Tony Rice Unit "Backwaters" (1986)

Tony Rice Unit "Manzanita" (1979)

Tony Rice "Guitar" (1973)

Tony Rice

Tony Rice spans the range of acoustic music, from straight-ahead bluegrass to jazz-influenced new acoustic music, to songwriter-oriented folk. He is perhaps the greatest innovator in acoustic flatpicked guitar since Clarence White. Over the course of his career, he has played alongside J.D. Crowe and the New South, David Grisman (during the formation of “Dawg Music”), led his own groups, collaborated with fellow picker Norman Blake and recorded with his brothers. He has recorded with drums, piano, soprano sax, and with straight-ahead bluegrass instrumentation.

Rice was born in Danville, Virginia but grew up in California, where he was introduced to bluegrass by his father. He and his brothers learned a lot from hot L.A. pickers like the Kentucky Colonels, led by Roland and Clarence White. Crossing paths with fellow enthusiasts like Ry Cooder, Herb Pederson and Chris Hillman reinforced the strength of the music he had learned from his father.

In 1970, Rice had moved back to Kentucky where he played with the Bluegrass Alliance, and shortly thereafter, J.D. Crowe’s New South. The New South was known as one of the best and most progressive bluegrass groups - even adding drums and electric instruments. But when Ricky Skaggs joined up in 1974, the band recorded J.D. Crowe & the New South, an acoustic album that became Rounder’s top-seller up to that time. With Rice on guitar and vocals, Crowe on banjo and vocals, Jerry Douglas on Dobro, Skaggs on fiddle and mandolin and Bobby Slone on bass, the band’s energy, as well as their instrumental and vocal drive have rarely been matched. 

Around this time Rice met mandolinist David Grisman, who played with Red Allen during the ‘60’s and was now working on some original material that blended jazz, bluegrass and classical styles. Rice left the New South and moved to California to join Grisman’s all instrumental group. As part of the David Grisman Quintet, Rice expanded his horizons beyond three chord bluegrass, studying chord theory, learning to read charts and expanding the range of his playing.  

In 1979, he left the group to pursue his own music. He recorded Acoustics, a guitar-oriented record, and then Manzanita which collected some favorite folk and bluegrass vocals. In 1980, Rice, Crowe, Bobby Hicks, Doyle Lawson and Todd Phillips formed a highly successful coalition, attacking bluegrass standards under the name the Bluegrass Album Band. This group has recorded six volumes of music.

Tony’s solo career hit its stride with Cold on the Shoulder, a collection of bluegrass vocals. With this album, Native American and Me & My Guitar, Rice arrived at a formula that incorporated his disparate influences, combining bluegrass, the songwriting of folk artists like Ian Tyson, Joni Mitchell, Phil Ochs and especially Gordon Lightfoot, with nimble, jazz-inflected guitar work. Simultaneously, he pursued his jazz and experimental “spacegrass” with the Tony Rice Unit on Mar West, Still Inside and Backwaters. 

Two highly regarded albums with traditional guitar virtuoso Norman Blake gained a great deal of acclaim, as well as two Rice Brother albums that reunited him with his younger brother, Wyatt. Tony Rice remains one of bluegrass’ top instrumentalists and singers, bringing originality and vitality to everything he plays.

Source: Tony Rice.com.

Strenght In Numbers "Telluride sessions" (1989)

Strenght In Numbers

Strength In Numbers was a bluegrass supergroup formed in the late 1980s. The group featured Béla Fleck (banjo), Mark O'Connor (fiddle, guitar), Sam Bush (mandolin), Jerry Douglas (dobro) and Edgar Meyer (bass). They released their only album, Telluride Sessions, in 1989. The group, minus Fleck, played on "Nothing but a Child" from Steve Earle's 1988 album, Copperhead Road under the name "Telluride".
The catalyst for their progressive approach to bluegrass was Sam Bush's group, New Grass Revival, in 1971. In 1975 this group made their first appearance at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival at the ski resort town of the same name in the Colorodo Rockies. Strength in Numbers met at subsequent festivals at Telluride in the late 1970s and 1980s.
The music of Strength in Numbers is influenced by the bluegrass virtuoso music of earlier artists Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass boys, and Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. Often the music of Strength in Numbers is referred to as "Newgrass" or progressive bluegrass. This music uses core bluegrass instrumentation with rhythmic features and solo playing styles of jazz.

Source: Wikipedia.

