$7.00 Celebrating the acts, musicians and community of Canadian Bluegrass Nimble Fingers Part II of our in-dept series Festivals of 2019 All the listings for your calendar in the new year The official magazine of the Bluegrass Music Association of Canada Exclusive lessons, reviews, tips, tricks, and now with more picks! Volume 13 Issue 1 January 2019 PUBLICATION MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 42167060 bluegrasscanada.org Picky About Picks Our picker Linda Thorburnon has the time of her life ...And More!Table of Contents The Year’s Best 15, 23 28 25 20 On the cover Illustration by Sarah Bea Columns 5 President Murray Hale’s Message 6 Mike Milner’s Bluegrass Clippings 7 Joe Rohrer’s Run Forrest Run 46 Editor Mike Kirley’s Message Lessons 8 Banjo with Dennis LePage 10 Mandolin with Emory Lester 12 Recordring with Dave Searle Listings 32 Festival Listing 34 Radio on the Air 36 BMAC Organization Listings Canada V o l u m e 13 I s s u e 1 $7.00 Celebrating the acts, musicians and community of Canadian Bluegrass Nimble Fingers Part II of our in-dept series Festivals of 2019 All the listings for your calendar in the new year The official magazine of the Bluegrass Music Association of Canada Exclusive lessons, reviews, tips, tricks, and now with more picks! Volume 13 Issue 1 January 2019 PUBLICATION MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 42167060 bluegrasscanada.org Picky About Picks Our picker Linda Thorburnon has the time of her life ...And More! JANUARY 2019 BLUEGRASS CANADA MAGAZINE 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Look at Those NimbleFingers See what’s happening out west with one of Canada’s best workshops, B.C.’s own NimbleFingers Winners of the Downeast Bluegrass & Oldtime Music Society’s Eastern Canada Bluegrass Music Awards and The Northern Bluegrass Committee’s Central Canadian Bluegrass Awards Six-Month Festival Guide Plan your year with this handy listing of upcoming Bluegrass Festivals Material World Part II of Carol Boyer’s guide to plectrums. This issue, get to know your materialsBluegrass 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. Specifically: 1) The establishment of bluegrass categories in the Juno Awards; 2) Lobbying with other musical genres for changes in US laws to allow easier access to the US by Canadian musicians; 3) Establishing a national bluegrass awards program not in conflict with the two existing regional awards events; 4) Sponsoring Canadian Bands to Showcase at IBMA; 5) Supporting Canadian bands efforts to play in other parts of the country; 6) Seeking grant funding to achieve these goals. V o l u m e 13 I s s u e 1 Email: membership@ bluegrasscanada.org Website: bluegrasscanada.org Publisher Gord DeVries Editor Mike Kirley Art Director Sarah Bea Publishing Associate James Kerr SUBSCRIPTION One Year $25 / Free with Membership The Bluegrass Canada magazine is digitally published quarterly in January, April, July and October, online in the ‘Members Only’ section of the Bluegrass Canada website. For more information email membership@bluegrasscanada.org. • Individual BMAC memberships: $25/y • Organizational memberships: $50/y All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced without the written permission from the Publisher. PRINTED IN CANADA. CANADA POST CANADIAN PUBLICATIONS MAIL SALES PRODUCT AGREEMENT No. 42167060. Send change of addresses and underliverable notices of Canadian addresses to BMAC, c/o Gord DeVries, 22790 Amiens Road, Komoka, ON N0L 1R0, 519-719-2501 Please send articles, calendar information, 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 publication. BMAC BOARD OF DIRECTORS President Murray Hale mhale@green-vision.ca 705-845-8112 Vice-President Mike Kirley mikekirley@gmail.com 519-653-4975 Secretary-Treasurer Roland Aucoin raucoin72@gmail.com Membership/Website Gord DeVries gord.devries95@gmail.com Grants & Funding Sarah Bea sarahbea.milner@gmail.com Social Media Carol Boyer carol.boyer@sympatico.ca General Wilson Moore wmoore@ns.sympatico.ca General Dave Featherstone davefeatherstone58@gmail.com General Lisa Pigeau blue-grass_jam@hotmail.com Contributors Gord Devries Denis LePage Emory Lester Mike Milner Jerry Murphy Joe Rohrer Dave Searle Linda Thorburn Carol Boyer Advertising Rates & Specs Gord DeVries 519-719-2501 Printing A & B Print Inc., 519-652-0321 4026 Meadowbrook Dr. #135 London ON N6L 1C8 Distribution Strictly Addressing, 519-433-4242 4-1025 Hargrieve Rd. London ON N6E 1P7 Canada 4 BLUEGRASS MUSIC ASSOCIATION OF CANADA BLUEGRASSCANADA.ORG MASTHEADPresident’s January Greetings and best of the season to all bluegrass fans and contributors to the art of bluegrass. What a wonderful year it has been across this country for bluegrass. We have begun to reach further east and west for information on