Category: Bluegrass Music

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Bluegrass Music Music Programs

SEMBMA Cancels Bluegrass Workshop: What Went Wrong?

Last Sunday, the Southeast Michigan Bluegrass Music Association had its first meeting for 2022. The last meeting was in October, which I could not attend due to having COVID. I had missed providing any input on decisions made during that meeting.

The big decision made at that meeting was to set up and sponsor a workshop for learning bluegrass guitar, banjo, bass, mandolin, fiddle, and singing. The date set was June 10-12, with really only workshops on June 11 and the other days providing jam opportunities. The proceeds would go to the Association’s Scholarship Fund. Cost would be $40.00 for each participant, with a discount for SEMBMA members.

I honestly didn’t find out about the workshop weekend until January (and I am a member as well as on the SEMBMA committee for Scholarships!). So at last week’s meeting, we found out that only five people registered for the workshop. That was less than the number of instructors hired for the event! The workshop would be less than two months away, and there was no word on any more people wanting to register. The person in charge of organizing the workshop stated that she did all that she could to get the word out, sending flyers to music stores and radio stations.

With a unanimous vote, it was decided to cancel the workshop. Some attending wanted to move it to September, while others (myself included) want to hold off for a lot longer until the Association can invest more time and money into the project.

There were a lot of things working against this workshop from the beginning that cancellation was inevitable. The problem is that the coordinator(s) were either too blind to see them, or just did not want to work in order to alleviate them.

Here are some problems as well as possible solutions to making an events such as this workshop more successful:

  • Time allotted to set up and promote the event. In this case, the decision to have the event was eight months until the workshop date. Moreover, the first notices did not come out until January. Talk to anyone that runs a bluegrass event, and they will tell you that they start the planning the day after the last event ends. You need a year to not only follow a structured plan to make the event work, but also time for people to plan to attend.
  • Promotion. The days of sending flyers out or posting them at music stores and expecting a line at the gate on opening day is ancient history. One has to have a strong grasp on social media just to get a message out. Emails are a start, but that has to have a plan, such as sending announcements out on a regular basis so that members and other interested parties get the reminder. These emails should have updates on the event, such as who will be teaching, any special offers, and asking for suggestions from attendees. However, the big blast should be with Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. I know that SEMBMA has its own YT page, so a video announcing the workshop should have been posted.
  • Money. This coincides with promotion, along with other factors. This is not Field of Dreams, where if you build it, they will come. Much more needs to be done to get the word out, and that costs money. Yes, there are some free outlets such as posting flyers on local bulletin boards, but if you really plan to get people to pay attention, you have to pay for advertising. Local newspapers are a start, but that is a coin toss to see if it will work. Since this is a bluegrass-related event, the advertising is best spent with bluegrass publications such as Bluegrass Unlimited. This goes back to time allotted, as magazines require an ad request months in advance. The thought here is, you get what you pay for. If you don’t spend money, you won’t get great results. Now you may not get great results if you spend a big amount on advertising, but most successful event coordinators know that the first year or two may result in loss of revenue in order to get the word out.
  • Scheduling. Why would you schedule a first-time workshop only a week after a more-established workshop only a two-hour drive away? That being the Midwest Banjo Camp near Lansing, which has been going on for years and has built itself up into a reputable weekend, providing well-known instructors and a well-structured schedule.
  • Personalities. Just who are the teachers that are at the workshop? If I have to pay a fee and you are not telling me who is the instructor, then this guy could know less about the instrument than me! Also, if my kid wants to learn guitar, what is going to motivate me to register and drive an hour or two instead of getting lessons from the local music store 10 minutes away? The truth is, names draw attendees. That is why a lot of bluegrass festivals have workshops and pay artists a little more to be the instructors. Someone is more likely going to attend a workshop with Ronnie McCoury, Molly Tuttle, Sierra Hull, or Darol Anger than Joe Schmoe from the local music store.

SEMBMA is going through a drastic time right now. Current officers are looking to retire, and no one is really volunteering to step up. I currently serve on two committees (the other being the Office Nomination Committee), and it is hectic with the little time that I can spare. Some new, younger blood needs to step in with new ideas. This workshop (and its inevitable cancellation) is just one example of old ideas not working. The issue here is that young people need to know that for bluegrass to survive in certain areas, it needs more than to just learn how to play and instrument and jam.

