Johnsons Crossroad at Jack of the Wood Friday night.

Check them out here- this was recorded at the Mockingbird in Staunton, VA. (One of my personal favorite venues.)

Weekly Music Must-Sees!

Seems like it's that crazy-busy time of year... school starts back, long list of 'one-more-time-this summer' things to do....work? The eve of the big slow down... lucky for us, Asheville has good music all year. This weekend is no exception.

THURSDAY: 

The White Horse Black Mountain is where it's at tonight. For a mere $8 you can see Greensboro, NC's Holy Ghost Tent Revival being supported by locals, Now You See Them.

Judging from the name you may be expecting a backwoods gospel band... not the case. As described on their website: "The overall air of their creation breathes a sense of celebration and salvation; of a raucous party where everyone's welcome and where even the most stoic will find their toes tapping and a smile breaking free. It's as if, in the same spirit as the blues greats that traveled the highways of the American psyche before them, theirs is not music to lament life's hardships but rather to celebrate in life itself; with all its hodgepodge of pleasure and pain."

You can watch a music video for "Needing You" here:

FRIDAY:  

Still looking.....  got any recommendations?

SATURDAY:

Smart Bets in the Mountain Xpress says it all for Saturday. Shannon Whitworth's CD release show at the Grey Eagle. If you've been following along on her Facebook or Twitter Page, you'll know she's was featured as writer of the week in American Song Writer, the new CD Water Bound received 3 out of 4 stars in People Magazine, and she just appeared live last night on Music City Roots in Nashville. A rising local star.....

Show starts at 9pm.  $10 in advance, and $12 at the door. Another fabulous singer- Julie Lee opens the show.

Mountain Song Festival! Sept 10th and 11th in Brevard, NC

Not only does this festival have an incredible line-up of Roots & Bluegrass music, it's close, AND it's a benefit for the Boys and Girls Club. Pretty Impressive. 

Festival Website Here

Buy Tickets Here!

Doc Watson returns to headline the 5th Annual Mountain Song Festival!

Hosted by the Steep Canyon Rangers......

Also appearing: Darrell Scott, Shannon Whitworth & Barrett Smith, David Holt, Red Wine, 

The Kruger Brothers, and Jerry Douglas.

CD Review: Ashleigh Caudill, Fruit of the Vine

There are a lot of really cool things about this CD, and one of them is that the CD tray itself, is made of potato. I think that is rad. In addition to that random tidbit, there is some great music on this album with an all-star cast of serious bluegrass heavy-hitters helping Ashleigh present 12 original tunes. Jim Hurst appears on guitar and harmony vocals and produced the album.  Rebecca Frazier, Mark Schatz, Michael Witcher, and Claire Lynch contributed as well,  just to name a few.  Ashleigh penned all 12 songs (two are co-writes), sings lead vocals on all but one track, and hold down the upright bass throughout.

Fruit of the Vine is an expression that leads you to think of bounty, harvest, reward, sweetness... also of forbidden fruit, sins, transgression. I think all of these elements should be included in the description of a good bluegrass album, and this CD is aptly titled. It starts with a lively number, Dancin' in the Kitchen, that celebrates love, family, laughter and music even in hard times when there's "no bread in the oven, no oil in the pan." This song could be an anthem for today's times for many people. After filling you up with the sunny-side of life, it plunges you down to the depths of despair with Toil & Shame. Perfect.

Row by Row is the standout track for me. With a gettin' to gloryland plot line and an exceptionally catchy chorus, the song imparts a sense of hope while creating really nice mental imagery. This is the chorus that is still in my head while I'm trying to fall asleep at night. Another, in my opinion, essential element on any bluegrass album that's worth it's salt is a good old murder ballad. William White gave me goose bumps on the first listen, in fact I have them now as I'm remembering the tale. It doesn't seem like there is much room for variation in the plot of a murder ballad. Scorned lover, revenge, grave mistake, guilt, fleeing... but Caudill manages to spin a new tale that surprised me with it's complexity. It's a lovely duet all the way through with her sister, Jessica Weatherly, and the harmonies and pretty melody off-set the macabre outcome to the story. Matt Purinton is spotlighted on Henry Tracy, a jailhouse story told from the perspective of a formerly locked-up man refusing to be chained again, where he delivers a great lead vocal performance.

