New CD from Sam Bush!!!

One of the foremost innovators in modern acoustic music and recent AMA Lifetime Achievement Award winner, the “King of Newgrass,” Sam Bush, will be will be releasing his new solo album Circles Around Me on Sugar Hill Records on October 20th!

Sam Bush played an integral role in changing the face of bluegrass music as a founding member of New Grass Revival. Since then, he’s forged new ground as a solo artist, recording eight studio albums (six for Sugar Hill) as well as a live record, Ice Caps: Live from Telluride, and a live DVD, On The Road.

You can pre-order now and buy special autographed fan bundles and access to exclusive release week events where they can meet and interact with Sam, some of the contributors to Circles Around Me, and other notable  Nashville  music “insiders” and musicians.

Warner Parks Honors Butch Baldassari on October 2nd 2010

A Musical Tribute to Butch Check the Website for comments by these great performers on why they chose the tunes they did to honor Butch. Some of the best names in acoustic music combined to give us this great musical tribute to mandolin master Butch Baldassari. Butch created new interest in this age-old instrument in a wide variety of musical genres. He was an inspiration to people who loved his music and who knew him as a friend.  He performed and recorded with many of the top names in bluegrass, Celtic, and other genres. He moved between bluegrass festivals and symphony halls with ease and grace, earning respect and admiration in these seemingly disparate worlds. This CD gives some of the great acoustic players an opportunity to honor Butch with the music he loved. He was the driving force behind the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble and was an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music. Warner Parks Honors Butch Baldassari on October 2nd To end the summer in a special way,the last Full Moon Pickin’ Party of the year will be this Friday night, October 2nd, and will be in Butch’s honor. Since it coincides with IBMA, when Bluegrass stars from the world over descend upon Nashville, I know there will be great turnout with some very special players, all benefiting the Warner Parks. You can find out more at Mandolin Cafe and at or at Friends of Warner Parks. And the music lives on… 20 years ago this December, I attended The Birchmere, a well-known venue for bluegrass and acoustic music in Alexandria, Virginia, my hometown. Little did I know that night that hearing the Weary Hearts play would change my life dramatically.  That was when I first laid eyes and ears on the incomparable Butch Baldassari, mandolinist extraordinaire. That meeting eventually led to a move to Music City USA, marriage, a child and my very special entree into the music world. Fast forward to now.  Butch passed away almost 10 months ago and his musical legacy is still growing strong.  I am learning and loving this business.  Butch felt blessed to have had a long, successful run and I feel it’s my responsibility to keep it going.  A recent tribute CD, “The Road Home”, compiled by Dr. Brian Hull of Wichita Falls, Texas, a longtime supporter of musicians and a dear friend of ours, illustrates Butch’s influence on some of the greatest names in acoustic music. We will hopefully be re-releasing two of Nashville Mandolin Ensemble’s well-acclaimed CDs, “Plectrasonics” and the Christmas smash, “Gifts”, formerly on Columbia.  All will be available at our website, www.soundartrecordings.com. The NME, which Butch formed in 1991, and which is the backbone of SoundArt Recordings along with Butch’s solo releases, has begun playing again.  All of the players were hand-picked by Butch and still carry on his passion for the beautiful sounds of mandolin family instruments.  As a special treat, our son Blake Baldassari will play some of the more informal gigs, fulfilling a family dream. The NME will be performing on October 8th at The Frist Museum in Nashville in the Grand Lobby (www.fristcenter.org) as well as on December 16 at Loveless as part of the new Music City Roots from Loveless Cafe (www.musiccityroots.com). Keep in touch and wherever you are, keep music and memories alive. They are a vital threads in the fabric of life that binds us all together. Sinclair Baldassari SoundArt Recordings – Sinclair Baldassari Nashville,TN. 37209 www.soundartrecordings.com Telephone: 615 – 292 – 0324 | Facsimile: 615 – 292 – 4126

Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen -West Coast Tour

Frank Solivan (former Country Current mandolin player) and his band Dirty Kitchen are out on the West Coast and Alaska for some shows during the next week. Their website describes them really well-  “Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen play a wide variety of New Acoustic American Roots Music focusing on bluegrass and acoustic country, yet blues, folk, swing, and jazz also shine through as influences. Powerful vocal harmonies, expressive songwriting, smooth ballads, and instrumental prowess lend this versatile group of musicians to any type of venue. Each member is an inventive powerhouse.  ” Band members are Frank Solivan-mandolin, Mike Munford-banjo, Lincoln Meyers-guitar,Stefan Custodi-bass They are up in Alaska in Denali,  The Alaska  State Fair, Oregon at the Goodfoot in Portland and the Strawberry Festival in  California on this tour. These pictures are from their great show at Conor Byrnes in Ballard, WA.

