I have two small songbooks that I absolutely treasure. I have had them for years now, and have more than served their purpose for me when researching old-time Gospel songs. I wouldn’t let go of either of these for any money. They both come from the publishing house of Albert E. Brumley & Sons of Powell, Missouri. For those of you who don’t know, Albert Brumley was a songwriter and song collector, much in the vein as A.P. Carter. Some of the most famous and popular Gospel songs come either from his pen or his desk, including “I’ll Fly Away,” “Jesus, Hold My Hand,” and “Turn Your Radio On.”
The first book we’ll look at is Albert E. Brumley’s America’s Memory Valley (orange cover). Back over 20 years ago when I was still playing in the roots-rock/alt-country band Gravel Train, the drummer Mark Kaster gave me this songbook because he knew that I had a strong affection for old-time music. The book contains about 50 folk and country songs from the 1920s through 1950s that were performed by popular acts of the time, including The Carter Family, Bill Monroe, Little Jimmy Dickens, and Uncle Dave Macon. There is also some wee bits of history, either about the song or folk and Gospel music in general. Albert’s father, William Brumley, is seen playing the fiddle on the cover. I can remember around the time that Mark gave me the book, I was working as a proofreader at an advertising agency. One of my co-workers used to perform in Branson, Missouri with Albert’s son, Albert Jr. I showed her the book, and she got very emotional because she remembered both Alberts, as well as performing a number of these songs on stage with Albert Jr.
The other book, the one that I really cherish, is Albert E. Brumley’s All-Day Singin’ and Dinner on the Ground (black & white cover). This contains the musical notation for my favorite Brumley song, “Turn Your Radio On.” I have always loved John Hartford’s rendition, and have wanted to learn the lyrics to perform it (hopefully some day). While this booklet has a lot less songs than the other, they are all Gospel related, which always sound wonderful when a bluegrass band or old-time music ensemble performs them. The other charming thing about this booklet is that it includes a number of recipes for dishes that were popular for Sunday “dinners on the ground.” Back in the early to mid 20th century, many Protestant-based churches would have these picnic-style get-togethers where members of the congregation would prepare food for a potluck lunch, and the preachers and deacons would provide some words of faith while everyone sat on the ground and ate. Many times songs such as those included in the booklet would be sung by the attendees. It was a good, clean time to spend a Sunday afternoon.
A quick Google search shows that a few copies of All-Day Singin’ can still be found at Amazon or on eBay, as well as other Brumley publications. Most seem to be reasonably priced, so it may be worthwhile to pick up a copy, if only to see how people entertained themselves way back when.
With the advancement of society due to technology, it seems that such events are not as popular as they were 50-100 years ago. The youth of today are much less interested in getting together with others for religious outings, and the elders have become apathetic in encouraging the young to a faith-based lifestyle. Western society seems to slightly ridicule its religions, only referring to them when it seems necessary, such as Christmas or Easter, or when convenient, such as the few months following 9/11. While I am a devout Roman Catholic, I show no disdain for other denominations, as well as other faiths such as Judaism or Islam. However, I remember the many church picnics and get-togethers when I was a kid, and that connection seems to have disappeared for the most part. I can only hope that there is a change in that attitude, and it not happen because of a tragic event. Singing old-time Gospel songs does an amazing thing to your heart and soul.
Well, the Southeast Michigan Bluegrass Music Association will get to showcase some of the young talent we have been supporting with scholarship funds over the past year. Anyone in the southern part of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan is encouraged to keep the afternoon of Sunday, April 21st open.
The Woldumar Nature Center in Lansing hosts folk and bluegrass bands monthly during the spring and summer. On April 21st, they are presenting SEMBMA’s Youth Scholarship Recipients, showcasing the talent and progress that these youngsters have made over the past year. These students were either tutored at one-on-one sessions with an instructor, or received online instruction from a professional bluegrass musician.