Chew on it and comment.

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Bluegrass Music

What Is/Isn’t Bluegrass? The Debate Continues

Last week, the online site Bluegrass Today posted a review of the Watchhouse Band performance at The Ark in Ann Arbor (https://bluegrasstoday.com/watchhouse-band-in-ann-arbor-mi/). This ensemble consists of the duo Mandolin Orange along with two additional acoustic guitarists and an upright bassist. While I am not a huge fan of Mandolin Orange, I do like some of their music, and this set-up allows them to do more eclectic material live.

As expected, a recurring debate on what is/isn’t bluegrass started up in the comments section. The Watchhouse Band does not have a banjo in its lineup, so of course, that brought a lot of traditionalists out commenting that the band was not bluegrass and probably should not be featured in a BT article. Others from the opposite end stated that many established bluegrass bands such as the Osborne Brothers and Doyle Lawson have used non-traditional instruments such as electric bass and drums in their recording for a number of years.

I did post one comment within the debate. I stated that while Mandolin Orange was not a bluegrass band by definition, much of their material and sound does pay homage to bluegrass music and artists. I also stated that BT has widened its coverage by including a Grassicana chart (charting artists/recordings that are on the fringe of bluegrass while having some Americana influence), and that the website The Bluegrass Situation covers only about 10% of traditional bluegrass music. One statement that I said that was taken out of context was that I felt that some “uneducated” music people do not fully understand what traditionalists view as bluegrass and simply lump any acoustic band into the bluegrass format. When I put that word into quotes, I meant that there are a lot of people that may not listen to bluegrass as much as the hard-core bluegrass fans, and thus, do not have such a hardline definition of bluegrass (must have banjo, no drums, no electric bass, no piano, etc.).

Of course, there were a few that took that quoted word out of context, and started an even bigger ball rolling. In short, this is an argument that will never have a happy ending, or an ending period! As I said at the end of my comment, “To each his own, I guess.” There are a lot of “beyond the walls” definitions and influences with bluegrass. Doc Watson played amazing flatpicking guitar doing old-time fiddle tunes. He wasn’t bluegrass by narrow definition, but his playing inspired thousands of bluegrass guitarists, and so many times did he perform with bluegrass bands at bluegrass festivals.

There are so many things to consider when defining bluegrass, but one thing that is definite – there is no definite answer. While there are distinctions that definitely do not fit any bluegrass mold, such as a metal band like Metallica or a rap artist like Eminem, the format of bluegrass has a few basic rules and branches out from those according to individual tastes. Some individuals parallel a long stretch, while other individuals break apart early.

Whether it’s Doc performing solo, or a full band playing, my thought is, does it give you a feeling inside that bluegrass music (by traditional definition) always seems to give you? If so, then perhaps it is bluegrass. Or perhaps one can say, “Can you clog to it?”

Check out this backstage performance of Doc jamming with a very young version of award-winning fiddler Michael Cleveland.

Chew on it and comment.

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Bluegrass Music

Roland White RIP

Friday, April 1st saw the passing of one of the true gentlemen of bluegrass. Roland White, mandolin player and teacher for over six decades, died at the age of 83 from the effects of a heart attack from a few days prior. Legendary does not begin to describe Roland, although he was not as observed in the bluegrass scene as other mandolinists in the past few years.

Roland started out in the late 1950s with his family band, including his sister Joanne and brothers Eric and Clarence. Joanne left shortly after formation, and the three soon became The Country Boys. The youngsters performed a number of times on the show Town Hall Party, a country music program broadcast out of California during that time. Through the support of guitar great Joe Maphis, the group changed its name to The Kentucky Colonels, and they became extremely popular in the Los Angeles area. They also appeared on two episodes of The Andy Griffith Show (still as The Country Boys).

