2008 News Articles

Here you will find some newspaper articles about the 2008 show. Enjoy!

‘Pickin’ at the Paramount’ All-Star Jam Draws Big Bluegrass Names
By staff report

BRISTOL — The third annual “Pickin’ at the Paramount” all-star bluegrass jam is coming to the Paramount Theatre on Jan. 26, with two shows that day, 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. The lineup showcases some of the best musicians in bluegrass. Individual members from bands such as J.D. Crowe & the New South, the Dan Tyminski Band, Grasstowne, the Dale Ann Bradley Band, the Claire Lynch Band and others will be featured.

Emceed by radio celebrity Cindy Baucom, the event will feature a lineup of Bradley Walker, the 2007 International Bluegrass Music Association’s Male Vocalist of the Year; Ricky Wasson, guitarist/ vocalist with J.D.Crowe & the New South; Alan Bibey, the 2007 Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music Association’s Mandolin Player of the Year; Phil Leadbetter, IBMA’s Dobro Player of the Year; Missy Raines, seven-time IBMA Bass Player of the Year; Tim Laughlin, a Bristol Va., native and mandolin player/fiddler with the Dale Ann Bradley Band; and Terry Baucom, who founded Boone Creek along with Ricky Skaggs and Jerry Douglas and also was a member of Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver in 1979.

Also expected to perform are Ron Stewart, a former IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year; Adam Steffey, five-time IBMA Mandolin Player of the Year; Kenny and Amanda Smith, 2007 Grammy nominees and former IBMA Emerging Artists of the Year; Josh Williams, former guitarist with Rhonda Vincent & the Rage and Special Consensus; Alecia Nugent, 2007 SPBGMA Traditional Female Vocalist; Jim Hurst, past IBMA Guitar Player of the Year; David Talbot, a founding member of IBMA’s Entertainer of the Year The Grascals and now full-time member of Dolly Parton’s Mighty Fine Band; and Dale Ann Bradley, IBMA’s 2007 Female Vocalist of the Year.

Music coordinator for the event is the Grammy winning, five-time IBMA Bass Player of the Year and four-time SPBGMA Bass Player of the Year Mike Bub.

Article taken from GoTricities.com http://www.gotricities.com/content/article.dna?idNumber=5218

‘Highway of Dreams’
By Jim McGuinness
Considering their shared history, it’s curious how bluegrass and country musicians often wind up in different camps.

Bradley Walker is aware of the situation. Blessed with a smooth, heartbreaking baritone, the Alabama native sings in a soulful manner that recalls such country stylists as Vern Gosdin, Keith Whitley and Gene Watson. But the instrumentation on his 2006 Rounder debut album, “Highway of Dreams,” is decidedly bluegrass — something Walker sees as a natural fit for his honky-tonk style of singing.

“If you look at people like Vern Gosdin and Keith Whitley, they had a background in bluegrass long before anyone in country music knew about them,” Walker says. “I just take the singing style I love and mold it around acoustic instruments.”

The approach seems to be working for Walker, who last fall was named Male Vocalist of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association. The accomplishment speaks not only to the quality of Walker’s music but to his personal resiliency. Born with muscular dystrophy, he has been in a wheelchair his entire life.

The affliction hasn’t stopped Walker from pursuing his dreams. Operating a customized van, he works a day job as a materials analyst for Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Northern Alabama. He also makes frequent treks to Nashville in support of his music career.

“The wheelchair is my normal life,” Walker says. “It doesn’t affect the way I see myself as an artist at all. And it doesn’t affect my voice.”

Walker makes his first Tri-Cities appearance at Saturday’s third annual “Pickin’ at the Paramount” bluegrass jam in Bristol. Also slated to perform are Mike Bub, Tim Laughlin, Ron Stewart, Adam Steffey, Jim Hurst, Dale Ann Bradley, Alecia Nugent, Terry Baucom, Phil Leadbetter, Alan Bibey, David Talbot, Missy Raines, Ricky Wasson, Kenny & Amanda Smith and Josh Williams. Country radio personality Cindy Baucom will emcee the event.

