these bands through a music store or online, they can cost around five dollars apiece. I have instead used women’s hair bands for the same job for a lot less money. You can usually pick up a bag of these at local dollar store or pharmacy. As these are smaller than the normal shock mount band, so you will need to use about eight of them to fully secure the mic clip. However, They do the exact same job, will last about the same amount of time, and will be a lot less on the wallet.

I made a purchase with Hamilton Books recently and found a few gems. First, I got Mandolin Man: The Bluegrass Life of Roland White by Bob Black. I have wanted to read this book ever since it came out in 2022, right about the time the man passed away. I met him a few times, and even went to a last-minute workshop he was hosting at The Ark in Ann Arbor about 20 years ago. He was extremely humble about his career, and was always promoting the legacy of his brother, guitarist Clarence White. I cannot wait to dive in.

The other gem is the CD Punk & New Wave: The Ultimate Collection, put out by a company called Union Square. This company issues a lot of these compilation packages from the looks of the inside cover, including Rock Anthems, Driving Songs, Northern Soul and Running Songs to name a few. I took a chance on getting this one, and WOW, I am glad that I did! Five CDs containing 100 original recordings from The Jam, The Damned, X-Ray Spex, The Buzzcocks, Joe Jackson, Squeeze, and many others from the late 1970s/early 1980s. I was practically crying when listening to the first disc, as it was a bunch of songs that I remember from my youth. I will be listening to this set over and over again!

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Music

Annual SEMBMA Picnic and Hall of Honor Ceremony

Yesterday (Saturday), I attended the Southeast Michigan Bluegrass Music Association Annual Picnic and Hall of Honor Presentations. This year it was held at a park in Bath, Michigan, a town about 1- miles northeast of Lansing. The town is famous for a tragic event. In 1929, the city’s school was destroyed by a bomb planted by an irrate school board member. The bomb was supposed to detonate in the evening when no one was there, but instead exploded in mid-morning, killing 38 students. Google “Bath Michigan School Massacre” to learn more.

Moving on, in what would normally take a little more than an hour to drive from my house, took almost two hours due to the number of construction sites on the highway, along with Michigan State University football traffic. There was about 50 people in attendance, with about a dozen people being Hall of Honor recipients and relatives.

One of the recipients, who unfortunately is no longer with us and his wife was accepting the award, was Deja (pronounced “dee-jay”) Davenport. He served as a country and bluegrass DJ (ironic?) at WBYW in Grand Rapids until the station closed in 1997, then created a bluegrass program called Access to Bluegrass on AccessVision cable television network out of Battle Creek. The show lasted from 1997 until Deja’s passing in 2006. Starting out with local bluegrass bands, the show also showcased national touring bluegrass acts such as Cherryholmes, Larry Cordle, and Rhonda Vincent as word spread of the program’s success. Fortunately, most of the shows were videotaped and are now available for viewing on YouTube. To view the 500+ shows, do a YouTube search on “Access to Bluegrass Archive.”

Standing members in attendance were also able to get a quick meeting in to quickly discuss pertinent matters. We are considering sponsoring a monthly jam session at a number of locations, but there seems to be two distinct problems:

  • Not a lot of places, be they venues, meeting halls, or even a private house, are not too keen on a bunch of people showing up that are unfamiliar. There have been instances of some pickers looking at jam sessions as a place to do some drinking, and other places like bars or restaurants don’t warm up to people showing up to jam and not ordering food or drinks. Private homes may not have ample parking in the area, which makes neighbors ticked off.
  • The level of players attending is difficult to decipher as well as divide into groups. There are amateurs showing up as well as those that are practically professional pickers. If only one circle is formed, then either the pros get bored with the simple songs, or the amateurs get frustrated because they can’t keep up. One hopes that there is enough space to divide the groups, but then there is also the problem of attitude. Some people try to take over a jam session without question, which can turn off others faster than playing ability.

