I’ve known Harry for over 10 years, and he has continued to be a delight to watch perform. His laid-back, easy approach is certainly not inattentive, as proved by the precise and original playing he is known for. The band had a festival jam feel to it, with an ease associated with friends who play together often and can anticipate where the moment is going to go. This history of working together was particularly clear between Harry and his brother Jed Clark (guitar), swapping licks and jumping in on harmonies in perfect sync. Other band members Maddie Denton (fiddle), Cory Walker (banjo) and Nashville newcomer Travis Anderson (bass) supported in their own unique ways through a set list of jam classics, blending traditional and progressive bluegrass backgrounds with the confidence and command of seasoned performers. 

Harry’s relaxed singing, accented with the occasional off-handed yodel, was featured in ‘Rollin In My Sweet Baby’s Arms’, ‘Ghost of Eli Renfro’, ‘Darlin’ Corey’, ‘Cold Rain & Snow’ and his signature jam hit ‘Rovin’ Gambler.’ A thoughtful approach was given to Larry Sparks’ retrospective ‘Timberline’, followed by stout harmonies from Jed Clark and Maddie Denton on the historic ‘Train On The Island’. Jed, Maddie and Cory were highlighted on instrumentals throughout the night beside Harry, showcasing veteran competition chops with polish and flair that can only come from complete command of and familiarity with one’s instrument.

The Station Inn is always a fun place to go, particularly when young, fresh musicians with serious skills are performing. You can catch Harry on the road with The Wooks and The 432 Sessions Band.

All photography courtesy of StationInnTV.

The post Show Review: Harry Clark & Friends @ Station Inn 12/11/19 appeared first on AcoustiCult.

Glad to be here with you, Jed! I’m a big fan of your playing, as you know. And I’m excited about what AcoustiCult is doing for the scene! I live in Mount Juliet, TN, just east of Nashville. I’d mostly call myself a teacher and content creator. I have a studio at my house (an old cabin built in 1830) where I create videos and try to help people all over the world fall more in love with bluegrass and acoustic music.

JED: You’ve recently become a sponsor of AcoustiCult. What was it about AcoustiCult that made you want to be involved?

I love supporting anything that promotes awareness of bluegrass and all the incredible pickers within this genre. I believe we all benefit when the world learns a little more about bluegrass. The more I’m around this music, the more I’m amazed at all the talent. I believe the world’s best musicians are bluegrass musicians and I want their stories told. Y’all do such a great job of that! So I’m honored to have my brand associated with AcoustiCult, helping to shine a spotlight on this craft we all love.

JED: Tell us a little bit about your beginnings. Your origin story, so to speak. You’re a Texas native right?

I grew up on a 5th generation family farm in east Texas. It was a quite a diverse upbringing. My mom’s folks were well-known classical musicians and farmers and my dad worked a refinery and the farm. I grew up practicing Bach et al. on the piano a couple hours a day, then running cows and farming with Daddy when not in school. It was incredibly unique and I wouldn’t trade a single second of it.

JED: That sounds incredibly unique. Having the discipline of a classical music background paired with the character-building lessons of life on a farm sounds like a busy (and very well-rounded) life! How did you get into bluegrass music?

Where I grew up in east Texas there wasn’t a bluegrass scene. One festival did start up in nearby Overton, Texas. My parents would go, but I was in high school and more into Metallica. They finally convinced me to go and I saw Chris Jones perform. His guitar playing and expression mesmerized me. Looking back, Chris’ music is probably what started my pursuit of bluegrass. I also saw Matt Menefee play banjo with his family band–man! He was just a kid and I remember wishing Mama had started me on banjo instead of Bach. A couple years later I saw J.D. Crowe play in Overton and that was all she wrote. I was smitten.

JED: You attended South Plains College in Levelland Texas. What made you decide to pursue acoustic music on a collegiate level and how did you end up there?

I first heard of South Plains when I attended the Overton festival that first year. Some of the performing musicians that weekend were SPC alumni and studied under Joe Carr and Alan Munde. They were such good pickers and I remember thinking: “You can go to school and study banjo? And play like these folks?” I never forgot that. I went on to study entomology at Texas A&M and pursued forensics in grad school, but the love for banjo and bluegrass grew. While slaving over a morphology term paper late one night, I made up my mind to switch gears. I dropped out of grad school the next month, enrolled in South Plains, and never looked back.

