Tom Adams, lead singer and guitarist with Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, is the new webmaster for The Banjo Newsletter. Adams has written a banjo column for the magazine for more than 10 years.
The Cumberland River Academy of Bluegrass & Appalachian Music has opened in Pineville, Ky. Three-time IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year Dale Ann Bradley will serve as an instructor, along with Steve Gulley, Don Gulley, Ben Jenkins, Darron Nichols, Vanessa Nichols, Meri Risner and Larry Carter. Classes will be offered on guitar, banjo, fiddle, acoustic bass, mandolin, piano, voice, songwriting, mountain dance and clogging. Lessons are available for beginning through advanced levels, age 8 – adult. The school also plans to host a three-day music camp in the spring of 2011. In an article in The Tennessean, Steve Gulley said he hopes the academy will “create an atmosphere and an outlet for the mountain kids that need it so desperately.”
The International Bluegrass Music Museum is pleased to partner with the National Endowment for the Arts by participating in the Blue Star Museums program—a partnership with more than 600 museums across America to offer free admission to active duty military personnel and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day, 2010. Info: www.arts.gov
Ronnie Bowman and Dan Tyminski will be instructors at a three and a half day intensive workshop on songwriting, arrangement and production at the Mast Farm Inn in Valle Crucis, N.C., the first weekend of August, 2010. Henri Deschamps, the organizer of the Dan Tyminski-Ronnie Bowman Session, is hoping to attract 12 young, up-and-coming students who already have a fundamental knowledge and commitment to bluegrass music, and who are planning to have careers as bluegrass artists or songwriters.
Berklee College of Music offers more than 130 online courses and certificate programs in guitar, bass, voice, songwriting, music business, music production, music theory, orchestration, arranging, film music and ear training. To check out a sample course, go to www.berkleemusic.com/welcome/samplesourse?pid=3169. Their new term begins June 28, 2010.
Bluegrass was well represented at the 27th Annual International Country Music Conference May 27-28 at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. Presentations included “North Georgia Bluegrass pioneer Robert A. “Tut” Taylor” from Dr. Bill Brown & Mike Fleming, “William Smith Monroe: W.J. Cash’s Prototypical Southern ‘Man at the Center,’” by Dr. Lance Kniney; “Gestural Translation and Innovation in Bluegrass Fiddle Tunes” from Dr. Joti Rockwell; “Bluegrass Gospel: The Music of Exiles” from Dr. Richard Stern; “Pranking and Tall Tale Telling within the Old-Time fiddling Tradition” from Dr. Gregory Hansen; “The Starday Story: Lefty Frizell, the Bluegrass Boom and the King Connection” from Nathan Gibson; and “We Hope You Have Been Amused: The Secret Weapons of Homer and Jethro’s Comedy,” from Karen Kaizor. Dr. Don Cusic, from Belmont, gave the keynote address: “Rounder Records at 40: History, Present and the Future. Jay Orr, from the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum, added comments on Rounder Records’ contributions, and two of the label’s co-founders were present: Marion Levy and Ken Irwin.
The Charles K. Wolfe Memorial panel discussion on May 28 was titled, “Bluegrass, A History: It’s History, Impact and Future,” in honor of the 25th anniversary of Dr. Neil Rosenberg’s book, published by the University of Illinois Press. Dr. Erika Brady was the moderator and panelists included Rosenberg, Murphy Henry, Kevin Kehrberg and Dr. David Royko. Barry Mazor received the Belmont Country Music book of the year Award for Meeting Jimmie Rodgers, published by Oxford University Press. The Charlie Lamb Excellence in Country Music Journalism Awards went to Derek Halsey (Contemporary Honoree) and Walt Trott (Career Award).
The Berea College Bluegrass Ensemble was founded in 1999 to give students the chance to play in a “working” bluegrass band. Founder, Al White has performed professionally and teaches Appalachian instruments at the college. Members are selected by audition, remain until they graduate, and earn academic credit for each semester. Current members include Will Haizlett, Darrin Hacquard, John Bradley, Andrew Taylor, Micah Ruell and White.
The Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum was forced to vacate their property in Nashville in February, seven days before the building was slated to be torn down to build a new convention center for the city. Many of the museum’s artifacts were temporarily stored at SoundCheck, a performance and storage space in Nashville near the Titans Stadium. Unfortunately, SoundCheck was a casualty of the recent flood in Nashville and many of the museum’s artifacts and instruments ended up under water. Anyone wishing to make financial contributions to assist in instrument restoration and flood recovery may send a check to the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum, PO Box 23655, Nashville, TN 37202. The group’s Induction Ceremony & Awards Show has been moved back to spring of 2011, while they focus on finding a new location and recover damaged artifacts. Record label executive and philanthropist, Mike Curb has provided temporary office space for the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum at the Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Business building at 34 Music Square East, in Nashville, Tenn.
Bassist Barry Bales has released his first teaching DVD, entitled A Solid Foundation to Acoustic Bass, published by AcuTab. Info: www.acutab.com