WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF BLUE- GRASS? An Interview with Rescue Junction Volume 8 Issue 2 April 2014 www.bluegrasscanada.caTABLE OF CONTENTSBMAC EXECUTIVE President’s Message1 Editor’s Message2 Five Years with Rescue Junction3 R.I.P. George Shuffler7 Demographics and Bluegrass Festivals9 Music On The East Coast11 Music on the Prairies12 Hubbard’s Hints12 Open Mike13 Maritime Note14 The Future of Bluegrass15 Music Biz16 Bluegrass is Not Dying18 Festival Listings for 201421 The Future of Bluegrass is Okay22 8 Wheel Drive23 Advertising Rates24 Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys25 Listing of Members27 PresidentDenis Chadbourn 705-776-7754 Vice President Dave Porter613-721-0535 Secretary Leann Chadbourn TreasurerRolly Aucoin905-635-1818 DIRECTORS Gord Devries519-668-0418 Murray Hale705-472-2217 Mike Kirley519-613-4975 Sue Malcom604-215-276 Wilson Moore902-667-9629 Jerry Murphy902-883-7189 HELP WANTED Advertising Manager: B MAC has an immediate requirement for a volunteer to help us to contact and present advertising oppor- tunities to potential clients. The job would entail approximately 5 hours per month and would consist of compiling a list of potential clients from among the bluegrass community, such as event-producers, blue- grass businesses, music stores, radio stations, bluegrass bands, music manufacturers and other interested parties. You would then set up a systematic and organized methodology for making contact and presenting the BMAC program. Please contact Mike Kirley or Gord Devries if you are interested in becoming part of the team.1 and ears and minds are opened, and they finally get it. The eureka moment when it clicks, and they see and hear the vibrant music and artistry in real life. Ahh Bluegrass festivals. Unplug and enjoy ! Denis Chadbourn If I said it once I said it 100 times... computers are both a thing of beau- ty, and the bane of my existence. Used as a tool, they are amazing devices. They can make research and doing work much easier than how it was done in the past. The problem is that many people do not know when or how to unplug. They are slaves to their electronic de- vices, and they feel the need to be constantly connected. If their phone isn’t ringing or buzzing, they feel incomplete. It’s just weird for me to see people standing in a group, not talking, just looking down at their cell phones texting madly. Disre- garding people, and life, as it goes on around them. Lost in an altered reality. Who else has had it with cell phones going off in church? Or cell phones at the dinner table...or cou- ples in the bedroom on Facebook? It’s like life has become a video game. Sure, I get it...they said the same thing about televisions back in the day. And studies have shown a de-sensitivity to violence and mur- der due to regular exposure to it on TV. Now I think there is a de-sensi- tivity to reality. Reality tv is far from real. In high school we had a drug awareness program and the motto was “keep it real.” Electronic devices are the new crack. Why on earth would anybody pick up a real guitar, when you can turn on an x-box and have an electronically simulated air-guitar experience? Who needs social interaction when you can lose yourself in a video game? Who wants to leave the house to go to a bluegrass festival, risking west Nile carrying mosquitoes, or heaven forbid, risk exposure to sunlight, when they can go on YouTube for a concert experi- ence? This begs the question, what is the future of bluegrass festivals. Will they survive? I think as time goes on, this could be a very real, ever increasing problem. This is why BMAC is proactively looking for ways to preserve and promote Blue- grass. To put it before audiences of all ages, to offer them insight as to what real music is. When it comes to bluegrass festivals, there are no electronic facsimiles. Peoples’ minds are blown the first time they experience a blue- grass festival! When their eyes, Earl Scruggs’ Childhood Home Slocan Ramblers PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE2 EDITOR’S MESSAGE Greetings Spring Lovers. (Lovers of Spring?) How sweet it is to see the tulips this year. That was an old time winter for sure.. Shov- elling snow was just like doing the chores on the farm in days gone by. Get up every morning and shovel. Felt like I was an old horse in the harness. This is the “Festival Issue”, and hopefully all the committees have done their work: signs