Volume 11 Issue 1 January 2017 AWARDS SHOWS ISSUE WWW.BLUEGRASSCANADA.ORGBluegrass Canada JANUARY 2017 - 3 V o l u m e 11 I s s u e 1 Publisher - The Bluegrass Music Association of Canada Editor - Mike Kirley Design/Production - Gord DeVries The Bluegrass Canada magazine is digitally published quarterly in Jan- uary, April, July and October, online in the ‘Members Only’ section of the Bluegrass Canada website. • Individual membership fees are $18 per year, or $25 per year for those wishing a grayscale hard copy. • Individual ‘Affilate’ membership fees are $15 per year. This special membership category is reserved for members of a registered Member Organization. • Organizational memberships are $50 per year. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced without the written permission from the Pub- lisher. PUBLICATION MAIL AGREEMENT NO.42167060.RETURN UNDELIV- ERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO BMAC, c/o Gord DeVries, 22790 Amiens Road, KOMOKA ON N0L 1R0, 519-719-2501, membership@bluegrasscanada. org. Please send articles, calendar infor- mation, photos and letters to : Bluegrass Canada Mike Kirley 831 Rose Street, Cambridge ON N3H-2G2 Email: mikekirley@gmail.com Telephone: 519-653-4975 Deadline for submissions is 45 days preceding the month of pub- lication. Bluegrass Music Association of Canada BMAC is a non-profit organization devoted to the preservation and promotion of bluegrass and old-time music in Canada, and supported by the volunteer efforts of its members. BMAC Mission Statement The BMAC mission statement as enacted in the by-laws: a) Dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Bluegrass and Old-time music throughout Canada. Goals: b) To support individuals, groups and organizations involved in bluegrass and old- time music. c) To provide leadership and promote education among fans, clubs, bands and artists. BMAC Board of Directors President - Position currently unoccupied Vice-President - David Porter porterd@blackburnlodge.com Secretary /Treasurer - Roland Aucoin raucoin@cogeco.ca - 905-635-1818 Membership/Website - Gord DeVries gord.devries@rogers.com - 519-719-2501 Magazine Editor - Mike Kirley mikekirley@gmail.com - 519-653-4975 Advertising - Susan Nelson theheartofsusannelson@silomail.com General - Murray Hale murrayhale@hotmail.com - 705-474-2217 General - Wilson Moore jwmoore@ns.sympatico.ca Ongoing Volunteers Joe Rohrer - (ON - Regular column contributer) Bryon Thompson - (BC - Regular column contributer) Sue Malcolm (BC - Event Calendar) - sue@suemalcolm.com Jerry Murphy (NS - Event calendar Admin) - jerry@jerrysnews.com Nancy Tellier - (ON - Event Calendar Admin) - nancy.tellier069@sympatico.ca Nellie Holmes (ON - Event Calendar Admin) - thepieplates@gmail.com Printing- A N B Print Inc. - 519-652-0321 4026 Meadowbrook Dr. #135 London ON N6L 1C8 Distribution- Strictly Addressing - 519-433-424 4-1025 Hargrieve Rd. London ON N6E 1P7 Advertising- Susan Nelson theheartofsusannelson@silomail.com CD Reviews- Pat Moore patmoore@patmoore.netWHAT’S BEHIND THE CURTAIN? Regular Features Editor’s Message5Mike Kirley Letters6Staff Deer Mouse7Joe Rohrer Theory8Bryon Thompson New Members this Quarter10Staff Recipe: Curried Nuts10Audrey Online Magazine Notice11Gord DeVries Remembering Ralph Stanley12Amanda Lynn Stubley IBMA 2016: Here Come the Millennials 13Ted Leheman His Eye Is On The Sparrow 22Mike Kirley Music Biz # 2025Gary Hubbard CD Review Bits of Bluegrass “Sometimes I Believe” 26Pat Moore CD Review Maple Hill - “Back To You” 27Martin Chapman Cd Review The Nelson Family “The Little Boy With The Mandolin” 28Mike Kirley Recipe - Carrot Ginger Soup 28Nancy Zoeger CD Review Rhyme’n’Reason Sticks And Stones 29Pat Moore Through The Looking Glass Bobby Hill & The Canadian Country Boys 34Doug Benson BandHelper Part 2 Managing Your Business 36Arlo Leach BMAC Organizations 40Staff 4 - Bluegrass Canada JANUARY 2017 ANNUAL FESTIVAL GUIDE • MORE INTERVIEWS - NEWS ITEMS - REGULAR COLUMNS ARTICLE SUBMISSION - THE DEADLINE IS THE 15TH OF FEBRUARY 2017 NEXT ISSUE (APRIL 2017) East Coast Bluegrass Music Awards 14 Central Canadian Bluegrass Music Awards 17 Radio On The Air 42 Music Theory Bryon Thompson 8 6 Month Festival Guide 40Bluegrass Canada JANUARY 2017 - 5 EDITOR’S MESSAGE by Mike Kirley 2017…a brand new year! Was last year a busy one for you? It just seems life is getting faster and faster. How many of you turned 70? I am now a septogenarian. That is old in any culture or genre of mu- sic. I sure don’t feel old. But I am. Just an old man singing old songs on old instruments. LOL!!! That would make a good T-shirt. No need to despair however, here come the Millennials! The IBMA Awards Show was dominated by talented young women: Becky Fuller won Fiddle Player of the Year and Sierra Hull won Mandolin Play- er of the Year. Molly Tuttle and