Bill Monroe: The Life and Music of the Blue Grass Man by Tom Ewing - Book Review

Tom Ewing’s Bill Monroe:The Life and Music of The Blue Grass Man (University Illinois Press, 2018, 656 pages, $34.95, 19.95) is a huge piece of Monroe scholarship bringing together a range of sources testifying to the hard work and thoroughness of the author. At this point, and until further work is done, it must stand as the definitive biography of the Father of Bluegrass, whose long, complicated life, background, musical genius, along some of his flaws, are carefully, thoughtfully, and exhaustively documented.

Perhaps the strongest portions of the book are the painstakingly assembled history of Monroe’s genealogy, the account of his difficult childhood during which his development was affected by his poor eyesight, and the transformative power of music in his life. Along with this, Ewing establishes a picture of the hardship and hard physical labor which helped to establish Monroe’s legendary stamina and work ethic. The author is always careful to place the arc of Monroe’s life within the context of important national news events of the times as well as milestones in music’s development and change through the decades. This practice helps provide context and texture to the story as well as, sometimes, explaining choices that Monroe made or was forced to accept.

Organized into ten chapters with each but the first covering a decade of Monroe’s life, Ewing has gone to great lengths to detail appearances, recording sessions, members of the band and the hazards of travel. For many readers these almost day-by-day accounts of where Monroe was, the difficulty of getting there, the fluidity of members moving through the band, and other massing of detail will provide the literary fodder they crave. Many important mileposts are signaled by boldface headings within chapters, but turn out to take a paragraph or less to cover before Ewing moves on to greater masses of detail. Some readers might prefer further analysis of how events may have influenced decisions and actions Monroe took.

The book contains extensive evidence of Bill Monroe’s efforts to both protect “his” music and to encourage musicians influenced by his music to find their own mode of expression. For instance, in 1941 the first case is described of a mandolin player being told to not play like Monroe, but rather develop his own style. Stories from every era afterwards repeat this story in one way or another as Monroe taught, changed, and protected his music. Many fine and, later, well-known musicians, got their start with him, while others were initially drawn to his style of music from seeing him or hearing him on the radio and in recordings. He came, however, to view many of these emerging bands, which would become iconic in their own right, as competitors of “his” music.

Monroe was always careful to seek to protect his own music while, simultaneously being aware of changes in popular music. The longevity of his career speaks to both his stubborn insistence on his own vision along with a willingness to bend to changes in popular music when times demanded it, at least until he began to institutionalize his own music as he grew old and became recognized as the Father of Bluegrass Music. At one recording session in 1958, Red Cravens remarked to Bill that he ought to play more old songs. He reported Bill as saying, “That’s in the past...You got to keep looking forward….Don’t look back.” (200) Monroe appears always to have been watching what was happening in music, adapting to current styles and trends, and reflecting them in his music. His adopting Elvis Presley’s interpretation of his Blue Moon of Kentucky is perhaps the best example of this.

Monroe’s complex and varied relationships with women are dealt with extensively, but not with any particular depth of understanding or analysis, which they deserve. Similarly his feuds with Flatt & Scruggs as well as others he seems to have thought were riding on his reputation deserve further analysis. Monroe’s successful efforts to keep Jimmy Martin from being made a member of the Grand Old Opry, perhaps because of his pursuit of Bill’s daughter Melissa, deserve further explication. Similarly, Bill’s relationship with his son James is complex and costly to him.

One of the great virtues of Ewing’s book is the connection he continually makes between Monroe and other seminal figures in the history of bluegrass who all seem to come into contact with Monroe at some point, influencing him and being influenced by him. This includes not only musicians, but entrepreneurs (Ralph Rinzler & Carlton Haney), scholars (Neil Rosenberg and Fred Bartenstein), venues (New River Ranch, Sunset Park, Brown County Jamboree, The Grand Old Opry), and so-on. By pulling this all together, Ewing firmly cements Monroe’s place in music history in huge, sometimes tiresome, but always useful, detail. Perhaps the sheer length of Monroe’s life and his vast importance keep a single volume account from ever being entirely satisfactory or a single review from covering it adequately. My own notes contain over 6,000 words.

