Jay Armsworthy and Eastern Tradition

Jay Armsworthy

After a long cold ride it felt good to get inside the Congregational Church of South Hadley Falls, Mass., home of the CountryCornerCoffeehouse I saw a lot of familiar faces as I entered and bought a ticket. I was greeted by Dave and Rose Helman and made to feel welcome. Dave was hoping for a good turnout and by show time it looked like he got it. Jay and his band, Eastern Tradition , took the stage right on time and Jay began charming the audience with his self-deprecating humor and somewhat corny jokes. They picked and sang lots of traditional bluegrass and gospel. The lead vocals were shared by Jay and Lisa K. Howard and harmony was provided by all. I found the set very enjoyable and I particularly enjoyed Mike Munford's banjo playing, meticulous and lively. Tom Gray, of course, was wonderful on bass and Jay and Lisa did a fine job singing and playing, Jay on guitar and Lisa on mandolin. Lisa has a country voice that is sweet and Jay's vocals are smooth and confident. The band was generous with their time, performing for two and a half hours and the audience just loved it. I want to Thank Dave and Rose for what they do for bluegrass in the northeast.

Tom Gray

Ken Taylor,Bob Dick,and Tom

Members of the Blackstone Valley Bluegrass Band, Ken Taylor and Bob Dick visit with Tom

Mike Munford

Lisa Kay Howard

Steep Canyon Rangers

Steep Canyon Rangers

The Steep Canyon Rangers will be stopping in East Hartford CT on thursday night, the 22nd of January, to perform at the comfortable and very attractive East Hartford Community Cultural Center, show time 8pm. This band formed in college at Chapel Hill, NC and have been touring heavily ever since. In 2006 they were the IBMA's "Emerging Artists of the Year." They've produced four albums, with one, "Lovin Pretty Women" nominated for IBMA's 2008 Album of the Year. They perform mostly original material influenced by country, gospel and blues. You'll be treated to Woody Platt's rhythm guitar, tight harmonies, marvelous vocals and inspired instrumentation.
Make an effort to see this group, you'll be glad you did.

Country Corner Coffeehouse

Jay Armsworthy

Jay Armsworthy and the Eastern Tradition band will bring their powerful brand of traditional bluegrass to the Country Corner Coffeehouse this Saturday Jan. 17, at 8 p.m. This band is known for lively traditional grass as well as original ballads and old time gospel. Jay has a smooth voice and is a fine picker, Tom Gray,a member of the IBMA Hall Of Honor and the original bassist for the super group "Seldom Scene" will be on hand as well as Marc Bolen on banjo and Lisa Kay Howard on mandolin. Come on out and support bluegrass music. The Coffeehouse is located at the Congregational Church of S. Hadley Falls, 11 N. Main St., S. Hadley, Mass. Tickets are $15.00 at the door.

2008 Joe Val Workshops

The workshops at Joe Val fill up early and many are left standing outside the rooms hoping to get a spot. Here Frank Wakefield gives pointers along with humorous tales of his long and notable career

Richard Brown and Frank Wakefeld

Frank Wakefield, Phil Zimmerman, and BBU staff

Tim Stafford held a session on guitar rhythm and creating breaks

Tim Stafford

August Watters teaches the art of cross picking

August Watters

Audie Blaylock talks about guitar breaks

Audie Blaylock

Dave Dillon, Richard Brown, and Margaret Gerteis

Rich Stillman shares his knowledge with some dedicated students

Rich Stillman

BBU staff member teaches mandolin backup technique
Michael Cleveland mesmerizes the class with his superb playing

Michael Cleveland

SUPPORT BLUEGRASS

There’s been much talk, lately, about the demise of the Bluegrass Now magazine which had published news and reviews of bluegrass artists, promoters and the like for eighteen years or so. Much of the blame for the lack of financial success, has been laid on the fans of the music who failed to support the magazine, and of course you have to sell subscriptions to stay viable But it seems to me there were just too many magazines about bluegrass music. The fan base for bluegrass is small, too small to support several magazines reporting on the same touring artists and festivals especially with competition from the internet based discussion boards and blogs where you can read about just everything that’s going on in the genre.

