The Way West...

Everytime I make the trip to Charlottesville on I-64, I'm reminded of what a wonderful ride it is, especially when traffic's light. Few visual distractions, that first glimpse of the Blue Ridge, a random mix on my mp3 player...a solo run to check out Jimmy Gaudreau and Moondi Klein as openers for Emmylou Harris Monday at the Pavilion. EZ parking in the deck at 2nd & Water Street and nice stroll up the The Mall and the gentle bustle of a late summer afternoon with folks enjoying drinks and each other al fresco. No cars. Richmond mayoral candidate Paul Goldman wants to do the same thing with Carytown. Maybe we should listen. It was my first concert at the 3-year-old venue at the end of the Mall and I liked it a lot. Significant sound blankets hung inside the big tent along with having New Grass Revival/Flecktones legendary soundman Richard Battaglia at the helm made for great house sound befitting the talent on stage. It's so right that Jimmy and Moondi have gotten this gig with Emmylou this summer...they played Wolftrap the night before and have lots more choice venues to look forward to...couldn't have happened to more deserving musicians. They did some Chesapeake chestnuts, a bunch of stuff from their terrific new duet album 2:10 Train, and Ms. Harris even joined them for a sweet rendition of Townes Van Zandt's "If I Needed You." I had the extra treat of witnessing the evening alongside Robin and Linda Williams, Prairie Home Companion regulars and old friends who live near my old home town of Staunton. You might want to put their annual Fortune Williams Music Festival on your calendar for late September. Robin & Linda + Tim O'Brien are worth the price of admission alone.

This time last year we saw Rickie Simpkins backing Emmylou as part of John Starling's Carolina Star. This year he's earned a spot in her brand new band comprised of Brian Owings/drums, Chris Donahue/bass, Phil Madeira/keyboards and Colin Linden/guitar & banjo. Colin filled his key role well but there's only one Buddy Miller. And the well-honed ritual of Emmy's perennial roadman Maple Byrne, bringing her a freshly-tuned guitar for nearly every number, is a compelling sideshow that illustrates consummate professionalism. The band was able to carry Emmylou through all her fertile fields with great taste and subtlety. I'm sorry I have no pictures to share as the gate guy made me take my camera back to the car. Come on...
Jimmy & Moondi will be making a return visit to Ashland Coffee & Tea on Saturday, September 20th. Don't miss them this time. Less is more.

I shared a few brews after show with Virginia's folklorist Jon Lohman who's again running the Virginia Folk Life Porch stage at FloydFest 7 running July 24-27 up on the Parkway. Another wide-ranging lineup is in store for this gem of a festival that's matured far beyond its six years. Highly recommended...we'll see you there. Jon also is involved in a terrific house concert series in Palmyra...here's a link to the Website.

They're saying this really is the last weekend to soak up some smoke and sweet jazz in Bogart's Back Room, moving to a new location soon. An appropriate swan song or three will be provided by the multi-talented John Winn, who's snagged k.d. lang sideman Daniel Clarke along with guitarist Trey Pollard to join him for a late gig this coming Friday night. Extremely promising...

I'll leave you for now with just under four minutes of what made George Carlin one of the most brutally honest and insightful observers of the American condition ever to come our way. Here's a link to a remarkable piece from last year's HBO special that underscores his love for the contemporary vernacular and his enormous capacity to learn his lines. A modern man indeed.

TT

Summery

After our sizzling summer preview earlier this month, it's been especially delightful to enjoy this past week of low- to mid-eighties and atypically low humidity. As we mark the solstice tonight and enjoy our annual swarm of fireflies down by the river, I need to acknowledge a couple of very special nights last weekend. A refreshing breeze and the first comfortable temperatures in a while greeted the sizable crowd gathered to witness the Waybacks return to the Science Museum of Virginia Friday night. The boys delivered old chestnuts and most of the tunes on their new Byron House-produced album, Loaded. They were joined, to serendipitous effect, by banjo buddy Danny Barnes who stepped in to fill Jim Lauderdale's spot on the bill. Jim is out in California at a meditation retreat resting his healing vocal cords and sadly will miss all his summer gigs. We sincerely wish him a full recovery. But the versatile and impressively improvisational Barnes brought much to the table in his own solo set and in extended jams with the Waybacks. He reminds you a lot of John Hartford without the derby hat on stage, especially in his between-song patter. And he's a spot-on songwriter...check out his "Get It While You Can" on the Infamous Stringdusters eponymous new CD. It was a great night of music as evidenced by the audience evolution for the second set...everyone moved up closer to the stage and the chatty party atmosphere that marked the early hours faded to rapt attention to the music being made. Thanks to Jim Napier, Gary Gerloff and Patrick McCarty for the cameraderie and for pulling together another meaningful event for the Massey Cancer Center.