Another concern with the Association is the lack of students applying for the SEMBA Youth Acoustic Music Scholarships. The Association has enough money for a few scholarships each year through donations, and I spoke to one student that was at the picnic who received a scholarship this past year. I had to convince her to apply again this year, as she thought that it was only for one year. Once again, we need to hit the music stores, schools, and specific media outlets to promote this program. Anyone reading this that knows of a youth 12-18 years old in the southern Lower Peninsula of Michigan that is studying bluegrass, folk, or old-time music on an acoustic instrument, have the parents of that kid contact SEMBMA at smbluegrass@gmail.com or go to the website at www.smbluegrass.com .

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Music Pop Music

Sergio Mendes RIP / Del McCoury Live!

This past week, one of the coolest pianists/band leaders passed away. Sergio Mendes led a jazz-pop group in the 1960s that had a number of hits on the charts with his band Brasil ‘66 (often changing the name to reflect each year of performing/touring). He was born in Brazil in 1941, and studied classical piano. He soon took interest in jazz and the rise in bossa nova music, and became a member of Carmen Miranda’s touring band.

He first formed a jazz trio, then added female singers to form Brasil ‘65, which began performing in in the US. After recording a number of low-selling albums, he hired English-speaking female singers so that they could record songs in English as well as Portuguese. Herb Alpert signed the band to A&M Records as Brasil ‘66, and they had a big international hit with “Mas que Nada.” The album Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil ‘66 went platinum.

Mendes would have even greater success with the Oscar-nominated song “The Look of Love,” as well as a cover of the Beatles’ song “Fool on the Hill.” The band performed for Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon. While his fame lowered in the US during the 1970s, he was still immensely popular in South America. During the cocktail music craze of the 1990s, he saw a renewed interest in his music, winning a Grammy in 1992 for Brasiliero.

During the 21st century, he did a number of collaborations, including with the Black Eyed Peas, Stevie Wonder and Justin Timberlake. He passed away on September 5th from complications of COVID.

I remember as a little kid watching his band perform on variety shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show and Hollywood Palace. His was the kind of music that everyone, from teens to older adults, could get into. Jazz influences, it also had the ingredients of rock, pop, and his native music samba and bossa nova. There was not a lot of flash in the instrumentation, but the band was skilled, and he knew that his female singers were eye candy as well as the perfect voices for the songs. While the music never received heavy rotation on the radio, when one of his songs did come on, you didn’t change the channel. If you were driving, it was the perfect cruising music. His work will always stand out as a great art form of pop music from Latin America.

Last night I went with my buddy Ken to see the bluegrass legend Del McCoury and his band. Now I’ve seen him already about a dozen times, and I probably would have passed on this show due to it being in Pontiac (a 40-minute drive, and I’m getting too old to stay out late and then drive home), but Ken had not seen him yet, and with Del at the age of 85, I knew that the chances of seeing him again were not as great as before.

Del still puts on a helluva show! It was funny, as 10 minutes before the start, there he is walking around the stage, making sure he has water available. His band could easily have roadies, but they still do everything for themselves. He has always loved and respected his audiences, talking to them personally between songs and taking requests. Two 45-minute sets would have probably tired out anyone else at his age, but he handled it like someone half his age. His band, consisting of his sons Ronnie and Rob, along with Jason Carter and Alan Bartram, are professional to a tee! They still do minimal miking, and choreograph their solos and harmony singing like the old days.

Yeah, he forgot the lyrics to songs a few times, but it was understandable, considering that he has a repertoire of a few hundred songs. The audience didn’t care – they loved it when he would just la-dee-dah through a verse to keep it going. He performed his trademark “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” (which I reviewed as a Perfect Song in the blog https://luegra.design.blog/2021/04/17/a-perfect-song-1-del-mccoury-band-1952-vincent-black-lightning/) to a standing ovation, and had no problem taking in about a half dozen requests as is normal for his shows.

