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A bluegrass era nearing its end

When I reflect upon my life, some of my greatest joy came upon the grounds and on stages of bluegrass festivals across the country.
My youthful days brought a desire to throw an instrument in the car, a tent, sleeping bag and enough clothes and food to get by while I took in day and evening shows and late night jam sessions.
The people attending, the performers became my family. I once compared the experience to living in Mayberry. We had a small town that each weekend moved to a new location with many of the same lovable characters making up our world.
All we did circled around a group of established and much loved performers whose talents surpassed all we knew and who could keep us mesmerized again and again as they flowed onto the stage and sang the songs that touched our hearts. The first generation of those performers were the kings and queens of our world. As fans we shared their lives in ways no other music industry ever afforded. We actually came to know them, their families, we often shared meals and laughed around the record tables to endless stories.
Most of that first generation has stepped off the stage. In recent weeks, the heavenly bluegrass band expanded by two more mandolin players and lead singers whose sound and songs were known around the world. First, Jesse McReynolds of Jim & Jesse and the Virginia Boys. His career spanned from 1947 until 2023. He and his late brother Jim joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1964. Their career was infused by breaking musical barriers and taking their unique bluegrass style across genres. They turned heads in the 1960s dedicating an entire album to the songs of Chuck Berry in bluegrass style. Johnny B. Goode became a career-long fan favorite. Jesse could as easily play with a Rock and Roll star as a Jazz virtuoso innovating his instrument with two distinct approaches including split-stringing and cross-picking. Both of which made him the envy of every player and an inspiration for generations.
He and his brother created bluegrass hits such as “Cotton Mill Man,” “Paradise,” “Sweet Little Miss Blue Eyes,” “Hard Hearted,” “Pardon Me,” “Border Ride” while adding hundreds of songs to America’s music catalog.
Of course, with their distinguished career came International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame induction, America’s highest musical award – National Heritage Fellowship, Grammy nominations, and countless other awards.
I first saw them as a youth at one of those festivals, and I was blessed to have them both a mentors in my life and career. I appeared both as a Virginia Boy and as a guest star on the Jim and Jesse Show. I slept in their bus and Jesse’s house many times. No bluegrass legend invested more in my life than Jesse. He and Jim were my family, so with Jesse’s passing I lost an adopted father in many respects. But the world lost a vital link to a generation of music performance which will never be again.
Another legendary figure, who I was also blessed to be friends with who died four days after Jesse was Bobby Osborne. Beginning as part of the Hall of Fame Lonesome Pine Fiddlers in 1949, he and his brother Sonny – The Osborne Brothers, also joined the Opry in 1964. Before that they performed with the Stanley Brothers, Red Allen, Jimmy Martin and others. Their vocal blends combined with the coordination of their banjo and mandolin talents endeared them to worldwide audiences. Their albums were an annual feast of what was going to be the next hot song heard in jam sessions. On stage, they were unmatched in their ability to entertain. If you are from America, you probably heard their big hit “Rocky Top,” which they popularized. Bobby could sing “Ruby, Are You Made At Your Man” with a voice so high he could catch the birds in flight above the stage he was singing upon. They also added hundreds of stylistic performances to the American songbook – “Big Spike Hammer,” “I’ll Be Alright Tomorrow,” “Up This Heal and Down,” “Pain In My Heart,” “Me and My Old Banjo” and others.
They also were International Bluegrass Hall of Fame inductees. Among their awards were major ones in both country and bluegrass. And they also received the National Heritage Fellowship Award. I was honored to feature The Osborne Brothers on shows I produced. I will add my sorrow among the many fans who will miss Bobby. There are only a handful of the first generation performers remaining. These were the last two among the Opry family, which added to their legacy. I wish I could once again throw my fiddle in the back of the station wagon and head down some old dirt road to a pasture by a creek where in front of a stage thousands were gathered around to hear Jim & Jesse and the Osborne Brothers and so many other legends once more. We sure were blessed to know them!

