Filling in for "Bluegrass Rules" - 7/30/2013

An older photo of the Wards in action
taken by Jim in June 2008.

As you probably know, from time to time, I get to do a fill-in radio show for a DJ who's away for the week.  Most of the time, the shows for which I'm filling in normally play some other kind of music.  Today, though, James Ward and his mom, Cathy Ward, were away, so I actually got to play Bluegrass music on a show that normally programs Bluegrass music (they call their Tuesday afternoon show Bluegrass Rules.)  That's kind of a rare treat for me, so the three hours of radio time was devoted to a bunch of different songs, most of which I'd not heard in a while.  There were not really any "special features," but it sure was a fun time.  James and Cathy will be back with you next Tuesday afternoon, 1-4PM.  Join them!  

I'll see you on Sunday afternoon from 4-7PM with another edition of Bluegrass Cafe.

Amy

SONG / PERFORMER / ALBUM / LABEL

• Katy Hill / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys / JSP Records
• Hey! Hey! Hey! / Stanley Brothers / Select Sides, 1949-1953 / JSP Records
• I'll Wash Your Love From My Heart / Jim & Jesse / Jim & Jesse, 1952-1955 / Bear Family
• I Know You're Married / Reno & Smiley / Early Years, 1951-1959 / JSP Records
• I Don't Care Anymore / Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs / Selected Cuts, 1955-1959 / JSP Records
• I'm Gonna Sleep With One Eye Open / Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs / Selected Cuts, 1952-1955 / JSP Records
• Where Is My Sailor Boy? / Lily Brothers & Don Stover / Bluegrass At The Roots / Smithsonian Folkways
• Why Do You Treat Me The Way You Do / Lonesome Pine Fiddlers / Bluegrass Collection / Gusto
• Earl's Breakdown / Reno & Adcock / Rebel Records 35th Anniversary Sampler / Rebel
• Harvest Time / Lost & Found / Rebel Records 35th Anniversary Sampler / Rebel
• Whose Shoulder Will You Cry On / Del McCoury & the Dixie Pals / Live In Japan / Copper Creek
• Timeless And True Love / Rhonda Vincent / Timeless And True Love / Rebel
• Somewhere Between / Bob Paisley & the Southern Grass / Back To The Blue Ridge / Brandywine
• Prisoner's Song / Joe Val & the New England Bluegrass Boys / 25 Years Of Strictly Country Magazine / Strictly Country
• It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Day / Wayne Taylor & Appaloosa / It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Day! / Raincoe Music
• My Better Years / Johnson Mountain Boys / Blue Diamond / Rounder
• Old Slew Foot / BearTracks / Makin' Tracks / AMT Records
• How Could I Explain / Chris Brashear / Heart Of The Country / Dog Boy Records
• I'm Not Crying 'Cause You're Leaving / Breaking Grass / Running With The Moon / Self-Produced
• The Lonely Years Belong To Me / James King / Bed By The Window / Rounder
• Giant Squid / Nu-Blu / Ten / Rural Rhythm
• I Can't Like Myself / Gibson Brothers Bluegrass Band / Underneath A Harvest Moon / Big Elm
• They Called It Music / Gibson Brothers / They Called It Music / Compass Records
• Something In The Wind / Seldom Scene / Scene 20 / Sugar Hill
• True Life Blues / Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard / O Sister! / Rounder
• Jubilation Day / Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers / Rare Bird Alert / Rounder
• Seventeen Cents / Lynn Morris / You'll Never Be The Sun / Rounder
• Remembrance Is A Golden Chain / Heather Berry & Tony Mabe / The Heather Berry & Tony Mabe Show / Mountain Fever Records
• Home From The Mills / Jimmy Gaudreau & Moondi Klein / Home From The Mills / Rebel
• I'll Be Over You / Carolina Road / Ray Edwards:  Portrait Of A Bluegrass Songwriter / Rural Rhythm
• Bury Me Under The Weeping Willow / Carter Family / Anchored In Love / Rounder
• A Carter Family Song / Dennis Cash / Sing Me A Carter Family Song / Blue Circle Records
• Baby You're Cheatin' / Big Country Bluegrass / Memories Of The Past / Rebel
• On That Glorious Day / Spinney Brothers / No Borders / Mountain Fever Records
• Gypsy, Joe And Me / Missy Werner / Drifting And Dreaming / Self-Produced
• North Woods Cabin / Stan Keach / Cry Of The Loon / Ayuh Records
• Cry Of The Loon / Stan Keach / Cry Of The Loon / Ayuh Records
• Slow Down (You'll Hit A Moose) / Stan Keach / Cry Of The Loon / Ayuh Records
• Goin' To China / Stan Keach / Cry Of The Loon / Ayuh Records
• I'll Still Write Your Name In The Sand / David Peterson & 1946 / In The Mountaintops To Roam / Self-Produced
• One Step Ahead Of The Rain / Dawn Kenney / Sing Me Home / Self-Produced
• Your Old Standby / Grass Routes / Bailey's Deal / Self-Produced
• Tiny Broken Heart / Peg & Ed [Ed Vande Voorde & Dave Shaw] / Lonely Violet / Self-Produced
• Banjo Am The Instrument For Me / Old Time Bluegrass Singers / Plastic Heart / Open Road
• When We Meet To Part No More / Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver / Way Down Deep In My Soul / Sugar Hill
• Waiting For The King / Weary Hearts / By Heart / Flying Fish