Speaking over the phone, Walker says he anticipates a few surprises at his appearance in Bristol.

“I’ll probably be singing some songs I’ve never sung before,” he notes. “There will be some special duets you might not hear anywhere else.”

Produced by Carl Jackson, “Highway of Dreams” is a testament to Walker’s country-bluegrass vision. Songs like the twin-fiddle waltz “He Carried Her Memory,” the wrenching “Love’s Tombstone” and a cover of Lefty Frizzell’s “I’ll Never Go Around Mirrors” demonstrate Walker’s honky-tonk roots, while hard-driving excursions such as “I Shoulda Took That Train” and “Payin’ Your Dues” showcase his commitment to bluegrass.

Noted instrumentalists Ron Block, Rob Ickes, Aubrey Haynie, Adam Steffey, Randy Kohrs, Clay Hess and Jim Van Cleve contribute to the disc’s bluegrass vibe. The album also includes guest vocal appearances by such heavy hitters as Vince Gill, Rhonda Vincent, Russell Moore, Cia Cherryholmes, Alecia Nugent, Sonya Isaacs and Larry Cordle.

Despite its star-studded nature, “Highway of Dreams” is clearly focused on Walker’s own expressive singing. Walker credits the album’s cohesive sound to Jackson, a singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter whose lengthy list of credits include Jim & Jessie, Glen Campbell, Emmylou Harris, Ricky Skaggs, Garth Brooks and Vince Gill.

“We share a lot of the same interests and views on music,” Walker says. “To work with someone who’s as talented as he is in every aspect of music made it easy.”

Walker’s interest in singing dates back to age three when his parents took him to an Oak Ridge Boys concert. He later met the group backstage, singing their hit “Elvira.” It wasn’t long before he was singing at talent contests, dance halls and churches

When he was 10, Walker had another encounter with the Oak Ridge Boys at a fan club party, joining the group on stage to again sing “Elvira.” The group was so impressed that they invited him to join them during a March 1989 appearance on a Nashville Now television program.

The performance was apparently seen by someone at the Muscular Dystrophy Association, who arranged to have him sing on the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon that September.

Initially interested in becoming a country singer, his musical outlook expanded to include bluegrass in the mid-’90s after hearing traditional acts like J.D. Crowe and the Lonesome River Band.

“I heard a lot of that same traditional sound in what they were doing that country music started getting away from,” Walker says.

Though the country-bluegrass blend of his sound is out of step with today’s country radio, Walker staunchly believes in the commercial viability of his sound.

“Ninety percent of what you hear on country radio these days isn’t country at all,” he says. “What I’m doing is different, but I think there’s still an audience for it. And I think there’s more of an audience for it than Nashville wants to realize.”
Article taken from GoTricities.com: http://www.gotricities.com/content/article.dna?idNumber=5221

January 24, 2008

Pickin’ at the Paramount

BY TOM NETHERLAND

SPECIAL TO THE HERALD COURIER

Jam sessions amid bluegrass festivals long since have become commonplace. Just stroll through a campsite, and chances are a pack of pickers are fueling fire on the strings.

But such jam sessions are relatively rare on stage.

Yet that’s the modus operandi of Pickin’ at the Paramount.

Scheduled for two shows on Jan. 26, this year’s event includes a bevy of bluegrassers culled from such bands as Grasstowne and the Claire Lynch Band. Former Del McCoury Band member Mike Bub will serve as music director.

As with Pickins’ previous two years, Larry Gorley organized the show and with purpose, he said.

“This year, we’ve got only about five performers that we’ve had on before,” Gorley said. “The talent is getting better and better. We’ve had some of the greats.”

This year’s lineup includes the likes of Alan Bibey and Phil Leadbetter from Grasstowne, and Josh Williams, former guitarist with Rhonda Vincent’s band Rage. However, astute onlookers may notice a decided and welcome inclusion of some of the genre’s most highly regarded women.

