February - Memphis Area Bluegrass Association

NEWSGRASS
NEWS AND INFORMATION ABOUT AMERICA’S MUSIC
Comin’ Down the Road
Important dates for MABA members
Feb 11th
Dry Branch Fire Squad
BPACC
February 17th
Yonder Mountain String Band
Shawn Camp - opening act
New Daisy Theatre
FEBRUARY 2005
CYPRESS
CREEK
Mar 13th, 2pm
Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver
BPACC
April 1st
The Larry Stephenson Band
BPACC
May 6th and 7th
Pickin’ Picnic Bluegrass Festival
BPACC
May 7th
Rhonda Vincent and The Rage
Festival Finale
BPACC
June 11th
Apple, Kirby, and Rounds
BPACC
July 10th, 2 pm
The Lewis Family
BPACC
August 6th
Claire Lynch
CD
Release
By Mark Winborn
The Cypress Creek boys are at it again.
They’ve just released their third CD - titled
“Meet Me on a Mountaintop.” Cypress Creek
consists of Roy Jenkins (vocals, guitar), Harry
McLellan (vocals, mandolin), Charlie Tines
(bass), Herbert Raines (fiddle), and Tommy
George (banjo).
Cypress Creek had its origins back in 1986
when two neighbors, Roy and Harry, from rural
Fayette County, got together to pick and sing a
little. They enjoyed what they were doing so
much that they added bassist Charlie Tines to
form a trio. Soon after, the group was playing
an event at an historic home in Bolivar,
Tennessee, when they heard fiddler Herbert
Raines, who was also on the bill. The four tried
See Cypress Creek, page 4
2
NEWSGRASS
Newsgrass is published monthly
by the Memphis Area
Bluegrass Association.
Mark Winborn
Newsgrass Editor
756-1748
Cheryl Parker
Graphics and Design
323-8742
Faith Peters
Photography
854-4837
Keith Carter
Webmaster
722-2860
Mike Albert
Yahoo Group Moderator
382-2171
MABA Officers
Gary Williams
1943-2003
Charter President
Sam Ketchum
President
327-5095
Larry Bomar
Vice President
324-4361
Craig Yarbrough
Treasurer
Pat Cooper
Secretary
937-1643
Committee Chairmen
John Gay
Activities
263-8906
Jim Phillips
Education
377-1910
Mark Winborn
Communications
756-1748
Helen Davis
GRASS
876-5927
Helen Davis
Membership
876-5927
James Johnson
Regulatory
853-9464
Loyce Smith, Jo Hudson, Erna Wheeley
Welcoming and Caring
386-2069
Sam’s Time
By Sam Ketchum
Who is this Sam Ketchum who is the president
of MABA this year? I know this is the burning
question in everyone’s mind. Well, maybe not, but
for the ones who would like to know about
me, this story is for you.
I was born April 6, 1949 in Ripley,
Mississippi. I have 2 brothers and 3 sisters.
I have never been married and am happy
being single. After graduating from Ole
Miss in 1972, I moved to Memphis and
went to work at Memphis Sash and Door. I
still work there and currently I am in charge
of purchasing and inventory control. I am a
deacon and fourth grade Sunday School
teacher at Colonial Baptist Church.
Now that you know more about my personal
life than you care to know, I will discuss my
music background. I know that most of the
MABA members are better pickers and
singers than I am. Few, however, have a
greater love and passion for music than I do.
My love for music began when I was young.
Even back then, I wanted to know about the
music. I started reading books and magazines
about music and singers. I wanted to know
not just who sang the song, but who wrote it
and who were the musicians who played on
the records. Sometimes at jams, when I
mention who wrote or sang a particular song,
someone will ask how I know so much about
music. It is because I have been following and
studying it for a long time. I guess my claim to
fame in that regard was when I was on the
game show Fandango in 1986. It was a music
trivia show on The Nashville Network. I was a
five game winner, but I did not win big bucks
like some of the contestants on the game
shows of today. However, it was fun and
something I am glad that I did.
I
have
enjoyed
going to
concerts
over the
years.
Few remember the “Going to Market”
which was on Winchester back in the seventies. It only lasted one summer, but I would
go there every Saturday and would see some
of the best bluegrass artists of that time. I
have also seen many bluegrass groups at the
Lucy Opry. To me there are few things better than live music. Bluegrass has always
been my favorite music to listen to live. It
has an energy and excitement that cannot be
duplicated by other forms of music.
I purchased my guitar in 1976. It is the guitar
I still play today. I reached my mediocre
level of playing years ago, but I still have
fun. I have enjoyed the many jams I have
been in over the years. In the eighties I started
going to the jams at Yarbrough’s and the
Lucy Opry. In the nineties, I worked long
hours and did not play the guitar much.
