Doc Watson “Sitting Beside Himself” Video by Brian Adam Smith

Doc Watson “Sitting Beside Himself”
by Brian Adam Smith with music by Glory On The Floor

Clips from the first time Doc Watson ever sat beside his own statue in Boone, NC.

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Railroad Earth’s Music on the Mountaintop ~ Aug 24-26th ~ Railroad Earth X3; Dr. Dog; JJ Grey & Mofro; Sam Bush

Railroad Earth’s Music on the Mountaintop

August 24-26th at Grandfather Campgrounds in Boone, NC

THE 2012 LINEUP:
RAILROAD EARTH (X 3!) • DR. DOG • SAM BUSH
JJ GREY & MOFRO • GREENSKY BLUEGRASS
THE DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND • FUTUREBIRDS
THE HACKENSAW BOYS • HOLY GHOST
TENT REVIVAL • LARRY KEEL & NATURAL BRIDGE
THE BLACK LILLIES • RIVER WHYLESS
ROSE’S PAWN SHOP • NAKED GODS
MONROEVILLE • AND MANY MORE!

All Ages

$99 adv / Weekend Gate tickets: $120
Friday & Saturday Single Day Advance Tickets: $50 / Sunday: $40
For more information & to BUY TICKETS, visit musiconthemountaintop.com
Grandfather Campground // 1125 Riverside Drive, Foscoe, NC [map]

» Enter to Win a Pair of VIP Passes on JamBase! «

Read more about MOTM at beatdropping.com & gratefulweb.com

Railroad Earth’s Music on The Mountaintop is the premiere music festival in Boone, North Carolina, and is one of the nation’s first Green Festivals. 2012 marks the 5th annual three-day music festival outside of Boone, North Carolina on August 24-26th. It is Boone’s first and only multi-generational family festival offering three full days of music featuring national and world-renowned performers in Americana, Newgrass, Bluegrass, Acoustic, Folk, Funk & Eclectic, with camping, locally grown and organic natural whole food vendors.

Railroad Earth’s Music On the Mountaintop will return for a 2nd year to the Grandfather Campgrounds in Foscoe, North Carolina. The picturesque venue is located approximately ten miles from Boone, North Carolina, providing potable water throughout, several public restrooms and bathhouses, a public store, and plenty of shaded campsites. Additionally, Music on the Mountaintop will expand to include late night shows (Friday and Saturday), VIP, Summit VIP and All-Inclusive ticket options, music workshops, daily yoga classes, cabin rental options, and a new offsite parking location just miles away.

Performers include Railroad Earth X3; Dr. Dog; JJ Grey & Mofro; Sam Bush; The Dirty Dozen Brass Band; Greensky Bluegrass; The Hackensaw Boys; Larry Keel & Natural Bridge; Futurebirds; River Whyless; Holy Ghost Tent Revival, The Black Lillies; Monroeville; Naked Gods; Rose’s Pawn Shop, Stoney Creek Boys; Salem Speaks and many more.

MOTM also features a series of workshops curated by festival hosts Railroad Earth. Taking place throughout the weekend, the members of Railroad Earth have created a series of interactive workshops designed to complement the festival and bringing fans closer to their creative process. Workshops are to include: Zen and the Art of Improvisation featuring Railroad Earth’s Tim Carbone, Greensky Bluegrass’ Anders Beck and Railroad Earth’s Andrew Altman; Introduction to Weird Instruments featuring Railroad Earth’s Andy Goessling; Mandolin 101 with Railroad Earth’s John Skehan, Sam Bush and Andy Goessling; and Morning Meditation with Tim Carbone of Railroad Earth.

The weekend of workshops will culminate with an All-Star Jam celebrating the 100th birthday of Woody Guthrie. Joining Railroad Earth in celebrating the music of this legendary folk musician will be the Sam Bush Band, Larry and Jenny Keel and members of Monroeville.

Click to BUY TICKETS

General admission tickets are offered starting at $99.
The price includes three days of music, camping, and an alcohol fee.
VIP packages will be made available this year with two levels, Ridge VIP and Summit VIP.