Bluegrass is in the air

I pulled into the gates of the festival grounds and before I pulled even a few feet beyond the entrance, I could hear the musical notes flowing on the wind from the distance of the trees.

I could see people carrying their guitars, banjos and other instruments along the dirt road as I slowly made my way through the parking field and into the campground.

I passed jam session after jam session in the campground, “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” emanated from one, “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” from another. Folks smiled and waved as I went by, as I neared the artist parking area. Those greetings made me feel right at home.

For years, this experience is one which I looked forward to almost every weekend once Spring arrived and throughout the year until the fall.

Bluegrass Festivals became a way of life and the people who attended week after week became extended family as we shared laughs, meals, talks, jam sessions and shows.

I once compared the experience like visiting Mayberry – we had our Aunt Beas, our Opies, Andys, Barneys, Gomers and Goobers.
I grew up performing at these types of events across the United States. It didn’t matter where we came from, what we believed, we were all part of the bluegrass family. We either played it or loved to listen to it and as long as we treated each other with respect, helped one another when needed, we were welcomed with smiles and usually an offer of hospitality where ever we went.

It was in this environment that I learned so much about music around campfires, listening and playing with pickers who just loved to play and occasionally the professionals who joined in the fun. As my stage opportunities grew and I performed at more and more events, I learned so much about performing and entertaining audiences. Those lessons only come by standing in front of an audience and learning what makes them smile, applaud, laugh or move to any variety of emotions.

This time of year always gets my feet to itching wanting to return to these type of environs. While these types of events are fewer and farther between than in my youth, they are still scattered across the United States. There are dozens of talented bluegrass artists entertaining audiences traveling across the country which fill the stages at these events.

If you have never attended a bluegrass festival, I encourage you to go outside your comfort zone and take one in. One you might try is the 51st Dr. Ralph Stanley Hills of Home Festival in McClure, Va. https://drralphstanleyfestival.com/ or check out https://ibma.org/ for other bluegrass info.

Bring your lawn chairs, pay your admission and a little money to buy something to eat from the concession stand, and enjoy the music. If you play, bring your instrument and find a jam session. Be friendly while there and you may just make some new friends. Bluegrass blessings!

Reaching and creating goals

Reaching lifetime goals often means it is time to reformulate your life and create new goals. As time passes, these goals seem to race by like fence posts but each one is a marker I look on fondly. I reached a career goal in 1993 that I had pursued since I was a little child.

Since the first time I watched Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs sing “Little Girl of Mine In Tennessee” to “Granny” and “Uncle Jed” on “The Beverly Hillbillies;” since the first time I saw Wayne Newton play a down home country boy who could really saw the fiddle; or since the first time I watched Doug Dillard and all the Dillards entertain “Sheriff Andy Taylor” as “The Darlings” on the “Andy Griffith Show” with his up tempo banjo tunes; I dreamed of walking on network television to pick and grin.

I always figured that such national exposure for a young boy from Georgia had to come through music. There were just not that many other avenues at that time. So I worked and studied to improve my music, working to create and market our youth group, The Peachtree Pickers®, by working flea markets, churches and schools. We began competing at fiddler’s conventions and then moved up to entertaining larger and larger audiences at bluegrass festivals and fairs. The support of my late parents Pearl and Floyd Franks and those of the other group members helped to move our joint goals forward. We reached network cable in its infancy with a children’s show called “The Country Kids TV Series,” essentially a children’s “Hee Haw” which aired in the United States and abroad. Our growth would eventually lead us to performances for the Grand Old Opry ® and some acceptance by the more mainstream music industry.

In 1987, members of our youth act decided to go their separate ways, partially due to new college obligations. I was at a new point in my life, trying to decide what is next. I had not yet reached my childhood goal, but without a group, which was still the foundation of bluegrass and southern gospel music at that time, I did not know what my next step would be. I decided to make some solo appearances pulling together musicians when needed and continued appearing with other acts such as The Marksmen Quartet and Doodle and the Golden River Grass.