Tom Ewing

Tom Ewing served as the last lead singer and guitarist in the Blue Grass Boys during the period 1986 – 1996, also appearing on three albums. He attended Ohio State University, earning degrees in journalism and education. He has written extensively about Bill Monroe as well as writing a column for Bluegrass Unlimited magazine. He has been a founder or a member of several bands devoted to either playing Monroe’s music or emulating his style.

Tom Ewing has written a comprehensive and detailed, almost encyclopedic, account of Bill Monroe’s life and times, including extensive notes and index. It offers insights into Monroe’s behavior while generally leaving it to the reader to draw conclusions about their meaning. This quality is both an asset and a liability to this book, but perhaps Ewing’s decisions are sound, while much more remains to be written to fully encompass this brilliant, crusty, strong, and needy man whose musical influence continues to be felt, even after nearly one hundred years of its first emergence. The University of Illinois Press provided me a hard back copy of Tom Ewing’s Bill Monroe:The Life and Music of The Blue Grass Man (University Illinois Press, 2018, 656 pages, $34.95, 19.95).

Epilogue: A Tribute to John Duffey - CD Review

In the first paragraph of the over forty page liner notes booklet accompanying Epilogue: A Tribute to John Duffey, on Smithsonian Folkways curated and produced by Akira Otsuka, he writes, “In the mid-1960s when I was learning to play mandolin in Japan, one artist really stood out for me—John Duffey of the Country Gentlemen. He had an amazing tenor voice and unique style of mandolin playing. I tried to copy his breaks note for note—he was my idol.” This opening characterizes both the liner notes and, even more important, the content of the marvelous CD he has made, a labor of love for the past fifteen years. It’s tempting to quote extensively from the history of Akira’s relationship with John Duffey, the legendary tenor singer and mandolin player for both The Country Gentlemen and The Seldom Scene, but I’ll leave it to you to fill in the details. Suffice it to say that reading and studying the liner notes can only serve to increase the pleasure of the wonderful songs selected for this recording, sung by some of today’s most prominent bluegrass musicians.

Written by Akira, veteran D.C. deejay Katy Daley, Seldom Scene stalwart Dudley Connell with Track Notes by Jeff Place, the liner notes are worth the modest price of the CD or the digital download ( https://amzn.to/2KdK7pB) and can be downloaded. For collectors, this is a “must buy.” Akira, who first arrived in the U.S. in 1971 for a U.S. tour with the Japanese bluegrass band Bluegrass 45 was brought here by Dick Freeland of Rebel Records. The recording, begun as a project of Ronnie Freeland, Dick's son, and Akira in a hotel room in Owensboro, KY., contains seventeen songs notably connected to John Duffey. All told, fifty-three musicians contributed to the recordings over a many years’ period. For those of us who never met or heard John Duffey live, Katy Daly’s profile is a revealing masterpiece. For instance, Daly comments on Duffey’s onstage demeanor, “Equally influential on John’s onstage persona was Johnny Carson of The Tonight Show. Duffey studied Carson’s monologues, quips, and emcee work and then made them his own. His humor was aimed at the urban audiences that came to their shows. It was current and over-the-top.” Along with Dudley Connell’s essay on his own joining the band and relationship with Duffey, the liner notes provide historical context to bluegrass in the Washington, D.C. area as well as the growth and development of bluegrass music more generally.

John Duffey (1934 – 1996) was one of the most influential musicians in the development of bluegrass from a regional variant of country music to an increasingly urban and urbane sound relying with increasing emphasis on folk music from the folk revival of the sixties and seventies along with jazz and rock & roll music. As the founder of two of contemporary bluegrass’ seminal groups, The Country Gentlemen and The Seldom Scene, and as a dynamic, witty personality with a distinctive voice and personal style, Duffey’s continuing influence on the popularity and development of the genre and it’s broad appeal cannot be overestimated. With a vocal range of over four octaves and a seemingly unhinged sense of humor, echoes of his voice are found throughout the genre. Now bluegrass standards, many of the songs he introduced to bluegrass were revolutionary at the time. He wrote “Bringing Mary Home,” and was associated with songs like “Hickory Wind,” and many others. He helped bring the music of Bob Dylan into bluegrass.