Fruit of the Vine is a quality, contemporary bluegrass album. It sheds the rind of triteness often found in 'new' bluegrass records and offers up a fresh taste of original song writing, tasteful arrangements, and exceptional musicianship. Bravo!

You can find it on CD Baby :  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/ashleighcaudill2

And on Amazon:  Fruit of the Vine

Update on the Shannon Whitworth Album Review: It's out today!

On iTunes

NewReleases.com

Weekly Music Must-Sees! (Friday and Saturday)

FRIDAY:  Jack of the Wood 9:30pm  $5cover

Now You See Them

Often described as a breath-of-fresh-air, Now You See Them conveys an upbeat and beautiful sound. Live, they supply an endless amount of fun and energy that transfers to everyone around; diving further into their music reveals slow burning lyrics that take shape, evolve, and become more personal with every listen. Sporting unique instrumentation while delivering beautiful harmonies, they’ve quickly turned their fan base from a few errant bar stragglers and by passers to perpetually packed houses.

It's true, these guys play in town a lot.  So you can see them often, but the fact is, they're good. So you should go see them. Looking ahead on their calendar they're getting out of the region in the next few weeks and heading to he Northeast so Now You See Them...... now you don't. Catch them while you can. If you haven't yet heard of or checked them out, Dulci Ellenberger is the front woman and plays and instrument that I don't know the name of. You can see it in the photo..... with guitar, jembe and great vocals, they offer up a very unique sound complementing original lyrics. Good stuff folks. According to their website: 

"Most likely due to their blue-collar backgrounds, the band members have a firm grasp on the struggles and victories of the middle class, and much like traditional American folk and oldies, the root of their music is in spiritual growth through life experience while appealing to the everyman’s constant search for quality of life."

SATURDAY:  Jack of the Wood again... or Westville Pub 

Camping out at Jack of the Wood for the weekend is not a bad thing. They've got great food, the new-ish Fiddlehead Pale Ale is superb, the $5 menu, the $5 cover.... barring the tourist throngs in the summer, it's one of my favorites. But all of that aside, Nora Jane Struthers and the Bootleggers will be there on Saturday. She describes her music as Classic Americana. I'd say it's a cross between country and bluegrass. I have only seen her perform solo thus far, and have met her at IBMA & Folk Alliance and she's perfectly delightful.  Nora Jane just released her debut CD on June 22nd, and I'm sure Saturday's show will be fantastic. Here's some info from her website about Nora Jane: 

  "Struthers performs her material with a voice as pretty and homespun as the vintage dresses she favors on stage. Her accompanists on the album include acclaimed singer/multi-instrumentalist Tim O’Brien, all-star fiddler Stuart Duncan, award-winning dobro player Rob Ickes, top bluegrass guitarist Bryan Sutton, banjo ace Scott Vestal, veteran bassist Dennis Crouch, and, on backing vocals, do-anything performer Shawn Lane. Truitt contributes mandolin and octave mandolin."

SATURDAY on the Westside:  Westville Pub 9:30pm, $5

Cary Fridley and Down South

They're fantasic. Country, Honky-Tonk, Rock-a-Billy. Watch the video. Go see them.

Weekly Music Must-Sees!

My close friend just moved back to Asheville from California. We were walking around downtown yesterday and she says something to the effect of "Yay! I'm back in the land of music, where the biggest problem is choosing what to go see!" I agreed whole-heartedly, although she was scanning the Orange Peel calendar for Electronica... not exactly my thing, but to each their own.


THURSDAY:

Two really good choices tonight. In town at the Westville Pub is Evan Swink & the E-Flat Rigs. This is the newest incarnation of Evan Swink's- local singer/songwriter- original music. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of his other projects, The Good Roads Movement being one of my favorites, so I'm sure I'll like this no less. It's right up my alley with pedal steel, drums, guitar and bass. The tracks up on their Reverbnation site sound great!  Westville Pub 9pm No Cover

Out in Black Mountain you can catch Ashleigh Caudill & Narrow Gauge at the Town Pump Tavern!