Roland joined the service in the early 1960s, during which time Clarence took more instrumental lead roles with the acoustic guitar, and history was soon made on that part. When Roland returned to the band, it recorded the iconic album Appalachian Swing, containing a number of stellar guitar/mandolin lead trades between the two brothers. Bluegrass was losing fan interest by the mid-60s, and Clarence would switch over to electric guitar, playing in Nashville West and later The Byrds. Clarence declined an offer to play guitar for Bill Monroe, so Roland took on the guitarist role in The Blue Grass Boys.

In 1973, the three White boys would reunite as the New Kentucky Colonels with Herb Pedersen and Alan Munde joining. Tragically, after only a few shows, Clarence would be killed by a drunk driver while loading gear into a car, ending this last incarnation of the brothers’ band. Roland would perform briefly with Lester Flatt and the Nashville Grass, then form the influential band Country Gazette with Munde, and remain with that band until 1991. After that, he joined another influential bluegrass band (an one of my personal favorite bands), The Nashville Bluegrass Band. He stayed with NBB until about 2000, at which time he formed The Roland White Band with his wife Diane Bouska.

During these past two decades, his name could be found on a number of bluegrass albums as guest mandolinist, including with Marty Stuart, Clint Black, Bernadette Peters, Ricky Skaggs and Ry Cooder. He also dedicated much of his time to teaching, serving in festival workshops and publishing a number of mandolin lesson books. He never let the public forget about the influential work of his guitarist brother Clarence, publishing a book of guitar transcriptions entitled The Essential Clarence White – Bluegrass Guitar Leads.

Roland was always a welcome sight at Nashville establishments like The Station Inn. When he walked in the room, it was like royalty had just come in. Everyone was in awe of this man, and he was humble enough to appreciate the attention and warm accolades. Whether he was sitting in with a band or just enjoying the show, everyone knew that there was someone special in the room.

I have two wonderful memories of Roland. The first involved a workshop that he was overseeing. A few years back, Roland was visiting relatives in the Detroit area, and scheduled a last-minute workshop at The Ark in Ann Arbor. Word spread quickly, and about 30 people, including me, were in attendance. Roland was extremely friendly and helpful to everyone there, working with many who had just picked up a mandolin only recently. While the workshop turned out to be more for absolute beginners, those of us who had a bit more mandolin experience were grateful to be in the presence of the great man. I was even surprised that Thomas Sneed, mandolinist for The Reeltime Travelers, was sitting next to me soaking in the magic.

My other memory was talking to Roland on the phone for an article on Clarence that I was writing for the now-defunct Bluegrass Now magazine. Roland continually promoted his brother’s guitar work, and was gracious enough to afford me time to talk about Clarence’s work. After that call, we would occasionally email each other (or I would get emails from his wife) updating things going on in Roland’s career. I am blessed with the friendship of country music songwriter extra ordinaire Jim Lauderdale, and have always loved the work that Jim and Roland did when Jim first arrived in Nashville. If you ever get a chance, check out the album Jim Lauderdale and Roland White, recorded in 1979 at Earl Scruggs studio. Also, you MUST secure a copy of Appalachian Swing. It is a true teaching tool for all bluegrass musicians!

Roland will truly be missed, not only for his mandolin work and as a statesman for bluegrass, but for his warm smile and friendly demeanor. He is now playing with The Angel Band.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Music Music Programs

CJAM-FM Deserves More Respect

CJAM, the college radio station out of the University of Windsor in Ontario just across the river from Detroit, has been one of my favorite stations ever since its inception in 1983. When other stations in the Detroit area were playing commercial-friendly music, CJAM was playing underground bands that ears like mine were begging for. I learned about so many punk, new wave, and Goth bands from that station. As I got older and tastes changed, CJAM became the only terrestrial radio source for bluegrass music in Detroit with the Sunday morning program “Daybreak in Dixie.”

As the years have gone by, it seems that this little oasis of a radio station has never really had great luck. When it started, CJAM would broadcast at a lowly 50 watts at 91.5 FM. If you had a really good antenna on your home radio, you were lucky to pick it up, dealing with fades and static. To hear it better, you had to get in your car and park somewhere along the Detroit River in a not-so-great neighborhood. In 1995, the station was boosted to 456 watts, so Detroit and immediate suburbs could get the station if the wind was right.

