Remembering Earl Scruggs

In all of American popular music, Earl Scruggs stands as one of the very few musicians who singularly changed performance practice on their instruments and in the process birthed an entirely new genre. Without him, bluegrass music as we know it would almost certainly never have happened. And countless young players might never have chosen the banjo as their vehicle for creativity. Prior to Scruggs, the banjo was played through variations of a strumming technique. From the guitar pick approach of New Orleans...

Destination Music: The Best Festivals You Never Heard Of

Music festivals are big business in the travel world. Passionate fans are willing to journey across thousands of miles and drop thousands of dollars to see their favorite artists and submerge themselves in their preferred musical genres. The marquee festivals -- like Montreal Jazz, Chicago Blues, Coachella Valley -- are great, but they represent only a handful of the destination music events in North America. There are dozens of other festivals that are richly deserving of wider exposure. Let's call them...

THE ALBUM COLLECTION - Plain Brown Wrapper, Gary Morris (1986)

Everybody has a favorite Country album. Some might choose one from Willie Nelson, as Red Headed Stranger sometimes makes these kinds of lists. You might say Emmylou Harris, and with discs like Roses In The Snow or Luxury Liner, I couldn’t argue. Over the next few Tuesdays (keeping with album release day), I am going to write a series of articles about some of my favorite albums, and I thought I would start at the top of the list, with an...

A Simple Guide to Booking Your Summer Tour

Summer Touring is just around the corner. If you haven’t begun the booking process yet, what are you waiting for?! As you (or your band) jump in head first, here are some tips for doing it the right way. START 3-4 MONTHS OUT By right, you should be working on July and August right now. You’ll just get 1st dibs on the places you want to play. Trust us on this one. It beats trying to book a show with only 3-4 weeks notice. BOOK AROUND A BIG SUMMER FESTIVAL Look for the big ...

On Riffs and Resistance

A recent article I wrote was about how beginning writers can be too attached to their ideas. I've seen this at work many times....a professional knows to let go when a better idea comes along. But this article got me thinking, and I wanted to add my perspective as a writer/instrumentalist. When a different idea really is a better one, everyone is likely to agree. I have worked with writers who are fully committed to every detail before they ever sit down to play their work for someone. I've been that writer, and...

Deborah Allen Is Just Warming Up

Singer/songwriter Deborah Allen is receiving fresh honors for yesterday’s songs while re-launching her career using today’s recording technology. In 2011, BMI certified her 1983 pop/crossover smash “Baby I Lied” (written by Allen, Rory Bourke and Rafe Van Hoy) as having been broadcast more than 2 million times. In addition, the performance rights organization certified four other Allen songs as having achieved 1 million broadcast performances: John Conlee’s “I'm Only in It for the Love,” Janie Fricke’s ...

Concert Review: Zac Brown Band at Verizon in Irvine

What would happen if, in some imaginary universe, Jimmy Buffett, Dave Matthews Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd started a band together? That seemingly unlikely blend of Key West good times, powerful storytelling, Southern rock and virtuoso jam-band prowess only begins to sum up the secrets of the mighty Zac Brown Band. Performing in front of a capacity crowd Sunday at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, the sextet wore all its musical hats just fine, transforming from folk- rock into trad-country or one of...

Generational Soul: Music Musings for Modern Times

Chastity Brown is an old soul in a young body, with a gut wrenching sound that bridges generations with its originality and combination of diverse rhythms and genres, including blues, folk, country, pop and gospel that twist, turn and meld into something else. She tells stories from her young life with a depth that connects people musically as well as culturally. But that’s the point with old souls. Folk say they’ve been here before. That might be. Or maybe someone, like Chastity, can live and create ...

Back to Basics: Pick vs. Fingers by Dave Isaacs

No matter how accomplished we might become at anything, it’s always helpful to go back to basics. I’ve been playing music for most of my life and I still learn something new every time I revisit the fundamentals. So today let’s take a look at a very basic thing: should you play guitar with a pick or your fingers? I generally start beginner students with a pick as a matter of simplicity. When using a flatpick, you strike the strings the same way every time, using the point of the pick: all you need to concentrate on...

Help for Stage Fright

Stage fright, performance anxiety, show jitters or nervousness … whatever you call ‘it’… hits everyone who steps on stage at one time or another. There are levels of this phenomenon, from mild anxiety (butterflies - actually can be a great thing) to incapacitating conditions that cause show cancellations and stop careers in their tracks. It’s not just newbies who get this. Veteran performers are sometimes plagued with it. Carley Simon once passed out in the middle of a concert. George Jones famously anesthetized...

Craig Campbell – Family Man, Country Star

Quickly becoming known as the “Family Man” after the release of his hit single by the same title, Craig Campbell is showing audiences around the country that he has what it takes to become a chart-topping Country superstar. Currently out on the road with Josh Turner, Campbell is enjoying the benefits of performing for the larger crowds attending the shows. “Opening for Josh is always a good time. This is my first full-band experience on tour with him. Usually, it's just me and my acoustic guitar, and...

Kellie Pickler and Fresh Step Unite for ASPCA

When the Fresh Step cat litter brand approached Creative Artists Agency for help creating and marketing a sweater to benefit the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, they suggested Kellie Pickler as the campaign’s solo celebrity spokeswoman. Her fashion sense, bubbly personality and lifelong love of cats provided the instant connection needed to pull together the needed buzz for the early 2012 campaign, which also helped promote the release of Pickler’s new album, 100 Proof...

What Is The TSU Guitar Summit, And Why Is It For Me?

Music City probably has the highest concentration of great guitar players on the planet. While this might be intimidating to some, it's also an unparalleled opportunity: almost anywhere you go, you have the opportunity to be dazzled, inspired, and educated by some of the best players in the world. The TSU Guitar Summit is a weekend-long educational event that takes advantage of this wealth of guitar talent, and offers players of every level and stylistic interest to absorb some of this knowledge in...

The Uncutables

Tin Pan South Week just wrapped in Nashville recently and what an exciting week it was! I got to enjoy some great shows and see lots of friends out and about. One of my favorite sets included Natalie Hemby and Barry Dean. I especially loved that show because although these two writers have had lots of cuts, they chose to perform songs that were in their catalogs that were their favorites, some being songs that had not been cut or released. I couldn’t believe some of the songs I heard that hadn’t been...

David Ross Recounts 30 Years of Monitoring Nashville’s "MusicRow"

When David Ross moved to Nashville in 1981, it wasn’t to become a publishing mogul. After a decade of performing in the Boston area, he came to Music City to concentrate on songwriting but soon realized he needed a part-time job to support his family. Sifting through possibilities, he hit upon the idea of launching an information trade sheet that would list music-related companies and services. He named his fledgling publication MusicRow, a stroke of luck he sees as fortuitous. “The name was so powerful...