"Bluegrass Cafe" playlist - 7/28/2013

On this last Sunday of July, we didn't really have any notable birthdays to celebrate nor a whole bunch of new music to share.  Instead, we stuck with our usual mix of new and not-quite-as-new music from performers from New England and from outside of New England.  Kind of a vague description, eh?  Hope you enjoyed something you heard at some point, though...assuming you were able to listen to the show this week...

Last week, we featured a lot of music with the subject of traveling and trains, but this week, we put the focus on songs of "home."  Now, this is a pretty common theme in the Bluegrass World, so finding songs for this set was not a hard thing to do.  On Sunday, we played ten songs of home -- nine that were chosen before the show, and one request during the show.  

We didn't really have a "spotlight" record this week, but hearing a song from the 1987 Rounder LP, "The McCoury Brothers" come up on my iPod on Sunday morning was enough inspiration for me to play a couple of tracks from this great record on the air during the show.  If it's not awesome enough to hear Del & Jerry McCoury singing together, their backup band on this record was none other than Johnson Mountain Boys!  You just can't go wrong with that combination, as far as I'm concerned.  Hope you liked it, too.

Among the newer music we heard this week:  a song from a forthcoming CD by Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road, as well as CT band GrassRoutes, Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers, Big Country Bluegrass, the Gibson Brothers, Hammertowne, Jeff Brown & Still Lonesome, Don Rigsby, the Daughters Of Bluegrass, and Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice.

Hope everyone has a great week, and if you're so inclined, join me again on Tuesday afternoon at WHUS (1-4PM), as I do a fill-in for James & Cathy Ward's "Bluegrass Rules" program.  Barring that, we'd love you join us for another edition of "Bluegrass Cafe" next Sunday afternoon, 4-7PM.  See you then!

Amy O.


REQUESTS ARE RED.

