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News
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The Hot Club of Cowtown
and Riders in the Sky corralled five Western Music Association
Awards, November 14, in Las Vegas. The Hot Club won Best Western
Swing Duo/Group and the Crescendo Award for emerging artists. Riders
in the Sky took home Best Traditional Western Album for A Pair
of Kings and their second consecutive Entertainer of the Year
award. Riders accordionist Joey "the Cow Polka King" Miskulin won
Instrumentalist of the Year. The WMA commemorated the comedic cowboy
quartet's silver anniversary the following evening with a roast
and tribute dinner.
The Michele Pittaluga
International Guitar Competition ended September 27 in Alessandria,
Italy, with a surprising result: no first prize was awarded. Semifinalist
Enea Leone of Italy was disqualified for using sheet music in the
final round, and judges gave second place to Italy's Christian Saggese
and third place to Ukraine's Roman Viazovskiy. Polish guitarist
Marcin Dylla was awarded the Chitarra d'oro for the most promising
young guitarist.
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Events
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Carlsbad, California's
Museum of Making Music presents String Fever: A Century of
Guitar Fascination from March 8 to November 30. The series
of exhibits is divided into three segments: Handcrafted Artistry
(starting March 8) showcases archtop guitars, Wood Vibrations
(starting June 7) concentrates on acoustic guitars after 1900 and
includes a special exhibit of Martin instruments, and The Eclectic
Electric (starting September 5) examines amplified instruments.
For information, go to www.museumofmakingmusic.org.
Immerse yourself in
native Louisiana music, dance, language, cuisine, and culture at
the Dewey Balfa Cajun and Creole Heritage Week, April 14—21,
at Lake Fausse Pointe State Park, Louisiana. Attendees can take
classes in accordion, fiddle, and guitar and participate in frequent
after-hours jam sessions. For information, go to www.lafolkroots.org.
More than 120 musical
acts will perform at Atlanta, Georgia's Music Midtown Festival,
May 2—4. The festival, in its tenth year, is held on a 40-acre
complex and hosts 11 stages. For information, go to www.musicmidtown.com.
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New
Releases
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Catalyst/Signature Sounds
recently released Respond II (www.respondproject.org),
a two-CD compilation of songs by female musicians including Joan
Baez, Jonatha Brooke, Neko Case, Ani DiFranco, Bebel Gilberto, Patty
Griffin, the Indigo Girls, Julie Miller, Dolly Parton, and Suzanne
Vega. All proceeds from Respond II's sale will be donated
to Respond, Inc., and the Family Violence Protection Fund to benefit
families affected by domestic violence.
The Ballad of
Bering Strait chronicles the journey of six young, classically-trained
musicians of Russian country band Bering Strait from record deal
to record, and all the label mergers, label collapses, and visa
problems they encountered in between. The 90-minute documentary
began appearing in theaters in late February and will air on CMT
in April. Their self-titled debut CD was released on Universal South
in January.
Chapter II, the
second adult literacy benefit CD released by Songs Inspired by Literature
(www.siblproject.org)
features music by Tom Waits, David Bowie, and Steve Earle
in addition to the ten winners of the Project's annual songwriting
contest. The grand prize winner of the 2002 awards was Dee Adams
of Rochester, New York.
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In
Memory
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Jim McReynolds,
of the bluegrass duo Jim and Jesse, died December 31, 2002, in Gallatin,
Tennessee, at age 75. Jim's clear, high tenor and rhythm guitar
complemented his brother Jesse's lead vocals and cross-picked mandolin
to create the duo's unique sound, as heard on "Are You Missing Me,"
"The Flame of Love," and their biggest hit, 1967's "Diesel on My
Tail." Although deeply rooted in bluegrass, the duo pushed musical
boundaries, experimenting with percussion and recording an album
of Chuck Berry songs, Berry Pickin' in the Country.
Lovin' Spoonful guitarist
Zal Yanovsky suffered a fatal heart attack on December 13,
2002, at his farm outside Kingston, Ontario. The short-lived Spoonful
charted seven Billboard Top-10 hits, including "Summer in
the City," "Daydream," and "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?"
in less than two years. After the band broke up, Yanovsky briefly
pursued a solo recording career before moving to Kingston, where
he opened a restaurant with his wife.
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Cyber
Notes
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In November, the New
York Foundation for the Arts (www.nyfa.org)
debuted NYFA Source, a free online database of over 2,600 grants
and awards programs, 2,000 services, and 700 publications for
artists in dance, music, folk/traditional art, theater, performance
art, design, media, and literary arts.
Guitarists whose musical
tastes lean toward the Polynesian can visit www.taropatch.net,
a site dedicated to Hawaiian slack-key music. The site features
resources for learning slack-key (including a list of tunings),
a message board, and news headlines to bring you a little bit closer
to the 50th state.
The New England Conservatory
Job Bulletin is a biweekly email listing hundreds of positions
in music performance, teaching, and arts administration worldwide.
A subscription costs $35 per year. To view samples of the bulletin,
go to www.newenglandconservatory.edu/career.
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Meet
A.G.
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Click
here to meet the Acoustic Guitar team at a wide variety upcoming
music events and trade shows. Listed below are some things happening
in the next few weeks.
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Excerpted from Acoustic
Guitar magazine, April
2003, No. 124.
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Got some news? Send it to Happenings, Acoustic
Guitar, PO Box 767, San Anselmo, CA 94979-0767; email happenings.ag@stringletter.com;
or fax (415) 485-0831.
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