The next night saw a the culmination of another few months of weekly practices and delectable stew pots at George Turman's Hanover County retreat. It was the tenth reunion for the Among Friends bunch at Ashland Coffee & Tea and thanks to a nearly full house of supportive friends and family, the ten of us fortunate enough to share this loving experience forged our way through two meaty set lists and did our best to keep our powder dry under the wilting stage lights. One of the coolest things about playing AC&T, the well-timed train punctually arriving during a song referring to trains, was precluded on this night by some out-of-town drunk in an SUV who tried to drive across the tracks where there was no crossing, got stuck, and then abandoned his vehicle to get rammed by a northbound freight. No more trains made it through for the rest of the night. So songs like "Wagon Wheel" may not have been fully realized, but we sure had a wonderful time and are seriously looking forward to our September reprise at Shady Grove Coffee House in Glen Allen, when we'll get to hear ailing Sheryl Warner's unsung songs like Patty Griffin's "Florida" and a bunch of others. And a special thanks to Friends' photographer Charlie Dunton for his flattering images over the years.

The Tuesday after the Graves Mountain festival saw the Seldom Scene invited to play a picnic on the lawn at the White House for a thousand of POTUS's closest pals. The gig was rained out and postponed until the following Thursday...the Scene was unavailable but word is they might be invited back for something similar in September. At least Scene founding father Ben Eldridge had the chance to share a knee-slapping banjo joke with the Bushes (as seen in this White House photo) before Secret Service agents whisked him away to Fredericksburg.

The following has little to do with music, save for Bruce Springsteen's moving tribute at Wednesday's memorial service at the Kennedy Center, but I'm still grieving over the loss of Tim Russert. I was a faithful watcher of Meet The Press and found myself lured into coverage of this historic election year by Tim and his MSNBC colleagues. But as the the reality of his sudden death sunk in and the heartfelt reaction rivaled the loss of a head of state, it became clear that this was no ordinary newsman. The depth and sincerity of the tributes from every corner of this land revealed a good and honest human being who exemplified the virtues of integrity, enthusiasm, hard work and love of family. I think the extent of the coverage of Tim Russert's life and death underscores our yearning for role models who can inspire us and restore our faith in humanity. We will surely miss his reasoned analysis during the rest of this pivotal election year and his even-handed Sunday morning grillings of the nation's power brokers, but we will always have his shining example pushing us to make the very most of our lives in our own remaining days.
Thanks Tim.


TT

Heatin' Up...

Some old business and new as we enter a sticky triple-digit Richmond weekend. First, a disappointing note about the previously announced premiere of Nashville Star on Monday with John Cowan in the house band. We actually watched this show a few years back when it was on the USA Network and found it more interesting and better produced than American Idol. Anyway, NBC's picked it up and with Billy Ray Cyrus as the host it may be harder to commit to another season especially now that we've learned that Johnny C won't be in the band after all.

From his own Web journal, here's John's explanation of why he was the first to be voted off this year's Nashville Star:
"Well Folks, Here it is; the first job I've been fired from since 1972 (that one was for "overplaying" in a R&B band....let's just say I was obsessed with Jack Bruce at the time.) I know the conventional wisdom here would be to say I had scheduling conflicts but not, unfortunately, true. I have never read "Charts" (The Nashville Number System) to make a living. Once you learn it, it is completely logical, but there IS a "learning curve" to be sure. As a studio background vocalist, you pretty much do things "by ear". Not so on the bass. I knew I was in over my head by day two. I would make mistakes, which you cannot do in a live Television situation. The guys and girl (John B, Lee, Pat, Brian, Carlo & Meagan) in the band were all very gracious and tried to be helpful to me. Ultimately, when I f*****-up, it made for extra pressure for them. (though not one of 'em gave me a hard time.) When I left to do Bristol on Saturday they had a sub fill in for me. He did a great job and read the charts and executed them perfectly, so between shows @ The Paramount Theater I got a voice mail saying I had been fired. That made it a little difficult to go out and be all smiley/hold my head up, but soon enough the music and muse took over. This hurts and is embarrassing, but the reality is that I wasn't able to execute the job to the standards by which are required. Maybe it was arrogant of me knowing my limitations to take the job....,perhaps. Well, as my wife likes to say-we're all "making our story everyday!" This is surely a "learning chapter."