• Katy Hill / Del McCoury Band / RockyGrass / Blue Planet
• Mama Don't Allow / Karl Shiflett & Big Country Show / Take Me Back / Pinecastle
• You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone / Karl Shiflett & Big Country Show / In Full Color / Rebel
• Frog On A Lily Pad / Karl Shiflett & Big Country Show / Take Me Back / Pinecastle
• I Was Left On The Street / McCoury Brothers / The McCoury Brothers / Rounder
• Stone Cold West Virginia / Dave Evans / High Waters / Rebel
• Don't Let Your Deal Go Down / Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs / Selected Cuts, 1955-1959 / JSP Records
• Lonely Ends Where Love Begins / Darin & Brooke Aldridge / Live At Red, White & Bluegrass / Mountain Home
• Last Chance / Russ Carson / Last Chance / Patuxent Music
• A Heart Never Knows / McCoury Brothers / The McCoury Brothers / Rounder
• Carolina Mountain Home / Johnson Mountain Boys / The Johnson Mountain Boys / Rounder
• Almost Home / Larry Sparks / Almost Home / Rounder
• The Hills Of My Home / Laurie Lewis / Earth & Sky / Rounder
• Home Sweet Home / Rick Spinney with Machaela Taylor / Off The Cuff / Self-Produced
• Headed Home For Maine / Fred Pike, Sam Tidwell & the Kennebec Valley Boys / The Last Log Drive / Revonah
• My Native Home / Nashville Bluegrass Band / The Nashville Bluegrass Band / Rounder
• Anywhere Is Home Again / Volume Five / Children Of The Mountain / Mountain Fever Records
• Is My Home Still Up There / Special Consensus / Roads & Rails / Shy Town Records
• The Hills And Home / Bear Bridge Band / One More Ride / Open Road
• What A Wonderful Life / Spinney Brothers / Memories / Mountain Fever Records
• Going On Home / Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver / Sing Me A Song About Jesus / Mountain Home
• Hello Mr. Lonesome / The Grascals / Life Finds A Way / Mountain Home
• Lonely Violet / Peg & Ed / Lonely Violet / Self-Produced
• Comin' On Strong / Joe Val & the New England Bluegrass Boys / One Morning In May / Rounder
• Casey Jones / Old Time Bluegrass Singers / Plastic Heart / Open Road
• Better In Days To Come / GrassRoutes / Bailey's Deal / Self-Produced
• Seeing Nellie Home / Country Gentlemen / Live In Japan / Rebel
• All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye / Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road / single / Pinecastle
• Katy Daley / Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers / They're Playing My Song / Rebel
• Something Comin' To Me / Gibson Brothers / They Called It Music / Compass Records
• Right Here / Missy Werner Band / Three Kinds Of Lonesome / Self-Produced
• I'm Longing For My Old Virginia Home / Big Country Bluegrass / Memories Of The Past / Rebel
• This Old Martin Box / Hammertowne / Hammertowne / Mountain Fever Records
• Golden Hair / Wayne Taylor / Dear Mom / Raincoe Music
• Big Spike Hammer / Shady Creek / Volume One / Self-Produced
• Who Will Watch The Home Place / Laurie Lewis / True Stories / Rounder
• The Rambler's Blues / Stanley Brothers / Select Sides, 1947-1949 / JSP Records
• Rambler's Blues / Laurel Canyon Ramblers / Rambler's Blues / Sugar Hill
• Rambler's Blues / Cumberland Gap Connection / Another Song / Mountain Fever Records
• Lonesome Fugitive / Jeff Brown & Still Lonesome / Blue Side Of Me / Mountain Fever Records
• Tennessee Truck Driving Man / Don Rigsby / Doctor's Orders / Rebel
• Walk Your Way To Heaven / Southern Rail / Glory Road / Pinecastle
• I Hear My Savior Calling / Old Time Bluegrass Singers / Threads / Open Road
• Get In The Boat / Daughters Of Bluegrass feat. Jeanette Williams / Pickin' Like A Girl / Blue Circle Records
• The Weapon Of Prayer / Louvin Brothers / Songs That Tell A Story / Rounder
• Wicked Path Of Sin / Billy & Terry Smith / Bill Monroe Tribute / K-Tel
• Prayers Go Up / Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice / The Story Of The Day That I Died / Rebel
• These Men Of God / Country Gentlemen / High Lonesome / Starday
• Daniel Prayed / Johnson Mountain Boys / At The Old Schoolhouse / Rounder
• Blue Grass Twist / Johnson Mountain Boys / Requests / Rounder

"Bluegrass Cafe" playlist - 7/21/2013

Ah, July.  It seems like nearly everyone I know has either just returned from a vacation, or will soon be taking one.  One of the people I know on vacation right now is making her way across the USA on a train trip.  Inspired by this idea of trains (as well as taking a cue from another WHUS radio show host earlier in the week who'd played a lot of "road songs" during his program), we opened the show with a few "traveling" songs, and then, spent the rest of the first hour featuring music about trains.  Now, it would have been extremely easy to fill up all three hours -- plus several more, no doubt -- with Bluegrass songs about trains, but we limited ourselves to just 15 songs today.  Next week, maybe we'll consider songs about another mode of transportation...

We were all a lot younger in 1987 or 1988, weren't we?  