Here’s a version of “Wait a Minute” with Duffey singing during the Phil Rosenthal period, probably sometime in the late seventies to mid-eighties.

Recorded and assembled over a period of fifteen years, Epilogue smoothly brings together many musicians from early Country Gentlemen and Seldom Scene aggregations, combining them with some of the finest voices of bluegrass of the twenty-first century in seamless and wondrous combinations. The CD features, for instance, Randy Waller, son of Country Gents great singer Charley Waller, with current Seldom Scene tenor Lou Reid on “Sad and Lonesome Day.” Amanda Smith, Jonathan Edwards, Dudley Connell, Sam Bush, James King, John Cowan and more. Fifty-three musicians in all, appear on the present recording, all singing songs closely associated with John Duffey. The recording values are evocative and stunningly inventive in their tribute to John Duffey, his singing and his instrumental work. Sadly, it’s not possible to represent his iconoclastic stage personality and electric presence.

Here’s another clip recorded at a festival in Louisville, KY in the md-eighties that captures some of his virtuosity as well as the stage presence that captured the imaginations of so many, including Akira Otsuka.

Akira Otsuka

Akira Otsuka, the creator and producer of this fine tribute to John Duffey, was associated with him from their first meeting in Dick Freeland's living room, at festivals, through tours to Japan, collecting and preserving John Duffey’s mandolins and, now, his music. Here’s an interview recorded with Tara Linhardt which gives further insight into both Duffey and their relationship, in which he serves as Duffey’s Boswell.

Epilogue: A Tribute to John Duffey is a labor of love and admiration assembled and produced over a period of fifteen years. It also represents a picture of the movement from the mountains to the suburbs as rural and mountain people moved from the hills to the mills to the cities and suburbs following new opportunities due to the industrialization of farming along with the rise of digital technology and big government. The Baltimore – Washington axis arose and the composition of The Seldom Scene represented the change: a physician, a cartographer, a mathematician jamming in the basement and avoiding travel because of their other commitments. Now, the spirit of John Duffey, through the recreation of songs he’s noted for singing, lives on in this recording, while the originals can be heard in online streaming services and seen on YouTube. As Akira said, ““It’s hard to believe John Duffey left us more than two decades ago now and that there is a whole generation of Bluegrass fans and artists who never saw John perform. If this tribute album causes those young people to turn on YouTube and listen to John, I would say my mission has been successfully completed. On the other hand, for an older generation member like me, it’s sweet to stroll down memory lane with John.”

John Duffey's Mandolin - The Duck

David Davis & the Warrior River Boys - Didn't He Ramble - CD Review

David Davis and the Warrior River Boys have released Didn’t He Ramble: Songs of Charlie Poole (Rounder Records, 2018, $11.99/9;49), a recording of fourteen classic Poole songs from pre-bluegrass era of the 1920’s when Poole became one the earliest country musicians to travel to New York, record, and begin the popularization of music hitherto only known to very few. Poole first recorded in New York in 1925 for Columbia Records, scoring a hit with “Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down,” which sold 106,000 copies at a time when it was estimated there were only 6000 phonographs in the southern U.S. With his band, the North Carolina Ramblers, Poole recorded sixty songs for Columbia. He died of a heart attack, probably aggravated by his long relationship to alcohol, in 1931.

 Charlie Poole

David Davis

David Davis, long a well-regarded disciple of Bill Monroe’s music, with a deep family and personal connection to traditional bluegrass music, has, in Didn’t He Ramble: The Songs of Chalie Poole, moved further back in time to consider one of the most important antecedents to bluegrass music. In choosing Charlie Poole as the content of his current Rounder Records title, Davis has selected a seminal creator of traditional music, noted as an important precursor of the development of the banjo, and as one of earliest traditional mountain music performers to record widely, bringing his music to new audiences while taking it out of the confines of Appalachia.

