Videos of European bluegrass wanted for US TV

Does your band or event have video footage which could be made available for airing in the USA?

A new channel - ZGrass, The Bluegrass Channel, LLC - will launch in March 2009, presenting 'all bluegrass, all day, all the time'. And its managing director, Harold Brown, is looking for all the video he can find from European bluegrass bands. Contact:

Harold Brown, Managing Director
The Bluegrass Channel, LLC
Telephone: +1-305-890-6843
e-mail

Europe challenged on banjo speed record

In response to yesterday's mention of Johnny Butten (UK) as world's fastest banjo player, Erio Meili (originally of Switzerland, but now head of the Sao Paulo Bluegrass Music Association in Brazil and leader of the South American Bluegrass Network), reports:

Howdy folks,

Here comes our Southern challenge for a new record for world fastest banjo player, pre-qualified in the Livro da Guineia (Guineia Book) and hopefully running now for Guinness. Check it out on YouTube. The tune is 'Sunday', home-made and faster than Johnny Butten's 'Duelling banjos'. For our alternative duelling banjos spot, watch our 'Titanic deviation medley' here.

And only last week, all we had to worry about was that the world might be destroyed by the Large Hadron Collider...

Niall Toner Band videos: Live at Omagh

The Niall Toner Band: Dick Gladney, Niall Toner, Clem O'Brien

The Niall Toner Band, who appeared at the EBMA's EWOB Festival this year, have just added a new series of videos to their MySpace page. These were filmed during live performances at the 2004 Appalachian and Bluegrass Music Festival at the Ulster American Folk Park, Omagh, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Songs include 'Climbin'', 'The Master's resting place', 'The promise', 'The cheatin' side of town' and 'Chainsaw country blues'. Sound and visuals are both high-quality.

Bononia Grass all-acoustic in Bologna

From Gian Luca Naldi of Bononia Grass:

Hi guys, here is Luca from Italy, how are you?

Past July we have played at a Street Art Festival edition, near Bologna, my city. The cool thing is we played in front of people without mics! So, without typical amplification problems we have played relaxed, with a lot of fun, and sound was so natural!

I'll be happy if you could post two short videos of that performance: 'Big Mon' and 'Bononia Grass live on the road'

See also this story on the Bluegrass Blog, where Luca says more about playing bluegrass in Europe.

The Chapmans on video

The Chapmans (USA), who made a big impact with their appearance at the EBMA's European World of Bluegrass Festival in 2005, are putting three new videos on line for the enjoyment of their fans. The videos can be seen here.

Website
MySpace site
ReverbNation site

Stringdusters in Europe on YouTube

Incidents from the current month-long tour of Europe by the multiple-award-winning Infamous Stringdusters (USA) are being recorded on video and posted on YouTube on behalf of the band. The fourth and latest instalment - including footage from Fredericia, Denmark, and Lievelde, the Netherlands - can be viewed on the Bluegrass Blog.

Carolina Chocolate Drops concert on video

For anyone who missed the Carolina Chocolate Drops on their recent tour in Europe, or who can't wait till their next tour -- their concert at the Paradiso in Amsterdam was recorded on video and can now be seen on FabChannel.

Picture quality is excellent, and eighteen numbers are performed. View it here. Thanks to FOAOTMAD for the news.

Beppe Gambetta: news bulletin

In his latest newsletter Beppe Gambetta introduces a new videoclip based on his red shoes. Also included are:

* dates for his tours in North America (21 March-12 April, 4-22 June, 18 Sept.-25 Oct.) and Europe (22 May-1 June, 31 July-2 August);
*a long list of Beppe's favourite eating places in different countries;
*news of his 16th Annual Residential Workshop at Ambroz in the Slovenian Alps (3-10 August), with special guest Steve Kaufman, and of his next recording project; and
* links to several other videos, including 1985 footage of Red Wine when he was their guitarist.

Read more here.

Chris Stuart & Backcountry tour, 2007: photos & video

The band in Germany with Herbert Schildhammer and Monika & Eberhard Finke

The January 2008 newsletter from Chris Stuart & Backcountry reports:

We have photos of our November tour of Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Switzerland. And a bunch of videos of us playing in Wognum, the Netherlands, for the gig that our good friend Loek Lamers presented.

The newsletter includes a photo of the gig at the Dolder 2 in Switzerland, and CSB with agent Lilly Pavlak. Other photos and the videos are on the CSB website.

Another town: new CD from Four Wheel Drive

Four Wheel Drive officially released their new CD, Another town, during the weekend of 7-9 December. The album is on the band's own label, Stoney Man Records, named in honour of 4WD's former bass player and lead singer, the late Theo Lissenberg, composer of the song 'Stoney Man Mountain'.

Four Wheel Drive consists of Joost van Es (fiddle, vocals), Jürgen Biller (banjo, vocals), Jan Michielsen (guitar, vocals), Alfred Bonk (upright bass, vocals), and Edu Grin (mandolin, vocals). A preview of Another town can be heard on the 4WD MySpace site. Jan Michielsen reports:

We gave three concerts on that weekend, one in Belgium for our Belgian fans on Friday 7 December in a place called 'The Singer' in Rijkevorsel. On Saturday night there was a CD party/concert at the Waldorfschool in Utrecht; it was a full house, and every fourth visitor bought a CD.

On Sunday afternoon we played a gig in 'De Amer', a prestigious venue in Amen (Holland). The concert was videotaped and put on YouTube (type in 'Four Wheel Drive Bluegrass'). That first weekend we sold about 100 CDs.


Jürgen Biller and Joost van Es at The Singer

Uncle Earl on video and blog

For everyone who did not get enough of the neo-old-time all-girl string band Uncle Earl during their recent tour in the Netherlands and the UK - the band's long-awaited 'kung-fu clogging video', to the tune 'Streak o' lean, streak o' fat', can now be seen on YouTube here. Cameo appearances are made by Casey Driessen, John Paul Jones, and others whom you may recognise.

And thanks to FOAOTMAD for the news that American bluegrass writer and photographer MaryE Yeomans, now living in Wales, has posted on her blog a long and enthusiastic illustrated account of the last Uncle Earl show in the tour - in Bristol, England.

Since the end of the tour, Abigail Washburn (banjo) has gone to spend Thanksgiving with American friends in Switzerland; Kristin Andreassen (guitar) will be going to Paris to rehearse with the Irish band Grada; K.C. Groves (mandolin) will be on the Mediterranean littoral; Laura Cortese (bass) is going to a dance workshop in Newcastle, England, before touring with her solo project in Ireland and the UK in December.

Rayna Gellert (fiddle) is offering a fiddle workshop at 7.00-9.00 p.m. on 13 December in Chiswick, west London. £35. Contact her by e-mail.