Matt Flinner Trio in Seattle October 17, 2009

The Matt Flinner Trio – mandolin-Matt Flinner , guitar- Ross Martin , bass- Eric Thorin will be playing a house concert in Seattle. Since forming in 2002  the Trio has been playing it’s original style of acoustic music blending bluegrass, jazz, Celtic. The trio is touring following the spring release  of their Compass recording “Music du Jour”  Flinner  is an in demand  mandolin player based out of Nashville and has two solo albums for Compass Records, The View from Here and Latitude. Flinner is also a member of  Phillips, Grier and Flinner  . Ross Martin has played with many bands including  Ron Miles, Mollie O’Brien, Tony Furtado, Drew Emmitt, The Motet, Caroline Herring, Leslie Helpert, Kyle Hollingsworth, Paul McCandless, Art Lande, The 3 Twins.  Eric Thorin, a Colorado musician has played bass for a variety of bands covering many styles including   Kizumba and Conjunto Colores, toured extensively with rock act The Thugs,the bluegrass band Open Road, the Flamenco/Indian ensemble Curandero, steel band Pan Jumbies, and toured with the Tony Furtado Band for four years.

The show will be held at Seattle musician Eli Wests home. Eli’s home in the middle of a Phinney Ridge pea patch has repeatedly made an incredible venue for past shows such as Heather Masse (of The Wailin Jennys), among others. Tickets are available through Brown Bag Tickets https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/79166

Cool Fiddle Art

Check out the website for Kari Von Wening and Jan Bush for some great handpainted metal sculptures.  Their work often features fiddles and and guitars. They are based out of Pasadena, CA and have their work exhibited in quite a few galleries. Full artist info and gallery listings are also on the website. 

Major Programming Changes Slated for KBCS Community Radio

BELLEVUE, Wash., (July 8, 2009) — Starting in August, the first phase of planned changes at KBCS 91.3 FM will eliminate four hours of music programming each weekday. Further changes are planned for weekend and weeknight shows in coming months. The richness and diversity of programming will be drastically cut if these plans are carried out. You can help! By replying as soon as possible, your comments can help preserve music diversity at KBCS. Write to: savekbcs@gmail.com. Phase 1 – Weekday Program Changes scheduled to take effect in August 2009: * Drive Time Jazz (7 – 9 a.m.) will be replaced by public affairs. * Morning jazz programs (9 a.m. – noon) will be replaced by a single jazz program with a single paid host. Gone will be these shows: – The Bud & Don Show – Bebop Spoken Here – 20th Century Jazz – Vintage Jazz – The Caravan * Lunch With Folks (noon – 3 p.m.) will be replaced with a homogenized, generic “Americana” program with a couple of paid hosts, eliminating the diverse knowledge and expertise of the variety of daily programmers. * Daily Planet (3 – 5 p.m.) will be replaced by news. This first phase of programming changes will result in the elimination of over 20 volunteer hosts along with their formidable knowledge, expertise, and passion for the music of their respective genres, to be replaced by two to four paid DJs. Voice your comments now! Tell us what you think about these proposed changes. Write to: savekbcs@gmail.com * Would these changes make KBCS less valuable to you? * Are you a member/supporter/volunteer? * How would these changes affect your participation and support? Please pass the word to anyone who likes jazz, folk, world, or other eclectic music found on KBCS. Visit http://www.savekbcs.org for current details. Thanks! About SaveKBCS: SaveKBCS is a group of long-time volunteers and financial supporters of KBCS who want to save what we value most about our community radio station. SaveKBCS is not affiliated with KBCS 91.3 FM Radio. SaveKBCS is not affiliated with Bellevue College. Contact: savekbcs@gmail.com Website: http://www.savekbcs.org

New CD From Childsplay featuring Aoife O’Donovan

Fiddlers,Fiddles  & Fiddlemaker “Waiting for the Dawn” is the great new disc by the violin, viola ensemble Childsplay. The concept of the album is relationship of all the fiddlers playing fiddles made by the fiddlemaker Bob Child. The relationship is enhanced by Crooked Still’s vocalist Aoife O’donovan. Childsplay’s over two dozen musicians come from all over the United States and Sweden. Childsplay has performed for over 20 years and has included all styles of fiddling.

Aoife’s voice is the perfect match for the string ensemble. The songs are diverse with a Steve Earle Christmas song,a U2 cover, waltzes,some bluegrass,an Elvis lullaby,some Cape Briton style fiddling, an Irish air, and quite a

Aoife O'Donovan

few other styles and influences thown in.

A must for fans of  “fiddle” or “violin music” and of course fans of great singing will love Aoife’s vocal instrument.

Bob’s great instruments are the perfect tools for this amazing collection of musicians. His violins and violas are know for their deep tones. He has made around 150 instruments over the years.