As readers may know, I have been an avid supporter of young bluegrass musicians. It goes beyond praising people like Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, Wyatt Ellis, and Carson Peters. I enjoy seeing very young kids take an interest in playing a musical instrument, especially stringed instruments, and maturing as great players. Being on the SEMBMA Scholarship Committee, I have not only posted flyers up at music stores as well as ads on Craigslist, but I have scouted out events such as the fiddle contest atApplefest in New Boston, Michigan for young players that show promise. SEMBMA has money for these young, motivated musicians to continue on instruction, as part of the organization’s philosophy is to promote bluegrass music in the area by supporting young musicians.
There are not a lot of venues or scheduled events in the area that offer opportunities for people, especially youngsters, to show off their talent. Open mic events are usually offered at bars on a weekday evening, and acoustic music is usually glossed over for electric rock and blues. Even folk and acoustic open mic shows are geared more toward the songwriter crowd. Bluegrass festivals have plenty of parking lot jam sessions, but attention by the attendees leans more toward what performers are on the main stage. Even so, these festivals are beginning to disappear one-by-one due to financial concerns.
The Woldumar Nature Center is a fantastic place for all to visit. While its main purpose it to serve as a nature preserve for everyone to enjoy, it is appreciated that the Center provide other activities such as the Folk and Bluegrass Jam shows. I hope that other people appreciate what Woldumar is doing to give the community so many opportunities for education and entertainment, and I hope to see other places around Michigan to provide such activities.
Again, the SEMBMA Youth Scholarship Recipients showcase is Sunday, April 21st at 3:00 pm. The Woldumar Nature Center is at 5739 Old Lansing Road in Lansing. I hope to see you there!
The March 2024 issue of Bluegrass Unlimited showed up in my mailbox a few days ago, and on the cover was a picture of a young Jerry Garcia playing the banjo. Inside were three articles on him, one dealing with the history of his bluegrass supergroup Old & In The Way, a second looking at his career performing bluegrass and acoustic music, and a third briefly covering the Grateful Dead’s delving into roots music
Ever since the Bluegrass Hall of Fame & Museum took over publication of the magazine, the editor/publisher has been much more varied in its bluegrass coverage. There have been a lot more articles on progressive bluegrass artists, which I find helpful. This coverage of Garcia coincides with the Museum’s upcoming exhibition of Jerry Garcia: A Bluegrass Journey.
Back in May 2020, I wrote one of my early blogs concerning why Garcia hasn’t been considered being entered into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame permanently (https://luegra.design.blog/2020/05/16/why-wont-the-ibma-recognize-jerry-garcia/). More than any other musical artist outside of the bluegrass fold has Garcia been a proponent of bluegrass music. Before his time in the Dead, he was an adamant player of the banjo, despite missing a finger on his picking hand. Even during lulls in the Dead’s recording and touring schedule, he was performing with bluegrass and old-time country music with so many incarnations.
It’s hard not to fathom bands and artists like Molly Tuttle, Billy Strings, Leftover Salmon, Yonder Mountain String Band, and Crooked Still even existing without being influenced by Garcia, if not musically then at least on approach to bluegrass. As much as he was experimental in overall band sound, he was still very loyal to original artists like Bill Monroe, the Stanley Brothers, and Reno & Smiley. Mandolinist Jesse McReynolds was a big supporter of Garcia, recording a number of Dead tunes in bluegrass style.
I can only hope that this exhibition, as well as the dedication of these articles in BU, will push Garcia’s entry into the Bluegrass HOP even closer and sooner. He, through is influence with younger Deadhead audiences and guitar aficionados, helped bluegrass gain a wider and newer fan base than anyone else.
I got back from Nashville and the SPBGMA conference a few days ago, and I will go over some of the notable high and low points that I experienced. These will come about at random, whether good or bad. There will also be thoughts not only about the conference, but about the city as well, since it has been over four years since I last visited for a music conference.