In 2009, the station was granted permission to transfer to 99.1 FM due to a station near Port Huron, MI was also using 91.5 FM. It was hard to pick up on a radio that used digital tuning because of competing Detroit stations at 98.7 FM and 99.5 FM forcing themselves over. Thank God for old analog-tuned radios and sensitive fingertips! Fortunately in 2014, CJAM was permitted to raise its power to 2,084 watts, so it could be heard at least 20 miles away from the riverbank.

Then, a few months ago, I noticed that tuning in the station was difficult again, and there was interference from another station. At first I thought that CJAM was forced to lower its power, but NO! It turns out that there was a new sports-talk station in the Detroit market (isn’t one enough?). “The ROAR” broadcasts on 93.5 FM AND 99.1 FM. The thing is, if you look at the broadcast map of these two stations, the smaller-powered 99.1 FM area is covered by 95% by the more powerful 93.5 FM. Why the complete overlap? Greed, most likely. The other sports-talk station here in Detroit is at 97.1, so while they are competing for that audience, they are stomping out those of us who would rather listen to music, especially styles that we cannot receive from commercial stations.

I never understood having sports-talk radio stations on the FM frequency. Does it really matter what the aural tone of the voice is if it is on AM radio? It’s talk, for God’s sake, not music. By the way, CJAM not only broadcasts underground alternative music, but also classical music and programs highlighting a number of ethnic groups. The local NPR station WDET used to offer a good variety, but as of the last decade or so has become a left-wing news-talk station with some free-form music programming during the weekend afternoons. I stopped donating the that station years ago, but I continue to support CJAM as much as I can.

Terrestrial radio lost a lot of its status and reliable reputation back before the turn of the millennium when they refused to listen to the consumer wants and needs. Satellite radio then became the alternative resource, but that turned lackluster within 10 years as the programming there began to mirror terrestrial commercial radio (I quit my subscription about 5 or 6 years ago). There are the internet radio alternatives like Pandora, but as soon as I learned that they were not paying proper royalties to artists while still broadcasting commercials, I turned my back on them as well.

I was raised on radio. In my pre-teens, I cherished my transistor pocket radio picking up the Top-40 AM stations during the day, like CKLW out of Windsor, then tuning in out-of-state stations at night. The underground and college stations were a must-hear in my teens and young adult days. Even as I have gotten older, the stations playing non-commercial programming like folk, bluegrass, Celtic, and classical music are for what I continually search. CJAM is still an oasis for me, especially “Daybreak in Dixie” as I relax and write on Sunday mornings as well as Saturday evening alternative music. These terrestrial stations keep disappearing, it seems, year by year. I pray that CJAM will be around for many more years. Check out its programming at www.cjam.ca/ .

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Music Musical Instruments

Yes, It Is Time To Sell Some Music Stuff

Yes, I have to face the facts. In my 20s, 30s, and even into my 40s, I was obsessed with making music. Thus, my house was full of musical instruments and recording equipment. At one time, I had about 30 guitars and basses, along with a few mandolins, a banjo, and a dobro. The fiddle came later, after the guitar count went down by way of selling, trading, and theft.

Look, I’m 57 now, a diabetic, overweight, a bit arthritic, and my knees aren’t in the best of shape. I don’t see myself hitting the stage of some dive bar banging my Stratocaster through my Twin Reverb amp playing with others who are in the same questionable shape, to an audience that would rather drink than listen to us. While my listening tastes have not changed much over the past 40 years, my playing tastes have dwindled considerably.

It hit me a few days ago. My blog last week talked about the baritone guitar that I built from an old Fender Squier Telecaster. I pulled the guitar out of the closet and plucked around on it for a few minutes. I realized that I am never going to play it again other than what I was doing then and there. Why should I have this thing gather even more dust when I’m now trying to clean out my house for sale as well as take a load off of my mind?

I looked around the house at other equipment that I have. Lots of vintage recording equipment. I’ll never use it again, as I have no desire to be in a rock band nor record one. Everyone is going digital anyway, and I use a small digital 4-track for my demos. At the time I bought it, the Tascam 238 8-track Syncaset was the go-to recorder for making decent band demos. I also have a Fostex 12-channel mixer and patch cords galore. Maybe someone out the is interested in that vintage stuff.

