Back Porch Bluegrass Show

This week’s show kicks off with an original tune , not released anywhere, recorded by myself and Jean-Luc Leroux, and then we have some top tracks from Ricky Skaggs, the Grascals, Jim Hurst and a particular favourite of mine, Seldom Scene. Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum play a superb fiddle tune, and Irene Kelley sings for us. I’ve featured two tracks from the ‘original’ Blue Grass Band, recorded in 1946, and some picking & singing from Joe Mullins, and High Fidelity. Really great bluegrass!

From the old-timey sound of the Dry City Scat Band to the modern bluegrass of Balsam Range and Sister Sadie, there’s a lot of good music in this week’s show. The Earls Of Leicester and the Earl Taylor band of the 1960’s give us that classic sound, and Emory Lester does some amazing mandolin work. The Gibson Brothers play some of their brand of bluegrass, as do the Trenwiths. I’ve featured the fine band from the early 1980’s, Spectrum, with two tracks from an LP, and kick it all off with a track from NZ’s Hamilton County Bluegrass Band.

The music I’ve selected this week has a few interesting aspects, which I share with you. Starting with one of my original instrumental tracks from the 1970’s, with a very strong bass presence, we later have a John Hartford track that influenced that bassy sound. Another early influence on my personal approach to bluegrass comes from Smiley Hobbs, a banjo picker on the iconic album, American Banjo, produced by Mike Seeger. We’ve got some fine picking from Jerry Douglas, the Boxcars, and great songs from Missy Werner, the Stanley Brothers, and Jimmy Martin with the Osborne Brothers. We’ve a gospel song – one of the great Fanny Crosby hymns done in down-home bluegrass style, and of course, there’s a fiddle tune, when Kenny Baker takes us out with the Greenleaf Breakdown.

A wide range of the bluegrass genre on this week’s show, including music from Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Dan Tyminski, JD Crowe, and banjo player Bill Evans. The Infamous Stringdusters dust off their strings, and the Foggy Hogtown Boys sing through the fog. Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers sing about ‘Blue Collars Blues’, and Longview do a fine version of an old Reno & Smiley gospel tune. There’s some NZ ‘folk’ music from the 1960’s with the Convairs , also the Hamilton County Bluegrass Band, and Jeanette Williams rounds out this very varied show.

I also pay tribute to Andrew Bicknell, Wellington-based entrepreneur and bass player, who has run the Wellington Bluegrass Society for 30 years to provide a performance platform for a wide range of acoustic music performers. RIP Andrew.

From the ‘modern’ country sound of the 1970’s Osborne Brothers to the very traditional bluegrass sound of Curly Seckler, there’s a lot to like in this episode of the Back Porch Bluegrass Show. The Price Sisters, Joe Stuart, James Price the fiddler, and Bill Clifton playing with his European bluegrass connections. BJ Blue & Brittany Allyn rock with a bluegrass version of a very rocky country tune, and the HCBB play a song learned from the Osborne Brothers version of an English pop song! Rhonda Vincent sings a gospel song, and the East Tennessee State University bluegrass programme members take us out with some great original bluegrass.

In this episode of Back Porch Bluegrass we’ve got some live recordings of Wasson & McCall, Chubby Anthony & Don Stover, and Hot Rize, all playing some great tunes. Newtown, the Nashville Bluegrass Band, and the Johnson Mountain Boys give us their take on some fine tunes, and the Kentucky Bluebelles play us an old Stephen Foster tune. Chris Henry & the Hardcore Grass, Matt & George & the Pleasant Valley Boys and Tony Ellis round out the programme, with a final tune from the late & great Dolly Parton. An eclectic collection of bluegrass!

There are many different styles of bluegrass, and in this show we get to hear just some of them. From the ‘early’ classic bluegrass sound of the Stanley Brothers (played by two youngsters emulating their heroes, Ricky Skaggs & Keith Whitley), through the powerful sounds of the Country Gentlemen featuring Charlie Waller, to the folkier sound of Richard Bennett. Women play a large part, so we hear from Sally Jones.

Instrumental prowess is always a feature of the music, so we have tunes from master fiddler Kenny Baker, banjo maestro John Hickman, and even NZ’s own Colleen Trenwith with the Hamilton County Bluegrass Band. In between all these we’ve got Kenny & Amanda Smith, the Lonesome River Band, and Marty Stuart. It’s a bluegrass festival packed into a one-hour show!

A somewhat eclectic mix of music in this episode, ranging from the very down-home sounding J.E.Mainer’s fiddle playing, to the smooth sophistication of the Cox Family with Alison Krauss. We’ve got some great 1970s bluegrass from the Boys From Indiana, some remarkable multi-tracking from Justin Moses, and some hard-line bluegrass from Danny Paisley. Volume Five are featured in a couple of tracks, and Joe Mullins and his Radio Ramblers do a fine gospel song. NZ’s own Hamilton County Bluegrass Band do an original song and a classic fiddle tune to round out the show. Lots of great bluegrass!

The great Dolly Parton made excellent contributions to bluegrass music, both as a songwriter and a performer. Two albums, using the genre’s top bluegrass musicians received critical acclaim, and provided a source of excellent material for many bluegrass bands. In this episode of Back Porch Bluegrass, we feature some of Dolly’s ‘bluegrassy’ offerings, as well as music from others such as Dale Ann Bradley, the Sonoran Dogs, Flatt & Scruggs, Bill Clifton, Wayne Taylor & Appaloosa, and guitar picker Norman Blake. To round out the programme, we’ve a gospel song from Jimmy Martin & the Sunny Mountain Boys in 1973.

Pat Enright, the guitarist and lead singer (along with Alan O’Bryant) of the Nashville Bluegrass Band passed away last week. In this show, I play some of the tracks featuring his great vocals. I’ve also included some fine music from High Fidelity, Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley, Vassar Clements, Chris Hillman & Herb Pedersen, the Thomas Porter band, the Petersens, and even an old-time banjo/dulcimer tune. Lots to enjoy in this episode.