The festival will feature more than 50 musical artists and acts performing daily from 11 a.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Sunday. Seven stages –including the shady, family-oriented Dulcimer Grove — will offer a diverse array of international, regional and hyper-local performers, daytime workshops, in-the-round sets featuring several artists/acts, and more. As in years past, many artisans will display and sell their crafts, while a wide array of food and beverages will be available for purchase.

This year’s festival headliners are, Gangstagrass (a group whose innovative sound is a fusion of bluegrass and hip hop) John Oates (formerly of the popular Philadelphia-based pop-soul duo Hall & Oates), and virtuosic banjo player Tony Trischka’s EarlJam – A Tribute to Earl Scruggs (in which the acclaimed bluegrass artist and backing band trace the musical story of the American bluegrass legend known for popularizing a three-finger banjo picking style).

Among the other notable artists slated to perform during the festival are Adam Ezra Group, Calvin Arsenia, Cajun band Beausoleil avec Michael Doucet, Craig Bickhardt with Aislann Bickhardt, Johnathan Byrd, Ellis Paul, The Faux Paws, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, Dom Flemons, John Flynn, John Gallagher, Jr., The Great Groove Band, Alice Howe & Freebo, Jess Klein, A.J. Lee & Blue Summit, Crys Matthews, Pete Muller and the Kindred Souls, Aaron Nathans & Michael G. Ronstadt, Celtic roots ensemble RUNA, The Secret Sisters, Shanna in a Dress, Alexis P. Suter Band, Stephen Wade, Nigel Wearne, and Windborne. A number of talented Canadian artists are on the bill – including Angelique Francis Band, Cassie & Maggie, J.P. Cormier, Dave Gunning, Miss Emily, and Genevieve Racette.

John Flynn, a Delaware-based singer-songwriter and social justice activist & troubadour, has been a frequent performer at the festival and closes it out this year on the Main Stage. “When people ask me how I’m doing I often say ‘better than I deserve.’ They always think I’m joking but I’m really not,” he told AcousticMusicScene.com. “I am so grateful for the chances I’ve been given in this life and that’s kind of how I feel about the Philadelphia Folk Festival. These folks have supported my music from the very beginning, and it’s a real honor to be getting a chance to appear with so many wonderful artists on the final night of this year’s fest.”

Artists Affiliated with Music Artists Cooperative (MAC) and Xtreme Folk Scene Also Slated to Perform

The Philadelphia Folk Festival also will feature performances by members of the Philadelphia Folksong Society’s Musical Artists Cooperative (MAC) and from The Xtreme Folk Scene, a Philadelphia-based music community dedicated to supporting dynamic and innovative folk music that pushes the boundaries of tradition and celebrates the fusion of various genres.

The Musical Artists Cooperative (MAC) is an initiative designed to support professional musicians who perform regularly in the local area, with many touring nationally as well. Slated to perform on the Lobby Stage on Friday, Aug, 16, between 1-5:30 p.m. are Last Chance, CubiZm, Jefferson Berry & the UAC, Bethlehem and Sad Patrick, Jersey Corn Pickers, Kicking Down Doors, The Hoppin Boxcars, and Meghan Cary. On Saturday morning, Aug. 17, Mara Levine and Gathering Time will perform on the Craft Stage from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., and on Sunday morning, Aug. 18, The Honey Badgers and The Edgehill Rounders play the Tank Stage from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Other MAC-affiliated artists set to perform during the festival include Emily Drinker, Aaron Nathans, David C. Perry, Jackson Pines, and Two of a Kind.

The Xtreme Folk Showcase, entitled “Anger, Hope, and Outrage,” will feature performances by Sug Daniels, Anarkkhipov, Persistent Resonators, A Day Without Love, and Matt Pless on the Tank Stage on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Xtreme Folk Scene also presents Xfest, an annual music festival featuring some of the edgiest folk artists in the greater Philadelphia area.

There’s also a festival within the festival for those who opt to camp onsite and enjoy some late-night musical revelry. The 40-acre campground – chock-a-block with tents – is home to a unique late-night scene, with singing by campfires and jamming into the early morning hours, as well as a Thursday night Camp Stage kickoff performance for campers only.

For more information about the Philadelphia Folk Festival – including stage schedules — and to order tickets, visit folkfest.org.

“We lost one of the greatest banjo players to ever pick up the five,” tweeted fellow banjoist Bela Fleck, just one of numerous artists who took to social media to share their thoughts about the master of the bluegrass banjo in the days following his passing.

“He was an absolute legend… He will be remembered as one of the greatest to ever play bluegrass music,” maintains acclaimed roots guitarist Billy Strings. “He had tone, taste and timing like no other. The space between the notes he played and the way he rolled them out just kept the band driving, running on all cylinders like a V* engine. He was just the best bluegrass banjo player out there, man,” he tweeted.

