VIDEOS: Buskin & Batteau return to Franklin coffeehouse Saturday night
David Buskin and Robin Batteau will return to the Circle of Friends Coffeehouse in Franklin, Mass., on Saturday, Jan. 28, with opener Trina Hamlin. Buskin & Batteau are working on a new CD, but have taken time out to do some touring. The duo, who were popular in the Cambridge folk scene through the 70s and 80s and had toured with folksinger Tom Rush, rejoined forces in 2008.
I was tweeted a link to this wonderful short Matt Morris film that I thought everyone would enjoy. It combines the feel of Mayberry with the bluegrass music embedded in North Carolina culture. “Pickin’ & Trimmin’” was an Emmy® nominee, and an official selection of over 60 film festivals, along with the Best Documentary Short Film winner at the Florida Film Festival and Woodstock Film Festival. This film has been out there for 3 months. But it’s new to me. 
Recently, the brother-sister duo The Roys released their new music video, called “Trailblazer,” a song off their successful album, “Lonesome Whistle.”
I recently had the pleasure of meeting them in Nashville at the International Bluegrass Music Association’s World of Bluegrass. The duo, signed to Rural Rhythm records, was hard to miss, with their mugs painted across the sides of a very hefty tour bus. But in person, the pair, from Fitchburg, Mass., was down to earth, wonderful singers and musicians, and put on a good show on the IBMA main stage.
While some other coffeehouses canceled their shows Saturday night as snow fell through the day, Antje Duvekot responded defiantly “Snow schmoe!” The show went on at Mansfield’s Rose Garden Coffeehouse, as the Lincoln, Mass., singer-songwriter was met by some 175 intrepid fans.
VIDEO: Brockton native Bill Keith among recipients of Boston Bluegrass Union Heritage Awards
Brockton native Bill Keith, known for his innovative banjo playing and a former member of Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys, is among the recipients for the 2012 Boston Bluegrass Union‘s Heritage Awards. Named along with Keith for the Musician Award was Dedham native Jim Rooney, who paired up with Keith in the 1960s. The Music Industry winner is the Crooker Family, presenters for more than 30 years of the Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival in Brunswick, Maine. The awards honor those who have made substantial contributions to furthering bluegrass music in New England, and they will be presented at the upcoming 27th Joe Val Bluegrass Festival, held Feb. 17-19, 2012, at the Sheraton Hotel in Framingham, Mass.
Laconia’s Jack Polidoro (“The Good Dr. Jack”) has written many beautiful songs over the past couple of decades, but his most recent one comes straight from the heart. He wrote “Goin’ Off to War – A Father’s Lament” for his son who is now serving overseas in Oman with the US Navy. Jack just finished penning the song this past fall and recently finished recording it at Rocking Horse Studios in New Hampshire with some fellow pro musicians.
VIDEO: Singer-songwriter Antje Duvekot to unveil new CD at Rose Garden in Mansfield on Saturday
Boston’s Antje Duvekot (pronounced AN-tyuh DOO-va-kot) returns to the Rose Garden Coffeehouse in Mansfield, Mass., for the fourth time on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, this time with a new CD in hand. Duvekot has grown immensely in popularity over the past few years. Her down-to-earth songwriting, wonderful voice and ebullient stage presence captivate audiences. read more…
For Conor Smith of Quincy, playing music has always been a passion, so when his wife took a job at UMass-Boston, it was an easy decision for the 35-year-old, classically trained violinist to leave a career in corporate finance for a full-time music career.
Almost a year and half ago, Smith found his niche by chance with Three Tall Pines, a Boston-based quartet that has just released its second CD, “All That’s Left.” The group will be celebrating its release Thursday at The Narrows in Fall River and Sunday at Club Passim in Cambridge.
“Getting in with the Three Tall Pines has been great,” Smith said. “The wheels have been turning this last year since our record was recorded and it seems like we’re hitting a good pace right now … It’s great playing original music. You have your own form, your own art installed in the music, you know?”
The group’s Americana, old-timey and bluegrass styles offer a hint of a tighter Old Crowe Medicine Show, sans harmonica. Sweetly honed harmonies mix with rustic images of love and living in the country. In performance, they sing around one microphone, which adds to the energy level. “Not only can you feel the energy when you’re standing right next to someone, but you can also make eye contact,” Smith said. “Even being in the studio, we were right next to each other, and we did the whole thing live … so there’s no overdubbing on our record, which is amazing. It’s really an organic sound.”