I implore you to go see the Del McCoury Band while there is still time. It is worth hours to drive to see this amazing example of a bluegrass band, as well as appreciate the legend that Del McCoury truly is.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Music Stores

Closing of Marshall Music and Other Music Stores

Last week, Casino Guitars posted a video talking about how Best Buy used to have musical instrument stores within some of the stores.

They were more prevalent in the south, and the only thing that I remember at Best Buy stores around my area was some would sell low-end Maestro guitars and a few accessories. Presently, the Best Buy stores in my area are now closing down completely one by one, just like the local drug stores like CVS and Rite-Aid.

I learned recently that a local music store for me, Marshall Music in Allen Park, Michigan, has closed permanently, along with a few other locations, and the company has consolidated into one store in the northern Detroit suburb of Troy (https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2024/08/13/marshall-music-company-closes-stores-location-troy/74779920007/). The Allen Park location was one of the places that elementary and middle school students could rent quality wind and string instruments, and was highly recommended by many school districts in the area. There have been a number of area independent music stores closing over the past decade, some due to competition from Guitar Center, others because of cost to survive and a drop in band instrument interest from young people.

I drove by my local high school a few weeks back, and the marching band was out practicing. The size was about half of what I remember when I was going to school about 40 years ago. I was not in the school band, but my interest in music led me to playing in a cousin’s oldies band at the age of 16, eventually leading me to play in punk, roots-rock, Americana and bluegrass bands as my years went by. However, I have always been a promoter of music for young people, whether it be playing guitar, piano, or a wind/string instrument in school. It is sad to see the stores that catered to students are closing, leaving parents to rely on shady online sales or just telling their children that music may not be in the plan.

I am sure that schools have their resources that I am not fully aware of, and there are still a few stores around that are a bit of a drive away. I just wonder what happened to the interest in music at the grade, middle, and high school level. Music stores used to be a place to hang out and dream (it still is for me). However, there seems to be less places to dream, and with that, less dreamers. Music is a great therapy for people, and studies have shown that students that practice a musical instrument do better in school (https://www.artsedsearch.org/study/does-musical-training-improve-school-performance/). Now I know that not every kid is going to be into bluegrass music, as much as I would like to teach them. However, a young person taking interest in any genre of music, be it classical, jazz, marching band, rock, or something else, makes me a lot happier.

When I worked at the musical instrument petting zoo at the Charlotte Bluegrass Festival back in June, I truly hoped that at least one kid would be inspired to go home and ask his/her parents to help with learning the guitar, banjo, mandolin or fiddle. There was one girl there who was intrigued with the dobro, and I talked with her parents on how to help her gravitate and keep her interest with it. I hope that I will see them there next year and that they tell me that she is continuing interest in the instrument.

In short, if your child takes an interest in music, for Pete’s sake, support that motivation in any way that you can. If you have a tough time financially, search the internet for resources. They are out there.

Chew on it and comment. Have a safe Labor Day weekend.

Categories
Country Music

Perfect Song #12: “Cannonball Rag” by Merle Travis

This is pre Eddie Van Halen shredding! I talked about Merle Travis in an earlier post about his songwriting (https://luegra.design.blog/2022/05/07/perfect-song-7-sixteen-tons-tennessee-ernie-ford-version/), and he was one of country music’s first superstars for his songs, his singing, and even his bit parts in Hollywood movies (check out From Here to Eternity). However, with most guitarists, he is famous for his trademark “Travis Picking.”

“Cannonball Rag” is Travis’ hallmark performance. I can lsiten to this song a thousand times and continue to be amazed. His picking is a combination of Mother Maybelle Carter’s scratch, hardcore bluegrass rhythm guitar, and classical fingerpicking. The result is a solo guitar sounding like two guitars and a bass playing at the same time. The listener cannot believe that all of that sound is coming from one guitar! Travis developed this style after studying Carter, Ike Everly, and Mose Rager. He used a banjo thumbpick and his bare fingers, which gave the bass runs a percussive feel, while the melody and rhythm strings a more harp-like feel.