In social media posts, Mark O’Connor, a noted roots fiddler and guitarist, who had a brief stint in Crowe’s band when he was just 14 in the mid-1970s, called Crowe “one of the absolute greats in bluegrass, and a really wonderful mentor to me when I was a young boy coming.” In O’Connor’s view, there’s “no better bluegrass banjo player the history [of the genre] other than Earl Scruggs.” Crowe might be considered a disciple of Scruggs and, like him, he played in a three-fingered style. However, although he respected and sought to preserve the tradition and the legacy of the genre, Crowe was not a bluegrass purist. He also experimented and expanded bluegrass music’s traditional boundaries and helped redefine the genre and widen its appeal in the process. His pioneering progressive bluegrass band, J.D. Crowe and the New South, his pioneering progressive bluegrass band featured such notable players as Jerry Douglas, Keith Whitley, guitarist Tony Rice (who died last Christmas), Ricky Skaggs, Phil Leadbetter, and Don Rigsby over the years.

James Dee Crowe was born in Lexington, Kentucky in 1937. While just a teenager and still in school, he performed and toured with acclaimed bluegrass guitarist Jimmy Martin in the mid-1950s. Returning home to Lexington in 1961, he partnered with mandolinist Doyle Lawson and bassist Bobby Sloane to form the Kentucky Mountain Dogs, which became J.D. Crowe and the New South in the 1970s and featured a revolving lineup of players. The group’s 1975 Rounder Records release, The New South, is considered one of bluegrass music’s seminal albums. In 1983, J.D. Crowe and the New South won a Grammy Award for Country Instrumental of the Year for “Fireball.”

Here’s a link to view a video of J.D. Crowe and the New South performing “Fireball”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-2rv9lxNlw

Crowe also formed and recorded with the Bluegrass Album Band featuring Lawson, guitarists Rice and Douglas, fiddlers Vassar Clements and Bobby Hicks, and Todd Phillips and Mark Schatz rotating on bass. He was a recipient of numerous awards and accolades. He was inducted into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame in 2003, received the Bluegrass Star Award in 2011, an honorary doctorate from the University of Kentucky in 2012, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Lexington Music Awards in 2016. Although he gave up touring in 2019, Crowe had continued to record.

Here’s a link to view a video of the Bluegrass Album Band performing “Big Spike Hammer” during an IBMA Awards Show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PO__VTOMNJo

Billy Strings, who turns 29 on Oct. 3, grew up playing traditional bluegrass with his dad. In the years since, he has been among the artists who have helped to expand the boundaries of the genre, widening its appeal. His latest album, Renewal, features 16 songs (mostly originals), that while primarily acoustic, transcends bluegrass via incorporating elements of jam band, psychedelic music, classic rock, and even heavy metal.

Awards are voted on by the professional membership of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), a nonprofit music organization that connects, educates, and empowers bluegrass professionals and enthusiasts, honoring tradition and encouraging innovation in the bluegrass community worldwide (ibma.org).

A complete list of winners in 17 categories appears below, while information about the three previously announced Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame inductees (acclaimed artist Alison Krauss, trailblazing bandleader and banjoist Lynn Morris and early bluegrass influencers the Stoneman Family) and five Distinguished Achievement Awards recipients, as well as a listing of all the category nominees can be found at https://acousticmusicscene.com/2021/07/21/ibma-bluegrass-music-awards-nominees-named/.

Entertainer of the Year:

Billy Strings

Vocal Group of the Year

Sister Sadie

Instrumental Group of the Year

Appalachian Road Show

New Artist of the Year

Appalachian Road Show

Song of the Year

“Richest Man”
Artist: Balsam Range
Songwriters: Jim Beavers/Jimmy Yeary/Connie Harrington
Producer: Balsam Range
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

Album of the Year

Industrial Strength Bluegrass: Southwestern Ohio’s Musical Legacy
Artist: Various Artists
Producer: Joe Mullins
Label: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

Gospel Recording of the Year (Tie)

“After Awhile”
Artist: Dale Ann Bradley
Songwriter: Public Domain
Producer: Dale Ann Bradley
Label: Pinecastle Records

“In the Resurrection Morning”
Artists: Sacred Reunion featuring Doyle Lawson, Vince Gill, Barry Abernathy, Tim Stafford, Mark Wheeler, Jim VanCleve, Phil Leadbetter, Jason Moore
Songwriter: Mark Wheeler
Producers: Barry Abernathy, Jim VanCleve, Dottie Leonard Miller
Label: Billy Blue Records

Instrumental Recording of the Year

“Ground Speed”
Artists: Kristin Scott Benson, Skip Cherryholmes, Jeremy Garrett, Kevin Kehrberg, Darren Nicholson
Songwriter: Earl Scruggs
Producer: Jon Weisberger
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

Collaborative Recording of the Year

“White Line Fever”
Artists: Bobby Osborne with Tim O’Brien, Trey Hensley, Sierra Hull, Stuart Duncan, Todd Phillips, Alison Brown
Songwriters: Merle Haggard/Jeff Tweedy
Producers: Alison Brown, Garry West
Label: Compass Records

Female Vocalist of the Year

Dale Ann Bradley

Male Vocalist of the Year (Tie)

Del McCoury
Danny Paisley

Banjo Player of the Year

Scott Vestal

Bass Player of the Year

Missy Raines

Fiddle Player of the Year

Bronwyn Keith-Hynes

Resophonic Guitar Player of the Year

Justin Moses

Guitar Player of the Year

Billy Strings

Mandolin Player of the Year

Sierra Hull

The Earls of Leicester, which also was the top winner in the 2015 International Bluegrass Music Awards, pay homage to the musical legacy of Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs and their band, the Foggy Mountain Boys. Besides being named Entertainer of the Year again, the bluegrass supergroup’s bandleader, Jerry Douglas, was again named Dobro Player of the Year, while bandmate Barry Bales repeated as Bass Player of the Year and Charlie Cushman was named Banjo Player of the Year.