I began work at the Atlanta-based MBM records in 1987 helping to guide the careers of several artists signed with the label while still performing every opportunity I had. In 1988, the label changed hands and my job was eliminated. So, once again, I found myself searching. While I had enjoyed doing some minor acting in school, I decided in order to reach my television goal, I would have to begin a more intensive study of acting and take any opportunity, which were not many at the time, I could to get to be on screen in Georgia.

But God seemed to immediately open the doors, giving me opportunity after opportunity. The music talents God gave me seemed to put me where I needed to be. It would not be music that landed me my role as “Officer Randy Goode” on “In the Heat of the Night,” but it would be the many friends I developed from years of touring and recording that would share their exuberance about my presence on the show. After countless requests from those who cared about my music asking for me to perform on the show, Carroll O’Connor wrote a uniquely designed scene in an episode entitled “Random’s Child” which would set up a reason and purpose for “Officer Randy” to be pickin’ and grinnin’ just to frustrate the bad guys in that episode. One of those bad guys was Robert O’Reilly, “Gowron,” leader of the Klingons, from “Star Trek, Deep Space Nine.” I bet that is the only time in my life I will get to aggravate a Klingon.

Anyway, Carroll wrote a little piece entitled the “Sparta Blues” for actor Thomas Byrd and I to perform at the Sparta Police impound yard when the bad guys came to claim their car.

I have always jokingly called it my biggest hit since millions saw and heard it on CBS and millions more around the world have heard it since. I’ve often wondered what it sounded like when translated into Chinese or Italian. Recently, one of our Italian fans actually sent me some Italian performances, they were interesting. I didn’t know I spoke Italian so well.

It took years but the childhood dream was reached, and the goal I had chased for years was accomplished.
Then I had to decide what was next. Life is a constant re-evaluation of where you are and where you are going. We can’t just simply drift or what service will that be to God and our fellow man? He has a purpose for everyone’s life. It is up to us to make His vision for us happen. He will open the doors; we must simply study and be prepared to walk through. But at the same time, as we walk with the confidence He gave us we must always be mindful of whether what we are reaching for is His will or one we have created. Only time will tell.

Mountain Sounds from Ralph Stanley II

Ralph Stanley II

The sounds of banjos and fiddles have kept my heart singing since childhood. From jam sessions to stage shows entertaining thousands, America’s music has charmed people around the world. One of the greatest stalwarts to forge the genre was the late Dr. Ralph Stanley, who I had the great honor to perform and record with. His son Ralph Stanley II continues the musical legacy with the Clinch Mountain Boys. He will welcome fans from around the world to the 50th Anniversary Dr. Ralph Stanley Hills of Home Festival in McClure, Va. May 25 through 28, 2022. I have been blessed to entertain there and it is a wonderful setting to hear bluegrass played the way it should be.
“The festival is always exciting because it’s held at the home place of the Stanley Brothers,” Ralph II said. “Being the 50th and having Ricky Skaggs returning makes it very special. He is the last of the original Clinch Mountain Boys that was there for the first festival appearing with dad, Jack Cook, Roy Lee Centers, Keith Whitley, and Curly Ray Cline.
“We want everybody to come out and enjoy the festival and help us keep it growing,” he said.
I spoke with the Grammy winning artist as he was doing performances in Florida. He is sharing songs from his latest albums “Lord Help Me Find the Way” and their self-titled album. Ralph has enjoyed three #1 songs in his career including “Beautiful Hills of Home”
“This is our 75th Anniversary Tour of the Clinch Mountain Boys and we are keeping it going on down the line,” he said. “We keep it true to where it began with the Stanley Brothers but I have more of a country feel to my vocals.”
He shared his vocal sound may reflect what the band might have had with his late uncle Carter at the helm without his dad.
In addition to Ralph, the Clinch Mountain Boys, currently includes banjoist Landon Fitzpatrick, fiddler Stanley Efaw, Caleb Shifflett on guitar and Randall Hibbitts on bass. To check out his latest music or other upcoming events, visit Ralph2.com .
“I think Bluegrass will always be around. I don’t think it will ever die,” he said. “As folks get older they go back to their roots and often that’s the music that they want hear.”
The week at McClure, Virginia features a who’s who in bluegrass with performances by Stanley, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Larry Sparks & The Lonesome Ramblers, Little Roy & Lizzy Show, David Davis and the Warrior River Boys, the Larry Stephenson Band, Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers and many more. Weekly passes are $130. Most day tickets are $35 with Saturday being $40. Kids 12 and under are free. College students with college I.D. receive a 20% discount.
If you can make the trip to participate in this historic festival, visit drralphstanleyfestival.com to find out more. 

