Ctba Newsletter 1603
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Volume 38, No. 3 © Central Texas Bluegrass Association March, 2016 The Experts Were Right! arlier this year, the experts predicted there would be bluegrass in 2016. And for once, the E experts were right. Just take a look at the display ads in this issue of the newsletter to see what’s coming up this spring. Although most of these are not in Central Texas, some are in fea- sible driving range, or some of our readers may be traveling that way and want to know about upcoming events along the route. Here’s what we know about this spring: March 5: McDade pig roast March 6-12: RV park jam at Texarkana March 18-20: Perrin bluegrass festival March 19-26: RV park jam at Jasper March 31-April 2: Glen Rose spring bluegrass festival April 2: Brazoria bluegrass festival April 9: Bluegrass concert at Kay Theater, Rockdale April 8-9: San Angelo bluegrass festival April 22-23: Lone Star bluegrass festival, Arlington May 26-29: Memorial Day festival, Salmon Lake Park, Grapeland Closer to home, the CTBA Board of Directors has announced proposed dates for the following events in Austin: May 22: RayFest at Hill’s Café July 3: Annual CTBA band scramble and garage sale November 6: Annual CTBA membership meeting Unfortunately, there will be no Bluebell and Bluegrass Festival in Llano this year. The Llano folks are hoping to promote some sort of smaller-scale event, though, so stay tuned and we’ll let you know what they come up with. Meanwhile, there are a couple of new monthly jam ses- sions to check out in Dripping Springs and Lampasas; see the jam listing at the end of this newsletter. And the Binion Creek Ramblers will be playing at the Fuel Coffeehouse in Llano on Saturday, March 5, 7-9 PM. http://fuelcoffeehouse.org/ Wires and Wood in concert at Heart’s Home Acoustics, February 20, 2016. Left to right, Patty Dy- er, David Dyer, Keith Kimbell. Photo by K. Brown March birthdays: Norman Blake, Cleo Davis, Doug Dillard, John Duffey, Lyman Enloe, Ray- mond Fairchild, Howdy Forrester, David Grisman, David Harvey, Phil Leadbetter, Gene Libbea, Rudy Lyle, Larry Lynch, Ronnie McCoury, Tim O’Brien, Rickie Simpkins, John Starling, Don Stov- er, Doc Watson, Marshall Wilborn, Steve Wilson. CTBA Board Meeting: Sunday, March 20, 3 PM at Hill’s Café (board meetings are open to all CTBA members). The Central Texas Bluegrass Bulletin is published by the Central Texas Bluegrass Association, a 501(c)(3) tax- exempt Texas nonprofit corporation. Contributions are deductible as charitable and educational donations. Work published in this Bulletin is used by permission of the writers, artists, and photographers, who retain all copy- rights. Jamie Stubblefield, president Jason Pratt, vice president Central Texas Bluegrass Association Matt Downing, board member Box 9816 Sam Dunn, board member Austin, Texas 78766 Mike Hurlbut, membership chair Nan Hurlbut, board member www.centraltexasbluegrass.org/ Alice Moore, secretary Lenny Nichols, treasurer Jeff White, webmaster Tim Towell, board member Ken Brown, hapless newsletter editor Bob Vestal, board member 2 Heart’s Home Acoustics, Boerne f you’ve been to Fiddler’s Green in Austin, you know what a full-service music store orient- I ed toward the acoustic music community looks like. Well, it happens that Boerne has its own version of Fiddler’s Green. It’s called Heart’s Home Acoustics, and it’s easy to find. It’s locat- ed on top of the hill on a side street just off South Main Street, the main north-south thorough- fare in Boerne, at 109 Oak Park Drive. Hours are TThF, 10-7; W, 10-6, and Saturday 10:30- 5:30. They carry guitars, banjos, fiddles (and a few other kinds of instruments such as viola and cello), strings, picks, amplifiers and the usual sorts of things you’d find in a shop of this nature. You can call them at (830) 331-9840. They offer music lessons, too, although this isn’t really a bluegrass-oriented shop, and many of the banjos are tenor banjos rather than five-string. The shops carries guitars by Allison, Bam- burg, Blanchard, Bourgeois, Charis, Ensor, Knaggs, Lowden, McPherson, Musser, Olson, Pe- terson, Petros, Redentore, Renaissance, Robertson, Sahlstrom, Simpson, and Stonebridge. On Saturday evening, February 20, I paid a visit to the shop to hear CTBA member band Wires and Wood (not to be confused with Wood and Wires, which is an entirely different band) play a two-hour concert in a very nice, high-ceiling listening room with good acoustics (and plenty of spare guitars on the wall, if you need one). Well worth the trip. The music was great. 3 Above, wall o’ banjos at Heart’s Home Acoustics in Boerne. Not many five-strings here. Below, Wires and Wood in concert, February 20. Photos by K. Brown. 