A couple of amplifiers that I have are worth something. The already-mentioned Fender Twin Reverb from the mid-70s is still sought after by guitar tone freaks, as well as a super-vintage Ampeg V4 head. I got them both at reasonable prices, so I should be able to make some money getting rid of them.

I also have a few old Kustom roll-n-tuck amps and speaker cabinets from the late 60s. I was totally into the Kustom stuff years ago. I sold a few things off, but it’s time to rid myself of the rest.

I’ve been only playing bluegrass these past few years, and even then, mostly songwriting. I ‘ve jammed a few times with others, but I have lost interest in being in an actual bluegrass band. As a songwriter, I am interested in hearing my work performed. However, most bluegrass musicians tend to want to just play the same 20 standard songs.

I have a lot of acoustic instruments, especially guitars. I have bought a few of them to do lutherie work on, and will probably sell them off much later in time. I do want to keep some PA equipment, at least a small set-up and some microphones, just in case I get called to do a sound job or plan to do a show. And I have always been and still am a vintage microphone collector, so the ones that I have will be sticking around for a while.

It will take some time to sort through the stuff, and it will be hard parting with some of it, but it is time for this to happen. I may do a spring garage sale, who knows? I do know that it is a crap shoot running ads on Craigslist. I am currently selling a student violin that I repaired for $70, and one person offered me $20. Heck, I invested more than that in repair parts! I have had some good luck with CL, but also some idiots wasting my time (the same violin, one woman wanted to buy it for her kid, and as I was driving in the snow to meet up with her, she texted me to say she changed her mind).

I’ll have to self-appraise the stuff before I sell it, and that will take time as well. If you do check out the Detroit Craigslist site and see someone selling in the “Dearborn/Hamtramck” area, most likely it is me. Hey, if you are interested, contact me and perhaps we can work something out. I’m actually selling a lot of non-musical stuff as well.

Chew on it and comment.

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Bluegrass Music Musicians

Bluegrass Jamming

Another Casino Guitars video, another comment from me.

This time, Baxter and Jonathan discuss ways that musicians can meet other musicians to jam with or form bands. They recommend the usual options, such as guitar stores having a bulletin board, open mics at bars, and searching the internet. They also suggest hitting community colleges that have music programs and talking your friends into learning an instrument.

My one and only gripe about these guys is that they are too electric-centric. They never really look at the acoustic side of guitar music. Within the video, they talk about finding the local blues music society for seeking musicians. Now Casino Guitars is a store located in North Carolina, which is in a region big on bluegrass music. There are loads of festivals in the area, and there is a rich bluegrass history from North Carolina (Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson for starters).

As for bluegrassers, we are a well-informed community regarding musicians. Even up here in Michigan, which is definitely not a hotbed for bluegrass business, there is still enough communication going around to know what is out there. There are three viable bluegrass associations in the southern part of the Lower Peninsula that spread news as well as make available to their memberships scheduled jam sessions.

Best of all, bluegrass festivals are a fantastic resource for musicians looking to play with others, whether it be to just jam or perhaps start a band. This has been going on for decades, and will surely continue now that restrictions from the pandemic are slowly being lifted. Bluegrass festivals are unique regarding these amateur parking lot jam sessions. You never see anything like this at rock, country, or jazz festivals. People go there to listen to the music, period. Bluegrass audiences have a high percentage of people that also play musical instruments. Many show up at the festivals with the only intention of jamming, not really caring if they see a band on stage.

I have mentioned it before, that the professional bluegrass musicians performing on stage also like to walk in the parking lots and jam along with the amateurs. There is a great bond with professional bluegrass artists and their audience members. They all get to know each other personally, and part of that is jamming with one another after shows. That is something you do not see at other music festivals.