They include Alecia Nugent, Cindy Baucom, Missy Raines and veteran Dale Ann Bradley. Now, there was a time when women in bluegrass were rare.

“Oh, that was so true,” Bradley said. “Yet, women have come into their own because of their musicianship. They have stories, too. It has earned us a place in bluegrass.”

Though women not so long ago were rare on stage playing bluegrass, several vital role models emerge from the annals of history. From the mountains of West Virginia came Wilma Lee Cooper, singing lead and playing guitar with husband Stoney.

“She was definitely a pioneer,” Bradley said. “Any girl who sings or picks guitar owes an awful lot to Wilma Lee. I have often wondered if I would have had her strength to do what she did when she did it.”

Add to the role call of music history such important women as Cousin Emmy, who taught Grandpa Jones to play clawhammer style banjo. Also, don’t forget such names as Delia Bell, who played bass and sang harmony with Jimmy Martin, and Bessie Lee Mauldin, who played bass with Bill Monroe.

Bradley adds Dolly Parton to the list. Odd as that may seem to country fans, bluegrass influenced Parton early in her career and also of late.

“Well, as far as bluegrass goes, Dolly was my biggest influence,” Bradley said. “The bluegrass influence on Dolly has always been with her music.”

Meanwhile, Bradley said that with great excitement and expectation she looks forward to Pickin’ at the Paramount. As mentioned, such an event is exceedingly rare.

“All the stars have to line up in the sky,” Bradley said. “It is a great event. It is rare. It is like bringing backstage up to center stage.”

That sums up Gorley’s intentions. He said he wants a show unlike any other, the likes of which can only be found each January at the Paramount when the pickers strike a pick to their mandolins and guitars and banjos, and let ‘em burn.

“We look for what can make this a premier event,” Gorley said. “We call it an all-star event, and it is an all-star event.”

TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at features@bristolnews.com.

Article taken from the Bristol Herald-Courier

January 25, 2008

Best in Bluegrass Gather for Another All-Star Weekend
By Doug Janz
Press Tempo Writer

BRISTOL — The list of performers is a who’s who of bluegrass superlatives — player of the year, artist of the year, vocalist of the year, again and again.

That means it must be the third annual “Pickin’ at the Paramount” all-star bluegrass jam, coming up Saturday at the Paramount Center on State Street. Two shows are scheduled, at 3 and 7:30 p.m.

The jam features a lineup of some of the top names in the business, including members from J.D. Crowe & The New South, The Dan Tyminski Band, Grasstowne, The Dale Ann Bradley Band, The Claire Lynch Band and others. Fans will see Bradley Walker, Alan Bibey, Phil Leadbetter, Missy Raines, Terry Baucom, Adam Steffey and Dale Ann Bradley, among others. Music coordinator for the event is again Nashville bass player Mike Bub.

“We’ve got a great lineup, including the female and male vocalists of the year. We’ve got some new faces, and this time we actually had people to come to us,” said Larry Gorley, who helps organize the event. “Our first year or two we were going out asking folks to participate. Now people are asking us at the IBMA awards, at festivals, and they’re saying ‘I hear you’re doing this. If ever I can be part of it, I’d love to do it.’ ”

The lineup will feature various combinations of artists who would otherwise rarely get to play together. The jam session is loosely planned, with one rehearsal, and it always changes some from the afternoon show to the evening performance.

“What’s so unique is that these artists get to stand out from the band they usually play in, and they’re backed by the very best in music,” Gorley said. “And when you put somebody like the guitar player of the year out there with the mandolin player of the year, you know they’re gonna have to be on their toes.