painted, dates changed, line-ups scheduled and T-shirts ordered. (And in Tony’s case, outhouses cleaned). There are nineteen summer bluegrass festi- vals in Ontario, twenty-one on the East Coast, fifteen in British Colum- bia, and seven in the rest of Canada. That is sixty-two bluegrass festivals. That’s a lot of banjo rolls. Who says bluegrass is dying? Check out the new festival in Spencerville, South Grenville, Ont. Ted Lehemann is worried about the demographics of bluegrass festivals, and we have included his thoughts about the future of bluegrass. He is convinced that our audience is getting greyer and more senior. Dan Joseph, a retired ele- mentary school teacher and radio DJ in Kitchener has some comments on that topic as well; along with Al Benner of the Tottenham Bluegrass Festival Committee. What do you feel the future of Bluegrass in Cana- da will bring? Send us your thoughts and comments, c/o Editor, Bluegrass Canada Magazine. Rescue Junction was nominated most promising new band at Deer- hurst in November. I managed to corner them at a gig they played in March around the corner from me at Knox Presbyte- rian Church in Cambridge. We sat around and discussed bluegrass after their set until their little ones got restless. I hope you enjoy that interview. These young folks are on fire for the Lord, and their joy is contagious. Their harmonies and skill are on a par with Doyle Lawson, one of their inspirations. And they are optimistic about the future of Bluegrass. Make sure to catch them at Tottenham and Princeton this year. We have also included a list of band members of Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys for the historians out there. This is a fascinating read for those of us who have been around for awhile in bluegrass. It is amazing to see how many musicians Bill tutored in the genre he invent- ed. Many of them started their own “School of Bluegrass”. Seems like every issue we lose another giant of Bluegrass. This time it was George Shuffler, the seminal guitarist for The Stanley Brothers. Who other than James Al- lan Shelton is more qualified to give some thoughts on George’s passing. Another soldier down. Lester Flatt’s wife Gladys also passed away in March at the age of 98. She married him at 16. Lester was 17. They recorded “When We Meet Again Sweetheart” together. :) Hope to see you at a festival or two this summer. Come over and “shake and howdy” as they say. Keep playing those new bluegrass CD’s in your car; and by golly, please try to stay in tune in the jams!! mikekirley@gmail.com Gladys Flatt on the left below Lester George Shuffler 2009 Merlefest With the Stanley Brothers3 FIVE YEARS WITH RESCUE JUNCTION MIKE:I got thinking as I was watching you play; the name. Who came up with the band name? Kaitlyn: That was collaborative between Kyle and myself, and there’s really no good story to it. We were just in need of a name because we were known as Kyle and Kaitlyn Gerber, and we’re siblings; but that’s not how people took it. And we had Roger at that point and we just needed a more professional sounding name. So we were dis- cussing different ideas, and umm... Dallas: And having a language scholar there… We’re siblings... but that’s not how people took it. Kaitlyn: Yes, the genius, guru! (laughs) Kyle thought maybe a con- junction of some sort, and I heard the word “junction”, which sounds train-like and bluegrassy. And so we had “junction” and we were flip- ping through I-Tunes for different song titles, see what words popped out. We saw the word “rescue”, and thought “Rescue Junction” was really… MIKE: It’s good, really good. Re- minds me of the “house of refuge” idea in the Old Testament. Kyle: And it’s taken on more meaning the more we think about it. MIKE: How long has Rescue Junction been playing together? Kyle: We have been together as “Rescue Junction” since 2009. At that point it was Kaitlyn, Roger and I, and Dallas joined up in October of 2010. Kaitlyn: Yeah. Kyle: This is our fifth year togeth- er. MIKE: So, what would your reper- toire be then, fifty songs? Kyle: Yeah, probably fifty or sixty. Kaitlyn: I would think around that. MIKE: I’m thinking of what Charlie Waller said one time in a performance, “Once it gets over fifty, for every new song that comes into my brain, one falls out the other side.” Kaitlyn: Yeah, yeah, for sure. Kyle: Yeah, that happens. Dallas: That’s true. MIKE: Okay.Now, it’s obvious onstage that you and your sister enjoy some typical