JED: I had no idea that you’d originally taken a more traditional college route before attending SPC! So after college did you make a bee-line for Nashville?

Yeah, though I’ve never formally used my A&M education, I’m still thankful for it. If nothing else, A&M taught me more discipline. When I got to South Plains I knew I only had a couple years to soak up what Alan, Joe, and the other profs could teach me. I didn’t have time to jack around. I wanted to go to Nashville but I was so far behind other pickers my age. I treated those two years like a full time job. I literally played, practiced, and wrote for 8 hours a day, most every day, for two years. It was such an amazing education! I knew that Nashville was going to require me to be diverse, so I also used the time at SPC to get my piano chops back. 

JED: Who are some of the notable artists you worked for when you first came to town? I know you worked for Taylor Swift for a time.

My first gig with a known artist was Lila McCann. We flew all over doing acoustic radio gigs and I played guitar and sang harmony for her. My first “tour bus” gig was a fill in spot on piano for American Idol finalist Josh Gracin. I just subbed for the weekend on keys but I also carried my banjo. Josh loved the banjo, and even though he had already hired another piano player, he offered me a utility musician gig playing guitar, banjo, and mandolin. That led to a piano/banjo/mandolin gig with Grand Ole Opry member Craig Morgan. Then I got a call from a friend who was bandleader for a brand new artist, some 16-year-old chick that had landed an opening spot on tour with George Strait. As a Texan, that was tough to turn down, so I accepted the spot with Taylor Swift and toured the world with her over the next few years playing mandolin/banjo/guitar/piano/dobro and singing harmonies.

JED: What made you decide to get off of the road?

Oh man, I reckon a combination of things. When I started with Taylor she was a brand new artist. When I quit, she was the #1 selling artist in the world. What a ride! The Taylor gig allowed me something special, which was to experience most everything a touring musician dreamed to experience. If you can name the TV or awards show, we played it, and probably more than once. I even played banjo with Def Leppard…what?! Though those experiences were incredible and I’m so very thankful for them, I discovered that my worth was not in that gig. I was conflicted because I knew there was something else for me to do, but I didn’t have a clue what it was. I was also really missing bluegrass and acoustic music. Through a crazy series of events I got offered a songwriting contract with Sony, so I put in my notice with Taylor and came off the road to write songs.

JED: What made you decide to start offering lessons online? How did you get started doing that?

A road gig has a lot of downtime. I was playing pop country every night with Taylor, but my heart was in love with bluegrass. I didn’t grow up with bluegrass and I was trying to learn all I could, especially flatpicking. I searched everywhere for more instruction, and was disappointed that there wasn’t much out there–not yet, anyway. I made a promise to myself that if I ever figured out where to put my fingers, I’d make videos to hopefully show other people how to do it, too.

JED: Did you start on YouTube?

Yep, I did. I created my channel way back in 2006. I had no idea what YouTube would become, and I surely didn’t imagine anyone would watch my silly videos (hence the big dip of snuff in my mouth in the early days). After a couple videos went “viral” I started getting requests from folks to teach more tunes and licks. That just grew and grew, until I wondered if I could maybe even do it for a living. I still put videos out on YouTube every week, 13 years later! And I’ve quit dipping snuff.

JED: Did you have a mentor or anyone helping you through all of this?

Besides the support of my awesome wife, I didn’t. YouTube began in 2005, and I started creating content just a year later. There weren’t a lot of folks doing it in those days. There sure wasn’t near the amount of content there is now. I wish I did have someone to ask for help! It would have kept me from making lots of mistakes and saved me some bucks, that’s for sure.

JED: How long have you been providing lessons online?

Wow, I had to do the math, but I’ve had a website for 10 years. I started with YouTube in 2006, but in 2010 I humbly asked my YouTube patrons to support my content creation on the website. They did, and here I am a decade later. I’m extremely thankful for those folks that believe in what I do.

JED: In the last few years you’ve branched out to also having an online retail outlet for acoustic instruments. Jake Stogdill manages that division of your business in South-Western Missouri. I know he worked at Janet Davis Music Company for a long time before they went out of business, but how did you end up meeting him?