Travis’ picking became a sensation in the early 1940s whenever he appeared on radio. He enlisted in the Marines during World War II, then returned to the country music scene around Cincinnati. In the late 1940s, he would appear in Hollywood shorts (“soundies”) showcasing his guitar skills. While he was getting better known for his songs, such as “Divorce Me C.O.D.” and “No Vacancy,” he still liked to show off his guitar prowess. He helped design an early version of a solid-body electric guitar with Paul Bigsby, which would later inspire Leo Fender’s designs.

While fans loved his singing and songs, guitarists such as Chet Atkins, Joe Maphis, and Doc Watson were heavily inspired by his guitar work. Watson even claimed to have named his son Merle after Travis (listen to their dialogue on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Will the Circle Be Unbroken album). Even modern guitarists such as Tommy Emmanuel cite Travis as a main influence.

“Cannonball Rag” Is one of those songs that from the first few notes, you know you are in for something amazing. That bass run along with the syncopated melody lines draw you in to think that you are listening to a small ensemble and not a solo guitar. Each verse begins with a different strumming/picking pattern, yet the last few bars of each verse return to a familiar pattern to let you know that Travis is getting back to the main theme. There are banjo rolls, blues bends, and bass solos, all sounding like each “player” is taking a turn soloing. This is the type of song that you turn up when cruising down a two-lane highway. It is also the type of tune that will either inspire the beginning guitar player to either work harder, or give up altogether.

I dare you to listen to this song and NOT hit repeat at least once or twice.

And if you still think that it is not one man only playing this song, here is a live version.

Are there any questions? Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Fiddle Bluegrass Music

Bobby Hicks RIP

Yesterday, we lost one of the great and influential bluegrass fiddlers. Bobby Hicks passed away early Friday morning from complications of a heart attack earlier in the week at the age of 91. I do not think that there is a bluegrass fiddler alive today that does not know who he was, let alone view him as a big influence.

Hicks was born in North Carolina in 1933, and first learned guitar and mandolin. He later picked up the fiddle, and won his first fiddle contest at age 12. He would first play with Jim Eanes band, and did a short stint playing bass for Bill Monroe until Monroe saw how good he was on the fiddle and moved him to that position full time.

After a two-year service in the Army, Hicks returned to the Blue Grass Boys and moved to Nashville. With them he recorded Monroe classics “Big Mon,” “Scotland,” and “Wheel Hoss.” He often recorded twin and triple fiddles with the band alongside Vassar Clemens, Kenny Baker, and Charlie Cline. He later joined Port Wagoner’s band, but soon moved to Las Vegas where he was getting paid much better. It is there that he created his homemade five-string fiddle.

After seven years in Vegas, he returned to NC to care for his ailing mother. While home, he played with some local bands and held private lessons. In 1981, Ricky Skaggs asked Hicks to join his touring band. At the same time, he participated in the first five albums of the legendary Bluegrass Album Band, which included Tony Rice, Doyle Lawson, J.D. Crowe and Todd Phillips.

He retired from Skaggs’ band and touring in 2004 at the age of 71. He continued playing locally in NC and giving occasional lessons. He was inducted into the Fiddlers Hall of Fame in 2002, the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2017, and was also a member of the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. He has 10 Grammy Awards to his credit, and performed for over 50 years on the Grand Ole Opry.

Monroe once dubbed Hicks “the truest fiddler he had ever heard.” I had the honor of meeting Mr. Hicks back around 2011 at the IBMA World of Bluegrass Conference when it was in Nashville. In the Exhibit Hall, he was trying out a number of fiddles at a luthier’s booth. Strangely, there was not that big of a crowd standing around watching this legend test-drive the fiddles. He actually asked me what I thought of one of them once he was finished playing. We chatted for a few minutes, I explained that I was not a fiddler but enjoyed fine playing. I felt honored that he would ask someone he didn’t know an opinion of an instrument.