her great band dominated the stage shows. Flatt Lonesome won Song of the Year with “You’re The One”. The future of Bluegrass is in able and good hands. Traditionalists will just have to realize that the times they are a-changin, as Bob Dylan sang long ago. Congratulations are due to Bob for his Nobel Prize for Litera- ture, by the way. First time I heard “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll”” I knew he was a force to be reckoned with. He wrote about justice and the lack of it around him. He was a voice for the poor and downtrodden. I am writing this the morning after the American election, and I must say it totally caught me off guard. Ohio, Michigan and Wis- consin went behind the Donald. The working man is suffering and looking for a saviour I guess. The pendulum swings once more. Should be some good song writing come out of this: the drama is just too compelling for there not to be…”The Deportation Blues” may- be? How about “I’m Just Here to get my Hilary Out of Jail”? “ Sorry. Couldn’t resist. There are going to be some great political cartoons during the next four years…if there isn’t an impeachment first. Seriously though folks, I would like to wish our longest columnist, Gary Hubbard a fond farewell. Gary has submitted his last piece this issue. After five years of leading us through the legal maze of the music business, he has decided to take a graceful exit. Says it is getting way too complex. Thank you so much for your dedication Gary. WE LOVE YOU MAN! Keep on pickin’! Time to pack for the Awards show in Huntsville. Many kudos to the DeBoer family for putting on this awesome event every year. We sure appreciate it. There will be pickin’ brothers and sisters…the show must go on! --Mike I read with interest your editorial in the last Bluegrass Canada magazine. Here is a picture that was ran in our local paper showing 6 banjo players all doing a song together. It was a great hit with the audience and only took about 20 minutes to organize. If you can make it to our show this coming June you will see banjo pickers Red Nelson, Tyler Marshall, Ron Jubenville, Ken Groomes, Roger Martin and Felix Huot. If you come to our show and don’t hear banjo, I can assure you that you went to the wrong Island. and so the journey continues Brother John I think the future of bluegrass music would be a closer association with the folk music community. Many of the folk festivals (like the Mariposa Folk Festival) feature bluegrass. These festivals are well organized and have connections with the government agencies which fund cultural events. They also have lots of young people in attendance, and young people are one of the things the bluegrass music community needs, in my opinion. Keep up the good work. Mike Milner --Will make this an issue to be discussed at the next Board meeting. Thanks for the comment - GDV LETTERS/NEWS Continued on page 76 - Bluegrass Canada JANUARY 2017 Bluegrass Canada JANUARY 2017 - 7 LETTERS/NEWS JOE ROHRER - DEER MOUSE Just got to read the last edition of “Bluegrass Canada” today. Good article on “Billy The Banjo Bird”. Also, the dates and times for The Bluegrass Jam listing in the “Radio On The Air” column are not quite correct. For any further listings they sould be: CHMA-FM 106.9 Sackville, N. B Saturdays: 6:00 P.M. Sundays: 8:00 A. M. CFTA-FM 107.9 Amherst, N. S. Sundays 6:00 P.M. Regards, Wilson Moore --Thanks, Wilson. Have corrected the listings in both this issue and on the website. Also corrected the CFCY listing --GDV It’s come to our attention that the “Just Past The Pines” Country and Bluegrass Festival (held for the past twenty years in Deseronto, ON) has been cancelled for the 2017 sea- son. We wish the organizer, Jennifer Brant the best and hope the event will be resumed in upcoming years. --GDV Gord; As I mentioned before - I really enjoy OUR Bluegrass Canada magazine- it’s 2nd to none! I have “Banjo Newsletter” issues spanning 36 years -all protected by BNL binders. A similar system for BMAC would be most welcome! I’ve been a Fan of Bluegrass since I 1st heard Reno and Smiley’s “Barefoot Nelly in the early 1950s & Bill when he had an accordion in his band.- That’s was when it still called Western music.. We received WWVA & Cincinnati, Ohio most often. -- Keep pickin, Ron Seary funny how some things never change ! I thought that after bein away at the hunt camp for a week , ol’ wus- ername would be happy to see me ~~~~ NOT !!