That’s a long story, but I knew who Jake was from the JDMC product videos on YouTube. I thought he was hilarious and a great picker. I always thought, “Me and that guy would be friends.” JDMC closed down a couple years ago, right about the time Jake tragically lost his dad. I sent a Facebook message to Jake letting him know I was praying for him and that began a friendship. We would meet face to face just a couple weeks later.

JED: How did the store originate?

I wanted to open a store for years. It just made sense, you know? I had these students who were looking for a trustworthy place to buy their gear. They’d constantly ask me where and what to buy, but I didn’t know exactly where to send them. My dream was to offer my students a place to buy gear from someone they could trust, but I honestly didn’t have the retail knowledge or time to spend building something like that. That’s where Jake enters the picture again. Just a couple weeks after we first talked, we had lunch in Missouri. It was somewhat a chance encounter. My wife’s family took a vacation to Table Rock Lake and I found out Jake lived nearby. As we ate lunch, I learned more about JDMC closing down and him losing his job. He didn’t know exactly what he was going to do. I told Jake that day at lunch that I wanted to open a store, and he told me he knew how to do it. We shook hands and Banjo Ben’s General Store was born. We make a great team, and that guy has become like a brother to me. One thing is for sure, the store would be impossible without Jake (and his wife, Michelle!).

JED: Jake is fantastic. My brother and I went and spent the weekend with him years ago to record some music for an album he was making. I don’t remember what tunes we recorded, but I do remember that I hadn’t laughed that hard in a really long time; he’s hilarious. Stepping away from the store for a minute, tell me who are 3 musicians that you’ve run across in your musical travels that you think are underrated or deserve more notoriety for their art?

Wow, what a great question! I could name thirty instead of three. I’d have to say that Robby Boone of Missouri is one of the best banjo players on earth. He’s in a new band called Route 3 that y’all have to check out. They have a debut album just released that was produced by Clay Hess–it’s stellar. Another favorite picker of mine is Carl Miner. Folks know who Carl is and he does tons of session work in Nashville, but I don’t hear his name enough when top flatpickers are talked about. He’s a wizard and one of the most humble and gracious guys I know. Finally, I’d have to say Dennis Parker. Dennis plays in [Ricky] Skaggs’ band. I know Kentucky Thunder has notoriety, but Dennis is one of the best all-around artists and musicians that Nashville has ever seen. He plays mainly rhythm guitar in KT, but that guy is as good as it gets with just about everything he picks up. Go check him out on facebook. I was blessed to co-produce his latest album, “Songs Under the Air-Conditioner Unit.”

JED: What are you currently working on?

I’m just about always up to something new, haha. We have Cyber Monday coming up at the General Store and that’s requiring all of our attention. The store has grown so much in two years…we’re just blown away by all your support (thank you!). I’m always churning out new lessons for banjo, guitar, and mandolin at BanjoBenClark.com. Otherwise, I’m producing a few music projects for folks here and there, about to start a new website project to launch next year, and my Cabin Camps have really started to grow. Fun and crazy times!

JED: Gracious you are busy man! Well thank you for taking the time to chat with me about your story and the latest and greatest from your corner of the world.

Banjo Ben’s Lesson Site
Banjo Ben’s General Store
Banjo Ben’s Facebook
Ben’s Instagram
Banjo Ben’s YouTube

The post Banjo Ben Clark appeared first on AcoustiCult.

A fresh face on stage was immediately noticed by long-time fans of The Rage. British Columbia native Michael Kilby filled in for regular Rage dobro player Brent Burke, as smoothly as can be expected for an apparently last-minute call. Kilby also supplied a third fiddle voice to ‘Last Best Place’ and ‘Just Someone I Used To Know’, filling out instrumentals to match the in-your-face harmonies from Vincent, Harris and Williams. Whether this is a long-term fill-in or very temporary, hopefully we will see more of this promising young instrumentalist soon.

Vincent’s famous bus rolled out of the American Legion fairly soon after the show to make its way to South Carolina and Pennsylvania, reminding us that a queen’s work is never done. Rhonda Vincent and The Rage will be featured next week on the Wednesday night Grand Ole Opry show here in Nashville. For tickets visit www.opry.com, or to listen online go to www.wsmonline.com.