Being brought into focus by Bill Monroe

As I stepped on the blue bus, I wondered whether I could measure up to the task ahead.
I had spent much of the last decade learning to play the fiddle and violin. I listened to every record and learned hundreds of fiddle licks that helped me take these steps. I had already performed for the Grand Ole Opry.
Nevertheless, despite years of performing and endless hours of preparation, still in my teens, I was scared.
Already, I had the distinct honor of being a regular show guest of one of music’s greatest innovators, the Father of Bluegrass music, Bill Monroe.
But now instead of just walking out on stage, shining in his accolades of my talent, the duties of carrying long-time fiddler Kenny Baker’s parts fell on my shoulders.
While I had listened to the recordings, I knew that the dynamic of Mr. Monroe’s stage show was a bit different than those sounds emanating from the vinyl.
In many ways, I believe this monumental band leader, who had coached some of bluegrass and country’s biggest stars such as Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, Mac Wiseman, Jimmy Martin, Benny Martin and so many others, sensed my concerns of filling such a giant fiddler’s shoes.
Baker had just quit a few weeks before, after 22 years with the Blue Grass Boys.
Mr. Monroe, being a stickler for detail, did not have a reputation for giving musicians in his band much slack to carry their weight.
Therefore, although we were friends, I think my feelings were appropriate.
This trip was already full of firsts for me; I was now an official member of the Blue Grass Boys, and I was taking my first airplane flight.
In the process of the flight, I got to move from each leg of the journey to a smaller and smaller plane as I moved closer to Yakima, Wash., where I met the band on their return from Japan. Baker had quit just before that trip.
I am just glad there wasn’t one more connection, or I would have been out in the air flapping my arms. That last plane was awfully small.
After taking those four steps onto the bus off the gray sidewalk, Mr. Monroe and the rest of the Blue Grass Boys — Wayne Lewis (guitar), Tater Tate (bass and fiddle), and Blake Williams (banjo) — greeted me.
Mr. Monroe’s first words were: “Thank you for coming, glad you could be with us.”
Blake showed me to my bunk, and then I had to sit down with Mr. Monroe to discuss the evening’s show.
While we had played together, and he had faith in my abilities, there is a big difference between jamming and carrying a stage show. Especially when the fiddle often began each song, set the tempo and could make or break a show.
As an experienced band leader, I think he sensed my concerns of not measuring up to the task of filling not only Baker’s shoes, but those of the dozens of other fiddlers from Bobby Hicks to Byron Berline and even current band member Tater Tate.
“Do you know my material?” he asked.
“Yes sir, I know a lot of it — “Jerusalem Ridge,” “Road to Columbus,” “Lonesome Moonlight Waltz,” — but I do not really know what you regularly include in your stage shows,” I said.
That evening, we were scheduled to appear at the Capital Theatre, a 1920s-era grand movie house that was now Yakima’s crown jewel of entertainment.
Mr. Monroe talked with me a few minutes and called Tater to the front of the bus.
“Do you play the big fiddle?” he asked me.
I said, “A little.”
“I think for tonight, Tater, you should work with him on the big fiddle, and you play the little fiddle until he is comfortable,” he said.
So, I was off the hook. The fiddling fears went away for a moment.
In one decision, Mr. Monroe had figured out a way to ease me into my new responsibilities a bit at a time, much like you would test the water as you were going in wading one foot at a time.
This also gave me the chance to learn the ropes from Tater.
But now, rather than walk on stage my first time as a Blue Grass Boy with my then constant companion, my Guarnerious violin, I would step on stage with its older brother, Tater’s “doghouse bass.”
In my life, I had held one only a few times, but I did know some of the basics.
Tater gave me a 20-minute crash course on what I needed to know to get through the 75-minute show.
As we prepared for the show that evening, I dressed in my gray Blue Grass Boy suit, put on my gray Stetson Blue Grass Boy hat, grabbed the bass fiddle and an arm full of my records and headed to the dressing room backstage.
I had traveled in music for years, but until I stepped through that door as a member of the Blue Grass Boys, I really did not know what it was like to be treated as a star.
As the set grew near, I was putting thick white tape on my fingers to protect the skin from the blisters that would come from playing the bass.
I peaked out from behind the red velour curtains, which seemed to reach for the sky, to see every seat full, with people seemingly hanging from the rafters.
As the master of ceremonies was preparing the audience, the Blue Grass Boys took our places on stage and waited for the emcee to reach a crescendo.
As soon as Mr. Monroe took his first steps on the stage, the entire audience was on their feet with a standing ovation.
As Tater and Blake hit the first notes of “Sweet Blue Eyed Darling,” I grabbed a hold and held on for dear life, doing my best to hold the rhythm together. The show began to roll and did not stop until the audience called us back for encore after encore.
It really did not seem like an hour and 25 minutes; it just flew by, as did all of my performances with Mr. Monroe.
As I stepped off the stage, Mr. Monroe stopped, smiled and patted me on the back and said, “Thank you.”
I had made it through and the ride was just beginning. I was really a Blue Grass Boy.
After that first show, Tater and I began swapping fiddle and bass duties, easing me into the shoes of all those that came before.
Even today, after walking in them for years, there sure is a lot of room left in those shoes, but I just keep trying to fill them.
Thanks to my work with Monroe and other bluegrass legends I was honored as a Bluegrass Legend in 2011 at the Monroe Centennial Celebration at the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Owensboro, Ky. and am blessed to part of a unique brotherhood that includes many of bluegrass music’s greatest musicians.
(This feature appeared in Randall Franks book series Encouragers)