The masters of bluegrass are disappearing at a sadly fast rate, and with Bobby Hicks now gone, there is not many left for our younger artists to show respect to. He will be sorely missed int eh bluegrass community for not only his talent, but his knowledge that he passed on to many others.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Musical Instruments Old-Time Fiddle

Longest Yard Sale/Old-Time Fiddler Covention 2024

Apologies for being a day late, but this weekend was the one that I visit both the US 12 Longest Yard Sale and the Michigan Fiddlers Association Old-Time Fiddlers Convention.

Friday was the day for the year sale. While they advertise it going from Detroit to the western border at New Buffalo, things don’t start to really show up until after Saline if you travel west on the road. Nothing for knick-knacks this year for me, but I did pick up a few music bargains.

  • MXL 770 large-diaphragm condenser microphone. I really have no need for one of these, as I just sold off a similar one last year and have an older MXL model that I still keep. However, it was a good price, and it was never used, with a shock mount still wrapped up in plastic. I am sure that I can re-sell it and make a few dollars.
  • Kustom KLA 10 guitar practice amplifier. Again, I have a few small practice amps already, but I picked it up for next to nothing. These are pretty good, reliable little amps, as Kustom has been putting them out for years. I will probably do a review on this next week.
  • Jasmine by Takamine S-35 acoustic guitar. I did an overview of my experiences with Jasmine guitars in a previous blog (https://luegra.design.blog/2023/09/30/jasmine-guitars-the-good-as-well-as-the-bad-and-ugly/). This particular guitar was made while Jasmine was still a part of the Takamine company. These are high-quality beginner guitars that can hold up to models costing a lot more (these go for about $100.00 used), and it came with a high-end Road Runner case/gig-bag. I paid $60.00 for the package, which is nearly what the gig bag cost new. The guitar was hardly touched. The seller told me that he purchased it for his daughter in high school and she lost interest rather quickly. When I got home, as I was cleaning out the gig bag, I found some lyrics that the girl must have written while she was still interested in playing and performing. Very cliché lyrics about breaking up with a boyfriend, but I had to smile that she at least tried to write a song. I have another S-35, and I will look at selling at least one if not both in the near future.
  • 2002 Made in Mexico Fender Stratocaster. Despite being over 20 years old, it still had the cellophane on the pickguard and wammy bar cover. All I can figure that it sat for all of that time because the nut is cut too low on the B string, so the original owner never bothered to fix it. That’s a $20.00 job if I do it myself, probably $50.00 or so if I get a shop to do it. We shall see if I budget my time, and it’s not like I have to do it right away. I still got a decent deal on it, and while I don’t play electric guitar much, I know a deal when I see it.

There is not a lot of music equipment available along the strip of sales, mostly clothes, old toys, and possible collectible antiques. But I have been going every year since before COVID, and I will surely take the day off from work to go again next year.

Saturday I spent a few hours at the Old-Time Fiddle Convention in Hastings, Michigan. While this is not a big event, those that attend for the three days are extremely loyal fiddlers interested in old-time music and jamming with others. I probably could have more time there, but traffic accents and construction took a lot of my Saturday morning time. I caught the end of the Sing-Along workshop by Glen Warners, then watched the Michigan Fiddle Tunes workshop hosted by Dave Langdon. Dave is a great old-time fiddler, playing left handed. However, his instructional skills are less than satisfactory. While the class worked on two simple fiddle tunes, and most everyone there were competent with the tunes, Dave tends to just play a part of the tune and then have everyone join in. There is very little discussion on notes, and he doesn’t even give a count to start the song, he just jumps in and expects everyone to catch what he is doing. There were a few instances that students had to point out that he wasn’t following the sheet music verbatim, but said that he had his own style. Fortunately, everyone in attendance was very friendly and appreciative of the workshop.

I was able to make a simple video of the Langdon workshop with my older video camera (I’m still having problems with the video camera I purchased last year, and the instruction manual is all in Chinese, so I still have a lot to learn with it). I will post it on my YouTube page later this week.

