Joe Val Showcase

The Rhode Island based band Southern Rhode showcased to a nearly full room at the recent Joe Val Festival in Framingham, Mass. The band of veteran bluegrass artists consists of Alex MacLeod singing lead and harmony and playing guitar, Monty McLanahan, lead and harmony vocals and picking the mandolin, Mike Kropp on banjo, and Greg Badigian on fiddle and guitar, with Tom Bowman on bass. Southern Rhode's music ranges from traditional to newgrass with some originals included in the mix. They're very tight musically and the lead vocals shared by Alex and Monty are done with feeling and sincerity, especially Rodney Crowell's "Song for Life," that song really got the audiences attention and brought forth loud applause. The group can be heard at the Wood River Inn in Carolina, R.I. on the fifth Sunday of the month. Hopefully, after the showcase exposure, they will be able to generate more gigs.

Southern Rhode

Alex MacLeod

Monty McLanahan

Mike Kropp

Greg Badigian

Amy Gallatin sings country, swing, and bluegrass and does them all well. She's a veteran of the music scene both in this country and Europe who's very confident performing before audiences of all sizes. The banter comes easy for Amy and she always gets the audience involved. She is joined by Roger Willams, a highly respected resophonic guitarist and his son J.D. Williams on mandolin and Dave Hollender on banjo with Eric Levenson on bass. That's a top flight group in any arena.

Amy Gallatin and Stillwaters

Amy Gallatin

Roger Williams

J.D. Williams

Dave Hollender

Josh Williams at Joe Val

The Josh Williams band was a huge hit at this years 27th Joe Val Festival, Josh with his powerful deep resonating voice just wowed the audience as he went through tunes from past albums. People were yelling out requests throughout his performance and he happily obliged them. His singing is as good as his guitar picking which is World Class. He also writes some of the material in his vast repertoire. Randy Barnes, the bassist for the band sings one or two also. What I like about Josh is that he puts a bluegrass sound to material that you don't often hear at bluegrass festivals, songs more likely heard at country or pop venues. He did a spectacular cover of country singer John Conlee's "Rose Colored Glasses" that had the crowd out of their seats. Good Stuff. Josh has talented sidemen in Jason McKendree on banjo and Nick Keen on mandolin.

Nick Keen

Jason McKendree

Randy Barnes

Josh Williams

Sierra Hull and Steep Canyon Rangers at Joe Val

As expected, Sierra Hull's set was dynamic, she sang cuts from her hit album "Daybreak" with feeling and sincerity making one believe the lyrics were about her own experiences, and in fact she did write seven of the songs on that album. Her mandolin picking was sensational especially on the tune she wrote named "Bombshell," which she picked with such speed and clarity it had people shaking their heads in disbelief. She was joined by some excellent pickers as well. Jake Stargel on guitar, Zach Gilmer on banjo and guitar, Jacob Eller on bass, and Christian Ward on fiddle.

Sierra Hull

Jake Stargel

Jacob Eller

Zach Gilmer

Christian Ward

When I first saw the Steep Canyon Rangers live about three years ago I was very impressed with them, I thought they were certainly first class and had a bright future in bluegrass. Everything about them, their command of the instruments, the vocals, the tight harmony, their appearance, it all said success. When they paired up with comedian, actor, and musician Steve Martin they really climbed to new heights. That pairing has brought bluegrass music to thousands of folks who might never have known what bluegrass is or how infectious it can be. Their performance was very tight and smooth and the harmonies were as good as it gets.

