Blown away...

It was one of those rare days when the normally placid James River was whipped into white caps as the cold front rolled in and the high winds ahead of an overdue return to winter temperatures threatened to knock out the power for Grammy night. I'll confess to being somewhat of a sucker for award shows, especially the big one for the music industry, despite its hype and self-indulgence. We even checked out the pre-show Webcast when they give out the trophies that don't make the prime-time cut...especially the bluegrass album Grammy. We were pulling for the Seldom Scene while kinda expecting Tony Trischka to win, when lo and behold Jim Lauderdale walked away with it for his album The Bluegrass Diaries. An emotional Lauderdale and producer/dobro man Randy Kohrs took the stage to accept...and Jim somehow forgot to say that he'll be joining the Waybacks here in Richmond for the annual Music For Massey benefit on June 13. So he had a few other things on his mind. We'll let you know when tickets go on sale for that one.

And how about former Old School Freight Train fiddler fatale Ann Marie Calhoun who was the hands-down winner of the national My Grammy Moment competition to play with Foo Fighters as the featured instrumentalist on the orchestral take on "The Pretender." Zeppelin's John Paul Jones led the symphonic contingent made up of the other young finalists in the voting. Sadly Ann Marie's playing wasn't really featured at all but she did get a good bit of camera time and another big boost to her already soaring career.

Old School makes its way back to Ashland Coffee & Tea on the 23rd of this month to be followed on the 29th by half of the dynamic Seldom Scene spinoff Chesapeake. That of course would be Jimmy Gaudreau and Moondi Klein who will reprise some of the old Chesapeake chesnuts and some nifty instrumentals as well. After hearing their upcoming Rebel Records release 2:10 Train, I must say it's great to have Moondi back where he belongs...on stage and on record sharing that one-of-a-kind voice. And Jimmy joins Randy Waller, Eddie Adcock and Tom Gray as the Country Gentlemen Reunion Band in a JAMinc/Virginia Historical Society presentation on March 20th. Details still coming together.



Also hope to see you in Ashland for a musical Valentine from the refreshingly eclectic retro trio The Wiyos. Former Richmonder Parrish Ellis along with Joe DeJarnette and Michael Farkas comprise this Brooklyn-based band that takes us back to the vaudeville, ragtime, hillbilly blues of the 20's and 30's with a thoroughly modern and energetic enthusiasm. I heard them at FloydFest for the first time last summer and have been looking forward to a second chance ever since. Get your squeeze a few chocolate coffee beans and join the fun this Thursday in the "Center of the Universe." These cats can swing!





We'd been hearing good things about The White Hawk Music Cafe in Goochland so we made our way across the river and west on Rt. 6 to the year-old venue run by musician Terry Hazelton. No beer, no smoking, just tasty sandwiches and some fine live music thanks to Good Natured Riot. I'd enjoyed Nick Harlow's banjo and Andy Burns' mando for years with the Slack Family but they're moonlighting with this acoustic quintet that includes lead vocalist Jeslyn Vaughan, vocalist/percussionist Summer Gentry and bassist John Dacey. These guys take the bluegrass ball and run with it, out into Gillian Welch territory and beyond. They did some well-crafted originals too, including a solid instrumental Andy wrote to vent his frustration at missing Sam Bush at Toad's Place last summer, thanks to a tardy wife. The tune's perfectly entitled "Bushwhacked." It's always fun to find a new band out there worth a listen...and a new music-based venue. They give lessons out there too.


And if you haven't heard, the Del McCoury Band plays the soon-to-open National Theater downtown on March 15th...book it.

(Full disclosure: all photos on this post except Lauderdale at MerleFest are from artists' Websites)