"Bluegrass Cafe" playlist - 6/30/2013

Sometimes, it seems like we let the little electronic "gizmos" in our lives dictate the things we do.  How many people do you know who really can't seem to go two seconds without having their iPhone in their hands?  Now, I don't have an iPhone, I do own an iPod Touch, and I'll admit that I really like the thing.  If there's WiFi available, this little "toy computer" gives me Internet access, and no matter if there is or isn't WiFi, I can always listen to one of the nearly 8,000 songs I have loaded on the iPod.  More often than not, I have the songs playing on "shuffle," so the iPod "gods" choose "random" songs whenever music is being played.  However, while listening to the iPod on shuffle during my nearly 4-hour drive home early Sunday morning from the really terrific Jenny Brook Bluegrass Festival in Tunbridge, VT, I heard at least 7 or 8 songs by the sometimes overlooked duo of Don Reno & Red Smiley.  That's a lot of R&S, especially considering that there are just 141 of their songs on the player.  Hearing so much of them on the way back, though,  sure seemed like a good-enough reason to me to put Reno & Smiley front-and-center on Sunday's radio show!  

As enjoyable as the music of Don & Red can be, though, we found some time to play a few other records, too.  There was a second mini-spotlight feature on a band I will admit that I know very little about:  the Bray Brothers with Red Cravens.  Several years ago, I bought a Rounder CD featuring some early 1960s radio transcriptions from these brothers, and it's a very enjoyable collection.  My problem is that I don't always remember I own it, and should bring it to play on the radio.  By some miracle, this week, I actually remembered.

John Burns -- Gettysburg civilian soldier,
and subject of song on "God Didn't Choose Sides"

This week marks the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg -- a pivotal Civil War battle waged on Northern soil over the course of the first three days of July in 1863.  Several songs have been written to commemorate the battle and some of the characters associated with it, so we put together a few of these songs by performers as varied as Rickey Wasson & Dwight McCall, the Lonesome River Band, Gary Ferguson, and Maine songwriter, Stan Keach (whose "Up On Little Round Top" tells the tale of the 20th Maine Regiment of Volunteers and its heroic leader, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain).  Two of these songs were taken directly from the "God Didn't Choose Sides" project released by Rural Rhythm Records.  

New music is coming from the Seldom Scene in 2014...so they say...

In addition, there was time to play quite a few selections from New England performers past and present, including Hot Mustard, Nick Anderson & the Gospel Friends, Stonewall Bluegrass, the Case Brothers, White Mountain Bluegrass, Joe Val & the New England Bluegrass Boys, ShoreGrass, and Grass Routes.  Also included was a good bit of newer music, some of which came from performers who'd been at Jenny Brook over the past weekend.  The newer stuff came from the Gibson Brothers, Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers, Mike Compton & Joe Newbery, the Spinney Brothers, Mark Newton & Steve Thomas, Alan Bibey & Wayne Benson, Sweet Potato Pie (from the "Pickin' Like A Girl" box set from the Daughters of Bluegrass), Marty Raybon & Full Circle, Big Country Bluegrass, Dailey & Vincent, the Boxcars, and Don Rigsby.  

Hope you enjoyed something you heard on Sunday's show, and please join me once again next Sunday for another packed Bluegrass Cafe.

Enjoy the 4th!  

Amy


REQUESTS ARE RED.