Networking – one thing about bluegrass artists that one doesn’t see with much other formats is that they are very approachable. Pretty much all of the bands showcasing on the main stage will also set up a merch table and enjoy talking to the fans. They are also more than willing to talk to someone like me who is looking to shop some songs for the band to record. Once a band or its members get to know how dedicated you are to the craft, you get to be closer to them. Some of the bands that I got to know better and developed a relationship with during the week were The Kody Norris Show, Nu-Blu, and The Edgar Loudermilk Band.
Article Material – I was able to talk to a number of fiddle players for future articles in Fiddler. One of these article I hope to complete is a coverage of The Violin Shop, a music store on the outskirts of the city (more on this later).
International Band Championship – About a dozen bands that are not A-list bluegrass performers compete for a large cash prize and SPBGMA promotion at the next year’s conference. A few were OK, but most were at the top of their game. You could tell that they work hard not only on their instruments and vocals, but also a rapport with the audience. The two bands that impressed me the most eventually took First and Second Place (Sylamore Special and Off the Rails, respectively). The complete list can be found at https://bluegrasstoday.com/sylamore-special-wins-2024-spbgma-band-championship/ .
Rhonda Vincent – There is a reason she is called The Queen of Bluegrass, A fantastic performer, wonderful singer, and totally personable with her fans. On Saturday, she filmed part of a new video (covering the old Olivia Newton-John song “Please Mister, Please”) with a number of young bluegrass pickers backing her up. Sorry for the blurry photo, it comes from a screenshot of the video I did and wasn’t able to upload the video.
Jamming 24/7 – Not sure if this is good or bad. This is what a lot of people attend SPBGMA and IBMA for — many of them don’t even bother to register for the conference. From Thursday through Sunday, there were at least five jam sessions going on in the main lobby of the hotel during peak hours, Moreover, there were jams going on in a number of hotel rooms throughout the night and into the morning hours. Now I am an early riser for my job, so even though I was on vacation, I was hitting the sack pretty early, and with the time difference (Central Time, and I live in Eastern Time), I found that I could not stay up too late to enjoy the wandering festivities. Thank God that I brought some good earplugs with me so that I could get some sleep. Heck, when I would get up in the morning, you could still hear some people jamming down the hallway. Of course, you wouldn’t see much people at the conference morning sessions. But if you are into listening to live music at all hours of the day and night, this is your weekend!
Sequins – I swear, with the exception of one band in the aforementioned championship competition, all of the females in those bands were wearing sequins. It tended to look tacky. It made me think that the bands cared too much for the looks and that they were auditioning for Las Vegas or Branson, Missouri rather than a bluegrass festival. It just doesn’t look good in my opinion.
Songwriter Workshop vs. Showcase – One of the seminars was listed as a Songwriters Workshop. This consisted of four bluegrass songwriters (Daryl Mosley, Johnny Williams, Jeanette Williams, and Raymond McLain). The performers each performed a few of their original songs, and talked about where the inspiration came from. To me, this is more like a showcase than a workshop. A songwriter workshop would entail successful songwriters working with aspiring songwriters on improving on their craft, such as discussing subject matter, arrangements, and even taking an idea and making it into a song together. I hope that SPBGMA considers how to promote this or create an actual workshop next year.
Hotel Parking – The Sheraton Airport Hotel has been host to the SPBGMA event for a number of years, and I would think that they would have a little better control of parking. They did have an extra lot about a 1/4 mile away that would have shuttle service, but it seemed that they still allowed non-hotel guests and non-conference attendees to park in the hotel lot until it was full, so if you were registered at the hotel and went off site for a while, you didn’t have a spot to park when you came back. There was a person at the gate entrance telling people about the shuttle service, but his suggestion only seemed to work when the hotel lot was completely full. I found myself walking a long distance twice getting back to the hotel while carrying some baggage. A better way to handle it would have been unless you had a hotel room, you should be forced to park in the supplemental lot and take the shuttle in.