While there weren't a bunch of Bluegrass birthdays to celebrate this week, we did mark the 80th birthday of the great Bobby Hicks on Sunday's program, as Bobby turned 80 years old today.  He's had an amazing career both as a Blue Grass Boy (very youthful with Bill Monroe in the "Uncle Pen" clip) tenure in the 1950s, working with Porter Wagoner and in a Las Vegas show in the 1960s, as a pivotal member of the Bluegrass Album Band, and then, spending 23 years working with Ricky Skaggs during country music heyday and his return back to the Bluegrass in the mid-1990s.  These days, Bobby is touring with another Bluegrass supergroup known as the Masters Of Bluegrass, and he seems to still be going strong.  Sounds like a good way to be at 80.



We made sure to get in a good share of newer music today, too, from quite a few performers, including Sutton, Holt & Coleman, the Boxcars, the Kathy Kallick Band, Nu-Blu, Heather & Shannon Slaughter & County Clare, Claire Lynch, Alan Bibey & Wayne Benson, Big Country Bluegrass, Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice, Danny Paisley & the Southern Grass, Sideline, and the Gibson Brothers.  

Hope you heard something in Sunday's show that you enjoyed, and that you'll plan to join me once again next Sunday afternoon at 4PM.  

Have a good week!

Amy


REQUESTS ARE RED.

• Katy Hill / Del McCoury Band / RockyGrass / Blue Planet
• Travelin' This Lonesome Road / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys / The Essential Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys, 1945-1949 / Columbia
• Travelin' Man / Sutton, Holt & Coleman / Ready For The Times / High Windy
• Traveling Down The Blue Road / Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver / Once And For Always / Sugar Hill
• Travelling Kind / Country Gentlemen / The Complete Vanguard Recordings / Vanguard
• Passing Of The Train / Rhonda Vincent / Back Home Again / Rounder
• Board That Train And Ride / Aubrey Holt & the Wildwood Valley Boys / Lost Highways & Treasured Memories / Old Homestead
• Last Train From Poor Valley / Richard Bennett / Last Train From Poor Valley / Lonesome Day
• New River Train / Monroe Brothers / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys, 1936 / JSP Records
• I Hear A Choo Choo Coming / Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys / Live! At McClure / Rebel
• Last Train / BearTracks /  Together 'Til The End / AMT Records
• Wave Goodbye / Bluegrass Patriots / Springtime In The Rockies / Copper Creek
• Freight Train Boogie / Bear Minimum / Live At The Finnish Hall / no label
• Railroad Line / Gibson Brothers / Bona Fide / Sugar Hill
• Old Train / Seldom Scene / Scene 20 / Sugar Hill
• Runaway Train / Kentucky Wind / Runaway Train / Aztec Records
• East Bound Freight Train / Reno & Smiley / Early Years, 1951-1959 / Gusto
• The Train Song / Spinney Brothers / Memories / Mountain Fever Records
• Coal Miner's Blues / The Boxcars / It's Just A Road / Mountain Home
• Dark Hollow / Kathy Kallick Band / Time / Live Oak Records
• The Fields Have Turned Brown / Stanley Brothers / The Complete Columbia Stanley Brothers / Columbia Legacy
• Blue Railroad Train / Josh Williams with Tony Rice / Down Home / Rounder
• Train 45 (Heading South) / Del McCoury Band / Old Memories:  The Songs Of Bill Monroe / McCoury Music
• This Land Is Your Land / Country Gentlemen / High Lonesome / Starday
• That Road / Nu-Blu / Ten / Rural Rhythm
• It's In My Mind To Wander / Shannon & Heather Slaughter & County Clare / One More Road / Self-Produced
• Wheel Hoss / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys, 1954-1957 / JSP Records
• Lily Dale / Bobby Hicks / Fiddle Patch / Rounder
• Cheyenne / Bluegrass Album Band / The Bluegrass Compact Disc / Rounder
• Faded Love / Jesse McReynolds & the Virginia Boys / New Horizons / Pinecastle
• Fiddle Patch / Bobby Hicks / Fiddle Patch / Rounder
• Take Me Back To Tulsa / Karl Shiflett & Big Country Show / Take Me Back / Pinecastle
• Dear Sister / Claire Lynch / Dear Sister / Compass Records
• Walking The Floor Over Me / Charlie Sizemore / Heartache Looking For A Home / Rounder
• Mash Your Finger / Wayne Taylor & Appaloosa / It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Day! / Raincoe Music
• John Deere Tractor / Larry Sparks with Alison Krauss & Dan Tyminski / 40 / Rebel
• Surfside / Alan Bibey & Wayne Benson / The Mandolin Chronicles / Pinecastle
• Won't You Think Of Me / Big Country Bluegrass / Memories Of The Past / Rebel
• I'm Afraid To Love You Anymore / Lonesome River Band / Chronology, Volume One / Rural Rhythm
• Little Black Train / IIIrd Tyme Out / Grandpa's Mandolin / Rebel
• Shouting In The Air / Johnson Mountain Boys / Let The Whole World Talk / Rounder
• Walking In Good Company / Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice / The Story Of The Day That I Died / Rebel
• Heaven's Bright Shore / Alison Krauss & Union Station / Bluegrass Top 20 Gospel Songs Of The Century / New Haven Records
• Brother, I'm Getting Ready To Go / Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs / Father's Table Grace / MME
• I Heard My Mother Call My Name In Prayer / Danny Paisley & the Southern Grass / Road Into Town / Patuxent Music
• The Way, The Truth, The Light / Sideline / Session 1 / Mountain Fever Records
• Home On The River / Gibson Brothers / They Called It Music / Compass Records
• Black Mountain Blues / Johnson Mountain Boys / Requests / Rounder