Bluegrass music comes together to honor its best

The International Bluegrass Music Association hosted its annual week-long celebration of the genre in Raleigh recently.
Thousands poured into the city’s clubs, venues and hotels to see countless concerts by established artists such as David Davis and the Warrior River Boys of Alabama, hopefuls such as the Baker Family of Missouri, and Rebekah Long of Nashville, who desire to expand their career success into national and international strides.

I visited with Davis in his band’s booth (http://www.daviddavisandwrb.com/).
“It’s been an amazing week,” Davis said, who is riding high on the success of his latest Rounder release “Didn’t He Ramble : Songs of Charlie Poole.” “We have met with fans, event promoters, disc jockeys and all types of media folks. It’s like a musical family reunion with old friends and new ones.”

I ran across Trustin Baker, the 2018 Grand Master Fiddler Champion, in the hallway of the Marriott. He had traveled from Missouri to perform with his family (thebakerfamilybluegrass.com/).  He actually joined in a jam session playing a tune with my fiddle.
Rebekah Long told me she was having a great time at the event appearing on numerous showcases with her band with her producer Donna Ulisse in tow. Long’s recent CDs include “Run Away” and “Here I Am” (www.rebekahlong.com).
Awards were handed out highlighting the greatest successes of the past year. Some of the winners include: Balsam Range as  entertainer of the year; Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver as vocal group; The Travelin’ McCourys as instrumental group; Buddy Melton as male vocalist; Brooke Aldridge as female vocalist; Sierra Hull as mandolin player; Molly Tuttle as guitar player; Michael Cleveland as fiddle player; The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys as emerging artist; Becky Buller brought home gospel recorded performance with “Speakin’ to That Mountain;” “Swept Away” with Missy Raines, Alison Brown, Becky Buller, Hull and Tuttle won recorded event.