A few weeks back, I posted a video of a jam session at the SPBGMA conference that happened in January. This is a great example of what makes bluegrass people unique. Music is in the blood, heart and soul of bluegrassers. At SPBGMA and IBMA conferences, jam sessions happen in every corner of the sponsoring hotel. Rooms are set up just for late-night jamming. Old friends reunite, and new friendships are created continually. I miss the early days of the Americana Music Association’s conferences. There would be a number of jam sessions going on, but that seemed to disappear as the organization grew. Fortunately, jamming is still encouraged at SPBGMA and IBMA.

Jamming has become so much a part of bluegrass that Pete Wernick, whom we all know as Dr. Banjo, created three jamming videos and has established a classroom setting program to instruct people on the principles and etiquette of bluegrass jamming.

So if you are beginning to learn guitar, banjo, mandolin, or violin/fiddle, and want to learn what it is like to be in a ensemble situation, consider bluegrass music. We bluegrassers are a welcoming community. I leave you with a great example of this community feeling. Alan Bibey (mandolinist with Grasstowne) is having a great jam session with some very young pickers.

Chew on it and comment.

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Bluegrass Music Musical Instruments

Tidbits #4: ArtistWorks, SPBGMA, Landon Bailey, and Me!

I’m not into football like I was before the whole “take a knee” thing. I won’t be watching the Super Bowl. I do think that it is funny that after over a decade of QB-ing for the Detroit Lions and nothing to show for it, Matt Stafford’s first year with a different team has led him to the big game. He played amazing with the Lions, but with a lackluster supporting cast, he could never get any respect from the NFL or press, but if LA wins, He has a chance to be a hall of famer.

But enough of that! Let’s talk music, specifically bluegrass! Have you checked out the ArtistWorks YouTube channel lately? It has always had some great instructional videos on its channel, but the last month has been fantastic! Great lessons from Chris Eldridge of The Punch Brothers, banjo legend Tony Trischka, and mandolin magician Sierra Hull. However, the best two videos they have posted recently are fiddle duets with Darol Anger and Bronwyn Keith-Hynes. This is old-time fiddling on overdrive. ArtistWorks has always been a great resource for beginner to intermediate musicians wanting to learn more. If you have never checked this channel or ArtistWorks’ website, do it soon!

I regret not being able to go to the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America (SPBGMA) last month in Nashville. I will do whatever I can to go next year. In the meantime, attendee Stephen Hudson captured a lot of jamming going on with his video camera. What is always great with bluegrass jams is that pros sit in with amateurs and it ends up a good time. The amateurs feel blessed to get a chance to jam with a hero, and the pros get to be regular guys/girls, while also seeing what is out there amongst the fans. I have said it before – bluegrass artists are the only artists that I am aware of that regularly rub elbows with their fans, getting to know a lot of them personally (there are a lot of bluegrass musicians playing big stages that I call good friends), and will stay until the last autograph is signed. Now, check out one of Stephen’s videos.

There are a lot of people on YouTube that review guitars, amplifiers, and effects pedals. I’ve subscribed to some of them, and one in particular that amuses me is Landon Bailey. His delivery is a combination of Bill Murray, Steven Wright, and Don Imus. You can never guess what his next video will cover, except that it will have something to do with music. Like his 15-minute video of a wind-up metronome clicking at 100 beats per minute. Check him out, you will love his wry sense of humor.

Finally, I put a video on my channel that is a lesson on beginner bluegrass bass with an electric bass guitar. It is rough to say the least, as it was my first attempt at editing, and since I use an older digital camcorder, the video can be grainy when there is not full light. Take a look, and please give me some feedback.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Music Surf Music

Don Wilson RIP / Songwriter Camps

I learned a few days ago that Don Wilson, rhythm guitarist for the surf instrumental group The Ventures, passed away January 22 at the age of 88. Other than some coverage in newspapers where he lived in Tacoma, Washington, the news went virtually unnoticed for days. I only learned about it a few days ago while surfing YouTube, and a video came up of John Fogerty paying tribute to Don. I texted my buddy who follows dozens of music chat groups, and he had not heard about Don’s death either.

A true shame. The Ventures were the best known guitar instrumental group ever. The band’s first big hit, “Walk, Don’t Run,” is still a staple for surf band copycats, as well as oldies bands and kids learning to play electric guitar. They also had a hit with the theme to the television show Hawaii Five-O. They had 14 singles in the Billboard Top 100. They put out over 250 albums, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008 by Fogerty.