"Bluegrass Cafe" playlist - 7/14/2013

Today's show was an interesting one, at least from my side of the microphone.  This week, WHUS acquired three shiny new CD players, and while the players are very nice and seem to work well...well, adjusting to new equipment is never quite as smooth of a transition as we might like.  We tried to keep the dead air to an absolute minimum, so hope you heard something you really enjoyed during the show...

Happy Birthday on July 14th to banjo-picking
Richard Underwood!

Beyond making a transition to new equipment, Sunday's show was a big one to celebrate birthdays.  Of course our absolute favorite way to celebrate the birthday of a performer is to play their music, whether it's a little bit or a whole lot.  Birthday celebrants this week included both Rhonda Vincent and the Gibson Brothers' underrated bass player, Mike Barber on July 13th; one of the great banjo pickers for the Johnson Mountain Boys, Richard Underwood (celebrating a birthday today, July 14th), and coming up on July 18th, Wayne Taylor (of Wayne Taylor & Appaloosa and Country Current fame).  

Another birthday boy this coming week is Ricky Skaggs, who will turn 59 on July 18th.  Ricky's been making his mark in the music, whether it was as a 8-year-old guest on the "Flatt & Scruggs Grand Ole Opry Show" back in 1961, working with Keith Whitley for Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys in the early 1970s, winning the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year award in 1985 (when country music actually sounded like country music), or making his return to the Bluegrass music after the death of Bill Monroe in 1994.  Ricky has done A LOT in his not-quite-60-years, and come August, you'll be able to read his autobiography:  Kentucky Traveler:  My Life In Music (written with Eddie Dean).  For today, we just listened to a bit of Ricky's music from his time spent with Keith Whitley, J.D. Crowe & the New South, the Country Gentlemen, and with his own Kentucky Thunder band.  

During Ricky's big country career, I got a chance to
see him in concert a few times.  This show as at
Indian Ranch in 1988.

While the emphasis wasn't quite on as much newer music today, we still managed to play a little bit of it.  This time around, it came from several performers, including Chris Davis, Mickey Galyean & Cullen's Bridge, Bob Amos, the Boxcars, Sideline, Chris Jones & the Night Drivers, the Snyder Family Band, Balsam Range, the Gibson Brothers, Big Country Bluegrass, the Spinney Brothers, and Dailey & Vincent.  

Hope you enjoyed the show!  Don't forget to email Susan Forbes Hansen of the WHUS "Sunday Night Folk Festival" this week if you want to be part of her drawing for one of five copies of a CD/DVD tribute to Woody Guthrie:  "Woody Guthrie At 100!  Live At The Kennedy Center!"  Send Susan your name and mailing address this week to whusfolk@gmail.com.  There are no strings attached here -- Susan's going to give away five copies of this CD/DVD next Sunday, July 21st, so get your name in to Susan soon...

