Poll: When should winter seasonal, holiday & Christmas recordings be reviewed?

Due to Dirty Linen’s publication schedule, it is nearly impossible to publish reviews of the winter holiday releases during the same year they are released. Do you prefer to have the holiday music lumped together into one column, published in the issue closest to the holiday season (even if it’s a year later), or would you prefer to see them scattered throughout the year, even if it means reading holiday reviews in May?

Dr. Banjo Presents 25th Anniversary of Winter Banjo Camps January, 2010

Renowned banjo player and teacher, Pete “Dr. Banjo” Wernick will offer his 25th Anniversary Winter Banjo Camps January, 2010 at the Boulder Inn in Boulder, Colorado. Each of the three “full immersion” weeks is geared to different experience levels. For complete information, visit www.DrBanjo.com.

The 2010 Banjo Camps Schedule:
Jan 4-9: Basic Skills Banjo Camp
Jan 11-16: Intermediate Banjo Camp
Jan 18-23: Advanced Banjo Camp

“My camps are about fun, but also about real results,” says Wernick.

MerleFest Announces Line-Up, Tickets On Sale Tomorrow!

MerleFest 2010, presented by Lowe’s and slated for April 29 -May 2, is proud to announce the line up for the event’s 23rd year.  The following artists will join host Doc Watson on the campus of Wilkes Community College for a celebration of “traditional-plus” music­a term Doc coined to describe the unique mix of traditional, roots-oriented sounds of the Appalachian region, including bluegrass and old-time music, and expanded to include Americana, country, “plus whatever other styles we were in the mood to play.”

Grasstowne Releases The Other Side of Towne

Grasstowne’s lead singer, Steve Gulley, is hoping their cleverly titled brand new sophomore release, The Other Side of Towne, does just what this band of veteran players intended for it to do when they were recording the project – define who Grasstowne is as a band and solidify their indentifiable sound.  Early indications are that it is doing just that.

The Other Side of Towne showcases their musical voice as a band, and shares exactly who they are and what they sound like live.  Gulley says, “We were very proud of our first album, but The Other Side of Towne really speaks to who we are.  It defines who we’ve become as a group,” he says.

Grasstowne’s sophomore release hits streets today and features the group’s identifiable instrumentation and vocals with Phil Leadbetter on dobro, Alan Bibey on mandolin and vocals, Jason Davis on banjo, Dale Perry on bass and vocals, and guitarist and lead singer Steve Gulley pulling every ounce of emotion available from each and every lyric.

Lifting Up a Shot of Pure Grain Cesaria

Cesaria Evora has overcome poverty, a revolution, and even a recent stroke to become a national treasure of Cape Verde and uphold her reputation as an increasingly adventurous icon of world music. On her latest album, Nha Sentimento (digital release October 24, 2009; Lusafrica), Cesaria ventures further afield than ever before, twisting Arabic musical traditions into bluesy, sinuous compositions from some of Cape Verde’s best songwriters.

Perhaps this is the spirit of morabeza, the warm welcome Cape Verdeans are known to give to visitors of their homes and of their country. “We are a people who like to be sympathetic with other people,” Cesaria explains. “It doesn’t matter where you come from, who you are… dress doesn’t matter, the color of your skin… what we like to do is to make you feel at home. That is morabeza .” As the lyrics of “Parceria E Irmandade say, “Morabeza is our essence//It’s our lifeblood, it’s not oil//It’s our happiness smiling//It’s a tear of sodade.”

Anne Hills Wins Best of Bound For Glory Award

Photo by Irene Young

Between sets of the October 18th live broadcast of WVBR’s  Bound For Glory, host and founder Phil Shapiro announced that the excellent Pennsylvania based singer, songwriter, and song sharer Anne Hills has won the Eleventh Annual Best of Bound for Glory Award.  The award recognizes fans’ favorite from the recently concluded 42nd season of this Sunday night Ithaca, NY staple.  Bound for Glory is North America’s longest running live folk concert broadcast.