festivals, events, producers, radio shows and bands. Kudos to each and every person who is helping to spread the bluegrass gospel. This year has been a productive one. We have improved our magazine by having more and a wider variety of contributors. We have contacted many of the on-air bluegrass shows and found that bluegrass is alive and well and popular in all areas. This past year, BMAC has been in communication with the Ontario Arts Council to identify potential project-based grants to help us support and preserve bluegrass and old-time music in Ontario. We will continue this process in 2019. Over the last year our membership has been increasing in numbers, although slowly. We appreciate the support of our members and are grateful to those helping us increase our membership. Lastly we are proud that there are probably more festivals being produced than ever, with many new and small festivals being held, especially in Ontario. Looking forward, our goals are the same: to continue to preserve and promote bluegrass and old-time music, and thank those who help us to do this. To each and every person reading this: have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year. We look forward to seeing and hearing lots of “bluegrass” in 2019. Keep Pickin’ Murray Hale “What a wonderful year it has been across this country for bluegrass. “ Murry Hale, president of the BMAC. By Murray HaleThis President’s Report Reviews 2018 Become a member of the BMAC Email: membership@ bluegrasscanada.org Website: bluegrasscanada.org Start gettin’ picky about Your music... JANUARY 2019 BLUEGRASS CANADA MAGAZINE 5 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGEThis issue’s column is about a band that is a favourite of mine, Front Range. Front Range, apparently named after the foothills of the Rockies in Colorado, was a quartet that hailed from the Denver area. They formed in 1984 and were active until 2003. They were a very successful group, exhibiting many of the musical skills that attract a bluegrass audience: good ensemble playing, great vocals (both lead and harmony), strong soloing and above all, musicianship. Back to Red River was Front Range’s second album released on the label Sugar Hill. The label was started in 1978 by Mr. Barry Poss, who was originally from Canada and went to North Carolina in the late 1960’s to complete his Doctorate. Front Range released a total of 5 albums with Sugar Hill. Front Range has had the label “progressive” attached to their bluegrass stylings. I for one dislike labels (unless they are associated to craft breweries and their products) as I find the inclination to try and define and create genres for everything that is slightly different both mystifying and ridiculous. Back to Red River is undoubtedly a polished product. To some listeners it may lack some of the rougher edges that a more “authentic” type of bluegrass might contain, and yes, there is a subtle country music influence; however, to these ears it is still bluegrass of the highest caliber. It was released in 1993 and the quality of the recording is first rate. After experiencing this album, recorded twenty-five years ago, you may find yourself hearing traces of it when listening to some current groups. Front Range were comprised of Bob Amos on guitar and lead vocals, Mike Lantz on mandolin and vocals, Ron Lynam on banjo and vocals and Bob Dick on acoustic bass and vocals (and if I am allowed one further indulgence here, why is the bassist always listed last?). Besides being a great singer and guitarist, Bob Amos also composed five of the thirteen songs on Back to Red River, and arranged a number of the standards the group performed. Every track of the album is quite listenable, and the band in my opinion took great pains to ensure a good variety of material from ballads to real scorchers. Two good examples of the group’s musical prowess are “Cold North Wind” and “Plains of The Buffalo.” The first song is a tale of unrequited love, played at a medium tempo. The group repeats the last line of each verse in harmony, followed by an instrumental solo (including as a guest performer, Eric Levine on fiddle). The second is a great arrangement of a traditional song (often known as “Buffalo Skinners”). The song itself has a long and interesting history which I will not waste time going into here. Suffice it to say, the Front Range version is an inspired one, breathing new life into an old folk and bluegrass standard. The song is arranged so that we hear some sterling playing by Amos, Lantz and Lynam on their respective instruments, providing both fills and solos, with Lantz’s mandolin work especially worthy of praise. This is a recording that the listener will be drawn back to time and time again, and one well worth seeking out. By Mike Milner “The band... took great pains to