good-natured sibling rivalry. Kaitlyn: (laughs) right! MIKE: How long have you two been playing and singing together? Kyle: All our lives. Kaitlyn: Yeah. From little on up. Growing up in church, our family would sometimes sing in church and nursing homes, and Kyle and I would be forced against our will to sing together. (laughs) And so then we grew up with Southern Gospel and Accapella. And it wasn’t until… Kyle: It was 2005, and 2006 that we started learning this music more like we do now. Kaitlyn: And we started playing Bluegrass together. Kyle: So it’s going on ten years that we have been singing Bluegrass in this style. MIKE: Okay. Now who helped you with the structure? Because watching you play, there are certain rules, and you’ve got them all down. (laughter from whole group) Just in terms of when to play backup on your instru- ment. Some bands don’t pay a lot of attention to that. Who taught you the do’s and don’ts? Kyle: Well, our early foundation was Jay Lapp, who was Kaitlyn’s guitar teacher and my mandolin teacher at the T.G.. School of Music in Goshen, Indiana. He taught us those fiddle tunes that were trans- posed to guitar, mandolin and that was when we learned how to play a melody where one plays backup and swap back and forth. And then, when we started playing more with Roger, and you’re balancing three instruments, and then with Dallas four, …umm…you just can’t have four instruments giving it a hun- dred percent all the time. And so.. Roger brought that knowledge to the table, ‘cause he had a deeper Bluegrass history than we did. His well was deeper. And so that was INTERVIEW BY MIKE KIRLEY4 when we began to talk about…. “So… verse two, you’re gonna play licks and I’ll vamp; and verse three we’ll switch.” MIKE: Yeah, so you’ve got it right down. It’s smooth, very smooth, and the harmonies being family, it’s like Doyle Lawson. Kaitlyn: That’s good company! (band laughter) MIKE: He was at The Conestoga Trail Bluegrass and Gospel Festival in Prince- ton last year. Kaitlyn: Yes! MIKE: He’s going to be there again this August. Kaitlyn: Yes. We’ll see you there. We’ll be fighting for center spot. (laughs) MIKE: Let’s talk about your talent. Kyle: Start with Dallas. MIKE: Okay what about you?. Where did your talent come from? Dallas: Where did my talent come from? MIKE: Yes. Dallas: The Good Lord. (band laughter) My parents both were very musi- cal. My Mom played piano growing up and she thought it was import- ant for us to learn an instrument. So that’s where I started off when I was young. I started in piano right after I was in Grade 1. I played piano all the way through grade school and then I thought, “This is silly. I want to play an instrument that I can take with me. So I picked up the violin. And that’s when I started, I think in Grade 8. Back to the singing though, My Dad sang in a quartet for many years, a Gospel quartet, The King’s Messengers. And they travelled all over the place in the States. They had a bus, and they were livin’ the dream! (band laughter) That’s where the singing part comes from; both parents sing in church, church choirs and such, but that’s where I get my influence. The music from my mother, and the singing, practising and all that, from my father. They had a bus, and they were livin’ the dream! MIKE: And you, Roger? Roger: My Dad would have been the one. He raided bins for eight track tapes and records all through the stores. And CD’s too. I grew up listening to The Louvin Brothers and Don Reno and Red Smiley. And then my Dad took guitar lessons first, and when I was younger I remember that; and he wanted us boys to play and he gave us lessons for a little bit. I think I quit three times. (band laughter) When I was like, eight. And then he sent me to a guitar teacher, and I took guitar lessons for two years. Then he had a friend over, just a friend of the family’s and he had a banjo and mandolin. I saw someone play the banjo for the first time. After that night, I told my Dad, “I want a banjo.” He got me one for my twelfth birth- day. Every summer we went to see a Gospel concert in a campground. And it was The Primitive Quartet. I remember seeing the lineup every summer it was: The Primi- tive Quartet, The Isaacs, and Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver. MIKE: Wow! Roger: Yeah, I know. That was four or five summers in a row too. (band laughter) I tell that to them to make them jealous. (band laughter) MIKE: So that’s where you got all your