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Happy Halloween! I’m looking forward to sharing some music history with you on Acousticult. For my first write-up I thought I’d list some of my favourite “Hillbilly” Halloween songs to get you in the mood.

Since before the needle first dropped on shellac, people have been diggin’ spooky songs and this list is a fun one full of Western Swing, Honky-tonk, Hillbilly and Ragtime horrors. Enjoy!

Yours in music,

Stu

Cecil Campbell’s Tennessee Ramblers – Spookie Boogie

Happy Wilson – Haunted House Boogie

Hank Thompson – I Cast A Lonesome Shadow

Fairley Holden – Graveyard Light

Billy Strange – Hell Train

Pee Wee King – Keep Them Cold Icy Fingers Off Of Me

Phil Morgan – Tennessee Hill-billy Ghost

Hank Snow – Ghost Trains

Merle Kilgore – The Bell Witch 

New Dixie Demons – ‘Taint A Fit Night Out For Man Or Beast

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Tired of touring, Johnson and Burch left the band and were promptly replaced by Bela Fleck and Pat Flynn. Pat Flynn, an experienced singer-songwriter whose resume included work with the Beatles and other known talents pushed New Grass Revival into their peak performance throughout the 1980’s and became the brand name band associated with progressive bluegrass. Through this decade of transformation, the group produced an additional four studio albums and one live album. The last album, Friday Night in America debuted the group’s first Billboard Top 40 hit “Callin’ Baton Rouge” which hit number thirty-seven on the list. When it appeared as though New Grass Revival was at its peak, Bush made the decision to separate himself and form his own group which ultimately led to the breakup of the band.

As New Grass Revival matured so too did the subgenre of progressive bluegrass. Progressive bluegrass, known differently from its parent genre of bluegrass differs in the fact that it incorporates electrical instruments and songs or styles from other music genres. New Grass Revival played a major role in the evolutionary explosion of progressive bluegrass by incorporating first the electric bass and giving a progressive bluegrass taste of covered songs such as “One Love” by Bob Marley, and “Great Balls of Fire” by Jerry Lee Lewis. Across the entirety of their discography it is easy to see the many instances in which New Grass Revival borrowed and covered songs from music styles such as country, jazz, reggae, and rock.

Although progressive bluegrass is not as widely followed as other popular music genres, New Grass Revival made a niche for themselves and are well known as the premiere progressive bluegrass band by many in the music world. During its eighteen-year existence, the band produced a total of nine studio albums and two live albums, they received both Best Band and Best Album awards in 1988 from Fret Magazine and placed on the Billboard Top 100 six times and the Top 40 one time.

Although time has passed since New Grass Revival has performed or recorded anything their influence on progressive bluegrass, and to an extent on bluegrass remains profound. For anyone seeking a unique style of music that incorporates a multitude of genres and subgenres, New Grass Revival is certainly worth giving a listen to.

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The name “The Seldom Scene” came about when a friend of a band member jokingly suggested that they call themselves “the seldom seen” as he didn’t believe the band would establish any successful following. The band leader liked the name and it stuck, and the band is attributed with applying being “seldom seen” as a philosophy by having a light touring schedule. Regardless, the world came to know The Seldom Scene as one of the best examples of quality bluegrass music.

The band plays bluegrass versions of popular country, pop, and rock songs and each performance has a certain laid-back vibe, representing the band’s easy-going atmosphere. They are also praised for their pioneering role in the ‘new grass’ bluegrass movement which blended the original bluegrass sounds with more urban music genres.

Among the twenty one albums in their discography (many of which were produced under either the labels Sugar Hill or Rebel), “Little Georgia Rose” and “Wait a Minute” stand out as fan favorites. For 25 years, The Seldom Scene was one of the most famous bands in bluegrass until the death of John Duffey in 1996. Though the band seemed destined to split, Seldom Scene was too popular to disband. The band had experienced the arrival and departure of many members during its lifespan and while Duffey’s death was a hard blow, they forged on.

In more recent years the band has received two awards. Both of these awards were received in 2015, one being the Independent Music Award for Best Album in Bluegrass and the other being the Independent Music Award for Best Song in Bluegrass. They’ve also been nominated for 4 Grammy Awards. Despite such a long presence in the spotlight, Seldom Scene’s popularity is as strong as ever within the bluegrass circle.