In Linthead Stomp, Patrick Huber considers the role of four seminal musicians in the movement of mountain music to mills in the southern Piedmont on the music’s journey to the recording studio, first in Bristol under the leadership of Ralph Peer, and then to New York where southern authenticity mixed with Tin Pan Alley commercialism to create a music industry requiring genres for its distribution. Poole’s recording predated Peer’s famous 1927 recordings known as the Bristol Sessions, recorded on a trip to Brisol, TN.

Sammy Shelor, winner of the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass, told us the story one evening when we were camped near his home in Meadows of Dan, VA, about his direct relationship to Charlie Poole. He said his grandfather had owned a flour mill and “where there was a mill, there was a still. Where there was a still, there was Charlie Poole.” Poole, who died way too early of advanced alchoholism, taught Shelor’s grandfather to play the banjo. His influence on the development of modern banjo is pervasive. Here’s a recording of Poole singing Ramblin’ Blues.

In Didn’t He Ramble, Davis has brought the music of Charlie Poole into the twenty-first century, while staying firmly anchored in the 1920’s of Poole’s music and in traditional bluegrass representations of earlier musical sounds and styles. Davis’ singing is modern in its natural tone and relaxed feeling. His mix and the musical styles capture Poole’s older sound in the fresh clothing of contemporary skills and play, with traditional bluegrass licks like, for instance, the band's frequent use of the hoary but effective G-run attributed to Lester Flatt. The music, then, is an interpretation rather than an imitation of Poole’s music, which always deserves to be highlighted for anyone interested in the progress of bluegrass and country music from its earliest days to today’s outpourings of string band music with continually developing changes while often finding ways to bow to the pioneers who struggled to bring their music to a wider audience. In this tradition, David Davis’s contribution to keeping the music of Charlie Poole alive for a new generation is more than welcome, as is Rounder Records’ willingness to continue to focus on the roots, as it always has, of the music we hear in the music we love. This is Davis’ fourth recording under the Rounder label.

Davis comes from a long line of traditional musicians in northern Alabama. His uncle, Cleo Davis was a member of the first edition of Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys. The Warrior River Boys, begun in 1960 by Garry Thurmond, were turned over to Davis’ leadership in 1984. The current band includes Robert Montgomery, who served as co-producer of the current recording, on banjo. Other members are: Marty Hays on bass, Stan Wilmon on guitar, and Phillip James on fiddle. Here’s a video of David Davis & the Warrior River Boys playing Ramblin’ Blues.

David Davis and the Warrior River Boys recording of Didn’t He Ramble: Songs of Charlie Poole (Rounder Records, 2018, $11.99/9.49) arrives at a time of transition in the history of bluegrass music, as technology, both recording and distribution, have become increasingly diverse, which demands attention to the music’s deep traditions and recognition of its changing nature. Rounder Records, throughout its long history, has achieved both goals. The current recording, beautifully recorded by Gary Gordon at Inside Out Studio in Sparta, Illinois, is filled with tunes, many of which have been part of the bluegrass repertoire for fifty or more years, but will find new ears and hearts in this recording.

Delaware Valley 2017 - Sunday

Sunday at Delaware Valley presents a full schedule of four touring bands, a local bluegrass band, and two groups of kids bands usually ending around 5:00 PM all allowing a relaxed getaway for some, really good bluegrass for others, and a last gasp of jamming for diehards in the field. Unlike many bluegrass festivals, the Sunday bands are not there to merely stretch out another day as everyone leaves. They're very good bands staying completely within the design of this wonderful festival. So lets take a look at them.

Cab Calloway School of the Arts

The Cab Calloway School of the Arts is an arts magnet school located in nearby Wilmngton, DE. Their bluegrass band is a club effort spearheaded by Stephen Field who also acts as emcee. As always, they presented a delightful show with kids of a variety of skills but no shortage of enthusiasm.

Delaware Valley Kids Academy

Kids Academies at bluegrass festivals provide young musicians to get to know each other and to begin to grow into the music under the supervision of skilled and able musician/teachers. Here some pictures of the Delaware Valley Academy, and this link provides you with access to a larger portfolio of photos from this year's group. Enjoy them!