Waffle House – We don’t have them in Michigan, so I hit one every chance that I get going south. Fortunately, there was one about two blocks from the hotel, so I was in Heaven. You can bet that I was there every morning that I stayed down there. The breakfast bowls with hash browns, cheese, and egg and choice of meat (my preference was sausage) are to die for.
Jack’s BBQ – Another favorite place of mine in Nashville. Now that downtown is pretty much ruined by progress, I don’t visit that location, so I go to one southwest on Charlotte St. The brisket and Texas sausage are cooked to perfection, and they have some amazing sauces, with the Carolina being my favorite.
Elliston Place – Another favorite restaurant, although I didn’t go to it, and probably never will again, because of …
Downtown Parking – The days of parking meters, even in areas like Music Row and the Gulch, are gone. I understand paying a king’s ransom in a lot downtown, but in the street in front of Elliston Place (and other areas), the meters have been replaced with signs showing a QR code. You have to scan the code, then enter your credit card number in the app. I feel sorry for anyone, especially from the older generation, who doesn’t understand this technology. Nashville central has made itself into a tourist trap. A candy bar is $3.00, and so is a 1/2-litre bottle of soda.
Hotel Food – Just as bad is the cost of the hotel food. It knows that a lot of the guests won’t venture away from the hotel, so it was charging $8.00 for a hot dog, $14.00 for a hamburger, $12.00 for a ham sandwich, and $3.00 for a banana.
Exhibit Hall – While not nearly as big as the one found at IBMA, there were a few interesting vendors. I did pick up a great t-shirt with the US flag but the stripes are violin bows. There were some nice new and vintage guitars, as well as banjos and a fiddle table. They had a second room for exhibitors, but it was almost empty with the exception of two music schools having tables. It would be great if more vendors would show up for this, as people do take an interest in buying bluegrass-related swag as well as trying out different instruments.
Nashville Music Stores – Because of the gentrification of downtown, long-time businesses have either closed up or moved away from there. Carter’s Vintage Guitars is still near downtown, so you have to pay for parking to visit. Fortunately, two of my favorite shops, Gruhn’s Guitars and The Violin Shop, have moved to the outskirts of town and have ample free parking. Any guitarist visiting Nashville has to make a stop at Gruhn’s. It is pure Heaven in there, although everything has a high price. Same with The Violin Shop and fiddlers. However, both stores know that a lot of people come in to just admire the selection, and you can always buy a t-shirt or keychain to prove that you were there. Grimey’s Record Store also moved out of its original location to the East Nashville area, but I wasn’t able to get to it this time.
Potholes – Now here in Michigan, we grow potholes like Hawaii grows pineapples. They are everywhere, so we are used to rough pavement. Sometimes, our road commissions will get out there and fill them so there aren’t too many damaged wheel rims and axles. Two weeks ago, Nashville had a big snowstorm, and as the snow melted, it caused a fair amount of potholes, especially on highways that usually don’t experience these problems. The city’s solution? Just post highway signs that say “Rough Road – Please Use Caution.”
Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge – I used to love hitting The Station Inn every time I visited Nashville. However, it is completely surrounded by high-rise apartments, and parking, even pay-to-park, is next to impossible to secure. It’s not worth the fight. Fortunately, two bluegrass artists were doing shows at Dee’s in Madison (a northern suburb of Nashville). The place is a dive to say the least, but is perfect in my eyes. While it is not strictly bluegrass (band bookings include jazz, R&B, rock and country), a lot of bluegrass artists that live in the area hang out there no matter who is on stage. I have found my favorite bar down there!
Frugal MacDoogal’s – If you ever crossed a large department store, a dollar store, and a liquor store, this would be it. An absolute amazing selection of beers, wines and liquors, and prices are very good. This is another place I visit any time I am in Nashville.
The Kody Norris Show – Kody is a true entertainer, combining Jimmy Martin, Bill Monroe, Porter Wagoner, and George Jones. He and his band dress to the nines in Manuel suits, but the charm is how tight the band is when performing. Kody, his wife fiddler Mary Rachel, and the rest of the band are extremely friendly to their fans, and Kody went out of his way to catch up with me and talk business during some downtime.
