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News
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For
the second year in a row, acoustic music was a big winner at the Grammy
Awards. The Dixie Chicks garnered four awards, including Best
Country Album (Home), Best Country Performance by a Duo or
Group with Vocal ("Long Time Gone"), and Best Country Instrumental
("Lil' Jack Slade"). India.Arie won Best R&B Album for Voyage
to India and Best Urban/Alternative Performance for her song "Little
Things." John Mayer's "Your Body Is a Wonderland" was recognized
as Best Male Pop Vocal. Lost in the Lonesome Pines by Jim
Lauderdale, Ralph Stanley, and the Clinch Mountain Boys won Best
Bluegrass Album. Doc Watson and David Holt's Legacy
won Best Traditional Folk Album, and Nickel Creek took home
Best Contemporary Folk Album for This Side. A surprise winner
was the box set Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues: The Worlds of
Charley Patton, which scored a Grammy hat trick with Best Box
Set, Best Album Notes, and Best Historical Album.
Rhonda Vincent and
the Rage took home four awards at the Society for the Preservation
of Bluegrass Music in America awards show, February 2, in Nashville,
Tennessee. Vincent won top honors for Contemporary Female Vocalist
and Entertainer of the Year. Her bandmate, Hunter Berry, was named
Fiddler of the Year, and the band's tribute to Bill Monroe, "Is
the Grass Any Bluer?," was awarded Song of the Year. Rob Ickes
and John Chapman were named top instrumentalists for Dobro
and guitar, respectively, and James King's Thirty Years
of Farming was named Album of the Year.
Session musicians may
be entitled to part of a $3 million disbursement from the Sound
Recording Special Payments Fund. The fund, created by the American
Federation of Musicians and record labels, distributes millions
of dollars every year to supplement the scale wages paid at union
recording sessions. To register your claim, call toll-free (866)
711-FUND.
On May 13, Sotheby's
will auction off more than 150 guitars and basses that belonged
to Who bassist John Entwistle. The collection includes Entwistle's
favorite instrument, Frankenstein, a Fender Precision bass that
he constructed out of the remains of five smashed basses, as well
as clothing, rare posters, trumpets, and several full suits of armor.
Folk Alliance awarded
lifetime achievement awards to bluegrass singer and banjoist Ralph
Stanley, folk-blues guitarist Reverend Gary Davis, and
folk music magazine Sing Out! at its annual conference in
Nashville, Tennessee, February 6.
Andy Schmidt and Kevin
Gagnepain of Long Beach, California, won the International Songwriting
Competition's grand prize for their song "Skeletons." Sarah
Lewis of the band Jag Star won grand prize in the USA Songwriting
Competition, as well as first prize in the pop category, for
her song "Mouth," from the band's current release Crazy Place.
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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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Contests
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Step onto an old Hollywood
movie set for the Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest and Folk Festival,
May 18, at the Paramount Movie Ranch in Tarzana, California. Events
include over 100 instrumental and singing contests, folk dancing,
and old-time, folk, and bluegrass performances. For information,
go to www.topangabanjofiddle.org.
Acoustic Live is looking
for 42 artists and bands to compete for prizes and perform
in Los Angeles in front of music industry professionals. Musicians
can submit tapes or CDs of their original material until August
1. For complete submission requirements, go to www.acousticlive.net.
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Cyber
Notes
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Gregg Miner's Knutsen
Archives (home.earthlink.net/~chrisknutsen)
is an online museum dedicated to harp guitar builder Chris Knutsen.
The site includes historical information and extensive photographs
of Knutsen's instruments.
German luthiers Uli
Albert and Toni MŸller offer printable and downloadable PDFs of
blank guitar and mandolin tab paper, standard notation paper,
and chord diagram sheets in their A&M Cafe (www.albert-mueller.de/cafe/print/print.html).
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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, May
2003, No. 125.
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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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