The members of the Friends of Bound for Glory have honored a well beloved veteran of the North American folk scene this year.  Anne Hills’ career started in Chicago in 1976, and she never looked back.  Anne Hills couples a crystal clear voice with an ear for a great song.  She’s a fine writer as well, and a wonderful performer, with a great sparkle and smile.

It’s Time to Apply!

BLUEGRASS BANDS FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD: Join us at the EWOB Festival 2010 in Voorthuizen,
the Netherlands.

The European World of Bluegrass Festival is one of the world’s coolest festivals!

• Featuring 42 bands in 3 fun-filled days
• Including a few special guest artists from the USA & Canada
• European Bluegrass Band Awards competition
• Winners are chosen BY THE MUSICIANS!
• #1 European Bluegrass Band goes to Nashville to play at IBMA World of Bluegrass one year later
• Be part of EWOB’s famous workshop program
• Bands get to play for many festival & concert promoters
• Music press from the USA and Europe
• Bluegrass radio DJs

Applications are online RIGHT NOW at www.ewob.eu!
Don’t miss your chance to be part of this unique event.

Submitted by Liz Meyer

Interview with Dirty Linen editor Paul Hartman

Pop culture interviewer Tim O’Shea asks Dirty Linen editor Paul Hartman questions on Talking With Tim.

50th Annual University of Chicago Folk Festival February 12-14, 2010

50 years ago, emcee Studs Terkel introduced the original lineup of the New Lost City Ramblers to a packed auditorium during a January snowstorm.  The student-run festival will celebrate its 50th Festival 12-14 February 2010 in Mandel Hall on the University of Chicago campus.  The program will consist of three evening concerts, featuring the James King bluegrass band and the New Mules old time string band, with other artists to be named soon.  Daytime activities are free and include dances, mini-concerts, in-depth instrumental and vocal sessions with the artists and ubiquitous jam sessions of many descriptions.  There is also a dedicated track for children.

The Folklore Society is a registered student organization, which produces the folk festival and several other events throughout the year on campus.  The Society has been in existence since the early 1950s, although the first festival did not take place until the height of the folk revival in 1960.

2nd International Body Music Festival Returns December 1

If you have ever gone on an obsessive search of a sound or song whose name and origin you didn’t know, you might relate to Keith Terry, the director of the International Body Music Festival, which returns for its second year to the San Francisco Bay Area, December 1-6, 2009. In fact, his obsession runs so deep that last year he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, the first to go to a body musician, someone who makes music purely with their body. This year the Festival director has tracked down human beatboxers, a flamenco duo, a highly rhythmic Cuban a capella group, Peruvian zapateo , and a sound Terry has heard for years and will spotlight.

“There’s a distinctive clapping style from North Africa to the Persian Gulf ,” Terry says. “You get a high popping sound when you spread your fingers and keep your hands parallel. And they clap intricate interlocking rhythms.” The Festival brings together a group of performers of this style, using contacts within the Arab music community to scour for performers of this form. The ensemble will perform back to back with Silvia Moreno Gil and Fátima Moreno González, two well-known Spanish flamenco dancers who dance, sing, and perform the distinctive flamenco clapping style known as palmas . By putting the two groups side-by-side, the Festival invites listeners to ponder the Moorish connection between Arabic clapping and  flamenco’s palmas.

Grammy Awards Add American Roots Music Category

The Grammy Awards have added FIELD 13

- American Roots Music Category -

The Roots Category encompasses the following that are to be awarded.

. Americana Album

. Bluegrass Album

. Traditional Blues Album

. Contemporary Blues Album

. Traditional Folk Album

. Contemporary Folk Album

. Hawaiian Music Album

. Native American Music Album

. Zydeco or Cajun Music Album

It has been several years of hard work promoting Roots Music as a musical format and its great to see the artists, labels, promotion folks and radio stations that support Roots Music getting additional truly deserved acknowledgment.

Submitted by Roots Music Group