Last year, The Earls of Leicester also took home trophies for Album of the Year for its self-titled debut release, Instrumental Group of the Year and Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year, while member Shawn Camp was named Male Vocalist of the Year. Also in the group is Johnny Warren (fiddle).

Flatt Lonesome has been garnering considerable attention, accolades and radio airplay. Launched in 2011 by siblings Kelsi Robertson Harrigil (mandolin), Buddy Robertson (guitar), and Charli Robetrtson (fiddle), along with neighbor Dominic Illingworth (bass) and longtime friend Michael Stockton (dobro), and joined by Paul Harrigil (banjo) the following year, the band released its eponymous debut album in 2013.

During the awards show, members of Flatt Lonesome expressed thanks to their parents for teaching them how to sing. “We wouldn’t be Vocal Group of the Year without them,” said Charli Robertson, while twin brother Buddy remarked: “I’ve spent a lot of hours picking in the house with dad growing up and if it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be who I am today.” Commenting on winning Album of the Year, older sister Kelsi Harrigill said: “This is our first album to have the majority of material to be all original and that is a huge deal to us. We want to pay tribute to those who came before us but we also want to show people what’s in our hearts…”

Earlier this year, Flatt Lonesome was named Best Overall Bluegrass Band and took home Album of the Year honors during the 42nd annual SPBGMA Awards.

A listing of all the award winners appears below.

2016 International Bluegrass Music Awards

Entertainer of the Year: The Earls of Leicester
Female Vocalist of the Year: Becky Buller
Male Vocalist of the Year: Danny Paisley
Vocal Group of the Year: Flatt Lonesome
Instrumental Group of the Year: Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen
Song of the Year: “You’re the One,” Flatt Lonesome
Album of the Year: Runaway Train, Flatt Lonesome
Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year: “All Dressed Up,” Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers
Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year: “Fireball,” Special Consensus featuring Rob Ickes, Trey Hensley and Alison Brown
Emerging Artist of the Year: Mountain Faith
Recorded Event of the Year: Longneck Blues, Junior Sisk and Ronnie Bowman
Banjo Player of the Year: Charlie Cushman
Bass Player of the Year: Barry Bales
Dobro Player of the Year: Jerry Douglas
Fiddle Player of the Year: Becky Buller
Guitar Player of the Year: Bryan Sutton
Mandolin Player of the Year: Sierra Hull

Inductees into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame: Clarence White; the Rounder Founders: Ken Irwin, Marian Leighton Levy and Bill Nowlin

Distinguished Achievement Awards: Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine, Boston Bluegrass Union, SiriusXM Radio’s Bluegrass Junction, Bill Emerson, Jim Rooney


The International Bluegrass Awards Show was a centerpiece of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)’s five-day World of Bluegrass, which is considered the genre’s annual industry gathering and family reunion. Held in Raleigh for the fourth consecutive year, World of Bluegrass also featured a wide array of professional development seminars, meetings and forums, artist showcases and late-night hospitality functions, an exhibit hall, plenty of networking and relationship-building opportunities, and the Wide Open Bluegrass Music Festival.

A Massachusetts native, Keith was born in Boston in December 1939 and graduated from Amherst College in 1961. During his youth, he played with a few Dixieland bands before acquiring an interest in folk music through listening to Pete Seeger and Earl Scruggs, among others. Inspired by them and eager to play fiddle tunes on the banjo, he began developing his own picking style. He and fellow Amherst student Jim Rooney teamed up in the late 1950s to play on campus and at local coffeehouses and also partnered in launching the Connecticut Folklore Society. Keith was a member of Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys for a short while in the early 1960s. During that brief stint of recording and performing, Keith left an indelible mark on banjo playing, while his melodic style – a variation on the then-popular “Scruggs style” that would later become known as “Keith style” – has influenced many banjoists.

Shortly after leaving the Bluegrass boys, Keith joined and spent four years with the Jim Kweskin Jug Band. He later played with Ian and Sylvia before moving to Woodstock, New York in 1970 and playing with Jonathan Edwards for a year. During the 1970s, he recorded for Rounder Records and also played with Judy Collins and was part of the Woodstock Mountain Revue. In the years since then, he also performed with Muleskinner (featuring David Grisman, Peter Rowan and Clarence White) and Tony Trischka, among others.

Keith also is credited with designing a specialized type of banjo tuning peg — now known as Keith Pegs — that enables players to change quickly from one open tuning to another. His invention – which he continued to market and manufacture through his Beacon Banjo Company (now run by his son, Martin) until his death –was an improvement over a previous design by Earl Scruggs.

Speaking during the awards show, Douglas said: “This is unbelievable fun, and we’re going to keep doing it.”

The Tar Heel State’s own Balsam Range, last year’s Entertainer of the Year and previous winner for Album and Song of the Year, was honored as Vocal Group of the Year, while its “Moon Over Memphis” was named Song of the Year. The acoustic quintet’s Tim Surrett was named Bass Player of the Year.