~~~ first thing she said when I waltzed in the door was “ YOU STINK !!!” next thing she said was “ DUMP YOUR DUFFLE BAG OUT IN THE YARD !!!! “ ~~~~~~ too late ~~~~~ next she came into the laundry room with a manure fork and start- ed pitchin my duds into the washin machine . all the while she was flingin my slightly soiled garments into the cauldron, she just grum- bled and cursed every now and then ,like when the empty liquor bottle fell outa my bibs , or the melted chocolate bar popped up in a shirt pocket , but did she ever let fly when that great big deer mouse flew outa my dirty underwear and scrambled ‘tween her rubber booted feet and bee lined ‘er right under the ‘frigerater !! from past experience I knowed what’s gonna happen next , ~~~~~~~~~RUN FOREST~~RUN~~ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SWAMP DIRTY it’s really not pollution, it’s kind of an organic solution. a vegetative emulsion, some treat it with revulsion. it promotes swamp growth with profusion a sort of blueprint of confusion . it’s odors range from harsh to nice a mixture of frog moss , arrow root and rice it’s filled with life forms that cover the range from small and slimy to huge , gawdy and strange it’s there for me to look at , to won- der and to like and I thank the Great Creator for giving me my Swamp Dirty kind of life !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! By Joe ‘Honest t’ Goodness’ Rohrer Joe Rohrer is the bass player for Rhyme N Reason8 - Bluegrass Canada JANUARY 2017 THEORY So you thought the “Rabbit” was through with you! But this article continues the drop into his hole just a little deeper. Yes I am still on the ‘road’ at the writing of this seg- ment and hence the next theory lesson! I mentioned before that a clearer understanding of the Key signa- tures would help, so I want to show you that there is an easy way to remember them. When that is done I’ll show you a quick way to spell any chord you may need. It is exceptionally helpful for figur- ing out vocal harmonies or what notes to play in or over a chord. Of course each instrument is fingered differently when playing chords and some, like a fiddle, often play the notes separately. Even guitar players, the brave ones anyway, will play the individual notes of a chord, or “Arpeggios”, in their solos. So come on down the hole one more time. I hope, like Alice, you’ll find it enlightening. Let’s look at sharps first. A ‘sharp’ is a # sign that is placed on the staff or after the letter name of a note. (Eg. F#) and indicates that the note the order of the phrase we want to remember. There are many of them. They are used in aviation, the military and music theory has its own as well. Sharps and Flats are placed on a music staff in a specific order. The order of sharps is always the same. It is F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#, B#. The “mnemonic” for them is “Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle”. Remember to count up one half step from the last sharp in the order to the next alphabeti- cal letter name to find the key you are in. The reverse works as well. If you are playing in the key of E and want to know how many sharps there are, all you need do is go back one half step from E to D#. Plug that note into your little saying and stop on a D. Father Charles Goes Down. There are four sharps in the key of E. This is very useful if you are trying to find a harmony note to a specific chord in the key of E and you are not sure what notes there are to choose from. Remember that basic chords are built by stacking thirds. Hence the E major chord is spelled 1,3,5 from the root of E using the scale notes and is E, G#, and B. Flats are shown as a small ‘b’ on the staff at the beginning of a piece of music. Flats have their “mnemonic” as well. There is no new mnemonic here just say the little dittie backwards to indicate the order of flats. “Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles Father”. The ‘new’ thing with flat keys is that they are named by the second last flat in the saying. For example, if there are four flats; Battle Ends And Down, the second last flat is Ab so Ab has three flats. In all but one case the Flat Keys have a ‘b’ in played is one half step or one fret above its natural equivalent (Eg. F). If you are looking through a song- book and see a piece of music that has only one “#” in it on the staff lines, it would be placed on the “F” line. Therefore instead of playing any natural “F”s you are to play ‘F#’s. This also indicates that you are in the key of G. Sound confusing yet? Just smile, nod your head and follow me. The sharps at the top of a page of music are written in an order that tells us the key of the music. The last sharp in the order is the “leading note” or the seventh note in a major scale. Count up seven notes from G and we come to an F of some kind. We need to make this a # so there is only one semitone left to go back to G. The note then is an F#, (the seventh note in the G scale) and you are in the ‘key’ of G. If there are two sharps in a piece of music they would be: F# first then a little further to the right, a C#. C# is the seventh note in the D scale so the key is D Major. Basically all you need to do to figure out the key of