I would love to see more people at the convention. Unfortunately, Hastings is not that easy to drive to, and people interested in old-time fiddle music are usually going to hit more popular events such as Galax in Virginia. The MFA doesn’t do much to advertise the event either, so attendance depends mostly through word-of-mouth from previous attendees. I have chatted this event up to many other bluegrass musicians and fiddlers, but just about everyone feigns interest. I do plan on going next year, as well as hitting the old-time fiddle contest in New Boston this October.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Music

IBMA World of Bluegrass Move to Chattanooga

So, the announcement was made this past week that the IBMA World of Bluegrass Conference will be held in Chattanooga, Tennessee for the 2025 through 2027 seasons. The choice surprised a few in the bluegrass community, as most thought that it would be moved back to Kentucky.

The IBMA stated that it would make the announcement much earlier in the year, so being this late made many lose interest in where the conference would be located in the future. Once the announcement was made that 2024 would be the last year that WOB would be held in Raleigh, North Carolina, the bluegrass community was talking heavily on a new location, which included Louisville, Lexington, or Owensboro, KY, Dayton, OH, or even St. Louis, MO. Very little talk was of Chattanooga, but one can see a few positives to the choice:

  • More centrally located. While still in the South, Chattanooga is closer to other bluegrass-oriented cities such as Nashville, Knoxville, Louisville, and Dayton. As a mileage note, Chattanooga is about a 9.5-hour drive from Detroit, while Raleigh is closer to 13 hours (I still don’t plan on going, more on that later).
  • Investment. Chattanooga is planning on investing $25 million into promoting tourist and convention marketing. We are fully aware that conferences such as WOB can pull in millions of dollars to a city’s economy, so I would venture that with WOB being there for three years, it will be a hefty return on investment, not even considering other conventions and tourism outside of WOB.
  • Weather. During WOB’s tenure at Raleigh, there were two instances where hurricanes affected the conference, with one cancelling a large amount of events or forcing re-scheduling. A fan registered for WOB that just paid a few hundred dollars to attend, as well as hundreds more for hotel and food, expects a whole week of entertainment without Mother Nature screwing up things. Yes, maybe a day can be a disappointment (we’re used to it at bluegrass festivals), but to be in fear of dangerous weather the entire time is not worth the trip.

The first WOB in Chattanooga is scheduled for September 16-20, 2025. Oddly enough, that is usually the same week that the Americana Music Association schedules its AmericanaFest conference in Nasvhille. While there is not a lot of conflict, some bands and fans do attend both conferences, so one would wonder how much of a loss either association would feel if both were to be held on the same week. I would imagine that the AMA would probably hurt more, albeit not a large amount. Also, would anyone even consider the two-hour drive between the two cities to attempt to attend both? Highly unlikely.

As I stated above, I don’t plan on attending WOB in the near future, unless drastic changes are made in the philosophies of the IBMA, especially its political leanings. Because they moved so far left in thought since the George Floyd riots, I not only stopped becoming a member, but also resigned my position as a member of Leadership Bluegrass. Granted, I have also left the Americana Music Association for similar reasons, so whatever happens to the conferences over the next few years does not concern me. What I care about is the quality of music, not the diversity/equity of the artists. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at SPBGMA this past January because there was no politics, just a bunch of people enjoying music and jamming, and it allowed me to network without having to deal with conflicting attitudes.

In a related note to end this blog, I was going through some thumb drives a few evenings back, and came across a folder marked “IBMA 2011.” I believe this was one of the last years that WOB was held in Nashville, as well as one of the last times that I attended. One of the themes that year was Del McCoury’s 70th birthday. The Del McCoury Band performed live outdoors near the Ryman Auditorium and had a number of special guests, including Vince Gill, Sam Bush, Tim O’Brien, and Dierks Bentley. I actually got to hang out with Dierks for a while after his appearance, which he proved to be a true gentleman. I remember taking this photo and sending it back to two female co-workers. They were so jealous that they wouldn’t talk to me for days!