Scruggs licks from. Roger: Jim Mills. (band laughter) Kaitlyn: Yeah. (band laughter) MIKE: Okay. Jim Mills then. How about you Kyle? Kyle: Kaitlyn and I…both parents were musical both vocally and ..Dad had a guitar laying around the house and loved to play it. When he was our age he played a lot of guitar and sang. And it was important for them that we sang as a family. Singing around the table after a meal. I’d say our talent comes from that and even singing four part harmony in church grow- ing up. MIKE: Okay. That’s cool. Now I couldn’t help but notice that Kaitlyn flatpicks that Bourgois guitar. How long have you been doing that Kaitlyn? Kaitlyn: I try to flatpick the guitar. (band laughter) Ummm…well, it goes back to 2005-2006, when I started taking lessons from Jay Lapp in Goshen, and that was my first introduction to Bluegrass style guitar. And so I had never heard flatpicking before. I had never really paid attention to that in other music, like Country Music or even Southern Gospel where it was there. I just never real- ly picked it out. And then he turned me on to Tony Rice, (big smile), and gave me videos. I remember watching videos of Tony Rice and that right hand. And the left hand. And just…my jaw falling on the floor! MIKE: Did you ever meet him? No. But I did see him live in concert. Kyle missed it, ‘cause he was tour- ing somewhere else. But I got to see him in concert. MIKE: He moves like a cat. Kaitlyn: It’s just phenomenal to watch him play. MIKE: He doesn’t waste a move. Kaitlyn: My favourite part is towards the end of a solo, when he looks up to whoever’s on his left and he’ll just kind of smile at them, because he knows what he did is just blowing everyone in the band. Just this little grin. MIKE: Yeah. “Take that.” Kaitlyn: Yeah! (band laughter) MIKE: Okay. Songwriting. Do you write songs together. Or is it just you Kaitlyn? Kaitlyn: It’s just me writing songs, 5 so to speak, but when I bring them to the table and we start working on them…ah, that’s when a lot of them as far as musically, the band sort of steps in and comes up with different arrangements, creative stuff that happens within the song. So we haven’t written words together yet. But as far as the music goes, that’s definitely a band collaboration. My first thought was... “Oh...Mennonites.” MIKE: I hear Alison Krauss, listening to you, but I also hear Rhonda Vin- cent. There’s that gutsy thing you’ve got that I don’t hear with Alison, but I do hear it with you. So you are getting your own sound there. Okay. When I first saw you on stage it was at Conestoga Bluegrass and Gospel Festival in Princeton. Fran and Jerry’s festival. And the way you were dressed, my first thought was “Oh. Mennonites.” And my second thought was,”Why? Why are you onstage at a public festival?” I come from Lindsay, Ontario, and any Mennonites I knew of would never go on a public stage. When I went north to teach in Red Lake I did meet Amish Mennonites. We went to the church a few times. My perception of Mennonites is that they are not of this world. I remem- ber a sermon where they said there are three sources of evil: the world, the flesh, and the devil. They chose to be separate from the world, and have their own place. How did you come to the point where it didn’t bother you to go public with your music and perform on a secular stage? Kyle: I think….there is being sepa- rated from the world in the way you look; and there is being separated from the world in the way that you act, and the way that you value things. And so, something that was very important to all of our parents was the realization that you are in this world and you are surrounded by people in this world and you’re going to have to find a way to be yourself in spite of that. And so, our goal as a band, and as Mennonites is to fully integrate our music and our faith. There’s no distinction between our faith life and our music life. And seeking to fully integrate my public life and my private life with my religious life; that’s the end goal. And so, there are as many brands of Mennonite as there are Baptists or Presbyterians. Certainly some groups of Mennonites have chosen to remain more separate in more visible ways. Some have found a middle ground. Others have cho- sen not to be separate in any way. MIKE: That’s a good answer. Are you working on a project right now? Kaitlyn: (laughter) I’m always working on a project. It must drive the band crazy, ‘cause we barely wrap up the one and