Ashleigh just released an excellent solo album called, Fruit of the Vine, described here in the photo to the left. I've heard it, it's great. I'll be posting a review in the next week or so. Her band has recently gone through some personnel changes (the story can be found on their blog) so I'm not sure who will be appearing on stage besides Ashleigh on bass and vocals, and Matt Purninton on mandolin and vocals. But regardless, I'm sure it will be an excellent cast of musicians, singing and picking on Ashleigh well-crafted original tunes.  Town Pump Tavern 9pm Usually a $5 cover, but call to verify.

Great article on the No Depression Blog.

No Depression. I loved this magazine when it was in print, and I still love it in it's online only format. This morning had an exceptionally good blog about the future of bluegrass.... something I think about all the time. In addition to, what is bluegrass? Do I want to be labeled a bluegrass band? Is there a ceiling to success in bluegrass? Etc. I don't want to mislead you, these aren't all answered in this article, but questions to contemplate, hope, and an all around good read.

http://www.nodepression.com/profiles/blogs/junior-sisk-a-bluegrass-ramble

The Mast Farm Inn Songwriting Sessions with Dan Tyminksi and Ronnie Bowman

I just had the great privilege of spending 3 nights, and four days at the beautiful Mast Farm Inn in Valle Crucis, NC.  Not only is the Inn itself, and the grounds it sits on, incredible- but I was there to attend the first Songwriting, Arranging, Business & Production work shop facilitated by two of Bluegrass and Country music's greats: Dan Tyminski and Ronnie Bowman. This event was the brain-child of Henri Des-Champs, the wizard behind the curtain of so many things bluegrass- including the Bluegrass Legacy page on Facebook- and owner/proprietor of the aforementioned Mast Farm Inn. 

To try and sum up the whole of this experience in a readable blog- is impossible. Though at the risk of sounding cheesy, there is no doubt it was life changing. There was so much talent, passion, life, commitment, and support in the circle the 16 of us created in 'The Granary' (one of the buildings at the Mast Farm Inn) it would have been impossible to leave the experience without feeling inspired, uplifted, and recharged.


Pre-session there were four assignments. Two books were to be read:

Writing Better Lyrics should be required reading for any songwriter, of any genre. There was so much wisdom contained in the pages of that book, that I know it will take me several re-reads to absorb it all. My favorite quote was,
"Don't be afraid to write the bad stuff, it makes great fertilizer." There are exercises, palatable tips and tricks, as well as truly technical analysis of meter, rhyme, and rhythm.  Made to Stick is generally about effective ideas, clear communication, being heard. It could apply to so many things in life, from workplace dynamics to songwriting.

The other thing we had to do was submit a set of lyrics, on a deadline. Just the words, basically a poem. No music, no melody, no recording. These lyrics were distributed to all the participants. You might assume this-- but I had no idea how
much the melody to a song could change the meaning of the words. Completely.
The last assignment was to take someone else's set of lyrics (pre-assigned by Henri the Wizard) and put them to music, creating a melody line and an arrangement for the song of a stranger. For me this was fairly nerve-wracking as the last thing I wanted to do was piss someone off by effectively bastardizing their song, before we'd even met. You know how people can be about their songs.... and if you don't, Dan Tyminski gave me a great example: "Imagine telling someone else how to raise their kid, and imagine how they would most likely react... that's often times how it is to critique someone's song... it's their baby."

So these were the things we did before we got there... these four things alone have been invaluable, so add the actual workshop... whew.

I'm sure I could write a small novel about this experience, but in the spirit of interesting blogging, I'll try to condense, and limit my appreciative gushing. The day we arrived we were treated to a very intimate concert in an old country church by Dan and Ronnie. As expected it was incredible. They are both such talented musicians and singers, their harmonies are seamless, and they looked like they were having a great time. Dan introduced me to a term that I love, and recognized the symptoms of immediately: Goat Throat. When you get nervous as a singer, your voice is the first thing to go. Shaky, unreliable, weak and thin, prone to 'wild-pitch' notes... imagine the bleating of a sick, elderly goat. Just to be clear- Dan didn't sound like that once, but I sure did when I had to perform my song in front of two of my bluegrass heroes, and 12 other incredibly talented people the next morning. I felt like my first piano recital when I was 6. Actually, it was worse than that. I felt like it was the first time I ever went to an open mic. I had to wear a cowboy hat and sunglasses, and yes it was night time. Over this past year I've had the good fortune of performing in front of tens of thousands of people at times, but this was much harder. Right before I hit the first chord I thought, "I can't believe I'm about to play some dumb song I wrote to Dan Tyminski and Ronnie Bowman in this silent room where no one is allowed to applaud." Did I mention this was being filmed as well? Documenting all our glory and failure was String Theory Media's guru, Craig Havighurst, writer, documentary film-maker, frequent contributor to NPR, and a fine picker of a Collings Guitar.  We listened to everyone's performance that first morning with no applause, no feedback, simply scribbling notes in our very well-designed and highly organized binders.