Today, Seldom Scene is made up of none of its founding members but they still play all of the old favorites and continue to keep the band’s music and lifestyle alive for all to enjoy. The newest members of the band include Lou Reid as the lead vocalist, Dudley Connell on the guitar and vocals, Ronnie Simpkins playing the bass, dobro covered by Fred Travers, and Ron Stewart on the banjo and fiddle. The Seldom Scene recently released a new album called “Changes” in June of 2019 and they are currently on tour throughout the rest of 2019.

The 49-year old progressive bluegrass band still draws crowds and brings new listeners to the genre. Continuing to experiment with the genre, the band still tries to add new spins to their music by adding such influences as Jazz and Americana music. The Seldom Scene will go down in music history as innovators of the genre, sure to inspire the many bluegrass bands to follow.

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Attending Antioch College in Ohio, Gerrard befriended a group of fellow students living in her dorm who loved folk music. It was there that she was first introduced to Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music. Later in her career, Gerrard would say that it was this introduction to the “stark music and dark themes” of the anthology that inspired her to pick up a guitar and learn to play. Upon graduating college and moving to Washington D.C., Gerrard quickly found herself enveloped in the area’s passionate folk music community.

It was within the nation’s capital that she became more familiar with the bluegrass subgenre in particular. Gerrard met Hazel Dickens, a folk singer from West Virginia who shared her passion for folk music- the classic Appalachian style in particular. In forming a bond based around their common interests, Gerrard and Dickens found that they harmonized well together and decided to play shows together in the Baltimore area where they quickly rose to success.

In 1965, Gerrard and Dickens finally had their first recording session at a church in D.C., backed by the musical talents of Lamar Grier (banjo), David Grisman (mandolin), and both Billy Baker and Chubby Wise on fiddles. This first recording was a set of traditionally styled folk classics that would later be released under the title, Who’s That Knocking. This first release would ordain Gerrard and Dickens as the first “female-led act in bluegrass” while also becoming a key influence of many folk music artists to follow such as Gillian Welch and Emmylou Harris.

It wouldn’t be until 1973 when a second LP, titled Won’t You Come and Sign For Me, was released that Gerrard would begin her rise to true fame within the bluegrass genre. Alice and Hazel (1973) and Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard (1976) would be added to the duo’s discography and all four albums would later be included in a CD set titled, Pioneering Women of Bluegrass in 1996. 

Gerrard would branch off from Dickens at the start of the 80’s and while she recorded yet another album with folk artist Mike Seeger, Gerrard spent this decade investing her talents into other creative outlets. Ever the folk music lover, Gerrard became an editor for The Old-Time Herald- a magazine focused around the bluegrass genre. She would also direct the documentary, Sprout Wings and Fly, a documentary about the legendary Appalachian fiddler, Tommy Jarrell. 

Although Gerrard took a break from the musical spotlight, she made her return as a solo artist in 1994 with the release of Pieces of My Heart. In the remainder of her musical career, she would release a whopping five additional bluegrass albums from 1998 to 2005. Four of these albums were created alongside multi-instrumentalists Tom Sauber and Brad Leftwich with the creation of the trio, Tom, Brad, & Alice while Calling Me Home: Songs of Love and Loss, released in 2002, would be Gerrard’s second solo album. 

With the release of Tom, Brad, & Alice’s last album in 2005, Gerrard turned her attention primarily on her pursuits as an academic educator. She would teach music and folklore at Duke University in North Carolina until meeting a student, M.C. Taylor, who had been a fan of her earlier recordings with Hazel Dickens. Taylor would turn out to also be a talented musician and would offer to produce an album for Gerrard, resulting in 2014’s Follow the Music. Gerard’s most recent album, Tear Down the Fences, was released in 2017.

With a career spanning decades, Gerrard earned her place in bluegrass music history as a pioneering woman of the genre. Displaying her love of folk music, she also put her other creative talents into various projects that would touch the lives of bluegrass fans everywhere. Hailed as a treasure in the bluegrass community, Gerrard’s art will prove influential for bluegrass artists for many years to come.

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