Hall of Fame inductees included Ricky Skaggs, Paul Williams and Tom T. and Dixie Hall.
I applaud these additions to the hall. All have contributed amazingly to the genre!

I was privileged to return to direct a portion of the awards welcoming multi-Grammy winner Jerry Douglas to host the Distinguished Achievement Awards and several special awards. The IBMA’s second highest honor went to Curtis McPeake, Walter Saunders, Chris Thile, Christopher Howard-Williams, and George Gruhn. My old friend Jerry Salley was awarded as bluegrass songwriter of the year.

Learn more about the music and the organization at ibma.org.

New releases from Opry’s Jeanne Pruett and Del McCoury

Two of my long-time Grand Ole Opry friends have new projects that everyone is sure to enjoy.
Jeanne Pruett, an accomplished musician, author, and restauranteur, has completed her new book “Jeanne Pruett: Miss Satin Sheets I Remember.”
She shares her memories good, great and even bad as she focuses on decades of music and music makers.
“(I am) the author and publisher of four best-selling cookbooks in a series entitled Feedin’ Friends, she said. “(I also) had a successful restaurant of the same name in the Opryland theme park, Jeanne Pruett’s Feedin’ Friends. (I) was, for years, a regular on the Ralph Emery television show Nashville Now. (I am) a museum curator, a producer of country music shows, a mother of two, a happy wife, and the author of this book, ‘I Remember’.”
Jeanne Pruett’s riveting work from Page Publishing of New York includes many recognizable characters, who are not only superstars, but also personal friends. Dolly Parton, Vince Gill, Nancy “Mrs. George” Jones, Bill Anderson, Don Williams, Ronnie Milsap, Rhonda Vincent, and dozens more are the author’s country music idols, and they’ve all played a great part in her life.
Pruett shared that since her retirement, that the great lyrics in good country songs mean even more to her than ever before.
She reminisces over the love and friendships of her music friends, the love of her worldwide fans, and the love of everyday people are the fabrics that hold her life together.
“Jeanne Pruett: Miss Satin Sheets I Remember” is available bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes store, Amazon, Kobo, Google Play or Barnes and Noble.
Bluegrass mainstay and two-time Grammy winner Del McCoury is assuring folks in his upcoming CD that Del McCoury Still Sings Bluegrass.
From the nascent sound of bluegrass that charmed hardscrabble hillbilly honkytonks, rural schoolhouse stages, and the crowning glory of the Grand Ole Opry to the present-day culture-buzz of viral videos and digital streams, Del is the living link.
“What I like in a record is variety of moods, of tempos,” Del said. “I consider myself traditional at heart, but I don’t have any boundaries. I’m just a guy that likes to sing and play music. Whatever strikes me to do I’ll do it. Without wrecking things.”
His new album will debut May 25 with 14 songs brimming with hot licks, classic songcraft, even some boundary-stretching electric guitar, and once again, Del’s matchless vocal delivery.
The album features his fine band (Ronnie McCoury on Mandolin, Rob McCoury on Banjo, Jason Carter on fiddle, Alan Bartran on bass) with a guest electric guitar from his grandson, Heaven McCoury, on a kicking cover of Shawn Camp’s tune “Hot Wired.” Del noting that having Ronnie’s son, Heaven, on the record playing electric guitar reminds him of the Del McCoury Band playing with Phish and how well Trey Anastasio’s guitar blended with bluegrass.
For more information, please visit http://www.delmccouryband.com/.