Rockland, Mass.’s Blue Moon Coffeehouse will feature a performance by Boston-based Ethan Robbins & Cold Chocolate this Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012. The music from this group is hard to pin down. It’s a fusion of folk, funk and bluegrass that they call “Bluegrass Funk.”
Danny Paisley is becoming a classic. Taking the reins from his father, the late Bob Paisley who died in 2004, Danny has continued the classic high-lonesome sound of the Southern Grass with his phenomenal tenor vocals. Now, add his 11-year-old son Ryan, a third-generation player on mandolin. Ryan is just a starting player, but he held his own at the International Bluegrass Music Association’s showcase in September.
The beautiful thing about attending the annual gathering of bluegrass in Nashville is not just seeing the well-known, amazingly talented musicians that I’ve admired over the years, but also seeing the up-and-comers.
Which young-ins are rocking the bluegrass genre, making traditionalists cringe or stand slack-jawed in fascination? One such musician was 16-year-old mandolinist Cory Piatt of Tennessee, who blew a room of people away at an after-hours showcase, and even got veteran bassist Mark Schatz to join him.
It’s a bit disappointing that one of my favorite performers, Vance Gilbert, won’t be back in our region until Feb. 4, 2012, when he visits the Beal House/South Shore Folk Club in Kingston, Mass. Gilbert is among the finest *entertainers* I’ve seen on the folk scene. But the man needs more regional gigs!
I call him more an “entertainer” than a “folk-singer” or “singer-songwriter” because he has mastered the art of performing, interacting with his audiences, no matter how large or small, and keeping his musical act finely honed. He pays attention to his material, of course, but connects with his audiences better than most performers I’ve seen. And, he seems to do it so effortlessly.
VIDEO: PBS presents Country music In Performance at the White House
They gave us a tease before Thanksgiving, but PBS now has posted its country music performance at the White House, featuring Alison Krauss with Sierra Hull and many other performers including Dierks Bentley, Lyle Lovett, Darius Rucker and Kris Kristofferson, the Band Perry, James Taylor, Lauren Alaina and Mickey. I have embedded the entire 55-minute show so you can watch it here.
Katrin Roush performed her own style of personal songs Nov. 19, 2011 at the Circle of Friends Coffeehouse in Franklin. Katrin, who opened for headliner Jonathan Edwards, has a new CD, “Frail to Fearless,” coming out soon, and she unveiled several new songs during her set.
I first heard The Hillbenders at the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival a couple of summers ago. The 5-piece band from Springfield, Missouri, was practicing in the woods. Reflected off Catskill Creek, their sound was a refreshing blend of original music and progressive bluegrass. They unabashedly took pop classics and made them their own. I caught them at a showcase in a suite at the Renaissance Hotel in Nashville, during the annual IBMA conference.
VIDEOS: Jake Armerding brings world-class music to Weymouth's Sanctuary Hall this Saturday
Jake Armerding, a Massachusetts singer-songwriter, fiddler, guitarist and more, will join his brother Jesse, and his father, legendary New England bluegrass phenom Taylor Armerding for a show at 8 p.m. Saturday in Weymouth’s Sanctuary Hall. Listening to Jake Armerding is a journey. His original songs are crafted from personal experiences, observations, emotions and an innate musicality, borne of his upbringing.
For someone who was orphaned in New Orleans by parents she never knew, had life-threatening encounters with drug and alcohol abuse, and spent her 18th birthday in a jail cell, Mary Gauthier is doing pretty darn well. She’ll demonstrate that at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011, when she debuts at Mansfield’s Rose Garden Coffeehouse.
Steve Martin and others look at the banjo in this PBS special, “a musical odyssey through 300 years of American culture”….posted here in case you missed it: read more…
Angel Band, a trio of powerful female vocalists who perform in their own right and sometimes along with David Bromberg, will bring their rootsy, bluesy Americana songs to Franklin’s Circle of Friends Coffeehouse on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011. Opening the show will be K.C. Clifford, a three-time Woody Guthrie Award-winning singer-songwriter from Oklahoma City, known for her powerful voice, stage presence and courageous lyrical style.
Bob Franke remains one of the most poignant and respected musicians on the folk music circuit. Franke (rhymes with “Yankee”) is best known for his songs which are spiritually generous, but others are either topical or funny. He will be visiting locally at the Javawocky Coffeehouse in Brockton on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011.