• Katy Hill / Del McCoury Band / RockyGrass / Blue Planet
• Green Mountain Hop / Reno & Smiley / Early Years, 1951-1959 / Gusto
• I Wouldn't Change You If I Could / Reno & Smiley / Early Years, 1951-1959 / Gusto
• Cruel Love / Reno & Smiley / Early Years, 1951-1959 / Gusto
• Country Boy Rock And Roll / Reno & Smiley / Good Old Country Ballads / King
• I'm The Talk of The Town / Reno & Smiley / Early Years, 1951-1959 / Gusto
• Buy A Ring, Find A Preacher / Gibson Brothers / They Called It Music / Compass Records
• She Left Me Standing On The Mountain / Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers / They're Playing My Song / Rebel
• Close The Door Lightly When You Go / Lonesome River Band / Chronology, Volume One / Rural Rhythm
• You're The Best Of All The Leading Brands / Jesse Brock / Kickin' Grass / Pinecastle
• Sweetest Love / Seldom Scene / SCENEchronized / Sugar Hill
• I Can't Stand To Ramble / Good Ol' Persons / Good 'N Live / Sugar Hill
• East Tennessee Blues / Mike Compton & Joe Newbery / Live / Self-Produced
• Making Plans / Darin & Brooke Aldridge / Live At Red, White & Bluegrass / Mountain Home
• Banjo In The Hollow / The Dillards / A Long Time Ago / Varese Sarabande
• Old MacDonald / Mark Newton & Steve Thomas / Reborn / Rural Rhythm
• Sweet Dixie / Alan Bibey & Wayne Benson / The Mandolin Chronicles / Pinecastle
• Grandpa's Way Of Life / Spinney Brothers / No Borders / Mountain Fever Records
• The Memory Of Your Smile / Hot Mustard / Live At Mole Hill Theatre / Self-Produced
• Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven / Nick Anderson & the Gospel Friends / Nick Anderson & the Gospel Friends / Self-Produced
• Slidin' Delta / Stonewall Bluegrass / I Won't Be Troubled Anymore / Self-Produced
• Nobody's Child / Case Brothers / Radio Album / Self-Produced
• You Ain't Woman Enough / White Mountain Bluegrass / Aragon Mill / Strictly Country
• Where The Old Red River Flows / Joe Val & the New England Bluegrass Boys / One Morning In May / Rounder
• The Girl In The Blue Velvet Band / Bray Brothers with Red Cravens / Prairie Bluegrass / Rounder
• Harley's Breakdown / Bray Brothers with Red Cravens / Prairie Bluegrass / Rounder
• Thinking About You / Bray Brothers with Red Cravens / Prairie Bluegrass / Rounder
• Old John Burns / Rickey Wasson & Dwight McCall / God Didn't Choose Sides / Rural Rhythm
• Up On Little Round Top / Stan Keach / Cry Of The Loon & Other Original Songs About Maine / Ayuh Records
• The Legend Of Jennie Wade / Lonesome River Band / God Didn't Choose Sides / Rural Rhythm
• Last Day At Gettysburg / Gary Ferguson / I'm Really Leaving / Webco
• Clinch Mountain Mystery / Sweet Potato Pie / Pickin' Like A Girl / Blue Circle Records
• The Big Burnsville Jail / Marty Raybon & Full Circle / The Back Forty / Rural Rhythm
• Gray Eagle / Don Reno / The Golden Guitar Of Don Reno / King
• Polka On The Guitar / Don Reno / The Golden Guitar Of Don Reno / King [music bed]
• Lady Hamlet / Don Reno / The Golden Guitar Of Don Reno / King [music bed]
• Sticks That Made Thunder / The Steeldrivers / The Steeldrivers / Rounder
• The Letter / ShoreGrass / Going Home / Self-Produced
• Bailey's Deal / Grass Routes / Bailey's Deal / Self-Produced
• Won't You Think Of Me / Big Country Bluegrass / Memories Of The Past / Rebel
• Close By / Dailey & Vincent / Brothers Of The Highway / Rounder
• I'm Leaving You This Lonesome Song / The Boxcars / It's Just A Road / Mountain Home
• I'll Be Broken Hearted / Tony Holt & the Wildwood Valley Boys / Lost Highways & Treasured Memories / Old Homestead
• I Hear My Savior Calling / Stanley Brothers / Selected Cuts, 1955-1956 / JSP Records
• Along The Way / Country Gentlemen / Let The Light Shine Down / Rebel
• Traveling The Highway Home / Don Rigsby / Doctor's Orders / Rebel
• Over In The Promised Land / Lou Reid & Carolina / Sounds Like Heaven To Me / Rural Rhythm Christian
• The Old Cross Road / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys / JSP Records
• So Many Years, So Many Blessings / Lewis Family / A Gospel Bluegrass Homecoming, Volume One / GGS
• One More Time (I Must Rise) / Gibson Brothers / Another Night Of Waiting / Hay Holler 
• Brighter Mansion Over There / Reno & Smiley / Early Years, 1951-1959 / Gusto
• Blue Grass Twist / Johnson Mountain Boys / Requests / Rounder