Vickie Vaughn – seeing Vickie the night before I was scheduled to head back to Detroit was the best gift that I could ask for. I first met Vickie in 2014 at a Leadership Bluegrass meeting, and since then we have remained great friends, even though we don’t get to see each other much. I have always called her my “kid sister” because of how our personal paths have paralleled. Since I have known her, her career as a bluegrass bassist has bloomed to playing with High Fidelity, Della Mae, and winning Bass Player of the Year this past September at the IBMA Awards Show. She is truly one of the most beautiful ladies and wonderful people that is in my life, and I will always love her.
I had a few minutes break from the SPBGMA conference here in Nashville. So far it’s been great! I’ll post more about it next week. Here’s a quick pic of the Edgar Loudermilk Band performing a showcase. Until next week, stay safe!
So back during the pandemic days, I received a $400 debit card from the government. It was the last payment to me before I got a job, and I am not sure why they put it on a debit card instead of the usual sending the money straight to my bank account. Anyway, I completely forgot about it since I was now working.
Fast forward over two years, and while cleaning out my wallet a few weeks ago, I came upon the debit card. I went online and it still had the full amount available, but it was set to expire in about a month. Well, I wasn’t bound to let $400 slip away, but to be honest, I really didn’t know what I would use it for. I am pretty well set as far as basic necessities like food, paying utilities, and clothing. My thought was to treat myself to something special.
I didn’t want to splurge on an expensive meal. No, I wanted to get myself something to last me for a while. I first thought about a pizza oven, but I knew that I would probably use it once or twice, then it would gather dust in the garage. I also considered getting myself a handgun for protection at home, but because it was government money, they would probably deny that purchase the way the current administration is trying to suspend the second amendment.
My choice was then something in the musical instrument field. I have way too many acoustic guitars, and $400 wasn’t going to get me anything as good or better than I already have. The same goes for the bass. I have a banjo, dobro, and fiddle that I work with, but nothing to inspire me to get something more, again not for $400.
I always wanted a F-style mandolin, but the price was always out of reach. I have a decent A-style mandolin which I played regularly until I switched over to fiddle a while back. However, recently I saw that The Loar company (a stringed instrument manufacturer out of China) was marketing a LM-310F model, retailing for $400 through Guitar Center.
(WARNING: If you do an internet search on the The Loar LM-310F, you will find that a number of retailers are selling this model for $100 or less. DO NOT BE TEMPTED! These are international criminal rings that get your credit card information, keep emailing you about a delay in shipping, then after 30 days, you will never hear from them and you get nothing in return. Often these thieves will also sell your credit card information so that you will be REALLY screwed, and it will be difficult to get back your money, unless you have a really good credit card bank).
The GC near my house actually had a LM-310F at the store, and after trying it out by playing a sloppy version of “Bluegrass Stomp,” I knew that I wanted it. Since it was the floor model and they didn’t have any stock in the store room, I got a nice discount, and was able to pick up a heavy-duty gig bag for the $400 plus some change.
Let me tell you, this thing has a great bark to it when strumming those bluegrass chops, and the tone is nice and warm, way more closer to what a bluegrass mandolin usually sounds like instead of an A-style. It has a solid spruce top, a narrow V-cut neck (which is great for my smaller hands), and a nice satin finish. The main difference one can see compared to a standard Gibson F-5 mandolin is that the fretboard ends at the 20th fret. There is no upper extension of the fretboard over the body that made the Gibson model famous (along with a guy named Bill Monroe using it as his main weapon).
I have fallen in love with the mandolin all over again. I enjoy messing around with it while watching television, but I do plan on practicing on it more once I return from the SPBGMA conference next week in Nashville (NOTE: I may be late on next week’s blog, or even miss it entirely, due to the conference, but I will give a full review when I get back).