Have a good week, and if you're in eastern Connecticut, try to stay cool!

Amy


REQUESTS ARE RED.

• Katy Hill / Del McCoury Band / RockyGrass / Blue Planet
• I'm Walking The Dog / Charles Sawtelle & the Whippets / RockyGrass / Blue Planet
• Rock Hearts / Jimmy Martin / You Don't Know My Mind / Rounder
• Lights On The Hill / Del McCoury Band / Don't Stop The Music / Rounder
• Hartfordtown 1944 / Laurie Lewis / Skippin' & Flyin' / Spruce & Maple Music [Hartford Circus Fire anniversary -- July 6, 1944]
• Iron & Diamonds / Gibson Brothers / Iron & Diamonds / Sugar Hill
• Shuckin' The Acorns / Kathy Kallick Band / Time / Live Oak Records
• Blow Out The Candle, Laura / Linda Lay & Sammy Shelor / Taking The Crooked Road Home / Virginia Folk Life
• Just Another Broken Heart / Chris Davis / Second Time Around / Mountain Fever Records
• Philadelphia Lawyer / Larry Stephenson with Sam Bush / What Really Matters / Compass Records
• Ridin' The L&N / Mickey Galyean & Cullen's Bridge / Rollin' With Tradition / Self-Produced
• Like The Boys On Music Row / Big Country Bluegrass / Memories Of The Past / Rebel
• Backwards And Forwards / Bob Amos / Borrowed Time / Self-Produced
• Never Again (Will I Knock On Your Door) / The Boxcars / It's Just A Road / Mountain Home
• If That Was Love / Chris Jones & the Night Drivers / forthcoming CD / Rebel
• The Working Man / Shannon Slaughter / The Sideman Steps Out / Self-Produced
• The Blues Are Still The Blues / Sideline / Session One / Mountain Fever Records
• Blockade Runner / Snyder Family Band / Building Bridges / Mountain Roads Recordings
• The Young Fisherwoman / John Duffey [Country Gentlemen] / The Rebel Years, 1962-1977 / Rebel
• When The Bloom Is Off The Rose / Rhonda Vincent with Sally Berry & Tensel Sandker / Taken / Upper Management Music
• The Open Road / Gibson Brothers / Bona Fide / Sugar Hill
• Wishing Well Blues / Rhonda Vincent / A Dream Come True / Rebel
• They Called It Music / Gibson Brothers / They Called It Music / Compass Records
• Sea Of Regret / Keith Whitley & Ricky Skaggs / Second Generation / Rebel
• You Are What I Am / J.D. Crowe & the New South / J.D. Crowe & the New South / Cracker Barrel
• Irish Spring / Country Gentlemen / The Complete Vanguard Recordings / Vanguard
• Highway 40 Blues / Ricky Skaggs / The High Notes / Cracker Barrel
• You Can't Hurt Ham / Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder / Music To My Ears / Skaggs Family Records
• Five Speed / Johnson Mountain Boys / Favorites / Rounder
• Newton Grove / Johnson Mountain Boys / Let The Whole World Talk / Rounder
• Out In The Middle Of Nowhere / Wayne Taylor & Appaloosa / Out In The Middle Of Nowhere / Raincoe Music
• Over The Hills To The Poor House / Earl Taylor & Jim McCall with the Stoney Mountain Boys / The Best Of Mountain Bluegrass / Rural Rhythm
• You've Got A Lover / Ricky Skaggs / The High Notes / Cracker Barrel
• When I'm Gone / BearTracks / From The Hollow / AMT Records
• Lazy John / April Verch / That's How We Run / Self-Produced
• Loggers In The Short Grass / April Verch / Take Me Back / Rounder
• Grandpa's Way Of Life / Spinney Brothers / No Borders / Mountain Fever Records
• Hard Rock Bottom Of Your Heart / Charlie Sizemore Band / Good News / Rounder
• I'm On A Journey / Bear Bridge Band / One More Ride / Open Road
• God Has Been So Good To Me / Crowe & McLaughlin / Going Back / Rounder
• Won't It Be Wonderful There / Dailey & Vincent / Brothers Of The Highway / Rounder
• Bad News For The Devil / John Miller / Look To The Light:  Songs Of Faith From The Pen Of Rick Lang / Rural Rhythm Christian
• Row By Row / Balsam Range / Papertown / Mountain Home
• It Won't Be Long / Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs / Foggy Mountain Jamboree / Columbia
• Wicked Path Of Sin / Jim & Jesse / Music Among Friends / Rounder
• On The Sea Of Life / Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver / Rock My Soul / Sugar Hill
• Black Mountain Blues / Johnson Mountain Boys / Requests / Rounder