During the show, Balsam Range performed another one of its songs “Stacking Up The Rocks,” a cappella. Other performers included Flatt Lonesome, the Gibson Brothers (hosts of the event), The Del McCoury Band and Hot Rize.

Alison Krauss joined singer-guitarist Larry Sparks and his band, the Lonesome Ramblers, on a medley of his signature songs after inducting him into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. Sparks recently released a new album to mark his 50th year in bluegrass music. Also inducted into the Hall of Fame was banjoist Bill Keith – whom Bill Monroe had hailed as the first banjo player who could play banjo songs in a fiddle style and with a fiddler’s virtuosity. Musician and author Jim Rooney and fellow banjo player Alan Munde sang Keith’s praises in inducting him, while banjoist Noam Pikelny – a founding member of the Punch Brothers and last year’s Album and Banjo Player of the Year winner — played Keith’s tune “Beating Around the Bush” in tribute.

The 26th Annual International Bluegrass Music Awards is the centerpiece of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)’s five-day World of Bluegrass event that continues through Saturday, Oct. 3, with the Wide Open Bluegrass festival featuring free and ticketed events. Awards were voted on by the professional membership of the IBMA (www.ibma.org), the trade association for the global bluegrass music community. Prior to the evening awards show, winners of five 2015 Distinguished Achievement Awards were recognized.

A listing of all the award winners appears below.

2015 International Bluegrass Music Awards

Entertainer of the Year: The Earls of Leicester
Female Vocalist of the Year: Rhonda Vincent
Male Vocalist of the Year: Shawn Camp
Vocal Group of the Year: Balsam Range
Instrumental Group of the Year: The Earls of Leicester
Song of the Year: “Moon Over Memphis,” Balsam Range
Album of the Year: The Earls of Leicester, The Earls of Leicester (produced by Jerry Douglas)
Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year: “Who Will Sing for Me,” the Earls of Leicester
Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year: “The Three Bells,” Jerry Douglas, Mike Auldridge, Rob Ickes
Emerging Artist of the Year: Becky Buller
Recorded Event of the Year: “Southern Flavor,” Becky Buller with Peter Rowan, Michael Feagan, Buddy Spicher, Ernie Sykes, Roland White and Blake Williams
Bluegrass Songwriter of the Year: Becky Buller
Banjo Player of the Year: Rob McCoury
Bass Player of the Year: Tim Surrett
Dobro Player of the Year: Jerry Douglas
Fiddle Player of the Year: Michael Cleveland
Guitar Player of the Year: Bryan Sutton
Mandolin Player of the Year: Jesse Brock

Inductees into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame: Bill Keith and Larry Sparks
Distinguished Achievement Awards: Alison Brown, Murphy Henry, the International Bluegrass Music Museum, “Bashful Brother” Oswald Kirby and Steve Martin

Brothers Eric and Leigh Gibson, along with their band (Mike Barber, Clayton Campbell and Joe Walsh) also were honored for Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year” for “Singing As We Rise.”

Other top winners of this year’s International Bluegrass Music Awards, which are voted on by the professional membership of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), included Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice whose The Heart of a Song was named Album of the Year, while “A Far Cry from Lester & Earl” took Single of the Year honors. Russell Moore (of Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out) and Dale Ann Bradley were named male and female vocalists of the year, respectively. The Emerging Artist of the Year Award went to Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers, while Doyle Lawson and the late Ralph Rinzler were the 2012 inductees into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.

Steve Martin and other top bluegrass musicians participated in a star-filled tribute to Earl Scruggs, the legendary banjo player who died earlier this year, that capped off the gala event that was hosted by Del McCoury and Laurie Lewis.

The IBMA Awards Show is considered the centerpiece of the trade association’s annual World of Bluegrass Week, which also included an IBMA business conference and Bluegrass Fan Fest.

A complete list of award winners follows:

Bluegrass Hall of Fame Inductees: Doyle Lawson, Ralph Rinzler
Distinguished Achievement Award Recipients: Byron Berline, Joe & Lil Cornett, Orin Friesen, Pee Wee Lambert, Kitsy Kuykendall
Entertainer of the Year: The Gibson Brothers
Vocal Group of the Year: Blue Highway
Instrumental Group of the Year: The Boxcars
Emerging Artists of the Year: Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers
Male Vocalist of the Year: Russell Moore
Female Vocalist of the Year: Dale Ann Bradley
Song of the Year: “A Far Cry From Lester & Earl” Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice
Album of the Year: Heart Of A Song, Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice
Gospel Recorded Event of the Year: “Singing As We Rise” by the Gibson Brothers w/Ricky Skaggs
Instrumental Performance of the Year: “Angeline The Baker” by Lonesome River Band
Recorded Event of the Year: “Life Goes On” by Carl Jackson, Ronnie Bowman, Larry Cordle, Jerry Salley, Rickey Wasson, Randy Kohrs, D.A. Adkins, Garnet Bowman, Lynn Butler, Ashley Kohrs, Gary Payne, Dale Pyatt, Clay Hess, Alan Bibey, Jay Weaver, Ron Stewart & Jim VanCleve (artists); Jerry Salley, Carl Jackson, Larry Cordle, Jim Van Cleve & Randy Kohrs (producers); Rural Rhythm Records
Banjo Player of the Year: Sammy Shelor
Bass Player of the Year: Marshall Wilborn
Fiddle Player of the Year: Stuart Duncan
Dobro Player of the Year: Rob Ickes
Guitar Player of the Year: Doc Watson
Mandolinist of the Year: Adam Steffey
Broadcaster of the Year: Kyle Cantrell
Bluegrass Event of the Year: ROMP, produced by the International Bluegrass Music Museum; Owensboro, KY
Print Media Person of the Year: Marty Godbey, author of Crowe on the Banjo: The Music Life of J.D. Crowe (Univ. of Illinois Press)
Best Graphic Design: Bedrock Manufacturing (designer) for Nobody Knows You, by the Steep Canyon Rangers (Rounder Records)
Best Liner Notes: Marian Leighton Levy (liner notes), for Tony Rice: The Bill Monroe Collection, by Tony Rice (Rounder Records)
Bluegrass Songwriter of the Year: Jon Weisberger