I would definitely recommend this mandolin for those moving up from a beginner A-style model but still not having the cash to afford a more costly F-style model (https://www.theloar.com/)
A few disappointments for me over the past 24 hours. The first one was that I missed the John McEuen show at The Ark due to a really bad snowstorm here in the Detroit area Friday night. The second one I just learned about as I was beginning to write this blog.
Audie Blaylock passed away earlier this week at the age of 61. While he was not a household name in the bluegrass industry, he left an indelible mark on the bluegrass music scene. Although born in Texas, he grew up most of his early life in Lansing, Michigan, playing in local bands and being a regular face at Elderly Instruments. Professionally, he started out playing mandolin for Jimmy Martin in the early 1980s, and went on to work with a number of other artists, including Red Allen, Lynn Morris, Chris Jones, and Rhonda Vincent (where I first met him). He then started a solo gig with his band Redline, as well as worked with fiddle master Michael Cleveland.
His home base was Auburn, Indiana, so he was a regular performer at bluegrass festivals in the Indiana/Ohio/Michigan area. I became good friends with his one-time fiddler Patrick McAvinue, whom I still talk to and recently wrote an article on for Fiddler. Audie was always friendly to his fans and fellow musicians. Learning a lot from his time with Jimmy Martin, his band was always tight when it came to performances, especially song arrangements.
His crowning achievement came in 2004, when he helped coordinate the Grammy nominated album A Tribute to Jimmy Martin: The King of Bluegrass. The recording gathered up some of the best in bluegrass, including J.D. Crowe, Sonny Osborne, Paul Williams, Kenny Ingram, and Michael Cleveland. He always had a high regard for Martin, and continued to perform many of Martin’s songs live and on recordings.
I went to see Audie and his band many times, as he was more than happy to do gigs in the Detroit area outside of bluegrass festivals. Talking with him was like talking to your next-door neighbor. He was interested in everything, be it music, musical instruments, automobiles and hot rods, farming, and woodworking. He proved to be a great bandleader, in that his bandmates always had great respect for him even after pursuing other projects.
I am sure now that Audie is performing once again with Jimmy at that bluegrass festival in the sky. You will be missed down here, sir.
With my hands starting to feel their age (the pointer finger on my left hand is starting to get arthritic), I have to re-train myself in playing guitar. As I am still planning on going to the SPBGMA conference in Nashville in January, I know that I will be participating in some motel room and hallway jamming.
Now my lead guitar skills have pretty much dried up, as they weren’t that great to begin with, but I do still work on my rhythm guitar skills. I try to go back to the basics every few months by starting off slow with a metronome (about 70 beats per minute), then each day bring up the tempo a few notches until I get to about 120 bpm, which is pretty much the most common tempo for most bluegrass songs in 2/4 time.
I also occasionally refer to a DVD that was put out years ago by Musician’s Workshop, The Art of Bluegrass Rhythm Guitar with Chris Jones. He has a pretty laid-back approach to working on the rhythm chops, and while stressing the common “boom-chick” strum, he shows modifications, as well as some more modern strums that work with a 4/4 time signature.
After so many years playing electric guitar in punk and alt-country projects, and even after the past nearly two decades of concentrating on acoustic music, simple bluegrass rhythm guitar is really not that simple. The band (without a drummer) relies on that rhythm guitar to help keep a steady tempo. That basic “boom-chick” strum works with both the bass downbeat as well as the chop from the mandolin. I have worked with a lot of banjo players that have very little control of self-timing while doing their Scruggs rolls, and a rhythm guitarist with great control of tempo is a life saver to a bluegrass band.