"Bluegrass Cafe" playlist - 7/7/2013

It was another summer Sunday -- another edition of Bluegrass Cafe.  As it's been exceedingly warm here in eastern Connecticut over the last week or so, we opened the show with a couple of songs that attempted to cool things down a bit.  Maybe this crazy attempt at "coolness" worked, as it was about 92 degrees when the show started at 4PM, and by the time I signed off at 7PM, the temperature had dropped to around 80 degrees.  Hooray!

Even though July 4th was technically on Thursday, this weekend ending Sunday at midnight still is considered a "holiday weekend."  To that end, it's a patriotic holiday, so it seemed quite logical to share a few patriotic-themed songs, including both "The Star Spangled Banner" and "Stars And Stripes Forever," as well as appropriate Independence Day songs from Eddie & Martha Adcock, as well as Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers.

It was a day to celebrate a few Bluegrass (and Bluegrass-related) birthdays, and we included at least two songs from a few different performers who celebrated or would have celebrated birthdays in the first few days of July.  Among them:  Charlie Louvin (born July 7, 1927) and Charlie Monroe (born July 4, 1903), as well as a couple of New

The first LP for a young Rhode
Island mandolin picker...

England contributions to the world of Bluegrass -- Rhode Island's Jimmy Gaudreau (born July 3, 1946) and from Massachusetts, Peter Rowan (born July 4, 1942).  We also wished a Happy Birthday today to the former Nita Pike, who was featured singing with her daughter, the late Earlene Pike, on a couple of songs from the Pike Brothers & Pine Hill Ranchers Rebel LP from 1968.

In spite of all of the birthday celebrating and patriotic music, we still found a few minutes to play a few newer recordings, too.  This time around, these new discs came from projects by the Gibson Brothers, the Spinney Brothers, Mickey Galyean & Cullen's Bridge, Big Country Bluegrass, Danny Paisley & the Southern Grass, and Balsam Range.  We even included a bit of new music from brand-new-to-us-this-week records by Jason Davis, Jeff Brown & Still Lonesome, and Fletcher Bright & Bill Evans.

Hope you enjoyed something you heard on the radio this week, and that you'll be sure to join me once again next Sunday afternoon from 4-7PM for another (hopefully) enjoyable edition of Bluegrass Cafe!  

Amy

REQUESTS ARE RED.

