February 2014

Rhonda Vincent’s new album, ONLY ME, debuts at number one on Billboard Bluegrass Album chart, ending a 4-month reign by Alan Jackson. In addition, the album debuts on four other Billboard charts including number ten on Heatseekers, and number 36 on Top Current Country Albums, “It’s a dream come true!” says Rhonda Vincent. “I was hoping for a number one CD with ONLY ME, but never expecting it after only 2 days of sales. This is unbelievable! ” The album has been endorsed by country superstar Dolly Parton and features duets with both Willie Nelson and Daryle Singletary. Nelson said: “Rhonda’s voice is beautiful. I am thankful for her letting me be a part of it all,” while Singletary said that he loves singing with Rhonda “cause she makes you bring your A game.”

Charlie Daniels’ first new album project release since 2007 is the musical legends dedication to his own person icon – Bob Dylan. Daniels added his guitar to three of Dylan’s Nashville produced projects (NASHVILLE SKYLINE, SELF PORTRAIT and NEW MORNING) in the 60s. Charlie has explained that the Dylan sessions not only did a lot for his confidence, but helped legitimise him in Nashville circles and beyond as a serious musician. He certainly repays the debt of gratitude on this new project. “It was about 50 years ago when I first became aware of Bob Dylan—and no, I was not naive enough to think I could swim in the same stream, try to emulate what he had done, or cop his licks. Nobody could do that,” comments Daniels. “My ambitions were to provoke some thought, to colour the imagery of my songs, to think outside the box of conformity—in other words to be myself.” The new collection contains Daniels’ signature deft musical delivery on ten of Dylan’s finest writings: Tangled Up In Blue Times They Are a Changin’ I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight Gotta Serve Somebody I Shall Be Released Country Pie Mr. Tambourine Man Hard Rains A Gonna Fall Just Like A Woman Quinn The Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn) “Whatever it was Bob Dylan meant by his lyrics, they grabbed the attention of the world and changed the face of music forever,” continues Charlie. “He inspired musicians to knock down the restrictive, bubble gum, three minute a side, Tin Pan Alley world that set the parameters of popular music and turn their creative minds loose in a thousand new directions.” OFF THE GRID will be released on Blue Hat Records in association with MRI and distributed by RED. It is set for release on April 1, 2014.

This now annual and signature release presents a track from each of the nominated artists for The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2014. Released on February 17, this acclaimed 2CD set includes 27 tracks from the cream of the crop in the folk world: Lisa Knapp, Martin Simpson, Bella Hardy, Will Pound, Linda Thompson, Georgia Ruth, Chris Wood, Breabach, Lau, Full English Project, Josienne Clarke & Ben Walker, Fay Hiles, Greg Russell & Ciaran Alger, Melrose Quartet and many more… The Awards, which celebrate their 15th anniversary in 2014, are taking place on Wednesday February 19 at The Royal Albert Hall in London. The ceremony, including performances by some of the biggest names in folk music, will commence at 8pm and will be broadcast live on Radio 2, via the Red Button, and online at bbc.co.uk/radio2, with video highlights to follow the next day.

Three Compass Records artists were winners at the 40th annual SPBGMA Bluegrass Music Awards. Dale Ann Bradley, Michael Cleveland and The Gibson Brothers took home awards on the night Dale Ann Bradley was again crowned Female Vocalist of the Year, this was her seventh time receiving the award following wins in 2012, 2011, 2009, 2008 and 2007 and 2001. “I am truly humbled to receive this award. Thank you to everyone for your support and I look forward to making the next album!” said Dale Ann. Michael Cleveland took home Fiddle Player of the Year, after an amazing performance with his band. “I want to say a huge thank you to everyone for the support and encouragement that you have shown! It would not be possible to do what we do without you all!” said Michael. Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper are the studio this month putting the finishing touches on their new album to be released on Compass Records in late spring 2014. Two-time reigning IBMA Entertainers of the Year, The Gibson Brothers, won the 2014 SPBGMA Song of the Year Award with They Called It Music, the title track from their most recent release which has held a top 10 spot on the Bluegrass Unlimited Chart for weeks. The Gibson Brothers are currently touring in support of the album. Compass Records has been called “one of the greatest independent labels of the last decade” by Billboard Magazine. The label is home to a diverse roster of artists including Colin Hay, The Gibson Brothers, Victor Wooten, Altan, BeauSoleil, AJ Croce and The Farewell Drifters.