My beautiful picture

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Folk Music Rock Music

John Mayall/Duke Fakir/Happy Traum RIP

Three important names in music passed away this past week, with two of them being big influences on my musical life.

First, let’s look at the passing of John Mayall. He was a student of the blues long before the British Invasion that gave us the Rolling Stones, the Animals, and the Yardbirds. He, along with Alexis Korner, brought Chicago-style blues to young Brits in the early 1960s. His proteges included Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, Mick Fleetwood, and John McVie among many others. His 1966 album John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, often called the Beano album as it featured Clapton reading the Beano comic book on the cover, is considered legendary. He had many chances to gain great success in the US if he would dilute his strict blues style, but he refused. He became a cult hero among blues purists, and his original material was off kilter, not writing about usual blues subjects such as drinking and infidelity, but instead choosing political and environmental themes. He was active until very recently, passing away at the age of 90.

Next, we look at Abdul “Duke: Fakir, tenor singer and last original member of the Four Tops. Motown was a big part of my growing up, and much of that came from the smooth vocals from the talented groups on the label. The Supremes, the Temptations, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, and Martha & the Vandellas were all top notch, but my favorite of them all was the Four Tops. Lead singer Levi Stubbs was amazing to say the least, but the icing on the cake was the tight and timely harmonies provided by Lawrence Payton, Renaldo Benson, and Duke Fakir. Listen to classics such as “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch).” “Bernadette,” “Reach Out I’ll Be There,” and “It’s the Same Old Song.” These four guys were bridging doo-wop with R&B energy.

Then there was the look. The four members, especially Fakir, had absolute class and style in the way that they presented themselves. In the beginning, they wore tailored, matching suits that gave them a gentlemanly look. As the 60s progressed on into the 1970s, they began to make individual fashion statements. Even after leaving Motown, they still had hits with “Ain’t No Woman (Like the One I’ve Got)” on ABC and “When She Was My Girl” on Casablanca. One has to remember that these four performed together from 1953 to 1997, the longest tenure for any band with original members.

Fakir never left Detroit long-term, He owned much property in the city, and ran a successful restaurant on the Detroit River. He passed away on July 22 of heart failure at the age of 88.

My other big influence that we lost this past week as acoustic guitarist Harry Peter “Happy” Traum. Born in 1938 in the Bronx, he was part of the Washington Square/Greenwich Village scene during the early 1960s, where he would become friends with a young Bob Dylan. Along with Dylan, Pete Seeger, and the Freedom Singers, they recorded Broadside Ballads Volume 1 for Folkways Records. He actually cut the first version of Dylan’s “Blowing in the Wind.”

However, Traum is best known by many, including my introduction to him, for his work in creating guitar instructional books, tapes, and videos through his Homespun Music company. As a guitar teacher in New York City, he first wrote the book Fingerpicking Styles for Guitar in 1965. He was soon making tapes for his students based on transcriptions in the book. Due to the popularity, he formed Homespun with his wife and began advertising in various music magazines. Soon he was releasing instructional tapes from fiddler Kenny Kosek and banjo whiz Bill Keith.

By 1983, Homespun was releasing VCR lessons, which was eventually followed by DVD and online downloads. In 1995, Hal Leonard Corporation took over the massive distribution job. Other artists that Traum recorded for lessons included Chet Atkins, Norman Blake, Rick Danko, Donald Fagen, Jerry Douglas, John Hartford, Bill Monroe, Sam Bush, Doc Watson, even musical comedians Steve Martin and Steve Allen. Each video was produced by Traum, starting off in his living room and eventually in a small studio. Many of these videos featured Traum interviewing the presenters, offering insightful questions that would pique the artist’s curiosity and make the student truly interested in the information beyond fingering and picking technique.

While Homespun was Traum’s main passion, he still continued to record his own material, releasing his final recording, “Just for the Love of It,” in 2015 and appearing on Dylan’s Another Self Portrait a year earlier. He passed away on July 17 at the age of 86.

All will be missed. Chew on it and comment.

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