What I loved about the band was, not only their ability to continually put out great instrumental albums, but also in the late 1960s, they put out a number of instructional albums called Play Guitar With The Ventures. There was also on called Play Bass With The Ventures. I have three of the original ones, and I have seen them reissued as CDs on eBay. These were vinyl records with four songs that the band recorded, with separate rhythm, lead, and bass guitar tracks from which to learn. It also included a handy booklet. These are collector items now, and I am always on the lookout for any of these, even copies of the ones that I already have. I also value my copy of The Ventures Christmas Album, in which they took some Christmas standard songs and implemented their guitar hits. In all of the albums, you can hear and feel Don’s strong rhythm guitar approach, as he played extremely hard on the guitar because when the band was beginning, they did not have a drummer.

I was fortunate enough to get to see the band back in the late 1980s. They played a small bar in Detroit called Alvin’s, and the lineup included Wilson, Bob Bogle, Gerry McGee, and Mel Taylor on drums. The place was packed, and with all kinds of fans, old and young. In fact, most of the fans were punks and new wavers – those that appreciated the roots of the rock and roll music. It was a great show, and all of the guys in the band were generally pleased with the crowd enthusiasm. My one disappointment was that I was wearing a Batman logo T-shirt (before they become popular), and the band’s road manager said that if I sent him one, he would send me back an autographed Ventures T-shirt. Well, I sent him the Batman shirt, but I am still waiting for the Ventures shirt over 30 years later.

Don will be missed, especially by those that picked up a guitar and learned “Walk, Don’t Run” or “Tequila” as their first songs. Dare to tell me this isn’t a kickass song!

Yes, it’s February and there’s about a foot of snow on the ground here in the Detroit area. All the more to think about what I will be doing this summer as far as music is concerned. I am sure to hit one or two festivals, especially the Milan, Michigan five-day bluegrass festival and perhaps the Michigan Old-Time Fiddle Convention in Hillsdale (if it isn’t cancelled again this year). However, one trek that I would like to make is to hit a songwriter camp, particularly one that is geared toward bluegrass or Americana songwriting. I have always wanted to attend the retreat at Donna Ulisse’s home in Tennessee. Of course, these have been cancelled over the past few years due to COVID, but she has done workshops at festivals and other camps such as Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Kamp in Tennessee and The Strawberry Jam Camp in Iowa. I do believe that I need some fire under my butt to get back into songwriting more, so perhaps a workshop like this will help. I know that there are other songwriting camps around, but I don’t feel that they could halp me with the type of music that I write. So we will be checking a few out over the next month or two.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Music Musical Instruments

My 2022 Resolution

My new year’s resolution for 2022? Pay more attention to the music, especially bluegrass music.

I’m getting rid of my house and moving back to my mom’s house to take care of her. I’ve been practically living at mom’s for the past five years, and my house is in shambles. Having to take care of an 89-year-old woman on my own, along with my day job, has been stressful to say the least. When I was laid off, it was fine, but I can hardly stay awake now that I’m working.

With that said, I have been spending an hour or so every day at my house getting rid of junk. It has now come down to getting rid of furniture, music equipment I know that I’ll never use again, and other big items. Time doing that has taken time away from practicing the fiddle and guitar, as well as concentrating on songwriting. I haven’t picked up the fiddle since well before Christmas, and I have only picked up the guitar once in the past three weeks.

So I need to get back to the music. I don’t want to lose that piece of personal enjoyment to the struggles of my life. I definitely need some inspiration as far as songwriting goes, and that has been very lacking. My one songwriting group Songwriters Anonymous has been holding Zoom meeting for nearly two years now, and I have not had the opportunity or even motivation to check one virtual meeting out.

I remember one YouTuber named FiddleHed that I wrote about a few months back telling those people that one needs to pick up the fiddle every day, even if just for a minute to pluck the strings or drag the bow across, in order to keep being motivated. Yes, I need to get back to that.

