This week's Studio Special is featuring the Steeldrivers, as we encore a show originally broadcast in March. It's a killer show...these folks are soooooo good! Catch it again tonight at 8 PM ET.
Just within the past few days, for example, we've added the long-awaited and much-admired album by Dan Tyminski. Wheels is an outstanding collection of traditional bluegrass, done by a man who is one of the masters of the art. You'll hear all the tracks from the CD at the Junction, and we're particularly emphasizing the title track.
Just recently, we've begun airing tracks from Gardens in the Sky: The Bluegrass Gospel of James King. This album is a compilation of several of the gospel tunes The Bluegrass Storyteller has recorded over the years, but listen for some freshly-recorded cuts as well. Particularly striking (to me) are "Daddy Doesn't Pray Anymore" and "It's Hot Down Here."
Ever since his version of "A Memory of You" first hit our airwaves last fall, you've been asking when you were going to hear more from Danny Paisley. Dan's single was released as part of a Rounder compilation CD handed out to DJs at the IBMA convention, with the promise that a new album would be coming soon. Well, that time is now. His new album, The Room Over Mine, is a fabulous set of new traditional bluegrass that's sure to please. Be listening for it over the next few days on XM.
Here's one from a group you probably haven't discovered. High Windy plays mostly traditional-flavored tunes, and their new album, A Greater Storm, is composed almost entirely of original songs. Patrick McDougal and Shane Lail handle the lead vocals and play guitar and banjo, respectively, while Mark Davis (bass), Tim Gardner (fiddle, clawhammer banjo), and Ty Gilpin (mandolin) provide some very nice harmony and instrumental work. They're also supported on the new project by Rob Ickes (Blue Highway) and Cody Kilby (Kentucky Thunder), among other guests. You'll be hearing tracks from this one soon on Bluegrass Junction, and I think you'll be impressed, as I was.
Finally, there has been quite a lot of discussion about the new Moneyland CD, headed up by the Del McCoury Band. It's an interesting CD with songs intended to make statements about the economic plight of rural America, and the official word from McCoury Music is "The goal of Moneyland is to raise awareness of serious economic issues facing Americans today through a thoughtful selection of six new (or newly recorded) songs, mixed with eight neglected gems and classic favorites that offer a hard-hitting look at today's economic injustice. In addition to songs from the Del McCoury Band, the album features songs from Marty Stuart, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris, Bruce Hornsby along with the Fairfield Four, Chris Knight and others." 
This weekend, the Studio Special revisits a show which originally aired in March featuring the Steeldrivers.
You've got one more shot (for now, at least!) to hear the Track-By-Track I recently did with Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent. It airs tomorrow [Wednesday] morning at 9 AM ET.
First of all, Grassroots: I'm not sure you realize how much I enjoy getting to spend some time with the legends every week, but I can truly tell you it's one of the highlights. As usual, you'll hear healthy doses of artists like Bill Monroe, the Stanleys, Reno & Smiley, and Lester and Earl on this week's show. Catch it Friday at 3 PM ET and/or Saturday at 10 PM ET.Sunday, you don't want to miss our Track-By-Track show with Dailey & Vincent. Jamie and Darrin visited earlier this week and we played their album in its entirety. It was a great time, and we're planning to rebroadcast it Sunday at Noon Eastern. (More info is in my earlier post.)
Intern Rebecca Jones snapped this photo at the session, and I've added it and some others recently to the Bluegrass Junction Photo Album. If you haven't been on it lately, we've added a whole bunch of shots taken at the CMA Music Festival, as well as some pictures of guests that have visited our studio.Tonight at 8:00 PM ET, be sure to listen for our Track-By-Track show featuring Dailey & Vincent. 
Darrell Webb (Rhonda Vincent & The Rage) and Ashby Frank (Special Consensus) handle most of the lead vocals and play guitar and mandolin, respectively. Randy Barnes (New Found Road) plays bass, Jim Van Cleve (Mountain Heart) plays fiddle, and Aaron McDaris (Grascals) is the banjo picker. Together they form a very compelling, high-energy unit playing hard core, "in-your-face" bluegrass. The material on their new album for Rural Rhythm, Bluegrass Smash Hits, Volume 1, is made up entierly of familiar bluegrass standards, and that's what you hear on this show.This afternoon at 4:00 PM ET, Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent join me in studio as we track their new CD, Dailey & Vincent. We'll be playing through the entire album and in between cuts, you'll want to hear the guys' insight.
We've now finalized the broadcast schedule. In addition to the premiere broadcast, there will be several rebroadcasts as well. Here's the complete schedule:
Sometimes Friday afternoons are pretty uneventful around here, but that was definitely not the case yesterday. The Steep Canyon Rangers visited our studio to record a show for our Studio Special series. It's slated to premiere on July 18.Tuesday afternoon at 4:00 PM ET, don't miss our Track-By-Track with Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent. They'll be in-studio with me as we play their entire new album, Dailey & Vincent, in sequence.
This week, our guests are the Gibson Brothers. We had the privilege a few weeks ago to premiere theire new CD, Iron & Diamonds, on Bluegrass Junction, and it seems to me that this band keeps getting better and better. While their Studio Special appearance wasn't focused entirely on the album, they performed several songs from it.
This afternoon during the 4 PM ET hour, I'll be airing the Grascals' live set from the CMA Music Festival, which we recorded Sunday.
Congratulations to the Infamous Stringdusters, whose second album for Sugar Hill, The Infamous Stringdusters, hits the streets today.
Here's a little unfinished business from last week's CMA Music Festival. Wednesday, during the 4:00 PM ET hour, we'll bring you a performance we captured at the event by the Grascals.
The founding members of this supergroup, Alan Bibey, Steve Gulley, and Phil Leadbetter, have never sounded better. Although they're all veterans of bluegrass, they seem driven and invigorated by being a part of Grasstowne, which they formed in late 2006.
As Wichita Rutherford would say, "We had the best time" at the CMA Music Festival yesterday. As you know, Bluegrass Junction broadcast the bluegrass show, and it featured "killer" sets from The Steeldrivers, Mountain Heart, Dan Tyminski, and Sierra Hull. I hope you got to hear it. 
That's right--I said world premiere!