Then one night in November of 2001 at a
show at the Lucy Opry, Peter Smith invited
me to the MABA jam. I started going to it
a couple of weeks later.
When I first became a member of MABA,
I had no ideal I would get involved in leadership with the organization. Sometimes we
don’t know what life will bring. I have met
a lot of great friends the last three years and
have had a lot of fun. I am looking forward
to making more friends and having more fun
this year.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Visit our website:
www.memphis-bluegrass.org
Join our Yahoo Group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/maba
3
Recent
Acoustic Disc
Releases
By Mark Winborn
The folks at David Grisman’s Acoustic Disc
label (acousticdisc.com) have been kind
enough to send me three recent releases for
review over
the past several
months.
As
with most of
the Acoustic
Disc series, the
recordings are
consistently
good.
T
he first
release
I’ll discuss is Bill Monroe and the
Bluegrass Boys, Live at Mechanics Hall.
This was a 1963 concert recorded for personal use by David Grisman and is now
being commercially released for the first
time. Despite the origins of the recording,
the sound quality is very good. This
particular lineup featured Bill Monroe, a
young Del McCoury on guitar, Bill Keith
on banjo, Joe Stuart on fiddle, and Bessie
Lee on bass. Bea Lilly of the Lilly Brothers
makes a guest appearance on one cut and
Bill’s daughter, Melissa, makes a guest
vocal appearance on two cuts. This lineup
is considered one of Monroe’s strongest
and Bill at age 53 was in his prime. Bill
Keith had been pioneering a melodic style
of banjo picking and everyone is now
familiar with Del McCoury’s powerful
lead vocals and solid rhythm guitar.
Almost all of the tracks are strong performances with Bill Keith’s standout banjo
performance on Devil’s Dream and Del’s
very lonesome rendition of Dark Hollow
being favorite cuts for me. Bill’s vocals
are especially powerful on Muleskinner
Blues and Blue Moon of Kentucky.
Somewhat disappointing are the two
vocals by Melissa Monroe Love’s Gonna
Live Here and Dreaming of a Little Cabin.
Her voice isn’t particularly strong and is
better suited to country music than bluegrass. Other songs on the CD include:
Watermelon Hangin’ On That Vine,
Panhandle Country, On & On, Footprints in
the Snow, Rawhide, John Henry, I Saw the
Light, What Would You Give in Exchange?,
Uncle Pen, Blue Ridge Mountain Blues, and
Y’all Come.
T
he next disc, 100% Handmade
Bluegrass, is a nice bluegrass
anthology compiled from a dozen
Acoustic Disc CD’s. David Grisman
performs on many of the tracks but his
playing is in a traditional style here rather
than his innovative, jazz based Dawg style.
However, it is the collaboration between
Grisman and the other featured artists
which make this CD special. Those artists
include: Jody
Stecher, Old
and In the
Gray,
Del
McCoury
Band, Ralph
Stanley, Doc
Watson, Red
Allen, Frank
Wa k e f i e l d ,
Tony Rice,
and Charles Sawtelle of Hot Rize.
Highlights of this CD are an all-star rendition of Dusty Miller which features eight
top mandolinists, an outstanding uptempo
rendition of the Rolling Stones’ Honky
Tonk Woman, and Grisman’s duet of I
Don’t Want Your Mandolins Mister with
the phenomenal guitarist Tony Rice.
Grisman isn’t present on two songs: the
traditional favorite Way Downtown by
guitarist Jody Stecher’s quartet, and the
late Red Allen in a duet with mandolinist
Frank Wakefield on Tis Sweet to be
Remembered. The track featuring Ralph
Stanley on How Mountain
Gals Can Love is previously
unreleased. Other tracks
include: Victim to the
Tomb, Telluride, Cabin
of Love, Watson Blues,
Love Please Come
Home, Drifting Too
Far From the Shore,
Dawggy Mountain
Breakdown, Is It Too
Late Now?,
O r a n g e
B l o s s o m
Special, and
Angel Band.
T
he final
CD for
review
is the David
Grisman/Sam
Bush collaboration - Hold On, We’re
Strummin’. This is a wonderful CD of
mainly instrumental duets. Besides mandolin, Sam plays fiddle, National mandolin,
octave mandola, mandocello, banjo and
bass guitar on various tracks. In addition to
mandolin, Grisman also picks mandocello,
octave mandola, mandola, and banjo-mandolin. With this diverse array of strings, Sam
and David cover all the instrumental bases on
seven tracks, while nine tracks also feature
guest artists including Jack Lawrence (guitar),
Enrique Coria (guitar), Jim Kerwin (bass),
Hal Blaine (drums), Sam Grisman (bass),
Dimitri Vandellos (guitar), and Jim Nunally
(guitar). I should warn you that most of the
cuts on this CD are not bluegrass oriented
and may not appeal to the hardcore bluegrass fan. But those who enjoy well done,
acoustic string music will like this CD.