I certainly realize that the COVID thing has really killed off a lot of motivation with me and others. I was practicing the fiddle enough to want to try and hit a jam session, b ut forget that. None to be found in the area. Online jam sessions do not have the same warmth, comradery, or feedback. I was planning on going to SPBGMA in Nashville at the end of the month, but between the house, caregiving, and my job, that was cancelled.

As for songwriting, I am hoping that some camp will happen in the spring or summer. I will definitely travel to get to one, as I have very little motivation around my area right now. I’ve been checking online for some possible camps or workshops, but none seem to be popping up.

Since I dropped Sirius/XM a few years back, I have been a bit out of the loop when it comes to what is new in the bluegrass field. I try to keep up by reading Bluegrass Today online, still subscribe to Bluegrass Unlimited, and I still listen to “Daybreak in Dixie” every Sunday morning on CJAM-FM in Windsor. However, I looked at the Top 50 songs for 2020 on a Bluegrass Today chart a few days ago, and I don’t think that I recognized 10 songs. I don’t see me going back to the Sirius/XM subscription, so I will have to spend some time surfing around on the internet to get my ear back on the ground.

I hope the COVID lockdown apathy will disappear soon for me. I really enjoyed the few times that I was able to see some live music last year. I do know that there are plans to make the Milan (Michigan) Bluegrass festival a five-day event this August. I may not make all five days, but I will certainly be there for two or three days.

Let’s hope that things get better. I need some motivation. In the meantime, here’s something I posted on YouTube a while back. Inspired by Tom T. Hall. We’ve learned some sad news about Tom’s death this past week, but I don’t love him any less.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Music

Perfect Song #6: “White Dove” by The Stanley Brothers

All right, I am not going to end 2021 by complaining about how bad it was. Instead, I will end it with one of my choices for a perfect song. This time it is “White Dove” by the Stanley Brothers.

About 10 years ago, when I was working as a customer service rep for an automotive company, an older co-worker was talking about how much she loved opera, and that there were no American singers that had the capacity of letting the audience know what his emotions were without understanding the words, like an opera singer could. Before I could answer, my music buddy who also worked there blurted out, “George Jones, Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Carter Stanley!” I was 100% in agreement, and it did seem to shut the opera lover down for a while.

Carter Stanley left this world way too early, passing away from cirrhosis in 1966 at the age of 41.He was an alcoholic, and some say that had an impact on his vocal approach to songs. His voice had a natural feel to it when he sang the Stanley Brother’s most popular songs, such as “White Dove,” “Rank Stranger,” and “How Mountain Girls can Love.” With the slower, more melancholy songs, it was as if he was talking about something that recently hit him in life. He had a natural voice for country music of that time.

As for the song, it is a 3/4 waltz time, but moves just a bit faster than a normal waltz. The chord structure is typical bluegrass. There are two things that make this song powerful. First is Carter’s approach to the lyrics. The song tells of the singer reminiscing about his parents and how happy he was spending time with them, but now is sad that they are both gone and feels frightened about his remaining life and death. The way Carter sings each line, it is like he is sitting on the porch with you and he is saying his feelings out loud. Totally human, no theatrics to the vocals. You as the listener can empathize with him.

The second powerful feature is the chorus, and how it is sung. Ralph Stanley’s high tenor comes in like a thunder storm, along with the other background singers. While we generally look at this as bluegrass harmonies, the Stanley Brothers’ approach to harmony singing was much more raw and in-your-face than Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys or Flat & Scruggs’ Foggy Mountain Boys. You could sense with the Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys that there was an extra drive to make sure that every harmony note was sung to its fullest. It makes the listener react in a way of surprise and a tad bit of fear, as if the power of God is in that chorus.

The Stanley Brothers recorded “White Dove” at least twice, and it has been covered by a number of country and bluegrass bands. It is a powerful Gospel-style song that has become a standard in bluegrass music. However, it is the 1959 King Records’ version from the Stanley Brothers that is probably the best known. More mountain than Kentucky bluegrass, the song is so thematic of the people living in the Appalachians. In three minutes, the Stanley Brothers tell a lifetime of feelings and emotions about those mountain folks.

Chew on it and comment. Have a safe 2022!

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