The cd features the following musicians.    FIDDLES -Sam Amidon, Bonnie Bewick, Hanneke Cassel, Bob Childs, Graham DeZarn, Sheila Falls-Keohane, Ellen Gawler, Steve Hickman,
Mary Lea, Debby Knight, Laurel Martin, Naomi Morse, Lissa Schneckenburger, Sarah Thomae  VIOLA- Naomi Morse, Mary Lea CELLO-Ariel Friedman BAS S- Ralph Gordon
F LUT E- Shannon Heaton ACCORDION Shannon Heaton  GUITAR – Keith Murphy BANJOS John Gawler- Sam Amidon PIANO Keith Murphy, Aoife O’Donovan
VOCALS Aoife O’Donovan HARMONY VOCALS-Molly Gawler, Keith Murphy, Lissa Schneckenburger HARP-Kathleen Guilday

The musicians in Childsplay all are professional musicians who only get to play together on rare occasions, you can check out their schedule on their website where you can also purchase the cd.  Of course if you are a fan they do have a Facebook page.

Check out the great website for alot more info on the project and Bob’s great instruments. There are some great video clips of  Childsplay playing songs from the cd on the website.

Maple Valley, WA Open Mike- June 13th

*** SPECIAL LOCATION *** The Maple Valley Open Mic on Saturday June 13th will be at Lake Wilderness Lodge. http://www.ci.maple-valley.wa.us/parks/lakewildernesslodge.asp map to the lodge http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=22500+SE+248th+Street,+Maple+Valley

As always, sign ups will start at 6:30 and performances will start at 7:00. Hope to see you there. Join us all weekend at the lodge for Arts Festival 2009, in conjunction with Maple Valley Days. CCheck out more at www.maplevalleyarts.com Jim

Some info on the Aoife O’Donavan & Heather Masse House Concert in Seattle

Here is some info for the show from Eli West which is pretty much sold out:

The Shafer Baillie Mansion is at 907 14th Avenue East, on the NW corner of 14th and Aloha.  From I-5 northbound, take the Olive exit up to Broadway, left on Broadway to Aloha (6 blocks North), right up the hill to 14th.  From I-5 southbound, take the Roanoke exit (careful it’s a mess with construction right now), left over the freeway, right on Broadway, left on Aloha up to 14th.

{Parking}

Parking on Capital Hill proves to be a competitive sport at times.  If you find on street parking within 4-5 blocks of the mansion, you’d best be snagging it.  Otherwise, the Volunteer Park 7th Day Adventist Church has graciously allowed parking.  This lot is just in-between the mansion and the church (to the West, down the Aloha hill).   The church will ask a donation of the monetary sort (no alter-call necessary) for this service.

{Accommodation & dinner}

If you are traveling from afar and have yet to find your nest for the night, the mansion is also a Bed & Breakfast (sbmansion.com) with some incredible rooms.  If this is to be a memorable romantic evening out, the Sorrento (hotelsorrento.com) is awaiting your call.  And for the rest of us, the Ace Hotel (acehotel.com/seattle) in Belltown is a great second option.

Volunteer Park Cafe (alwaysfreshgoodness.com), Monsoon (monsoonrestaurants.com/seattle), Kingfish (thekingfishcafe.com), and Artemis (artemiscafe.net) are all close early-dining options within a 10-15 minute walk, perfect for burning off that desert you will feel guilty about ordering.  Please consider eating early and calling ahead for reservations.

As a primer, Heather was on this week’s Prairie Home Companion with the likes of Elvis Costello and Tom Rush.  There may be some clips posted of the show at (prairiehome.publicradio.org) by now.

See you all Thursday!
Eli

New Release From King Wilkie

King Wilkie is a young band that started outdoing hard-driving bluegrass, but, like many young bands, has changed their sound over recent years to be more of a combination of pop and stringband.
Recorded on Casa Nueva Industries ( a new label) whose first release is the new album from the band, King Wilkie called “King Wilkie Presents: The Wilkie Family.”
The new album is set inside the fictional Wilkie family household. A great cast of guest musicians play with the Wilkie Family:    Bromberg, David  (Guitar, Dobro)
Burgess, Reid (Producer, Vocals, Guitar, Piano, Organ, Banjo ) Foote, Jay  (Bass) Frederick, Jay  (Percussion) Hitchcock, Robyn (Vocals, Guitar)
Lewis, Steve (Producer, Vocals, Guitar, Piano,  Steel Guitar) Lichtman, Dennis (Violin, Clarinet, Mandolin, Tenor Banjo) McDonald, John (Vocals, Guitar)McEuen, John (Banjo)
Rowan, Peter (Vocals, Guitar)Parton, Samantha  (Vocals) Washburn, Abigail

To celebrate the release of the record, they are giving away one of the tracks. On the surface, “Hey, Old Man” is gentle and wistful, but there is a bitterness and confusion in the lyric that makes unbalances the tone of the music to disarming effect. It features David Bromberg on lead guitar and Abigail Washburn on harmony vocals. You can download the track here: http://promo.11spot.com/kingwilkie/heyoldman. Just enter the promo code WILKIE