Another area on shaky ground is live performances. Too many promoters are losing their shirts trying to provide good bluegrass music to fans that just will not come out and support it. In recent months I have traveled to shows featuring top national bands like Del McCoury, Dan Paisley, New Found Road and others who performed to small audiences much less than anticipated by the promoter prompting one to say he’d " probably not do this again." If fans continue to stay at home rather than support the music there will be few willing to risk their resources in promoting live bluegrass? At one point I took a chance and produced one event with a regional band of good quality. I exhausted myself advertising the event in several towns, in print and on the radio and on internet bluegrass lists only to be disappointed by the turnout. I ended up using several hundred dollars of my own money to fulfill my obligations. Would I do it again? Not likely.

Below, Dan Paisley and Southern Grass perform at a well attended festival, unfortunately, at a venue in Massachusetts, the turnout for Dan was not enough for the promoter to break even

Donnie Eldreth Jr. and Dan Paisley

My one attempt at promoting live bluegrass was not a success and caused me to cut short my promoting career. However, should I come into a hefty inheritance I would restart my career even if it lost money just to expose people to this wonderful music

Life Star airlifting my checkbook to a Critical Care facility

PEACE TO ALL IN THE BLUEGRASS COMMUNITY

PACKWAY HANDLE BAND

Sounding like a camp meeting preacher, fiddler Andrew Heaton jumps up to the mic and in a voice that’s grating warns the sinners, ”they better get ready” as he kicks off the set for the Athens, GA. based Packway Handle Band in concert at the Podunk Winter Music Series held in East Hartford CT. The line comes from their blistering rendition of “Sinner, You Better Get Ready, “ a Monroe Brother’s tune that’s sure to make some rethink their behavior. The Packway Handle Band is a high energy group to say the least, packing lots of action into the delivery of their music, very exciting. I don’t believe the audience expected such a dynamic performance, they seemed to be in awe after the first tune and the set continued to be fast paced and supercharged. The band’s musicianship is outstanding and the four part harmony is near-perfect. They use a two-condenser mic and the movement to and from the mic is a show in itself. Their music, much of which is original, is edgy, energetic and decidedly entertaining. Besides Heaton on fiddle and vocals there is Michael Paynter, mandolin and vocals, Josh Erwin guitar and vocals, Tom Baker banjo and vocals and Zach McCoy on bass. To the delight of the audience, with the last song of the set they started jumping off the stage, one after the other, while singing and playing, and ran up about five rows into the audience and finished up their set among the fans. The people I talked to at the end of the performance had nothing but praise for the band.

Andrew Heaton, Michael Paynter, Tom Baker, Josh Erwin and Zach McCoy

Michael Paynter, Tom Baker and Josh Erwin

Josh Erwin

They jumped from the stage and ran up the aisle to perform up close to the audience
The next show in the series at Podunk Winter Concerts is Laurie Lewis And The Right Hands on December 4 in East Hartford CT.

Crossover

The Killingly Grange Concert Series offered its second show of the season featuring the 2007, Thomas Point Beach Festival, Band Showcase winner, "Crossover," a band out of southern CT. The band offers a country flavored style of bluegrass that's quite enjoyable to hear. Lead guitarist and harmony vocalist Warren Charrette contributed some exciting breaks on his sweet sounding 1959 Martin D-18 to songs such as "Dark Hollow," "Erase the Miles," and others. Andre Tardif plays banjo and guitar and sings lead along with Dan Dube who provides much of the lead vocals and rhythm guitar. Kyle Neilson the mandolinist keeps the band loose with his humerous banter and joke telling and jumps in with the lead on occasion. The steady beat of the bass comes from Larry Harvey. They are an easy going laid back bunch of veteran musicians who believe in having at least as much fun as the audience, and I can tell you the audience loved them, although the Grange Hall is small the audience made it sound like an auditorium with the loud response to the good music. I know this group would have gone on all night and the audience would have stayed if only the venue would have allowed it. To check Crossover's schedule click here

Andre Tardif

The Crossover Band

Warren Charrette

Dan Dube and Kyle Neilson

Larry Harvey