• Katy Hill / Del McCoury Band / RockyGrass / Blue Planet
• Out In The Cold World / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys / JSP Records
• Cold And Windy Night / Johnson Mountain Boys / Requests / Rounder
• Cold Chill Of Gone / Cody Shuler & Pine Mountain Railroad / Cody Shuler & Pine Mountain Railroad / Steeltown Records
• Hot Corn, Cold Corn / Here Today / Grisman-Gill-Pedersen-Buchanan-Gordy / Rounder
• Stars And Stripes Forever / John McEuen / String Wizards / Vanguard
• Me And Paul Revere / Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers / single / Rounder
• The Star Spangled Banner / Lynwood Lunsford / Pick Along / Hay Holler
• Cotton Farmer / Travers Chandler & Avery County / State Of Depression / Mountain Fever Records
• There Is A Trap / Gillis Brothers / Down By The River / Hay Holler
• Wearin' The Blues / Josh Williams with David Peterson / I'll Take Love / Compass Records
• Where Dear Friends Will Never Part / Front Porch String Band / Rebel
• Nobody Cares For Me / Travers Chandler & Avery County / State Of Depression / Mountain Fever Records
• Heart And Soul / Gillis Brothers / Heart And Soul / Rebel
• Ain't Nobody Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone / Jimmy Gaudreau / In Good Company / CMH
• Let's / Country Gentlemen / Early Rebel Recordings, 1962-1971 / Rebel
• Sunny Side Of Life / Fred Pike, Bill Rawlings & the Twin River Boys / Authentic Bluegrass Folk Music / Osage
• Doc Watson Morning / Peter Rowan / The Old School / Compass Records
• One Way / Peter Rowan & the Nashville Bluegrass Band / New Moon Rising / Sugar Hill
• What Is A Home Without Love / Monroe Brothers / Bill & Charlie Monroe, 1936 / JSP Records
• Have A Feast Here Tonight / Monroe Brothers / Bill & Charlie Monroe, 1937-1938 / JSP Records
• Knoxville Girl / Louvin Brothers / When I Stop Dreaming / Razor & Tie
• I Wish You Knew / Louvin Brothers / My Baby's Gone, 1955-1964 / Raven
• Dying For Someone To Live For / Gibson Brothers / They Called It Music / Compass Records
• You Broke Your Promise / Lonesome Pine Fiddlers / Windy Mountain / Bear Family
• It's Just Like Rain / Laurie Lewis & Kathy Kallick / Together / Kaleidoscope
• Choking The Strings / Big Country Bluegrass / Memories Of The Past / Rebel
• On That Glorious Day / Spinney Brothers / No Borders / Mountain Fever Records
• New Freedom Bell / Eddie & Martha Adcock with Tom Gray / Many A Mile / Patuxent Music
• Where The Wild River Rolls / Jason Davis / Second Time Around / Mountain Fever Records
• Little Country Town / Jeff Brown & Still Lonesome / Blue Side Of Me / Mountain Fever Records
• Yellow Barber / Fletcher Bright & Bill Evans / Fine Times At Fletcher's House / Native & Fine Records
• Two O'Clock [music bed] / Fletcher Bright & Bill Evans / Fine Times At Fletcher's House / Native & Fine Records
• Polly Put The Kettle On [music bed] / Fletcher Bright & Bill Evans / Fine Time At Fletcher's House / Native & Fine Records
• Scott No. 2 [music bed] / Fletcher Bright & Bill Evans / Fine Times At Fletcher's House / Native & Fine Records
• Blackjack Grove [music bed] / Fletcher Bright & Bill Evans / Fine Times At Fletcher's House / Native & Fine Records
• Blue Blue Day / Karl Shiflett & Big Country Show / Take Me Back / Pinecastle
• Bell Of The Ball / Mickey Galyean & Cullen's Bridge / Rollin' With Tradition / Self-Produced
• Margie / Danny Paisley & the Southern Grass / Road Into Town / Patuxent Music
• Dreams About The Hills Of Home / Bluegrass Patriots / E Pluribus Bluegrass / Red Feather
• Feeling Blue / Pike Brothers & the Pine Hill Ranchers / The Pike Brothers & the Pine Hill Ranchers / Rebel
• Other Side Of The Mountain / Balsam Range / Papertown / Mountain Home
• Somehow Tonight / Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs / Selected Sides, 1950-1952 / JSP Records
• I Like To Hear 'Em Preach / Paul Williams / A Tribute To Jimmy Martin / Koch Records
• God Moves In A Windstorm / Blue Highway / Wind To The West / Rebel
• Valley Of Peace / Lynn Morris Band / The Lynn Morris Band / Rounder
• Country Church / Pike Brothers & the Pine Hill Ranchers / The Pike Brothers & the Pine Hill Ranchers / Rebel
• Kept And Protected By God's Love / Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver / Kept And Protected / Sugar Hill
• Shouting On The Hills Of Glory / Stanley Brothers / All Bluegrass All Gospel / Federal
• Wait A Little Longer Please Jesus / Del McCoury & the Dixie Pals / Classic Bluegrass / Rebel
• The Lighthouse / Gibson Brothers / Bona Fide / Sugar Hill
• Let Us Travel, Travel On / Louvin Brothers / My Baby's Gone, 1955-1964 / Raven
• Black Mountain Blues / Johnson Mountain Boys / Requests / Rounder

"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