Certainly, this CD is a must have for any
fan of stellar mandolin playing. The songs
range from gospel melodies, to bluesy
slide pieces, improvisational jam grass, a
slow waltz, Dawg style tunes, and
explorations of traditional old-time
themes. Particularly entertaining is the
Bush/Grisman adaptation of a Jethro Burns
song ‘Cept Old Bill which is a vocal tribute
to Bill Monroe’s pre-eminence as the
master of the bluegrass mandolin Perhaps
most engaging is the title track cover of the
Issac Hayes composition, Hold On, I’m
Comin’, the only cut with drums. Other
track titles include: Hartford’s Real,
Swamp Thing, Intimo, Jamgrass 741, Sea
Breeze, Old Time Medley, Weeping
Mandolin Waltz, Arachnid Stomp, Crusher
And Hoss, The Old South, Mando Space,
Ralph’s Banjo Special, Rhythm Twins, and
Dan’l Boone.
✍
4
Cypress Creek, continued from page 1
CD
Meet Me on a
Mountaintop
Release
a couple of songs together, and the result
was so good that they became a quartet.
Later, Tommy George, joined to complete
the ensemble they have today. All of the
band members, with the exception of
Tommy, are retired so they have the freedom
to travel for performance opportunities.
Amazingly, the group has a total of 225
years of playing experience among them.
The band currently plays about thirty to
forty gigs per year, including a half dozen
festival appearances and a number of out-oftown appearances. They’ve appeared with a
number of prominent bluegrass groups,
including The McLains, Reno Tradition, and
Jake Landers.
The group’s taste and style emphasizes the
traditional side of bluegrass, ranging from
old-time country of the 1920’s and 30’s to
traditional bluegrass of the 1940’s and 50’s.
However, their performances and recordings
also include selections of their own original
compositions. The current CD features
fourteen songs, including four Roy Jenkins
originals and one from Harry McLellan.
While the CD does have several songs from
the public domain, they’ve also included
some interesting bluegrass covers of nonbluegrass artists, such as “I’m Walking” by
Fats Domino and “High Cotton” by
Alabama. The CD was produced by Cypress
Creek and Bill Weir at Weir’s “Gumball
Studios” in Eads, Tennessee. The recording
process started in February, 2004 and was
5
just recently completed. The group typically
worked on three or four songs at a time, laying
down the tracks in a multi-track process that
involved laying down the rhythm tracks,
followed by lead vocals, harmony vocals,
and finally lead breaks.
In addition to the current CD, Cypress Creek
has also previously released “Cypress Creek Volumes I and II.” They’ve also been included
on two DVD’s titled “School House Sessions”
produced at Middle Tennessee State
University which document old-time music
traditions for presentation in secondary school
music programs.
For booking
information
contact
Harry
McLellan
at
901-867-8261
or
hmclellan@peoplepc.com
6
ELIMINATING
Frustration
By Jim Milford
Being organized has never been a problem for me but, for some reason, cassette
tapes, CDs, and song sheets have been
scattered around my place for a long time.
Frustration always set in when I started
looking for a specific song. I finally got
around to putting my song sheets in a
huge binder. I filed them, as well as the
index, in alphabetical order. Not a major
breakthrough but it helped matters considerably. Still, I had about sixty cassette
tapes and numerous CDs laying around. I
then numbered each tape. Next, I started
the tedious process of listing every song
title on my word processor and putting
them in alphabetical order.
In addition to each song title, I listed
tape number, side (A or B) and artist/s
who recorded the song. Again, not a
brilliant mind challenging accomplishment that would equal Einstein’s theory
but my frustration was eliminated.
Now my tapes are neatly stored in a
tape cabinet with tape numbers plainly
in view. I can simply refer to the song
title on my alphabetical list and determine if I want to hear the song by Flat
and Scruggs on Tape 5, Side A, by Lynn
Morris on Tape 16, Side A, by Ralph on
Tape 21, Side B or by Dry Branch Fire
Squad on Tape 42, Side B. If you
haven’t already done it, try it; you will
have fun along the way.
RANDOM NOTES
Intermediate/Advanced Banjo Workshop: This year’s first workshop will be held in mid-February. Tommy George, banjo player for
Cypress Creek, has graciously agreed to hold an advanced banjo
workshop for our banjo players that have progressed beyond the
basics of bluegrass banjo. All banjo players will be welcome but the
workshop will be focused more toward the more experienced player.