IBMA’s new Momentum Awards, designed to recognize promising new talent – artists and business people in the early years of their careers in bluegrass music, were presented earlier in the week This year’s recipients are:

Band of the Year: Monroeville
Vocalist of the Year: Emily Bankester (performs with The Bankesters)
Instrumentalists of the Year: bassist Samson Grisman (son of legendary mandolinist David “Dawg” Grisman, performs with The Deadly Gentlemen), fiddler Alex Hargreaves (performs with Sarah Jarosz), and fiddler Christian Ward (performs with Sierra Hull)
Event/Venue of the Year: Appalachian Uprising, produced by Steve Cielic (a new festival in Scottown, Ohio)
Industry Achievement: Crash Avenue publicist Emilee Warner
Mentor of the Year: Five-time IBMA Bass Player of the Year and producer Mike Bub

[Editor’s Note: An article about Earl Scruggs appears in the Bluegrass & Beyond section on AcousticMusicScene.com.]

The April 2012 charts are based on 13,889 airplays from 154 different DJs. The number of spins (airplay) is shown in parentheses.

Top Albums of April 2012

1: “1000 Pound Machine,” Kate Campbell [Large River, new] (58)
“Montgomery To Mobile”
“Wait For Another Day”
“Red Clay After Rain”
“1000 Pound Machine”
2: “Little Blue Egg,” Dave Carter And Tracy Grammer [Red House, 2/12] (56)
“Better Way”
“Hard To Make It”
“3-Fingered Jack”
“Gypsy Rose”
3: “Lay Down, Lay Low,” The Steel Wheels [thesteelwheels.com, 1/12] (55)
“Breaking Like The Sun”
“Rain In The Valley”
“Halfway To Heaven”
“Spider Wings”
4: “An Island Out Of Time,” Molasses Creek [Soundside, 2/12] (48)
“Mississippi Sawyer”
“Scat Reel Set”
“Because”
5: “Some Bright Morning,” Rani Arbo And Daisy Mayhem [Signature, new] (47)
“East Virginia”
“Hear Jerusalem Moan”
“Reason To Believe”
“Travelin’ Shoes”
6: “Voice Of Ages,” The Chieftains [Hear, 2/12] (43)
“When The Ship Comes In”
“Frost Is All Over”
“Pretty Little Girl”
7: “Hickory,” Mariel Vandersteel [marielvandersteel.com, 3/12] (42)
“Hog And Sheep Going To The Pasture”
“3 Forks Of The Cumberland”
“On The Danforth”
8: “Dirt Farmer,” Levon Helm [Vanguard, 2007] (40)
“Mountain”
“Wide River To Cross”
“Poor Old Dirt Farmer”
8: “New Siberia,” Antje Duvekot [antjeduvekot.com, new] (40)
“Ballad Of Fred Noonan”
“Sleepy Sea Of Indigo And Blue”
“Into The City”
10: “Intersection,” Nanci Griffith [Hell No, new] (39)
“High On A Mountain Top”
“Hell No”
“Never Going Back”
11: “Nobody Knows You,” Steep Canyon Rangers [Rounder, 4/12] (38)
“Rescue Me”
“Nobody Knows You”
“As I Go”
12: “Evie Ladin Band,” Evie Ladin Band [Evil Diane, new] (36)
“First Time”
“Got You On My Mind”
“Dime Store Glasses”
13: “Leaving Eden,” Carolina Chocolate Drops [Nonesuch, 2/12] (32)
“Country Girl”
“Ruby Are You Mad At Your Man?”
13: “Sunday Never Comes,” Jackstraw [jackstraw.net, 12/11] (32)
“Randy The Rambler”
“Come On Back To Me”
“Dark And Empty”
15: “The Good Stuff,” Peter Mulvey [Signature, 3/12] (31)
“Everybody Knows”
“But I Do”
15: “Light In The Sky,” Red Molly [redmolly.com, 10/11] (31)
“Walk Beside Me”
“Do I Ever Cross Your Mind”
17: “Borderland,” The Stray Birds [reverbnation.com/thestraybirds, new] (30)
“Come Sunday”
“Down In The Willow Garden”
“My Horses Ain’t Hungry”
18: “Bend In The River,” Claudia Schmidt [Red House, new] (29)
“Banana Moon”
“Bend In The River”
“Pretty At The End”
18: “Electric Dirt,” Levon Helm [Vanguard, 2009] (29)
“When I Go Away”
“Growin’ Trade”
“Tennessee Jed”
18: “New Kind Of Lonely,” I See Hawks In L. A. [Western Seeds, 2/12] (29)
“New Kind Of Lonely”
“Hunger Mountain Breakdown”
“Bohemian Highway”
21: “The Plum Tree And The Rose,” Sarah McQuaid [Waterbug, 3/12] (28)
“Sun Goes On Rising”
“Solid Air”
22: “Troubadours On The Rhine,” Loreena McKennitt [Quinlan Road, 2/12] (27)
“Parting Glass”
“Bonny Swans”
“Lady Of Shalott”
23: “Long Ride Home,” Darrell Scott [Full Light, 1/12] (26)
“It Must Be Sunday”
“Someday”
“Trying Not To Love You”
23: “Pink Umbrella,” Cary Cooper [ethereal girl, 10/11] (26)
“Hey Little Violet”
“Drop In The Bucket”
23: “Tilt-A-Whirl,” Drew Nelson [Red House, 2/12] (26)
“Dust”
“Promised Land”
26: “Please Don’t Sell The Piano,” Ellen Cherry [Wrong Size Shoes, new] (24)
“Please Don’t Sell The Piano”
“Impossible Bottle”
“Pickett’s Charge”
27: “This Land: Woody Guthrie’s America,” John McCutcheon [Appalsongs, 11/11] (23)
“Biggest Thing That Man Has Ever Done”
“Howjadoo”
28: “Ends Of The Earth,” Emily Pinkerton [Green Jeans, 3/12] (22)
“Negra”
“Polo Margariteno”
29: “Live At Sundilla,” Dave Potts [Looking Up, 1/12] (21)
“$12.99”
“If I Broke The Record”
29: “Mountains Of Dreams,” Tracy Weinberg [reverbnation.com/tracyweinberg, 1/12] (21)
“Mountains Of Dreams”
“Looking For Trouble”