Tuesday Mountain Boys

The Tuesday Mountain Boys are a local band of members of Brandywine Friends of Old Time Music who play covers of classic bluegrass and a few of their own songs. Just right for an early Sunday appearance. Apologies to guitarist Jeff Spencer. 

Carvel Boyd

Brian Duffy 

Don Breed

Jeff ?

Bob Amos & Catamount Crossing

Bob Amos

Bob Amos has staged a regional comeback after the disbanding of Front Range, a fine band which toured in the 1990's and early 2000's. Based in far northern Vermont, this band has the discipline, fine writing, and taste that Amos is known for. Furthermore, his daughter Sarah adds vocal color and a winsome personality to the band. It was a delight to see this fine band out of its usual New England haunts. It deserves wider national attention. 

Steve Wright

Sarah Amos

Freeman Corey

Chris Kruger

Gary Darling

The Vocal Trio

Amos, Amos & Wright

Paul & Maria

Big Country Bluegrass

Big Country Bluegrass, from western Virginia and founded during the 1980's serves up hard driving traditional bluegrass without a lot of frills but with plenty of quality. Their name is a reference to Jimmy Martin. Founders Tommy and Teresa Sells, as well as the other members of the band, come from the Blue Ridge region. Singer Eddie Gill has the characteristic high lonesome tenor voice of old-time bluegrass. 

Tommy Sells

Teresa Sells 

Eddie Gill


Tim Laughlin

John Treadway

Tony King

Lapp's Cafeteria - Good Food

The Foghorn Stringband Arrives

Foghorn Stingband

The Foghorn String Band comes from Oregon, where it has established itself as the gold standard for old time string band music, while not sounding or appearing old fashioned. While celebrating old-time music, Foghorn is uniquely contemporary in its look and feel. They received a standing ovation.

Caleb Klauder

Stephen Lind

Reeb Williams

Nadine Landry

Flatt Lonesome

Buddy & Charli Robertson 

With Kelsi Harrigill on a brief maternity leave, twins Charli & Buddy Robertson have had to carry more of the responsibility for fronting the band. Charli, particularly, has come into her own serving as band emcee. Already noted for her singing, and showing marked improvement in her fiddle play, Charli has stepped up and proved herself to be able and personable at the job. Buddy and Charli each took a stronger solo responsibility in addition to their brother/sister  harmony songs. Charli's rendition of Darrell Scott's "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive," haunts a listener long after the last plaintive note has faded. 

Charli Robertson

Buddy Robertson 

Michael Stockton 

Dominic Illingworth

Devon Avery

Labor Day weekend provides a huge feast of events. Two premier ones, Delaware Valley and Thomas Point Beach lie a seven and half hour drive (461 Miles) apart, and several bands played both venues, in addition to Junior Sisk's going even further to get to Fort Fairfield in far northern Maine. Because of a breakdown, some members of Blue Highway, a band which travels in separate vehicles, was forced to be late. However, rescue was at hand when Danny Paisley and his band, augmented by Eddie Gill from Big Country Bluegrass, stepped up for an impromptu set, really a jam, to more than adequately fill the time, allowing Blue Highway to arrive and organize for their excellent closing performance, at many festivals often presented to a vastly diminished audience, but not at Delaware Valley.

Blue Highway

For over twenty years Blue Highway has been at the forefront of contemporary bluegrass bands. As their new CD puts it, they are both traditional and original. With three talented singer/song writers and every member able to hold his own vocally, the band delivers a variety of combinations creating unique and pleasing sound. From traditional a capella sacred harp music through new songs written by Tim Stafford, Shawn Lane, and Wayne Taylor examining bluegrass music's big themes, Blue Highway stands out. Gaven Largent, the newest and youngest member has taken on the almost impossible job of replacing Rob Ickes on Dobro and is establishing his own independent instrumental voice and physical presence. Blue Highway continues its high standards and continues to explore new ground. 

Tim Stafford

Jason Burleson

Shawn Lane

Wayne Taylor

Gaven Largent

And so a magical holiday weekend ends with excitement and wonderful music. Next year's Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival will run from August 31 - September 2, 2018. Don't miss it!