I decided to check out what could be found on YouTube for bluegrass rhythm guitar. The search pulled out a few videos, and it seemed that each video had not only a different approach to the task, but even different fingerings altogether. Looking at the basic G chord, which in most beginner guitar books shows the first finger fretting the A string at the 2nd fret (creating a B note), the second finger fretting the low E string at the 3rd fret (creating a G note), and the third finger fretting the high E string at the 3rd fret (again, a G note). A few videos show a different position, with the first finger either muting the A string, or not touching the fingerboard at all and letting the second finger “mute” that A string, Then, the fourth finger frets the B string at the 3rd fret,(creating a D note). What this does is create a G5 chord, which removes the 3rd note (B) from the chord and only gives you G and D notes. This has a chime-like sound, which some bluegrassers prefer. Not me, I like the full sound of the whole major chord. One person actually stated in his video that this G5 is the only chord that a bluegrass rhythm guitarist should be using. Really?
Another video had the instructor forming a basic G chord, but with every strum, he would hammer on the low E string to the G note with the downbeat. It sounded less like a bluegrass strum and more like a surf-rock rhythm! One video states that the “boom” bass note should be stressed more, while another video states that the “chick” strum should be the emphasis. It seems that if you watch 10 videos on bluegrass rhythm guitar, there will be 11 opinions!
I will not get into the do’s and don’ts of bluegrass rhythm guitar. My one complaint about almost all of the videos is that they talk as if the typical bluegrass song (with exceptions of waltzes and those in quick 6/8 time) are all 4/4 time. I prefer to think of these as 2/4 time signatures, since the “boom-chick” action is two counts. Most folk and rock rhythms following a straight pattern usually fall into the 4/4 time signature, with a “boom-a-chick-a” pattern. Of all of the videos that I watched on this topic, I feel that Bryan Sutton says it the best on working with this rhythm pattern.
Google and the American Songwriter website must always have me in their cross hairs. Every day when I go online, there is an AS article recommendation. I have stated in previous blogs how I don’t value its content too much due to trying to be too politically correct and implementing the whole DEI thing way too much.
Again, the magazine/website is trying so hard to be “catching the wave” of the whole DEI movement. I highly doubt that they would ever publish an article on five MALE fiddlers pushing the barriers. They listed these five females: Eileen Ivers, Brittany Haas, Sara Watkins, Alison Krauss, and Lucia Micarelli. A good list to be sure, but there are a few women fiddlers that probably should be on here, such as Natalie McMaster and Annie Staninec. I always question why AS chooses such oddball numbers instead of sticking with a Top 10. Perhaps the writers are just too damned lazy to do more than 15 minutes of research.
However, the article did get me to thinking about women and bluegrass music. The fiddle position in bluegrass bands seems to have a great amount of females. Two of my favorite fiddle players (who just happen to be good friends as well) are female – Brittany Haas and Bronwyn Keith-Hynes. Off the cuff, I can name a lot more gal fiddlers along with those already mentioned: Becky Buller, Laurie Lewis, Kimber Ludicker, Rayna Gellert, Maddie Denton, Ivy Phillips, Kitty Amaral, Deanie Richardson, and Mary Rachel Nalley-Norris to start. That doesn’t include other roots-based female fiddlers such as April Verch, Sophie Lavoie, Jenee Fleenor, Lena Jonsson, Stephanie Cadman, and Miranda Mulholland among others.
This made me think about why so many women are playing fiddle in bluegrass bands. First off, I remember when, in elementary school, the early music program had us choosing what instrument we wanted to learn. Boys always seemed to go for saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and drums/percussion, while girls went for flutes, clarinets, and violins. A boy playing a violin was thought to be a sissy, and looking through high school yearbooks, the photos of the orchestra seemed to mirror that choice, with perhaps one or two male cello or bass players.
I was guilty of that thought for all of my school years, and only knew one male violinist and one cellist. I never even thought of playing fiddle until I started playing in acoustic and bluegrass bands. Being already in my late 30s, it was a steep hill to climb to learn a new instrument. I first thought that because I was playing guitar and bass, along with a little mandolin, the move to learning the fiddle would be easy. BAH! I can’t count the number of times that I wish I could turn back the hands of time to my 4th grade class and say that I wanted to learn the violin. Sissy names be damned!