29: “Safe Crossing,” West Of Eden [West Of, 4/12] (21)
“Coffin Ship”
“Scilly Set”
29: “Tromper Le Temps,” Le Vent Du Nord [Borealis, new] (21)
“Le Diable Et Le Fermier”
33: “In The Time Of Gods,” Dar Williams [Razor & Tie, new] (20)
“I Have Been Around The World”
“This Earth”
33: “Like A Man,” Adam Cohen [Decca, 4/12] (20)
“Out Of Bed”
“Beautiful”
33: “Take The Air,” Jenn Rawling And Basho Parks [Waterbug, new] (20)
“Little Swallow”
“Big Old Lake”
“Oh Delia”
33: “Will The Circle Be Unbroken,” Nitty Gritty Dirt Band And Friends [Capitol, 1972] (20)
“Nashville Blues”
“Earl’s Breakdown”
37: “Chimes Of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan,” Various Artists [Fontana, 2011] (19)
“One Too Many Mornings,” Johnny Cash Feat. The Avett Brothers
37: “The Horse King,” Cosy Sheridan [Waterbug, 10/11] (19)
“Be Outside”
“Don’t Walk Away From Love”
37: “People Take Warning!,” Various Artists [Tompkins Square, 2010] (19)
“Titanic Blues,” Hi Henry Brown And Charlie Jordan
“Last Scene Of The Titanic,” Frank Hutchinson
40: “Colours,” Finbar Furey [Valley, 11/11] (18)
“After Sunday Mass”
40: “New Multitudes,” Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker, Yim Yames [Rounder, 2/12] (18)
“Changing World”
“Hoping Machine”
40: “Row Upon Row Of The People They Know,” The Once [Borealis, 10/11] (18)
“Cradle Hill”
“By The Glow Of The Keroscene Light”
43: “Broadsides,” Atomic Duo [theconnextion.com/atomicduo/, 3/12] (17)
“Key Chain Blues”
“Trickle Down”
43: “Dead Man’s Hand,” Harpeth Rising [Grimm Rising, 7/11] (17)
“Dead Man’s Hand”
“Hey Driver”
43: “Mud And Stone,” Loretta Hagen [Bearfort, 2/12] (17)
“I’m Gone”
“Money”
43: “No Yodeling On The Radio,” Karen Collins And The Backroads Band [Azalea City, new] (17)
“No Yodeling On The Radio”
“Parallel Lines”
43: “Otter Creek,” Ken Kolodner And Brad Kolodner [Fenchurch, 1/11] (17)
“Otter Creek”
43: “Patience In These Times,” George Mann [Running Scared, new] (17)
“One More Beautiful Song”
43: “Red Curtain,” Still On The Hill [Termite Tracs, 2/12] (17)
“Don’t Mean Northin”
50: “Earl Scruggs And Friends,” Earl Scruggs [MCA, 2010] (16)
“Country Comfort”
“Foggy Mountain Rock/Special”
50: “Foggy Mountain Jamboree,” Lester Flatt And Earl Scruggs [Columbia, 2005] (16)
“Earl’s Breakdown”
“Flint Hill Special”
50: “the good in goodbye,” Madison Violet [True North, 9/11] (16)
“Cindy Cindy”
“Goin’ Away”
50: “Home By Dark,” Steve Gillette And Cindy Mangsen [Compass Rose, 1/12] (16)
“Birdsong”
50: “I Carry All I Own,” Caroline Doctorow [Narrow Lane, new] (16)
“Way Out West”
“Dust Devils”
50: “Let It Burn,” Ruthie Foster [Blue Corn, 1/12] (16)
“Titanic”
50: “Promised Land,” Gina Forsyth [Waterbug, 2/12] (16)
“Promised Land”
“What I Did On Mardi Gras Day”
50: “Rockin’ The Uke,” Cathy Fink And Marcy Marxer [Community, 11/11] (16)
“Blues Stay Away From Me”
“Dark Eyes”
50: “Steamboat In A Cornfield,” Truckstop Honeymoon [truckstophoneymoon.com, 12/11] (16)
“Cowtown Blues”
50: “Stories To Keep,” Donna Adler [donnaadler.com, 1/12] (16)
“Michelangelo”
“If My Life Were A Book”
60: “Deeper In The Well,” Eric Bibb [Stony Plain, new] (15)
“Money In Your Pocket”
60: “Gold Rush Goddess,” Melody Walker [Self, 12/11] (15)
“Gold Rush Goddess”
“Family Band”
60: “Live At Eddie’s Attic,” Adler And Hearne [Spring Hollow, 3/12] (15)
“Stranger In The House”
“Hundred Years From Now”
60: “Resurrection Moon,” Audrey Auld [Reckless, 2/12] (15)
“I’d Leave Me Too”
60: “Rhubarb Trees,” Anne Hills And David Roth [Wind River, 11/11] (15)
“May The Light Of Love”
“Rhubarb Trees”
60: “Roadside Attractions,” Chris Lavancher [chrislavancher.bandcamp.com, new] (15)
“Bus Ride West”
“Revelation Road”
60: “Seeds,” Dennis Warner [Main Trail, 2/12] (15)
“Old Love”
“Seeds”
67: “Three,” The Refugees [Wabuho, 1/12] (14)
“Can’t Stop Now”
“Catch Me If You Can”
67: “Dance Of The Robots,” Steve Quelet [stevequelet.com, new] (14)
“Dance Of The Robots”
“Passing Through”
67: “The End Of The Beginning,” John Flynn [johnflynn.net, 1/12] (14)
“Crazy As Ever”
67: “Gypsy Girl,” Kat Goldman [katgoldmanmusic.com, new] (14)
“Just A Walk Tonight”
“Moving Pictures”
67: “The Harrow And The Harvest,” Gillian Welch [Acony, 6/11] (14)
“Scarlet Town”
“Way It Goes”
67: “Hello Cruel World,” Gretchen Peters [Scarlet Letter, 1/12] (14)
“Dark Angel”
“Hello Cruel World”
67: “In Good Company,” Bill Evans [Native And Fine, new] (14)
“Distance Between 2 Points”
“Follow The Drinking Gourd”
67: “Like The Devil Does,” Miss Quincy [missquincy,net, new] (14)
“Dangerous”
67: “Nothing’s Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now,” Justin Townes Earle [Bloodshot, 3/12] (14)
“Am I That Lonely Tonight”
67: “Ramble At The Ryman,” Levon Helm [Vanguard, 5/11] (14)
“Ophelia”
“Weight”