Railroad Earth’s Music on the Mountaintop

Produced by Yellow Dog Entertainment and Hosted by Railroad Earth
Sponsored by Telluride.com as a “mini Telluride Bluegrass Festival”

MusicOnTheMountaintop.com

 

“Music with a Vision, Educate While Entertaining”

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Bluegrass Documentary Podcast: Interviews with Sam Bush, Larry Keel and Tim White

Myke Scaffidi put this wonderful audio documentary together about Bluegrass Music for Appalachian State College in Boone, NC. He interviews Sam Bush, Larry Keel and Tim White. Below is a brief description of the 10 minute podcast. You can listen to it here: http://www.mykescaffidi.com/myke/media/hillbilly_jazz_bluegrass_mixdown.wav

Bill Monroe

Larry Keel

Myke Scaffidi writes: “Today’s bluegrass musicians are pushing the boundaries of the genre by incorporating increasingly new influences. In addition to the many innovative artists working today, the traditional sound of bluegrass embodied by Bill Monroe still flourishes.  Just as foreign influences and rural southern music blended with elements of African American blues and gospel to form early bluegrass, new styles and techniques are evolving thanks to the continuing tradition of band-hopping musicians.

Sam Bush

The music represents an often-overlooked American art form and I feel privileged to have worked on this project to broaden the public’s understanding. I was fortunate to have the participation of great interviewees including Sam Bush, Larry Keel and Tim White; and it would have been impossible to tell the story without their perspective and acknowledgement of the early pioneers as well.”

Click here to listen and/ or download:http://www.mykescaffidi.com/myke/media/hillbilly_jazz_bluegrass_mixdown.wav

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Lazybirds Perform their Ragtime Style of American Roots Music at MoDaddys on Friday, September 23, 2011

Lazybirds. Photo by Jen Fox

Lazybirds is a classic American roots band from the mountains of North Carolina. Specializing in good time music that is just about impossible not to move to, there is also a depth to the band that faithful fans have treasured over the years. According to the legendary Doc Watson, “Lazybirds play a good variety of blues, jazz, and that good old ragtime sound, and you will hear the flavor of that in anything they play.” The ‘Birds cover a lot of musical ground, from early American stringband music to Dylan classics, as well as classic sounding originals, but deep roots are what hold all of these sounds together.

The Lazybirds most recent CD release (2010), “Broken Wing,” pays homage to founding member Andy Christopher, who played tenor banjo and tenor guitar, and sang with the band until being stricken suddenly with a mysterious heart condition. The title track, a Lazybirds original, describes how the band misses their soul brother; “It seems wrong you’re not here on my right,” “There’s a hole where there should be your banjo.” Andy was with the band for part of the recording before he took sick, and you can hear his distinctive banjo picking particularly on “Life,” a Lazybirds rendition of the Sly and the Family Stone classic that will surprise most listeners other than long time fans, who expect the occasional knuckle-ball from this band. In essence the CD is life-affirming, moving through the blues, swing and deep country with humor and heart. “Broken Wing” has received sparkling reviews across the American southeast and in Europe.

Lately the band has been incorporating more original music into the mix. Some of these will certainly find their way onto the next Lazybirds recording, but you’ll have to check the credits to know which songs are Lazybirds originals and which are old classics, as the band has been steeping in the American roots melting pot for so long that it flavors anything they do. The band began nearly twenty years ago, when Jay Brown and James T Browne, who had played acoustic blues and folk together in high-school, moved up to Boone NC where they immediately met Mitch Johnston. Eventually Mitch became the hard driving bass man who perfectly complimented James’ jazz drumming and Jay’s finger style blues-swing guitar and jazzy harmonica. Shortly afterward they met Andy, who’s rhythmic style opened up more doors for the band. A few years later they were joined by German born fiddler and blues guitarist Alfred Michels who, evidence clearly suggests, is from 100 years ago.

Together they have played top festivals across the southeast, including Merlefest, Bristol Rhythm and Roots, LEAF, Birmingham City Stages, Music on the Mountaintop, and Bele Chere. They have shared the stage with their friends The Old Crow Medicine Show and Doc Watson. They’ve been a longstanding favorite in some of the best bars from Birmingham to Boone. Lazybirds is an American classic worth getting to know.

Show Details at a Glance:

LazyBirds
MoDaddys
Friday, September 23, 2011

9:30, $5
(828) 258-1550
77 Biltmore Ave.
Asheville, NC 28801
http://www.modaddysbar.com

www.lazybirds.net

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Archive: Meet Jonathan Scales, SteelPan Jazz Rock Star

Check out this in depth Q & A interview with Jonathan Scales by the CAISO SteelBand: Meet Jonathan Scales, SteelPan Jazz Rock Star.  To read the full article please click on the link.

. . .   . . .   . . .

In a Q&A interview with Mike King Jr, Jonathan Scales, is living proof that there is gold in them hills of North Carolina. Mr. Scales breaks down how he was introduced to the SteelPan, describes his “Fourchestra”, and talks about making the 1st Music Video featuring a SteelPannist.

Mike King Jr:How did you become interested in the SteelPans & how long have you been playing?

