On the follow-up to 2009’s Grammy-winning album The Crow, Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers get down to business on Rare Bird Alert with a collection of songs showcasing Martin’s rather unique take on everyday life – appropriately set to bluegrass.

Writing ten of the album’s thirteen songs himself (co-writing the other three), Martin displays a wonderful knack for writing catchy and hook-driven melodies centered on his instrument of choice, the banjo. The album’s opening song, the title-track “Rare Bird Alert,” is a quick instrumental lead by banjo and mandolin where Martin and the Rangers introduce themselves by jamming on an intricate riff before finishing off in double-time. Continue Reading

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Steve Martin photo courtesy of Rounder Records.

Musician/comedian/actor/author Steve Martin will release his second bluegrass CD, Rare Bird Alert, March 15. He’s backed by the Steep Canyon Rangers, the quintet he toured with last year. But he also has a few special guests on the album– Sir Paul McCartney and the Dixie Chicks.

“It’s very hard to believe,” Steve told Pollstar.com, of having the former Beatle perform on the record. “I was a kid when I first heard Paul McCartney, and if you told me one day that he’d be singing one of my tunes, I’m still flabbergasted.”

Sir Paul sings on “Best Love,” which Steve tells Pollstar is “a love song, but it has a little humor in it.”

When Steve called the Dixie Chicks, they agreed to sing on a song called “You” before they’d even heard it. Steve describes the tune as “very emotional, heartbreaking.” Continue Reading

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Loretta Lynn photo courtesy of the Grand Ole Opry.

Last week, Loretta Lynn got doubly good news when her “Coal Miner’s Daughter” was entered into the National Recording Registry and Vintage Books announced it was re-releasing her autobiography in September.

Now her autumn schedule is looking even more attractive. The Recording Academy has announced that Loretta will be recognized during the second Grammy Salute To Country Music Oct. 12 at the historic Ryman Auditorium. During the night, she’ll receive the Recording Academy President’s Merit Award. She’ll also be given her Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award; she was unable to attend in January when the Academy recognized her — alongside Bobby Darin and Michael Jackson — with that honor in January.

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Keith Urban photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

Keith Urban, the Zac Brown Band, Brad Paisley and Martina McBride are among the first round of acts who’ve been revealed for the annual CMA Music Festival June 10-13, a weekend that promises to bring plenty of tourism to Tennessee.

The Nashville-centered festival — which also promises Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean, Reba McEntire, Rascal Flatts, Lady Antebellum and Darius Rucker — occurs the same weekend as the ninth annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival 65 miles away in Manchester. That event is a multi-genre draw, though country music plays a role, too. The Zac Brown Band is booked, as it was last year, for both festivals. Bonnaroo also lists Miranda Lambert, Jamey Johnson, Kris Kristofferson and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band among this year’s attractions.

The CMA Festival is particularly beneficial to country artists. Some of the money raised by the event is donated to Nashville music education programs — last year’s festival generated more than $1 million for schools. In addition, highlights from the festival’s stadium concerts have for several years formed the backbone for an ABC special in the late summer or early fall.

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Zac Brown Band photo courtesy of Atlantic Records.

Four-time winner Taylor Swift might have been country music’s most-honored figure at Sunday’s Grammy Awards, but she was hardly the only person in the genre to have a big time. The Zac Brown Band took the Recording Academy’s Best New Artist trophy during the three-and-a-half hour show, and Steve Wariner, Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum, Carrie Underwood and Randy Travis were among the acts singled out during a streamed pre-telecast ceremony, where the bulk of the 109 victors were announced.

“It’s such a honor to be on stage and to be sharin’ in this big amalgam of music,” Zac told the star-studded Staples Center crowd. “We’re so honored and blessed to be here. We’re looking forward to playing for y’all.”

Play they did. The band whipped through a medley of songs with guest keyboard player Leon Russell, on stage less than three weeks after undergoing surgery to repair the leakage of brain fluid. The set ended with a wicked-paced instrumental after the last verse and chorus of “Chicken Fried.”

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Album cover art courtesy of Rounder Records.

Grammy® and Emmy® winning actor, comedian and musician Steve Martin won two International Bluegrass Music Association awards last night at a ceremony in Nashville. Martin picked up awards for Best Graphic Design for a Recorded Project and Best Liner Notes for A Recorded Project. Following the awards Martin played a surprise performance at Nashville’s Station Inn with award-winning bluegrass band Steep Canyon Rangers who he will embark with on a national and international fall tour, in support of The Crow: New Songs For the 5 String Banjo (Rounder). It will include performances on The Late Show with David Letterman on October 5 and The View on October 6. The Crow was #1 for 12 straight weeks on the Billboard Bluegrass Albums chart and Steve has brought mainstream media attention to bluegrass music with a number of appearances on television and radio this year. Continue Reading

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Dailey & Vincent at the 2009 IBMA Awards. Photo by Dan Loftin, courtesy of Karen Byrd Public Relations.

Dailey & Vincent didn’t take home quite as many trophies as they did in their first year of eligibility, but the duo still played a strong hand at Thursday’s International Bluegrass Music Awards, taking home three honors. Their collection included a repeat as the genre’s Entertainer of the Year. The act also claimed Vocal Group of the Year and went home with Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year for “On The Other Side.” Dailey & Vincent earned seven awards at the 2008 ceremony.

“We’ll do our best to take [bluegrass] to the masses,” Darrin Vincent told the audience this week at the Ryman Auditorium, according to the Associated Press. Continue Reading

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Vince Gill photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Vince Gill is one of the most talented and respected artists in country music — and on Sept. 9 the Recording Academy showed him by making Vince the first artist to be honored at their inaugural “Grammy Salute to Country Music.”

Alison Krauss, Brad Paisley, Amy Grant and many others paid tribute to Vince by performing his songs. The Tennessean reported that Alison sang Vince’s “These Days,” while Brad did “Tryin’ To Get Over You” and “Oklahoma Borderline.”

Brad told Dial-Global that he was 11 when he first met Vince at a Steve Wariner concert. Continue Reading

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