Top Songs of April 2012

1. “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” (17)
by Earl Scruggs
from “Earl Scruggs And Friends”
2. “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” (14)
by Lester Flatt And Earl Scruggs
from “Foggy Mountain Jamboree”
2. “Wait For Another Day” (14)
by Kate Campbell
from “1000 Pound Machine”
4. “Montgomery To Mobile” (13)
by Kate Campbell
from “1000 Pound Machine”
5. “Flint Hill Special” (12)
by Lester Flatt And Earl Scruggs
from “Foggy Mountain Jamboree”
5. “Just Breathe” (12)
by Willie Nelson
from “Heroes”
5. “When I Go Away” (12)
by Levon Helm
from “Electric Dirt”
8. “Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” (11)
by The Band
from “The Band”
8. “Titanic” (11)
by Ruthie Foster
from “Let It Burn”
8. “Wide River To Cross” (11)
by Levon Helm
from “Dirt Farmer”
11. “1000 Pound Machine” (10)
by Kate Campbell
from “1000 Pound Machine”
11. “3 Forks Of The Cumberland” (10)
by Mariel Vandersteel
from “Hickory”
11. “Alabama Department Of Corrections Meditation Blues” (10)
by Kate Campbell
from “1000 Pound Machine”
11. “First Time” (10)
by Evie Ladin Band
from “Evie Ladin Band”
11. “Mountain” (10)
by Levon Helm
from “Dirt Farmer”
11. “Please Don’t Sell The Piano” (10)
by Ellen Cherry
from “Please Don’t Sell The Piano”
11. “Red Clay After Rain” (10)
by Kate Campbell
from “1000 Pound Machine”
11. “Titanic” (10)
by Leadbelly
from “Leadbelly’s Last Session”
19. “Ballad Of Fred Noonan” (9)
by Antje Duvekot
from “New Siberia”
19. “Better Way” (9)
by Dave Carter And Tracy Grammer
from “Little Blue Egg”
19. “Hog And Sheep Going To The Pasture” (9)
by Mariel Vandersteel
from “Hickory”
19. “Le Diable Et Le Fermier” (9)
by Le Vent Du Nord
from “Tromper Le Temps”
19. “Paradise” (9)
by John Prine
from “John Prine”
19. “Rain In The Valley” (9)
by The Steel Wheels
from “Lay Down, Lay Low”
19. “Titanic” (9)
by Pete Seeger
from “Headlines And Footnotes: A Collection Of Topical Songs”
also “American Favorite Ballads, Vols. 1-5”
19. “Up On Cripple Creek” (9)
by The Band
from “The Band”