Pete Seeger, champion of folk music as a catalyst for change, has died in New York age 94. According to his grandson he passed away at a New York hospital after a short illness. Seeger rose to fame as member of The Weavers, formed in 1948. He continued to perform in his own right for many years, in a career spanning six decades. Seeger’s hits include If I Had a Hammer, Turn, Turn, Turn, Where Have All the Flowers Gone and Kisses Sweeter Than Wine. Pete Seeger will be remembered for his courageous protest songs which saw him blacklisted by the US Government in the 1950s for his left wing stance – even quizzed by the Un-American Activities Committee in 1955, which he greatly resented. During these years he was denied broadcast exposure and charged with contempt of Congress. The sentence was overturned and Seeger was able to return to television in the late 1960s. He had never given up on his ethos though, and spent this time touring US college campuses spreading his music and his ideas, a job that Seeger himself described as the most important of his career. This skinny framed, bearded, banjo-playing musician became an iconic bearer for political causes ranging from nuclear disarmament to the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011. He was closely identified with the sixties civil rights movement and was an enduring champion of the folk community and its social activism. Seeger performed with Woody Guthrie in his early years, and went on to have an effect on the protest music of later artists including Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Joan Baez. His influence continued through the decades and was inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. In 2006, Springsteen recorded an album of songs originally sung by Seeger. On his 90th birthday, Seeger was feted by artists including Springsteen, Eddie Vedder and Dave Matthews in New York’s Madison Square Garden. Springsteen called him “a living archive of America’s music and conscience, a testament of the power of song and culture to nudge history along.

Darius Rucker has just received a Grammy Award for Best Country Solo Performance for his number one hit Wagon Wheel, featuring Lady Antebellum. This is Rucker’s third career Grammy, but first time winning this award. The good times continue as tickets for the second leg of his 2014 True Believers Tour go on sale. He will he joined by Eli Young Band, Corey Smith and Joel Crouse on a tour around America. Rucker recently received three Academy of Country Music Award nominations including Single Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year for Wagon Wheel. The 49th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards will take place in MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 6th 2014. The first leg of the tour, featuring Eli Young Band and David Nail, began January 29, 2014 and will continue until March 9. The second leg will begin March 27 and run until August.

At a ceremony last week held at the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C., Bob Taylor, President of Taylor Guitars, was presented with the Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE) to honour the company’s transformative work in the ebony trade and in the lives of its many employees at its ebony mill, Crelicam, in Cameroon. This annual award recognises U.S.-owned businesses that play vital roles around the world as good corporate citizens in supporting sustainable development, respect for human and labour rights, environmental protection, open markets, transparency, and other democratic values. At a formal presentation ceremony held in the Benjamin Franklin Room, Secretary of State John Kerry presented the award to Bob Taylor, noting that through Crelicam, “Bob and Taylor Guitars have fundamentally changed the entire ebony trade.” Secretary Kerry underscored the company’s commitment to both the environment and its employees, and as an advocate for improved economic policies and responsible forestry management. “Taylor Guitars has become an effective advocate for legal and policy reforms to improve the permitting process around the ebony trade to better protect both the environment and the rights and needs of other forest users,” he observed. “Taylor ensures that its works are protected, and they ensure that their workers likewise benefit as a result of this.” To close, he noted that “this is absolutely the example of how people ought to do business. We’re so proud to be able to tell this story, as each of these stories, because they’re a wonderful example of the best of corporate citizenship globally. It’s an honour for me to present the 2013 Award for Corporate Excellence to Taylor Guitars.” Upon receipt of the award, Bob Taylor acknowledged the company’s commitment to a vision which would transform the ebony trade, and the lives of its employees, by applying business solutions to an environmental problem. Equally important, Taylor underscored the company’s commitment to act in the spirit of compassionate capitalism, with an emphasis on enriching the lives of employees through training and social events, and to retain the value of ebony wood in Cameroon. “Our vision was to transform the way that ebony is harvested, processed, and sold into a new model of responsible social forestry while enriching the lives of our 75 employees through meaningful work,” Taylor shared in his formal remarks. “To accomplish this, we assumed the role of guardian of the forest, and we operate with the philosophy to use what the forest gives us. To us, this means using ebony of all colours and all variegations, including wood that features spotted or streaked colouring, wood which prior to our involvement would have been left to deteriorate on the forest floor.”