I’m already compiling a list! Kyle: Before the one was mas- tered, and we had it in our hands, she was talking about the setlist for the next one. Kaitlyn: Yeah, yeah. (band laugh- ter) Actually, I’m so excited about some of the songs that we have written. MIKE: That one you sang tonight, “In the Shadow of Your Wings” I want a copy of that one for sure. Kaitlyn: That’s a Forbes Family song. Roger brought that one in. Just beautiful! I can’t wait. We’re planning to record that with a spe- cial guest but I won’t say anything until we actually ask her. It’s very exciting. I’m hoping, and I don’t know what the plans are for the future. You never know what will happen in each person’s life, but I’d like to see a CD in the next year or two. What will happen to Bluegrass Music? Tony Rice Rescue Junction - Getting the Kids Singing6 MIKE: Where do you record? Kyle: Revelation Sound Studio in Guelph. MIKE: How much do they charge an hour? Kyle: (laughter) That’d be telling. (band laughter) MIKE: Okay, okay. What festivals are you playing at this summer? Kaitlyn: Tottenham. Conestoga, and Manitoulin. MIKE: That’s good. Kaitlyn: We’re excited. Over the moon to be at Tottenham. MIKE: I want to thank you for your time, I know you have little kids here tonight. I have one more thought. I’m trying to make a theme for the maga- zine “The Future of Bluegrass”. What do you think is going to happen to Bluegrass music? Do you think it’s going to die out? Because young people don’t seem to identify with log cabins, trains, and prisons. Kyle: Well if the life of the music depends on that subject matter as the content, then yes, it will die out, or at least be restricted to a very small area. But I don’t think that the stylistics of Bluegrass depend on the content. Real life, everyday situa- tions are as real now as they were in the forties. Kaitlyn: I think approaching that subject as a songwriter I can’t write about a log cabin. I can’t write about what it’s like to catch a train, ‘cause there are so few trains to catch anymore. But I can still write about my time. I think for Bill Monroe, when he started out to work with this music and it was brand new, and they started writing songs about log cab- ins, nobody was thinking why don’t we write songs about mudhuts kind of thing? And so maybe in forty years people will look back at songs that young writers are writing now. I think that it seems like there are few young people in Bluegrass. We especially feel that way up here. But I think there is a wealth of up and coming youngsters who are just going to make this music their own. Kyle: I think what people like about Bluegrass is the sense of authenticity about it. But there is a falsehood if a band like us sings about The Blueridge Mountains and little log cabins because that is not authentically ours. But those universal themes of longing for home; of being separated from your family, of feeling sorrow, heartache; those are universal. And you find those themes as much in the world today as you did in the forties and fifties. So you write with those kind of authentic situations in mind. The music is relevant. Kaitlyn: And the reason that I do not worry about the future of Bluegrass is because, if you had met me in 2005 when Kyle bought his first mandolin and I told him I would never stand on a stage with him if he had that instrument. And there was no way I was going to play Bluegrass music. There was no way that I was going to do any of that. I did a full..I don’t want to say 360…a full 180 (band laughter) Because there was just something. All of a sudden it just clicked with me. It registered. And it was Cia Cherryholmes, a young person who I could identify with, and it was her Songwriting, her music, and it just resonated something inside of me and I realized this was the music I identified with. And I could be able to tell my stories. And so I don’t worry. I’m living proof. (band laughter) Kyle: Yeah. Our journey into Bluegrass is backwards. I started out with Nickel Creek. I picked up a Nickel Creek album at a library. And that started everything. So we went from Nickel creek to Tony Rice to Cherryholmes, David Grisman, and then started saying, “Well, who were these guys listen- ing to?” And then on back to The Osbourne Brothers, and then back to Bill Monroe. Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley, and we go, “What And it was Cia Cherryholmes. A young person around my age who I could iden- tify with....Next >