Back Porch Bluegrass

We kick-off with some ‘Bluegrass Picking’, then go straight into some classic Flatt & Scruggs style bluegrass from the Earls of Leicester. You’ll hear from the Petersens, Cumberland Gap Connection, Joe Mullins (with Del McCoury helping out) and the Get Down Boys. Karen Lynn & Martin Louis from Australia sing a couple of songs for us, as does Chris Jones & the Night Drivers (great name for a bluegrass band) . And we’ve got a great rendition of a gospel classic from Seldom Scene.

‘Sounds Like Bluegrass to Me’ – Tony Ellis plays bluegrass with some long-time friends; Kathy Barwick plays several instruments, and Jeanette Williams sings some songs for us. The Stanley Brothers early recordings (now classic bluegrass) are featured, with some offerings from Doyle Lawson, the Hamilton County Bluegrass Band, and Ricky Skaggs.

There’s so many tracks of great songs and tunes that often remain ‘hidden’ on lesser-played albums. I like to dig them out, and I think I’ve got some beauties here. Bluegrassers like Sawmill Road, Lou Reid, the Bluegrass Album Band, Monroe Crossing and Mike Compton come up with some real gems, and I’ve included a couple of tracks from a ‘live show’ from Slim Dusty and the HCBB. The Soggy Bottom Boys feature, as do Gillian Welch and Alison Krauss from ‘O, Brother’, and David Parmley gets to sing a song too. Lots to like. Album / Source Artist Track Title Date 1 Bluegrass Picking Paul Trenwith /Colleen Trenwith Dobro On The Loose 1976 2 Fire In The Kettle Sawmill Road Rose Of Donally’s Hollow 2009 3 Carolina, I’m Coming Home Lou Reid & Carolina Carolina, I’m Coming Home 2003 4 Across The Blue Mountains Monroe Crossing Nail That Catfish To A Tree 2001 5 Bluegrass Album Volume 2 Bluegrass Album Band Your Love Is Like A Flower 1982 6 3 Silver Dollars David Parmley & Continental Divide She’s Lying In The Cold, Cold Ground 2008 7 Rare & Fine Mike Compton California Forest Fire 2022 8 Live At Tamworth Slim Dusty & HCBB Cunnamulla Feller 1973 9 Live At Tamworth Slim Dusty & HCBB feat, Joy McKean My Clinch Mountain Home 1973 10 Oh Brother Where Art Thou Soggy Bottom Boys In The Jailhouse Now 2000 11 Across The Blue Mountains Monroe Crossing Letter From My Darlin’ 2001 12 O Brother Where Art Thou Alison Krasuss & Gillian Welch I’ll Fly Away 2000 13 Lady’s Fancy Dan Crary Pretty Little Indian 1977

Created by Free FM, Hamilton, New Zealand

I enjoy finding albums from those bands that have not been featured often on Back Porch Bluegrass, and today I have included some music that will likely be new to you, as well as some that may be familiar. Listen up for music from the Davidson Brothers from Australia, Ramona Church, Andy Owen, Danny Paisley, and the Bluegrass Experience. Of course, a few favourites like the Bluegrass Album Band get aired, as does Larry Sparks, and we have another Aussie band, Bluestone Junction. Lots to listen to.

We have a couple of songs from early Blue Grass Boy – Clyde Moody – who went on to become a popular and accomplished country singer. From ETSU we have David Grindstaff, we have Wildfire, Laurie Lewis & the Right Hands, Wayne Taylor, and a fiddle tune from Red Wilson. And from the fiddle of Colleen Trenwith, a sentimental-sounding version of a Jimmie Rodgers song. Lots to listen to and enjoy in this episode of Back Porch Bluegrass.

Back to bluegrass! Sometimes I miss hard-driving, 3-chord bluegrass, as I feature lots of variants on BPBG. So this week, I’ve made sure there’s an abundance of fast banjo picking, great singing and dextrous instrumental work. This comes from the likes of David Grisman, the Nashville Bluegrass Band, Seth Mulder & Midnight Run, high fidelity, and Thomas porter. Dolly Parton, with her fine bunch of bluegrass pickers gets to sing a couple of classics, Hot Rize do a great gospel song, and Tony Ellis picks some fine banjo. Real bluegrass here.

The Petersens, who visited NZ early this year, are featured, as are Adam Steffey, Alison Krauss and the Cox Family, Hot Rize and Seldom Scene. I also play a track from Bill Emerson & Sweet Dixie that I couldn’t fit in last week. Jean-Luc Leroux plays a track, as does the Hamilton County Bluegrass Band. I also feature IIIrd Tyme Out ‘in concert’ with a couple of fine tracks. Lots to enjoy this week!