“They say ‘We don’t get to do enough of this.’ ”

Here are some of the artists who’ll make the event:

• Walker, 2007 International Bluegrass Music Association’s Male Vocalist of the Year;

• Ricky Wasson, guitarist/vocalist with J.D.Crowe & The New South;

• Bibey, the 2007 Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music Association’s Mandolin Player of the Year;

• Leadbetter, IBMA’s Dobro Player of the Year;

• Raines, seven-time IBMA Bass Player of the Year;

• Tim Laughlin, a Bristol, Va., native and mandolin player/fiddler with the Dale Ann Bradley Band;

• Baucom, who founded Boone Creek along with Ricky Skaggs and Jerry Douglas and also was a member of Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver in 1979.

• Ron Stewart, a former IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year;

• Steffey, five-time IBMA Mandolin Player of the Year;

• Kenny and Amanda Smith, 2007 Grammy nominees and former IBMA Emerging Artists of the Year;

• Josh Williams, former guitarist with Rhonda Vincent & The Rage and Special Consensus;

• Alecia Nugent, 2007 SPBGMA Traditional Female Vocalist;

• Jim Hurst, past IBMA Guitar Player of the Year;

• David Talbot, a founding member of IBMA’s Entertainer of the Year The Grascals and now full-time member of Dolly Parton’s Mighty Fine Band;

• Bradley, IBMA’s 2007 Female Vocalist of the Year.

• Bub, Grammy-winning, five-time IBMA Bass Player of the Year and four-time SPBGMA Bass Player of the Year Mike Bub.

The event is emceed by radio personality Cindy Baucom.

Bub coordinates things, compiling lists of what they’d like to play and who they’d like to perform with. They exchange mp3s, then come to Bristol on show morning and rehearse for two or three hours. Then comes the afternoon show, a break for supper and finally the evening show.

“These people come away laughing and having a big time,” Gorley said. “And they put a lot into it. I’ve seen them do the first show, and if they just don’t feel comfortable with what they’ve put out, they get into the dressing room and get it right. You’d be surprised in that time how much they pick up on each other.

Gorley said the afternoon show drew about 400 people, while the evening show sold out last year. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door.

 Article taken from JohnsonCityPress.com: http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/Detail.php?Cat=ENTERTAINMENT&ID=61218

January 25, 2008

Shindig in Bristol

 posted by John on 01.25.08 @ 9:25 am
 Tags: Adam Steffey, Alan Bibey, Josh Williams, Kenny & Amanda Smith, Missy Raines, Ron Stewart

It’s the 3rd annual Pickin’ at the Paramount all star show where top bluegrass artists get together for two shows, performing together in round robin-type groupings quite different from the way fans are used to seeing them.

Artists involved in this year’s show include Mike Bub, Tim Laughlin, Ron Stewart, Adam Steffey, Jim Hurst, Dale Ann Bradley, Bradley Walker, Alecia Nugent, Terry Baucom, Phil Leadbetter, Alan Bibey, David Talbot, Missy Raines, Ricky Wasson, Kenny & Amanda Smith and Josh Williams. Cindy Baucom will be the emcee.

If you live within a comfortable drive’s distance of Bristol, this show would be well worth the trip. Shows are at 3:00 and 7:30 p.m. at the Paramount Center for the Arts, a restored art deco movie house from the 1920’s.

More details about online ticket purchasing can be found on The Paramount site.

Article taken from: http://www.thebluegrassblog.com/shindig-in-bristol/

January 28, 2008

Pure Bluegrass

Posted by Thomas K. Smith

The great thing about Bluegrass shows is that everyone is accessible after the shows at what it known as a “shake and howdy.” If I said it wasn’t cool to be on first-name basis with the stars, I’d be lying. If anyone is looking for one of the best pure female voices out there, I have three words for you: Dale Ann Bradley. She is the 2007 IBMA Female Vocalist. Her voice is a cross between and the best of Reba McIntyre and Dolly Parton.

I heard her sing with 2007 Male Vocalist Bradley Walker. Porter and Dolly would have loved it. It’s not about platinum records, it’s about the music.

Article taken from: Indianapolis Star and from  http://blogs.indystar.com/intouch/archives/010177.html