Back in the early days of bluegrass, if there was a female in the band, they were usually regulated to playing the upright bass. Thanks to acts such as Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard and The Coon Creek Girls, bluegrass began to recognize women as a driving force in the format. Of course, Alison Krauss helped put women on the bluegrass map fiercely in the mid-1980s, and the format has been encouraging for ladies ever since.
Bluegrass has never really “pigeon holed” female performers like other formats. While you may see a lot of statements such as “the female Elvis” or “the female Jimi Hendrix,” women performing in bluegrass, especially fiddlers, have made a name for themselves without having the press resorting to gender comparisons since the 1980s. Musicians should only be judged on their work, not on their gender, race, or creed.
Here’s a clip from a long time back by Belle Starr, with Stephanie Cadman and Miranda Mulholland. I really miss this trio, they should have hit it big. We’ll follow it up with my friend Brittany Haas (with Chris Thile).
Last week during the World of Bluegrass conference in Raleigh, the IBMA announced that 2024 would be the last year that WOB would be held in that city. It has been there for about a decade, moving from Nashville. When that move was announced, I pretty much decided that I would not be attending due to the driving distance from Detroit to Raleigh, about 14 hours one-way. That meant that I would have to take off two extra days just for driving, and the job I had at the time didn’t give me that much vacation time.
Of course, I later dropped my membership with the IBMA due to political reasons, but have continued to get emails from them, and since the association is central to the bluegrass music industry, whatever it does gets around as news to all bluegrass fans. The strange thing about this announcement was that the IBMA did not announce where it will be moving the WOB convention in 2025. I can remember when it announced in Nashville that Raleigh would be its next location for three years, then the contract kept getting renewed for three-year extensions. It was originally in Owensboro, Kentucky, moving to Louisville in 1997. It then moved to Nashville from 2005 to 2012, and then to Raleigh starting in 2013. COVID wiped out the convention completely in 2020, was brought back in a smaller capacity in 2021, and a hurricane half-ruined the 2022 edition. One can only assume that the past three years had some sort of impact on the decision to relocate.
On many of the bluegrass news websites and chat groups, the big debate is where WOB will happen starting in 2025. Chris Jones even wrote a humorous take about the future location in his Bluegrass Today column (https://bluegrasstoday.com/from-the-side-of-the-road-new-home-for-world-of-bluegrass/). I may even consider re-attending if the IBMA takes up Chris’ suggestion of holding it at Galesburg, Michigan!
If you follow any of the debate, more cities are suggested than I can ever find on a map. Will it go back to Louisville, Owensboro, or Nashville? Perhaps, but I doubt it will go back to Music City, even though Nashville has set itself up as a perfect convention city over the past two decades. The other two Kentucky locations have built themselves up to be more convention-friendly over the past few years, but it is still a “maybe” for either one.
A new location? Most likely, but where? Hard-core bluegrassers would go to war-torn Ukraine if they knew Del McCoury would be headlining. The United States is such a large country that no matter where the convention was held, it would be a long distance for some people. One also has to consider convention center availability, the amount of hotels available, highway access, airport access, hospitality and dining, smaller venues for showcasing, and cooperation with local authorities. I am sure that IBMA has a verbal agreement with some location, else they would have not made the announcement. Perhaps making the announcement, they hoped to get some bids on locating it at particular cities. It all just seems that there is a lot going unanswered with little time to fully prepare.
The IBMA has moved away a lot from its original traditional values over the past few years, which again made me leave the association. Who knows? Maybe the 2025 WOB will be in New York or San Francisco, if only to show how progressive the association has become. It would be a shame if the association would continue to ignore its most sacred traditions that the founders such as Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, Jimmy Martin, and the Osborne Brothers bought forth — that there are family and Christian values within the bluegrass community, and that while its music is now appreciated world-wide, there is still that precious heart and soul of the genre that continues to live in the east-central region of the country.
In the meantime, we still have the SPBGMA conference in Nashville this January!
Luegra 