Jon Scales: I started playing pan my freshman year of college (August 2002). I went to Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. There is a great steel pan program there, ran by Dr. Scott Meister, called the Steely Pan Steel Band.  No one expects that in the mountains of North Carolina! I entered the school to study music composition & theory and played saxophone as my main instrument. The steel band at the school has an open audition every year and I made the cut!  From there, I was hooked. I spent a lot more time in the panyard than practicing for my saxophone lessons.

MKJ: What was the inspiration in making the video for “Muddy Vishnu”? Is this the 1st high quality video featuring a SteelPan Musician? Who directed the video?

JS: Well, first, the title “Muddy Vishnu” comes from a stylistic mix between the blues legend Muddy Waters and the ’70s jazz/rock fusion band Mahavishnu Orchestra.  It was fun to write.  As far as the inspiration for MAKING the video…I’ll have to say i’m influence equally from pop culture as well as jazz & classical composition; the video is definitely my pop culture influence showing up! I have this crazy idea that I can somehow be a SteelPan Jazz Rock Star! I thought the video would also be a good way to expose people to my work in the same way that major label artists release videos when they come out with a new album.  As far as the 1st…man I don’t know about that!  I’m not trying to make any bold claims.

The video was directed by Daniel Judson. (See his work at danieljudson.com) Check out “Muddy Vishnu” here:

MKJ: What is the inspriration for your latest project, “Character Farm & other Short Stories”?

JS: My friend Roy “Futureman” Wooten (Grammy-award winning percussionist for Bela Fleck) had some long talks to me about “Long Form”…which is just the idea of making one grand musical statement as opposed to just throwing together a collection of songs.  Now i’m not saying that “Character Farm” is the perfect example of what he meant, but it was my attempt to get closer to that concept.  The 9 original tunes are packaged together as a group of short stories that each have an illustration in the liner notes to help the audience get a better idea of what i’m thinking in my mind about each piece.  So it kinda comes together like a comic book…but instead of reading words with each picture, there is music.  Digital downloads won’t do it justice!  The packaging helps bring the music to life.

. . .   . . .   . . .
MKJ: How would you describe your music arrangement style?

JS: That’s a tough one!  Well…a lot of people find my music to be complicated or complex.  I think I use a lot of “advanced” rhythmic ideas that people don’t hear on a daily basis.  I mess around a lot with different time signatures and polyrhythmic phrasing.  Also I steer slightly away from traditional harmonic and melodic ideas.  So I guess you could say I try to take opposing and contrasting harmonic, rhythmic, and melodic ideas, mix ’em together and really focus on how to make that work on the SteelPans with my band backing me up.  My writing background is heavily influenced by 20th century modern classical composers like John Cage, Igor Stravinsky and Charles Ives; who were all known for writing some crazy “out there” types of music!  I use a lot of their techniques, but writing on top of groove-based drums really ties it together and makes it assessable.

For more information on Jon Scales Fourchestra: Music, Tour and CD’s visit his official site at:  Jon Scales

TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE WITH SEVERAL MORE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS, VISIT: http://www.caisosteelband.com/2011/04/jonathan-scales-steelpan-jazz-rock-star-1.html

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Music on the Mountaintop raised $5500 for Appalachian Voices

This is great news! Music on the Mountaintop in Boone, NC raised $5000 for Appalachian Voices this year. Frank Ruggiero with the Mountain Times reports:

Organizers of Boone’s annual Music on the Mountaintop agree this year’s festival was a rousing success.

With attendance between 5,000 and 6,000, it was what founder Jimmy Hunt called “good, successful and exciting.”

Area environmental advocacy group Appalachian Voices would agree, to the tune of $5,500.
With community outreach a key facet of the festival, Hunt has ensured that portions of proceeds benefit a different nonprofit organization each year. This year, Appalachian Voices stood to benefit with a 10 percent increase in donation from last year.

“Even with the economy down, there are still positive events trying to get us back,” Hunt said. “It makes sense. If people can have a good time and dance and, at the end of the day, realize their ticket made a difference, that’s pretty awesome.” . . . .

. . . “But what really blew my mind was the amount of positive response we got from the artists – Larry Keel, Toubab Krewe, Railroad Earth, even Keller (Williams),” he said. “They all tried to come find me, not just to say ‘thank you,’ but a very personal, sincere ‘thank you.’ Toubab has been all over the world and said this was such a breath of fresh air, coming back and playing in front of people who genuinely like music.

“That’s a testament to our town and fans, what Music on the Mountaintop is, and that it’s, hopefully, always going to be here.”

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE: http://www2.mountaintimes.com/MOTM

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Some great videos from Music on the Mountaintop on Boone, NC

…And there’s a whole bunch more at Music on the Mountaintops YouTube Channel

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