We'll miss seeing JC on NBC this summer but his honesty under tough circumstances is refreshing and commendable. The Cow will continue and we'll appreciate him all the more.
In town a week ahead of his upcoming show at The National for promotional purposes (catch him with George Maida tonight at midnight on WCVE-FM) Tommy Emmanuel and his veteran manager Gina Mendello met me for breakfast yesterday morning at River City Diner. When we walked in and were greeted with "Smoking or non-" Tommy's pleasant but pointed reply was, "Living." Looking youthful and revived after a few health-related months off the road, Guitar Player Magazine's reigning "Best Acoustic Guitarist" downed a generous plate of pancakes and talked about how happy he was how the new DVD came out, thanks to In Your Ear wizard Carlos Chafin and Tommy's long-time producer/engineer Kim Person. Kim lived in Richmond years back and worked for IYE's precursor Alpha Audio so it was a perfect reunion to have Kim and Carlos carefully perfect the 5.1 surround-sound for Tommy's live concert DVD recorded in HD at Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico, CA. I've gotten to see and hear some of it and although there's no substitute for witnessing Tommy's singular talents live, the project due out this fall takes full advantage of today's technology and those who know how to use it. It'll take your breath away. For those who haven't been to one of Tommy's exhilarating shows before, you're a week away from a golden opportunity. The National is waiting and so is their new 10-person hot tub. A media reception last night got us a fascinating backstage look at Richmond's musical crown jewel as justifiably proud Bill Reid showed us the unrivaled amenities the performers will enjoy when playing the meticulously restored venue. Not just the biggest jacuzzi made, but a sauna and steam shower, multiple lounges with a pool table and large screen plasmas everywhere, and even washer/dryers for bands who've been on the bus too long. All to make the artists happy and attract acts that wouldn't otherwise play a room that size. Like Willie Nelson and Dream Theater. They've pulled out all the stops to maximize the experience for musicians and audience alike with technical innovations like a "floating" stage to reduce floor vibration making it into the microphones, hundreds of yards of sound-deadening material around the stage and in the hall to reduce the boominess of a space originally designed for no PA. And speaking of that, the partners spent crazy money on a state-of-the-art V-DOSC sound system, only the sixth installed in the entire country for pretty much the biggest, cleanest aural experience possible. This is gear that normally travels with the bands playing the big arenas. It's gratifying to see a project of this magnitude done right, knowing how many obstacles stood in the way. Get down there as often as you can. Maybe for C.G.P. Tommy Emmanuel on Friday the 13th. One guy, one guitar, one magical evening. And here's a link to an appearance he made on my old WRVA morning show exactly eight years ago this month.

Or maybe you'll choose something completely different a few miles west on Broad Street that same Friday the 13th as we'll gather for the fourth time to welcome the musically ambitious and thoroughly entertaining Waybacks back to town for the 4th "On Track For The Cure" event for the Massey Cancer Center. These west coast wonders will bring their genre-bending blend of "cool" to the old rail station including the hot licks of another knockout guitar picker James Nash and the smooth as silk crooning of Warren Hood. And we've enlisted "America's irreplaceable alchemist of acoustic razzle-dazzle, open-borders ecumenism, and down home chutzpah," banjoman Danny Barnes, to liven thing up even more. Gates at 6:30, music at 7. Tickets here. It'll be a party.
The Canal Club is hosting WCVE's "Music Seen" tapings this weekend...we already missed the first night and I was hoping to catch singer/songwriter Sarah White with her accompanist, former King Wilkie head writer/lead guitarist Ted Pitney. My loss. Tonight it'll be a bit less acoustic with Modern Groove Syndicate and Chicago Cy among others. Click here for details.

And Sunday promises a day long cavalcade of some of our hometown best, including Page Wilson, Gary Gerloff, Marna & Macy, Billy Ray Hatley, The Taters and The Cashmere Jungle Lords. All donating time and talents for Vibe Fest '08 benefiting the remarkable Positive Vibe Cafe. For those who don't know about Garth Larcen's labor of love in Stratford Hills, giving physically and developmentally challenged individuals training and employment in the food service industry, this is a perfect chance to get acquainted. The music starts at 11:30am and goes all day long. The cover's only five bucks, beer & grub extra. A win-win for one of our community's most worthy causes.

Be safe Big Brown and bring it home...TT

(photo credits: Tommy Emmanuel-cd cover, The National finished interior-from their Website. The rest are mine)

Mountains and Music...

Three generations of musicians and those who love what they do gathered for the sixteenth time along the Rose River at the foot of Graves Mountain this past weekend for our annual celebration of the best things in life. Ralph Stanley who helped give birth to this music over a half century ago was there. So was sixteen-year-old Sierra Hull whose prodigious mandolin playing and new-found vocal confidence left no doubt that the future was in capable hands. And everything in between. There were inspiring family bands like The Bluegrass Brothers, The Wells Family, Cherryholmes and The Isaacs and seasoned crowd pleasers like The Seldom Scene, Blue Highway and Rhonda Vincent. There were influential pioneers like Bobby Osborne, Peter Rowan and Bill Emerson. And there were powerful new forces like Steep Canyon Rangers and Bryan Simpson of Cadillac Sky (above)...a lineup reflecting the ages and tastes of the hundreds of fans, new ones and long-timers who roll up the Old Blue Ridge Turnpike every year when May turns to June.