A North Carolina native, Scruggs grew up in a small rural community in Cleveland County, where he was surrounded by music. His father played the fiddle and banjo, while his mother played the organ in church and several of his brothers and sisters played both banjo and guitar. He began playing the banjo as a youngster, when his parents reportedly bought him one for $10, and played before his first audience at age 6. Scruggs once wrote that “Probably no other family enjoyed music and singing more than we did. The banjo stayed in my mind most of the time, if I was playing with friends or working on the farm.”

Indeed, he was widely regarded as a master of the banjo for nearly 70 years. Scruggs, then 21, joined the “Father of Bluegrass” Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys in late 1945 as its banjo player and stayed with the band until 1948, when he and guitarist, Lester Flatt, left to form the Foggy Mountain Boys – later known by the simple moniker Flatt and Scruggs.

“Scruggs devised a new style of three-fingered picking [enabling one to play a song’s melody and rhythm simultaneously] that created an immediate sensation in the 1940s and became one of the defining characteristics of bluegrass music,” said Wayne Martin, folklife director of the North Carolina Arts Council, which honored Scruggs with its North Carolina Heritage Award in 1996. “He brought an extraordinarily high level of creativity, precision and artistry to banjo playing and, through his long recording and touring career, carried the instrument to the forefront of American roots music. He transformed banjo playing and, in the process, transformed American popular culture.” For his part, Scruggs said at the time: “My music came up from the soil of North Carolina, and I have been blessed that people in all parts of the world enjoy it.”

Scruggs is, perhaps, best known for two songs: Paul Henning’s “The Ballad of Jed Clampett,” which he, Flatt and singer Jerry Scoggins recorded in the fall of 1962 as the theme song for the popular American TV series The Beverly Hillbillies (Flatt and Scruggs appeared in several episodes of the show as family friends of the zany Clampetts); and “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” his own 1969 Grammy Award-winning instrumental that can be heard during the chase sequences in the movie Bonnie and Clyde. He won a second Grammy Award for a 2001 recording of the same song that also featured Steve Martin (who has called Scruggs his inspiration) on second banjo and several other musical luminaries. His 2001 album, Earl Scruggs and Friends, (his first release in 17 years) featured musical collaborations with such diverse artists as Elton John, Melissa Etheridge, John Fogarty, Don Henley, Sting and Dwight Yoakam — revealing that his influence extended far beyond bluegrass circles. Indeed, Scruggs helped bridge both generations and genres.

Here’s a link to a video of Earl Scruggs and Steve Martin performing “Foggy Mountain Breakdown:”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icMTVV5Lwaw

After parting ways with Flatt earlier in 1969, Scruggs became one of the select few bluegrass or country-western artists to embrace the anti-war movement and played “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” during the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam rally in Washington, D.C. Following his split with Flatt, he formed the Earl Scruggs Revue with his three sons – Gary, Randy and Steve; the group blended bluegrass with more contemporary music and helped give rise to country rock. Scruggs also collaborated with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on its landmark 1972 album Will The Circle Be Unbroken.

Through the years, Scruggs, who was equally at home at a folk festival or at the Grand Ole Opry, received numerous awards and honors. In addition to four Grammy Awards — the latter two for playing on an all-star recording of “Same Old Train” (1998) and “Earl’s Breakdown” with the Dirt Band (2004) — the Country Music Hall of Famer was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship and a National Medal of Arts. He was in the International Bluegrass Hall of Honor’s inaugural class of 1991 and received lifetime achievement awards from Folk Alliance and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (which runs the Grammy Awards), as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Scruggs was predeceased by his wife and manager, Louise, as well as his youngest son, Steve.

“What we found compelling, and what drove this project from the inception, is the fact that you can really get a new perspective on the story of American popular music with the banjo as the vehicle,” says Emmy Award-winning writer and producer Marc Fields, who produced and directed Give Me The Banjo with the assistance of co-producer and music director Tony Trischka, one of the most influential banjo players in the roots music world. “It truly cuts across all categories and boundaries of race, class, region [and] genre,” Fields continues. “The instrument is at the root of roots music and at the crossroads where folk tradition meets commercialism, yet it’s still struggling for the respect and serious attention it deserves.”

Give Me The Banjo was more than nine years in the making and was culled from the filming of more than 350 hours of interviews and performances in 14 states.

A web-based archive of musical and historical content that extends beyond what will air on television, The Banjo Project (www.thebanjoproject.org) is designed to serve as a cultural gathering place for exchanging knowledge and news about the banjo, replete with photos and video clips.