Tommy is a veteran banjo player of many years and has played for
and accompanied many of our local bands including our father of
bluegrass here in Memphis, the late Doug Cole and the Dixie
Bluegrass Boys. His many years of playing and experience should
be of a great benefit to all of our aspiring banjo players. As soon
as the details of the time and place are settled Jim Phillips will
make an announcement during the Saturday jam at Lord of Life
and put it on our website. All interested banjo players should sign
up for this workshop at the LOL pickings which will give us an
idea of how many to expect. There will be a sign up sheet at the
merchandise table each Saturday at Lord of Life.
Interesting Banjo Story: About 8 years ago, Tony Elder built a
banjo in memory of his grandfather. The head stock had pearl inlay
that said “Dado,” which was the nickname for his grandfather. Tony
constructed it out of mahogany with white binding and ebony
veneer on the headstock. In the spring of 2000 he sold it through
Yarbrough’s Music Store shortly before moving to Alaska. Not long
ago he started to feel the sentimental pull of the banjo and began
trying to locate the banjo. He went looking through the sales records
at Yarboroughs this past summer hoping to find the buyer but to no
avail. Next he put out an appeal through the MABA weblist hoping
someone might know the whereabouts of the banjo. Within two
weeks, Ron Thurmond responded to Tony’s inquiry, indicating
that he had purchased the Dado from Yarbrough’s. However, we
don’t know how the story is going to end. Ron and Tony have
been in contact with each other about the banjo and Tony was
overjoyed to know the current whereabouts of the Dado banjo.
What happens next? Hopefully, Tony or Ron will let us know
something as the story unfolds.
Membership Renewal: Please remember to sign your renewal
sheet and pay your dues. We’ve got a good start on the renewals
this year but many more need to pay their dues. Let’s all help to
keep the membership growing.
7
The Lucy Opry
– est. 1967 –
The Legacy Lives On
Dry Branch Fire Squad
February 11th, 8 pm
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
March 13th, 2 pm
The Bartlett Performing Arts Center • 3663 Appling Road • (901) 385-6440
Tickets for each performance are available through the Bartlett Performing Arts box office
beginning 30 days prior to that show’s date.
For more information, call the Lucy Opry at 901.867.9272 or log on to
www.lucyopry.com
Place your ad
HERE!
Monthly
Going,
Going ,
Gone South!
Catch a ride to fine music and fun with
Yearly
(paid in advance
2 months free)
Card size
$10
$100
Quarter Page
$20
$200
Half Page
$30
$300
Full Page
$50
$500
Gone South
live or on their CD
FIRST STOP
For booking information or for purchase
of the CD described as
“solid, tasteful, good times.”
call Cliff Albright,
(662) 536-4495
CD A New!
vailab
le No
w!
CYPRESS
CREEK
Traditional Bluegrass
Please contact the Editor, Mark Winborn, to
make arrangements for ad
placement and payment of fees
(mwinborn@bellsouth.net, 756-1849)
VOLUNTEER!
For bookings or CD purchases,
contact Harry McLellan
at
901-867-8261
or
hmclellan@peoplepc.com
8
For all your Bluegrass music needs...
Bob Fisher’s Musictown
4514 Summer Avenue #5, Memphis, TN 38122
901-682-0645 • 800-577-7536
• Large assortment of Martin, Gibson, Greven, Dobro, Epiphone, Washburn & Goldtone guitars, basses, banjos & mandolins.
• Full line repair facility fixing all types of string instruments, electronics and school band instruments.
• Warranty center for Gibson, Fender, Alvarez, Washburn, Crate, Ampeg and many other products.
• Musictown has been in business for over 30 years and will keep helping Memphis Musicians for another 30.
Fireside Music
3750 Hacks Cross Rd. #106, Memphis, TN 38125
901-507-6535 • 877-204-3008
• Fireside Music is your new source for all the best in musical merchandise.
• We carry many of the finest independent builders like Boucher, Breedlove, Rowan, Beard,
Gadow, Gallagher, Deering, Rickenbacker & Guild guitars, basses & banjos.
• Not only do we carry fretted instruments we carry digital pianos, band & orchestral
instruments, drums and p.a. equipment.
• Fireside music offers a complete assortment of music lessons available with some of the finest
teachers around including Randall Morton for banjo, Stan Head for percussion, Nigel
Albertson for guitar, Raven Sweet for bass & trumpet, Amy Langley for clarinet, Dom Fosco
for piano & saxophone, Roy Brewer for violin and Katherine Barnwell for oboe & English horn.
Please call for available days and times.
MABA
P.O. Box 171152
Memphis, TN 38187-1152