ensure agood variety of material from ballads to real scorchers.” Front Range is an excellent bluegrass band with a Canadian connection An alumni of the Humber jazz program, Mike Milner is currently enjoying his retirement by playing bass and listening to good music. Back to Red River 6 BLUEGRASS MUSIC ASSOCIATION OF CANADA BLUEGRASSCANADA.ORG BLUEGRASS CLIPPINGSGone Fishin’ The humorous antics and musings of Forrest and friends By Joe “Honest t’ Goodness” Rohrer Joe Rohre is the bassist for Rhyme N Reason Ol’ wusername was standin’ by the kitchen door this morning, and caught me tryin’ to sneak out with a fishin’ pole in my hand. Right off the hop she started, “WHEREDYATHINK YOU’RE GOIN WITH THAT FISHIN’ POLE YOU OLD FOOL, AND WHERE’S THAT LIST OF CHORES I LEFT ON THE TABLE FOR YA?!!!” I said, “oh my cutest little chipmunk in the wood pile, I had that list rolled up and tucked in my hip pocket when I took my stroll ‘cross the yard this mornin’, but unbenounced to me, halfway there it fell outta my pocket. When I reached my journey’s end I turned and noticed it layin’ there, the risin’ sun reflectin’ off it like a diamond in the rough. “Just at that very moment, a crow swooped down from outta that big ol’ pine tree on the knoll, snatched it up in his beak, and without so much as a squeak or a squawk, carried it aloft with them devil wings o’ his, and took it back to his nest way up in that old oak tree on the hill just ‘bove the creek at the end of the big swamp! “I figgered I’d take my ol’ fishin pole here, and try castin’ up into the tree in hopes of retrievin’ the note you so lovingly writ for me, so’s I can fulfill your wishes and do ALL them chores!” Ol’ wusername said, “OH YA? THEN WHAT’S THAT CAN O’ WORMS YOU GOT IN YOUR OTHER HAND FOR?!!!” Uh oh. (This ain’t gonna end well!) JANUARY 2019 BLUEGRASS CANADA MAGAZINE 7 RUN FORREST, RUNDenis LePage has spent over 40 years mastering the banjo, and is an active member of the Canadian bluegrass community. He currently runs a website dedicated to banjo instruction: banjoden.com. By Denis LePage Guest banjoist Frank Evans shares an original tune Shut the Door With this issue, I’m very pleased to feature Frank Evans, the great banjo artist with the Slocan Ramblers. The first time I heard Frank play was on the Ramblers’ Coffee Creek CD and I was blown away. I made a point of catching all the band’s shows at the Tottenham festival a couple of years ago. The combination of drive, creativity and sensitivity of Frank’s banjo playing in both 3-finger and clawhammer style had me locked in. It’s abundantly obvious that Frank spends a lot of time creating music on the banjo and it’s a real pleasure to listen to the outcome of his hard work. Here is a little about Frank Evans as well as the tab for one of his original compositions. Thanks Frank! Frank Evans fell in love with banjo at age 10 and by 13 had won his first banjo contest. Frank is the first banjo player to attend the Humber College of Music Jazz Program. Humber is where he met the other players that would go on to found the bluegrass outfit the Slocan Ramblers. Frank has toured extensively in Canada, the US, UK and Europe with the Slocan Ramblers. Frank is also a well-known teacher at workshops and camps and has worked alongside many banjo greats including Tony Trischka, Peter Rowan, John Reischman and Danny Barnes. ...someone from the back of the audience shouted at the top of their lungs “SHUT THE DOOR!” Evans was born and raised in Toronto, the city he still calls home. -- Denis This tune came out of a practice routine I had that was focused around playing in all keys without a capo. I found that each key offers neat tricks that are unique to that key. There’s no better way to figure out all the cool tricks that a key has to offer than to write a tune in that key. Some tunes from this exercise will never see the light of day but I liked how this one turned out so I decided to bring it to my band, The Slocan Ramblers, to see how it would sound with a full band arrangement. It took almost four months of revisions until it was a piece of music that we were all comfortable playing on stage. I didn’t have a name for it yet but we had a string of shows in Florida coming up so we decided to put it in the set list and see if anything inspired us to come up with a name. The first show on the tour was in a beautiful old theatre with a very quiet listening audience. In the middle of the song when we were all concentrating the most someone from the back of the audience shouted at the top of their lungs “SHUT THE DOOR!” We looked at each other and without speaking all knew what the name of the tune was. -- Frank Frank Evans, dual banjos 8 BLUEGRASS MUSIC ASSOCIATION OF CANADA BLUEGRASSCANADA.ORG BANJOJANUARY 2019 BLUEGRASS CANADA MAGAZINE 9 BANJONext >