The 2nd Annual Upper Valley Bluegrass Festival opened at the Lebanon Opera House on Friday night with performances by Rhonda Vincent & The Rage and The Jerry Douglas Band. The bitter cold did nothing to keep the near sell-out crowd of about 800 people from filling the large, yet intimate, auditorium. Lebanon Opera House is located in City Hall on the pleasant and picturesque town square of Lebanon, NH.
Nearing the end of a long season, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage gave another one of their first rate performances, although seeming a little tired and dispirited, perhaps partly because of the looming exit of longtime mainstay Kenny Ingram and fairly recent addition Darrell Webb, who are leaving the band. According to Ingram, the changes signal new, and as yet unspecified, directions for the band. Aaron McDaris, formerly of the Grascals will be replacing Ingram. Webb will join Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper in January and is being replaced by Ben Helson from Ricky Skaggs’ band Kentucky Thunder. Read more »
The MerleFest 2009 lineup is out, jam-packed as usual with acoustic talent, and including some interesting new configurations but relatively few fresh faces. All told, more than 90 acts are on the bill for the April 23-26 festival, to be held for the 22nd year at Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro NC. There is also a tentative schedule posted for the Watson Stage, the festival's main venue, and on first glance most of headliners are also festival regulars or semi-regulars, though there is one important TBA remaining to be filled as the Sunday night closer.
Possibly the most interesting headline act is Travis Tritt and Jerry Douglas, who are scheduled to close the Watson Stage on Thursday evening. The festival has a penchant for booking the occasional mainstream country star, and Tritt certainly fits the description, but they try to present such performers in an acoustic context. I'm fairly sure Tritt has not played the festival before, and pairing him with festival favorite Douglas promises to yield the kind of chemistry MerleFest likes to produce. Read more »
Friday afternoon at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is becoming a don't-miss addition to the weekend extravaganza. It is also becoming the T-Bone Burnett slot, where artists working with the master producer get showcased, frequently with special guests.
Two years ago it was Elvis Costello with Emmylou Harris. Last year it was John Mellencamp and guests. This time, the pairing of Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant and country sweetheart Alison Krauss held down a great closing act for the first day of the festival.
This time there were no guest stars, though the touring band itself is star-laden with Burnett and the great Buddy Miller on guitars and versatile country instrumentalist Stuart Duncan on just about everything else. Dennis Crouch (bass) and Jay Bellerose (drums) round out the band. Read more »
Dobro great Jerry Douglas, who has appeared on more than 1500 recordings during a 33-year career, declared in his IBMA keynote address that bluegrass music is "in its best condition ever, with world-class talent showcased on the most prestigious stages."
While paying homage to the genre's historical greats, he said that the music continues to evolve with the current crop of artists. On the commercial side, he noted that recent years have brought great progress in terms of airplay and recognition in the wider world of country and popular music.
"We now have a market share of record sales in this country, not a big share, but we are now recognized," he said, pointing to Billboard's bluegrass charts as one milestone. Another example is that Grammy awards are given for legitimate bluegrass artists instead of country musicians who may have dabbled with traditional styles. Read more »