Woody Platt

Mike Guggino

Nicky Sanders

Charles Humphrey

Graham Sharp

Joe Sings Joe

Joe Val was a Boston native who fronted the band "Joe Val and the New England Bluegrass Boys" back in the seventies. He was an excellent mandolin player and had a terrific high tenor voice. He helped to put the New England bluegrass scene on the map and cut several albums for Rounder Records. Joe Singleton is a huge fan of Joe Val and found the he could sing Joe's songs with credability. Singleton surrounded himself with accomplished bluegrass performers, two of whom actually played as members of the New England Bluegrass Boys with Joe Val and the band was born, since then then they've performed at several festivals and have built a large following. They were well received here at the 27th Joe Val and I'm hoping they'll become regulars at the festival. Joe Sings Joe is comprised of Rich Stillman on banjo and vocals, Dave Dillon on guitar and harmony vocals, John Roc on mandolin, Eric Levenson on bass, Laura Orshaw of fiddle, Sky Travis on dobro, and Joe Singleton singing lead and high tenor.

Joe Singleton

Rich Stillman

John Roc

Eric Levenson

Laura Orshaw

Sky Travis

Dave Dillon

Spinney Brothers at Joe Val

Known for tight harmonies and high energy performances the duo of Allen Spinney and brother Rick Spinney won over the audience with the first tune of their set at the 27th Annual Joe Val Bluegrass Festival held at the Sheraton Framingham Hotel in Framingham, Mass. With their upbeat style and presentation the brothers performed traditional bluegrass as well as some original tunes that spoke about their Canadian heritage. Allen included some early country tunes as he likes to do during his portion of the set. Allen provides the rhythmn guitar and Rick handles the banjo quite well. They share the lead vocals and harmony. The Spinneys are backed by the fine playing of Gary Dalrymple on Banjo and Darryl Hebb on Bass. As a group they've won numerous awards for their instrumental skills by the Eastern Canada Bluegrass Music Association and are members of the Nova Scotia Country Music Hall of Fame. In the past they've opened shows for bluegrass greats Ricky Scaggs and Mac Wiseman. Friday nights audience loved them and screamed for more at the end of their set. The Spinneys will be back in the area in March at the Country Corner Coffeehouse in South Hadley, Mass.

Allen Spinney

Rick Spinney

Gary Dalrymple

Darryl Hebb

2012 Winter Concerts Series

The Killingly, CT. Grange began its 2012 Winter Concert Series on Saturday January 28 featuring the "Blackstone Valley BlueGrass Band" along with host band "Nick Anderson and Shady Creek." We arrived early and found a nearly packed house already enjoying the fresh sandwiches and soups made by the Grange crew. We had plenty of time to renew old friendships and find out what's new with the bands. Shady Creek has undergone some changes over the winter adding Dave Aston on bass and Dan Menzone on banjo as guests at least for this show and the returning Monty McLanahan on mandolin, harmony and lead vocals. Nick, of course, does much of the lead singing and plays rhythm guitar. Nick has a vast list of traditional bluegrass songs in his repertoire and sings them with high energy and just the right emotion, always enjoyable. The now packed house responded with loud applause and hoots and hollers after every number. This had to be the most energized and responsive audience I've ever witnessed at the Grange in the many years I've attended. The BVBGB got the same treatment, and you could see the sheer enjoyment of playing for this crowd on the faces of this fabulous band. BVBGB has not changed at all in the many years we've been following them. There's no particular leader as everyone takes a turn at lead singing and relating the history of the music they perform and each member displayed quick wit while taking friendly jabs at each other that got some good laughs from the audience. Both bands are packed with virtuoso pickers and fine singers. BVBGB has a new CD out titled "Soulshine" with many original compositions many of them were heard for the first time here at the Grange. Dan Menzone's newest release is called "Frostbite" also with many original Menzone tunes. Dan surrounded himself with some of the bluegrass worlds top instrumentalists on this release: Wyatt Rice, Adam Steffey, Rob Ickes, Rickie Simpkins, Don Rigsby, and Richard Bennett on vocals. Dan also performs with the Connecticut based band "TrueGrass."

The Blackstone Valley BlueGrass Band

Bob Dick

Dave Dick

Dan Nowlan

Ken Taylor

Blackstone Valley Bluegrass

Nick Anderson and Shady Creek

Nick Anderson

Monty McLanahan

Dan Menzone

Dave Aston