4 Wires and Wood at Heart’s Home Acoustics. Left to right, Patty Dyer, David Dyer, Keith Kimbell. Pho- to by K. Brown. Curbfeeler’s Bluegrass Supplies Bass capos, cowbells, banjo mutes (e.g., nine-pound hammers), earplugs, lini- ment, bait, snuff, muleshoes, ostrich jerky. Instructional videos for zither, spoons, cowbell, and lawnchair. Otis Curbfeeler, Prop. Catwater, Texas 5 And by the way... Did you know that there are some ways you can support the Central Texas Bluegrass Associa- tion without doing anything out of your ordinary routine? If you shop at Randall's Grocery Stores or purchase on-line from Amazon.com, your purchases can help CTBA. If you shop at Amazon.com, please sign up for the Amazon Smile program. A portion of your purchases will be donated to CTBA. Bookmark this link and use it so all your eligible shopping will benefit CTBA: http://smile.amazon.com/ch/74-2275372 If you shop at Randall's stores, make sure you get one of their Randall's Remarkable Cards. Your card can be linked to as many as three organizations. Check out http://www.randalls.com and pick up a card when you next visit your local store. Our CTBA Good Neighbor number is: 9735 If your company does matching grants to charitable organizations, your lifetime membership or other donation can qualify for a matching grant. Please consider this option when you renew your membership. Curbfeeler’s Backwoods Café Experimental cuisine next to the Emergency Clinic in Catwater, Texas Otis Curbfeeler, Prop. Instruction for Banjo, Guitar, and mandolin Private Lessons in North and South Austin Eddie Collins www.eddiecollins.biz 512-873-7803 6 Remembering Jake Jenkins (1970-2011) Left to right, Jake Jenkins, Jeff Robertson (back to camera), Dennis McDaniel, Chojo Jacques (hidden) and Tom Ellis at Ricegrass in 2010. Photo by K. Brown. arch 27 will mark five years since Jake Jenkins, along with his parents, was tragically M killed in a single-engine plane crash in Dickens County. Jake was from Rockdale, and his parents lived in Minerva, a small community just up Highway 77 from Rockdale. He gradu- ated from Rockdale High School in 1989, then from the bluegrass program at South Plains Col- lege in 1992, worked at Collings Guitars (1993-96) and then began traveling part-time with Karl Shiflett when the Big Country Show was formed in 1993. He went to a fulltime basis in 1996, but later quit to spend more time with his family. By then, he lived near Dickens, about 60 miles east of Lubbock, and was an equipment operator for the Lubbock Fire Department. In 2009, he joined east Texas bluegrass favorites Hickory Hill on banjo, on a part-time basis. Jake can be heard on several of the Karl Shiflett recordings: Karl Shiflett & Big Country Show (Rebel 1752, 1999, with “Where the Smoke Goes Up” and 12 other cuts); In Full Color (Rebel 1772, 2002, with his instrumental “Jakebrakes”); and Worries on my Mind (Rebel 1792, 2003, with the title song written by Jake). There is also a tribute compilation CD (A Tribute to Jake 7 Jenkins) issued by Karl Shiflett and the Big Country Show, consisting of 11 cuts from the Rebel recordings along with another (“Whole Lot of Loving on My Mind”) previously unrecorded. Jake was also a pilot, and at the time of the crash, was leaving a private airstrip near his home in Dickens, flying his1946 Stinson 108 light plane, intending to return with his parents to Rock- dale. His parents had been helping him build a log cabin for his family. Jake also played guitar, mandolin, and bass, but banjo was his primary instrument. My own strongest impressions of Jake come from the stringbending style (whether using Scruggs tuners or just choking the strings), reminiscent of the pedal steel, that he brought to the Shiflett band. It fit well with the honky-tonk sensibility of the band. And of course, the other thing that I re- member most was his story about Mrs. Potts, the snake — a story that I think he must have told at nearly every Shiflett show. About midway through the story, when the audience started whis- pering among themselves (“Is he going to get through this unscathed?”), he’d stop and say, “Don’t worry, folks, I’m a professional.”’ And he was. CTBA at Pearl Several CTBA members visited Pearl for the February 6 jam, and Mike and Nan Hurlbut set up a display in the hallway as part of a drive to recruit more members. Kudos, y’all. Board members Mike and Nan Hurlbut staff the CTBA promotion table for the February monthly jam at Pearl. Photo by Sue Knorre. 8 Book Notice: Nick DiSebastian, The Mandolin Style of Jesse Brock (2016, Built to Last Music Notes) Just published, this compendium of 15 transcriptions of mandolin breaks/instrumentals is drawn from Jesse’s solo recording (Kickin’ Grass, 2002), from his work with Michael Cleveland and Audie Blaylock, and from YouTube videos.