a piece of music written in sharps is to look at the key signature and count up one half step from the last # you see and you have the key name. (eg. If there are three sharps F#, C#, G#, then count up one half step from G# and you are in the key of A). If there were seven #’s, F#, C#, G#, D#,A#,E#,B#, you would be in the key of C# since a semitone up from B# is C# and the C’s have all been indicated as Sharps in the key signature anyway. When it comes to remembering something, we often resort to a “mnemonic”! A silly little saying based on the first letter or first word of a series that reminds us of by Bryon ThompsonBluegrass Canada JANUARY 2017 - 9 section. If you know all the notes in a given scale you can use them to deter- mine the Major triad or four note major seventh chord for that scale’s ‘one chord’ or the chord built on the first note in the scale, you know the one that shares the same name as the key. For this example let’s use the key of D major. Remember that that key has two sharps, F# and C#: D E F# G A B and C#. To spell the notes of the D major triad you need the 1, 3 and 5 notes from the D scale starting with the root D. Remember that chords are spelled in thirds. So, D, F#, A spells D major. If I wanted to spell D major 7, writ- ten as Dmaj7, I would need the 7th degree from the D major scale as well. Dmaj7 is D, F#, A, C#. Major 7 chords are the best chords to spell to make best use of this Chord Formula. I know that a lot of the chords used in Bluegrass are mostly triads, however it is easier to spell chords if you use Major 7ths in this instance. If you were to keep using the triads only you may be confused between the two Ma- their name. If you have to go back to the second last flat as the rule states, to get to the name of the key but there is only one flat indi- cated; then what? Here is where a bit of memory work is involved. If there is only one flat, then the key is F. Memorize this, it’s on the test! Once again the reverse works if you need to know the notes in a specific flat key. Let’s say your sing- er sings best in Eb. Tell her to take up Jazz and forget bluegrass! ;), (Just kidding,... Alison would be shocked)! What are the notes in that scale anyway? We know some of them are flats but which ones? Just use the mne- monic again. We want to know how many flats are in Eb. Say the Mnemonic going one word more than the word with that begins with the letter ‘E’. The saying is then – “Battle Ends And”. This makes Eb the second last flat and we have discov- ered that there are three flats in the key of Eb! Simple! So what the heck do I need to know all this for anyway. If you use the above mnemonics you will begin to recognize key signatures for sure, but more importantly you will be well on your way to using ‘Chord Formula’ to spell the notes in al- most any chord. There are 12 keys in our music system. (The Chinese have twice that many in their tra- ditional music and that is why their traditional music or instruments may sound strange to your ear). Chord formula works by taking the standard major triad or four note major seventh chord and altering each note to get other chords. Refer to the diagram for this next jor chords and the Dominant chord because they both have the 1, 3 and 5 notes from the scale in them. You’ll understand Alice; just keep going down the hole. I promise it will get brighter soon! If we use the Dmaj7th as our example you would spell it: D, F#, A, C#. If I wanted to know then what notes were in a D7 chord, (the dominant chord in the key of G), all I need do is flatten the sev- enth note in the Dmaj7 chord. Remember that if you flatten a sharp, it becomes a natural. So using the above formula, D7 is spelled: D, F#, A, C. It is the flatted seventh note from the root of the chord that tells us D7 is a Dominant Chord. Re- member from the article last month that the fifth chord in a major key is called the Dominant7th and it is written with a Root letter name and the number 7 after it. (eg. D7, B7, G7, etcetera). If D7 is a V of something, What is it V of? We need to know this because V to I is the most common chord progression. (see last month’s article for more info.) Just count up in the musical alphabet from V to VIII or I, (VIII is the same as the I chord); Five Six Seven One. Starting on D then we go up the alphabet, D, E, F,G. D7 then is the five of G. Of course if you’re a bigger man than me Gungadin you could count backwards from five to one but this is hard enough already! If I then wanted to know what notes make up a Dminor7 chord, usually written as Dmin7, all I need do is further flatten the third note. THEORY Chord Formula Major 7th 1 3 5 7 Dominant 7 1 3 5 b7 Minor 7th 1 b3 5 b7 Minor 7 flat 5 1 b3 b5 b7 Diminished 7th 1 b3 b5 bb7 *(Remember – the 1’s are the root of the chord not the first note in a scale)Next >