We’ve just had Billy Strings in NZ, I went to his show, and feature a couple of tracks from his album ‘Me and Dad’. We’ve also got music from Dale Ann Bradley, Kenny Baker, Kenny & Amanda Smith, and Bill Emerson. Chris Henry plays a couple of tracks, Johnnie Whisnant plays a banjo tune, and the HCBB play a ‘live’ version of a Beatles tune. Very diverse bluegrass in this episode.

Bill Clifton, the Gibson Brothers, the Sonoran Dogs, the Dillards – some top-notch bluegrass here, with a lot of songs that are comparatively unknown – check them out. Bill Emerson, Nu-Blu, Australia’s Old South Bluegrass Band, Joe Mullins, and Curtis Burch make it an action-packed programme. Our studio at FreeFM is being remodelled, so I’m replaying some shows that you might have missed.

Time for some hard-driving bluegrass, with maybe a couple of ‘softies’ thrown in. Tracks from the Bluegrass Album Band, American Drive, the David Grier Band, High Fidelity, the Kody Norris Show, Balsam Range and others – some top picking and singing here.

The Free FM studios are being renovated, so I’ve chosen this show from five years ago to be played in lieu of recording a ‘new’ show in a building site! I have my good friend, band-mate and luthier Keith MacMillan in the studio with me. We talk about how to set up your guitar or mandolin to get the best from it, and we get to pick a couple of tunes as well. Also featured in the show is some fine picking and singing from Joe Mullins, Curly Seckler, Sawmill Road, Alison Krauss, JD Crowe, and the Dreadful Snakes, and there’s some recorded music from the Hamilton County Bluegrass Band featuring both Keith and me.

This week, I have re-visited some of my first influences for banjo playing, from Earl Scruggs, Bill Keith, Don Parmley, Doug Dillard, Mike Seeger, Walt Hensley, and Ralph Stanley, and of course the music that the bands they were part of were playing. I’ve also featured the brand-new album from the Kody Norris Show, The Kathy Kallick Band, and that gentleman of bluegrass, Bill Clifton.

A broad spectrum of bluegrass in this week’s show, and there’ll be something for all musical tastes, I’m sure. The Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band kick-off (well, they would if it was a rugby match), then we’ve got Chris Jones and the Night riders, Tony rice & David Grisman, Missy Raines & Alleghany, and the East Tennessee State University band to follow. JD Crowe, Joe K Walsh and even the Hamilton County Bluegrass Band get to play a song. Lots to enjoy.

Mid-winter here in NZ, but this show has nothing to do with the season. All year round, it’s great to listen to bluegrass music, and there’s plenty of it here. The Lost Pines from Texas, the Earls of Leicester, Chad Manning, Claire Lynch, and the Osborne Bros get us started, then there’s Longview, Mike Auldridge, and the Bluegrass Album Band. I’ve also featured a new single from NZ band You Me Everybody, which has only recently been released.

I’ve just received the brand-new album from Seth Mulder & Midnight Run from Rebel Records, and it’s a beauty. I play a couple of tracks from it. I’ve also featured some music from the Lynn Morris Band, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys (the track I didn’t get to play last week!) and the Price Sisters. Doc Watson with Flatt & Scruggs play a tune, and Curly Seckler (former F&S alumni) sings a great tune with the Shenandoah Cut-Ups. Aussie friend Pete Denahy sings about a hanging (150 years ago) and Marc Bolen picks an unusual banjo tune he wrote. Lots of great music.

Larry Sparks kicks off today’s show, followed by a great bunch of performers including the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, John Hickman, the Kruger Brothers, Bob Baker, and Double Overtime. We have some new music from Irish band Whistle, and some from NZ’s Pipi Pickers.

All sorts of bluegrass and allied music in this week’s show, from Laurie Lewis’s ‘Nashville’ recordings to Snuffy Jenkins and some ‘pre-bluegrass’ sounds. Here you’ll find the Stanley Brothers, Patty Loveless, Del McCoury Band, Tony Ellis, Nothing Fancy, and some HCBB fiddling and Trenwiths’ original songs. Have a listen!

I’ve just returned from a week in Australia with friends, so there’s some music from these friends included in the show, as well as some from ‘regular’ artists – like Cumberland Gap Connection, Special Consensus, Kay Armstrong, Flatt & Scruggs, Skaggs & Rice, Joe Mullins, and a fiddle tune from Corrina Rose Logston. My Aussie friends in ‘Country Sound’ get to feature in a couple of tracks. All great listening.

May is NZ Music Month, and I’m playing some early NZ bluegrass from the 1960s and ‘70s. Groups include the HCBB, excerpts from the National Banjo Pickers’ conventions of 1968 and 1969, the Beale St String Stretchers, Phil Garland, and Colleen Trenwith.