We haven't missed one yet and consider it a privilege to have an up-close encounter with so many friends old and new who share a deep emotional tie to what music can mean to the soul. From the inside, you get a look at how hard Jimmy and Rachel Graves and their family work and how much they care about providing a joyous escape for those seeking top-drawer music, diet-busting food and magnificent mountain scenery. Hospitality is in their blood and it was fitting that this year which marked the 400th anniversary of Capt. Thomas Graves' arrival at the Jamestown settlement, saw an extra-special celebration. The 70th governor of the Commonwealth, Tim Kaine stopped by for a visit Friday afternoon to deliver a General Assembly proclamation to the Graves family and ended up staying well past his scheduled departure time. He even took good advantage of an opportunity to play a little bluesy harp with The Seldom Scene. So here's possibly our next vice-president jamming along with sometime Scener Chris Eldridge, on a short leave from Chris Thile's Punch Brothers.

Everyone was delighted to see Ron Block and Clay Hess at Sierra Hull's side to help with both her sets. Ron produced her latest project entitled Secrets, allegedly named after the deodorant that's "strong enough for a man, but made for a woman." You had to be there. Besides being a brilliant musician and veteran of Alison Krauss' Union Station, Ron is one of the most thoughtful and profoundly engaged human beings in this music or any other. He told me the regathering of Union Station after Alison's tour with Robert Plant isn't exactly a lock; the band will be meeting soon to discuss all that. But he's making the most of his break, woodshedding with renewed intensity after reading Steven Pressfield's The War of Art. Bandmates Barry Bales and Dan Tyminski will be joining us this fall for our first Richmond Folk Festival.

Saturday evening brought the traditional closing ceremony, made indelible this year thanks to Carl Jackson's moving ballad "Graves Mountain Memories" written especially for this quadracentennial occasion. Carl rendered it with great passion that left few dry eyes among the family and friends gathered on stage.
More than the stars above the Blue Ridge
More than the blossoms on the apple trees
More than the rocks along Rose River
My heart's filled with Graves Mountain memories

It's a gratifying treat to work with easy-going professionals like stage manager Frank Jurney, sound pros Gene & Johnnie Daniell and Madison Gibson and this year, her first, emcee Charlie Rainwater. Charlie's a knowledgable and enthusiastic presence on stage, having grown up in the music with her dad, Flatt & Scruggs' former bass player Jody Rainwater. And of course kudos to Sonny Ludlam and Mark Newton for getting the whole thing started and keeping it real.

But the true joy for lots of us who come to the Graves Mountain festival comes after the show's over and things get started up at our cabin which has become a pretty popular late night spot for friends who play and those who like to unwind with a cold beverage and listen. I think we did the old place proud this year with four nights in a row that went past four am and we even saw the pre-glow of the rising sun on Sunday...somewhere around 5:30. Sleep deprivation is warranted when in the company of folks who bring so much to the table, including love offerings of choice single malts and karma-fueling kyanite. I'm deeply indebted to the following wee-hours pickers and singers who gave us some of the most compelling jams I've ever tasted: Danny & Mel Hughes, Randy & Katie Cook, Jack Cowardin, Bart Tuthill, David Kuo, Will Perkinson, Barry Lawson, Doug Ganey, John Ward, Billy Lux, Andy Cleveland, Scott Street, Terry Comer, Tim Newcombe, Tony Cook, Greg Harrup, Emily Timberlake, Jordan Tice, Jared Poole, Danny Knicely, Tara Linhardt, Laura Wortman, Kagey Parrish and Chris Eldridge. How sweet it was.

Back to reality...as we pray for Jim Lauderdale's speedy recovery from his vocal cord surgery, we welcome banjo-playing bon vivant Danny Barnes joining The Waybacks in his stead at the Science Museum on Friday, the 13th. It's our lucky night of music benefiting The Massey Cancer Center and you'll want to be there. Click here for tickets.

AC&T brings back the fabulous Biscuit Burners on the night before and the Among Friends reunion the night after. Another big fun weekend.

And don't forget John Cowan's debut as backup vocalist and bass player in the house band for NBC's new season of Nashville Star premiering at 9:30pm this coming Monday.

I'm done for now...as always thanks for your time here and shoot me an email if I missed anything.

TT