Joe Mullins: The Story We Tell is a must have

One of my favorite talented bluegrass friends Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers has an amazing new CD entitled The Story We Tell from Rebel Records. The band’s sixth CD in seven years brings together a vibrant collection of songs that when heard, work together like chapters from a well-worn literary classic.

Filled with new songs from some of today’s top songwriters including Larry Cordle, Jerry Salley, Ronnie Bowman, Steve Bonafel, and Raleigh Satterwhite, alongside forgotten gems the band dusted off from such varied sources as The Delmore Brothers, Merle Haggard, and The Browns, the balance achieved on The Story We Tell flows through the speakers like tuning in to your favorite radio broadcast — a claim only befitting of the reigning IBMA Broadcaster of the Year, Joe Mullins.

“We gathered a very diverse set of songs, heavy on new material from great writers, allowing us to tell several types of stories — tales of fun, family, fiddlers, faith, felons, and one funeral … real bluegrass,” banjo player Joe Mullins.
And if the lead off track and first single, “Long Gone Out West Blues,” debuted on Bluegrass Today’s Top 20 Songs chart, maintaining a strong presence for five consecutive weeks.

Featuring Mullins alongside bluegrass veterans Mike Terry (mandolin), Jason Barie (fiddle), Randy Barnes (bass), and Duane Sparks (guitar), The Story We Tell showcases the band’s most inventive and innovative arrangements to date, both vocally and instrumentally on 12 tracks. With an approach to the music that rings with authenticity, the band secures a rightful place among the traditional guard of bluegrass while standing comfortably shoulder to shoulder with more progressive type artists who find themselves drawn to not only JMRR’s music, but their down-home, likable nature.
In the album’s liner notes, journalist Craig Havighurst brings The Story We Tell and its authors to one solid conclusion: “Joe and his superb band with its diverse strengths and multiple lead vocalists have patiently carved out a special place in the national scene. They’ve won some awards that you can look up, though fewer than they deserve and fewer than they will over time. What matters more is that Joe’s steady contributions and excellent performances are accumulating, year in and out. So is a larger story of an artist who’ll tend to traditional music for decades, something we very much need as the genre widens. Just remember that Joe and his band mates are standing sentinel over something even more profound than the cultural creation we cherish as bluegrass. They’re giving us all tuneful, truthful reasons to have faith in the future of the country.”

The Story We Tell is available for digital download at iTunesGoogle Play, and Amazon. Consumers may also order The Story We Tell direct from Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers at www.radioramblers.com.

Cardboard Fox creates some sturdy musical sounds

Often as an entertainer, I get the chance to share some time with other talented musicians. I was afforded that opportunity recently while spending a couple of hours with a talented group of musicians from England.

cardboardfox

Cardboard Fox

While I heard them jamming with a different line up than their norm with their bassist playing banjo, the sounds of Cardboard Fox impressed me.

The band is made up of John Breese on double bass and vocals; Charlotte Carrivick on guitar and vocals; Laura Carrivick on fiddle and vocals; and Joe Tozer on mandolin.

Cardboard Fox is fast becoming one of the most exciting young acts on UK the acoustic scene.

The band’s unique blend of modern folk and progressive bluegrass, combined with original song writing and energetic performances, is giving them a growing presence on the UK Folk

and acoustic music circuit.

I was able to listen to the 2015 Spiral Earth award winner’s latest CD – “Out of Mind.”

The project features ten originals and three covers.

While not conventional bluegrass, the music is amazingly offered and sure to appeal to listeners in every age bracket but especially those who look for a unique mix of present and past in their tastes.

Between them, the band have contributed eight original songs and two tunes to ‘Out of Mind’.