The workshop continued with lots of feedback, great advice, constructive criticism, all focusing on building onto the strengths of the songs, and of the participants. I can't imagine better instructors than Dan and Ronnie. After the initial awe and intimidation factor wore off, they both were exceptionally down to earth guys. Ronnie is very sincere and encouraging with a wealth of experience in the songwriting and publishing industry. He is really good with lyrics and took time to meet one-on-one with every participant to do some fine-tuning. Dan is so down-to-earth that I can imagine him mowing the lawn next door and tinkering with old cars. He's into iPhone's (showed me some features on mine I didn't know existed), cigars, and is so easy to talk to about any random thing that you forget how many Grammys he's got on his mantle at home. His strength at the workshop was comic relief, and the musicality of a song, the arrangement, the phrasing, the melody line. They were a great team.

After a great deal of feedback we all sat down to work on rewrites. Some of us tore everything down and started almost from scratch, some of us tweaked, moved, and experimented, and there were a few who's songs were so well-crafted that they generously gave their time and talents to help others improve theirs. The next day we focused on music, fine-tuning, and collaboration in preparation for the recital of the new improved version of our songs. We recruited harmony singers, lead instruments, and last minute arrangement advice. And the recital was amazing. Every person presented a great song. Some had gone through such a metamorphosis that the exposed butterfly resembled the fuzzy caterpillar it had been, not in the least.

I think I can speak for all the attendees when I say that we left feeling inspired, hopefully, and excited about songwriting. The supportive, building off of strengths way that the workshop was conducted cut out self-doubt, and the option of giving up. Witnessing, and participating in everyone's process was priceless.

Lastly, given that I'm a mostly working musician, and a sometimes blogger, I wouldn't have been able to attend this phenomenal event without the generous scholarship from Music on the Mountain Top. For that, I am eternally grateful.

Weekly Music Must-Sees!

Well Folks, once again there is a plethora of choices this weekend in our fine music mecca... If you're here, I'm assuming your interested in my humble opinion, so her it is:

THURSDAY:   The 83rd Annual Mountain Dance and Folk Festival at the Diana Wortham Theatre

This is an incredible community-centered event that has gone on in Asheville for 83 years! MDFF is the longest running folk festival in the nation, and it's sure to be a good one this year. For only $20 per night you can see around 15 different acts from clogging, old-time, bluegrass, ballad-singing, and smooth dancing. This great event takes place Thursday 8/5- Saturday 8/7. Each night is a different performance line up, so pick one, or come to all three! This year features some of the area's legacy performers such as Ralph Lewis, Bobby Hicks, and Annie Shores. You can see the full line-up and read more history about the festival here: Folk Heritage Committee Website

Here is a little info off of the website: 
Bascom Lamar Lunsford founded the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival as a means for people to share and understand the beauty and dignity of the Southern Appalachian music and dance traditions that have been handed down through generations in western North Carolina.  He saw the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival grow to be the oldest gathering of its kind in the nation and it continues in this way, a platform for the talented of the high country lying between the Great Smoky and the Blue Ridge Mountains. 

FRIDAY:  Sanctum Sully at Mo Daddy's.  

 I haven't actually heard this band yet, but I've heard a lot about them - mostly good - which makes me want to see them, and decide for myself. If you read my blog much, you may have noticed that I'm partial to bands that are rooted in bluegrass, but aren't afraid to break out of the traditional parameters. That's how I've seen this band described.... so I'm anticipating liking them. Plus, their publicity shot is fantastic, no trains, no junked cars, no brick walls. Just the band, dressed dapperly, and some trees- good choice guys.  This is a CD release party for their new album, Crooked-Eyed Toad. 

Show starts at 9:30 with a $5 cover.