The two tunes featured are Joe Tozer’s ‘Gone, Not Forgotten’ and Charlotte Carrivick’s high–‐octane fiddle tune, ‘Hiding in Hi Vis’. Spread across the album are also three covers, perhaps the

Most surprising being Ingrid Michaelson’s pop hit, ‘Girls Chase Boys’. The band have also included a subtly re-harmonized version of Dirk Powell’s ‘Waterbound’ and a bluegrassy cover

Of the famous Bob Dylan song, ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright’. The original songs range

From acoustic pop with catchy riffs (‘More Than You and Me’, ‘Out of Sight is Out of Mind’), to

Modern bluegrass, with the addition of John’s banjo playing on ‘Couldn’t Find the Time’ and

cardboard-fox

Cardboard Fox jams at the IBMA World of Bluegrass in Raleigh, N.C.

Twin fiddling on ‘I’ve Gotta Run’. The band’s signature mandolin, fiddle, guitar and double bass line up is augmented on ‘Felicity’ with an electric ‘Fun Machine’ organ, which turned up on the street outside Joe’s house while the band were in the studio.

Recorded and produced by Josh Clark at Get Real Audio (Miranda Sykes & Rex Preston, Damien O’Kane, Nizlopi) in Bath, mastered by Nick Cooke (Kate Rusby, False Lights)

The group has performed at festivals across the UK and Mainland Europe, performing at Glastonbury and showcasing at the English Folk Expo and European World of

Bluegrass Festival. They traveled to the U.S. to appear at the IBMA World of Bluegrass.

I want to encourage you to check out their CD on iTunes, amazon, and Spotify. You can visit their website, www.cardboardfox.co.uk and find them on social media www.facebook.com/CardboardFox, www.twitter.com/CardboardFox1, www.instagram.com/CardboardFox1.

Director/Actor Randall Franks to direct IBMA Awards segment

Randall Franks will direct a segment of the annual International Bluegrass Music Association Awards Show featuring the Distinguished Achievement Awards.

“Bluegrass music is one of my greatest loves,” he said. “Playing a part in honoring the greats of our industry for their lifetime of commitment, as well as those we recognize for their special industry awards is an outstanding honor.”

Recognized as an International Bluegrass Music Museum Legend for his work with over 30 hall of famers including the legendary Father of Bluegrass Bill Monroe, Franks is also known as an actor/director around the world. Franks, who appeared as “Officer Randy Goode” on TV’s “In the Heat of the Night,” has directed documentaries, music productions for television, stage plays, and dozens of hours of new media content. Franks starred in three TV series and 15 films with his latest film “Broken” starring with Soren Fulton and Joe Stevens.

Franks returns for his fourth year of directing working alongside segment producer Tom Kopp. The IBMA Awards Show are Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016 at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh, N.C. This special segment of the IBMA Awards Show including the Distinguished Achievement Awards, the organization’s second highest career honor, and its industry awards are presented at the Raleigh Convention Center earlier in the day.

“It is a pleasure to work with Tom Kopp and the IBMA staff who bring together a wonderful and always moving presentation for this segment,” Franks said “I often find myself being pulled into the moment along with the recipient during their acceptance speech sometimes choking up right along with them.”

Franks became a bluegrass and country music personality as a youth beginning appearances at major country, folk, bluegrass and gospel events such as Country Music Association Fan Fair, National Folk Festival, National Quartet Convention, World of Bluegrass, National Black Arts Festival and for the Grand Ole Opry. With 24 career albums in four genres, he has performed to over 145 million fans around the world. Musically, he is an Independent Country Music Hall of Fame member. His latest CD is “Keep ‘Em Smilin’” featuring Christian music and comedy.

Learn more about Franks connections to bluegrass, https://randallfranks.com/appalachian-and-bluegrass-music/.

Franks highlights many of his music heroes in his Encouragers book series, the latest in the series is “Encouragers III: A Guiding Hand” which include these bluegrass personalities: Eddie and Martha Adcock, Kenny Baker, Byron Berline, Jerry and Helen Burke, Vassar Clements, Peanut Faircloth, John and Debbie Farley, Otis Head, Bobby Hicks, Bill Monroe, and Tater Tate.

For more information about the IBMA Awards visit ibma.org.