Sam Bush "Ice caps peaks of telluride" (2000)

Sam Bush "Howlin' at the Moon" (1998)

Sam Bush

Sam Bush extended the musical capabilities of the mandolin and the fiddle to incorporate a seamless blend of bluegrass, rock, jazz, and reggae. As the founder and leader of the New Grass Revival, Bush pioneered and guided the evolution of modern hill country music. Together with the bluegrass supergroup Strength in Numbers, he pushed the traditions even further. During a five-year stint with the Nash Ramblers, he provided a diverse range of textures for the songs of Emmylou Harris. On his own, Bush has continued to explore an eclectic musical spectrum. Bush was exposed to country music and bluegrass at an early age through his father's record collection and, later, by Flatt & Scruggs' television show. Buying his first mandolin at the age of 11, his musical interest was further piqued when he attended the Roanoke Bluegrass Festival in 1965. A child prodigy on the fiddle, he placed first at the national fiddle contest in Weister, ID, three times in a row. Together with childhood friends Wayne Stewart and Alan Munde, later of Country Gazette, he formed a band and recorded his first album, Poor Richard's Almanac, in 1969. The same year, he made his debut appearance on the Grand Ole Opry.
Attending the Fiddlers Convention at Union Grove, NC, in 1970, Bush overheard the pioneering progressive bluegrass band the New Deal String Band. Inspired by their rock-flavored approach to bluegrass, he formed the New Grass Revival in 1972. Over the next 17 years, Bush and the New Grass Revival revolutionized the music of the hill country, incorporating everything from gospel and reggae to rock and modern jazz into their tradition-rooted sound. The New Grass Revival went through numerous personnel changes, with Bush remaining as the sole original member. Bassist and vocalist John Cowan joined in 1973, with banjo ace Béla Fleck and acoustic guitarist Pat Flynn being enlisted in the early '80s. In 1980, the group toured with Leon Russell, opening the shows and backing Russell during his headlining set. A live performance at the Perkins Palace in Pasadena, CA, was released as Leon Russell & the New Grass Revival: The Live Album in 1981.
Beginning in 1980, Bush and Cowan periodically jammed with the Nashville-based Dockbusters Blues Band. Bush recorded his debut solo album, Late as Usual, four years later. In 1989, Bush and Fleck joined Mark O'Connor, Jerry Douglas, and Edgar Meyer in an all-star bluegrass band, Strength in Numbers, at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado. When Fleck and Cowan elected to leave the New Grass Revival in 1989, Bush disbanded the group and joined Emmylou Harris' Nash Ramblers. He toured and recorded with Harris and the band for the next five years. In 1995, Bush worked as a sideman with Lyle Lovett and Bela Fleck's Flecktones. He formed his own band, featuring Cowan and ex-Nash Ramblers Jon Randall and Larry Atamanuick, shortly before recording his second solo album, Glamour & Grits, in 1996. He released his next album, Howlin' at the Moon, in 1998, with many of the same players and special guests, including Harris, Fleck, and J.D. Crowe. In the winter of 1997, Bush and the New Grass Revival reunited for an appearance on The Conan O'Brien Show as the backup band for Garth Brooks. On March 28, 1998, Bush's hometown of Bowling Green, KY, honored him with a special "Sam Bush Day" celebration.
Bush continued to be a much in-demand session player as the 21st century dawned, and continued to release solo projects. Ice Caps: Peaks of Telluride appeared in 2000 from Sugar Hill, followed by a collaboration with David Grisman, Hold on, We're Strummin', from Acoustic Disc in 2003. Two more solo efforts appeared from Sugar Hill, King of My World in 2004 and Laps in Seven in 2006. A year later his first live DVD, On the Road, was released and was followed in 2009 by the new studio album Circles Around Me.

Source: All Music.com.

Rollin In The Hay "Miracle ticket"

Rollin' In The Hay

If you want to get an understanding of Rollin’ in the Hay just think high-octane groove grass with a touch of down home foot stompin’ or just simply –Renegade Bluegrass. Long considered to be one of the forerunners of the “Newgrass” revolution in America, these savvy veterans have been thrilling fans coast to coast for years! Opening for everyone from Greg Allman, Moe, Charlie Daniels, The Doobie Brothers, Jerry Douglas, Alabama,(this list could get LONG) to Widespread Panic,the unique sound of the Hay keeps fans coming back for more. Rollin’ in the Hay has six self-released Cds but also has done 15 nationally released instrumental tributes called the”Pickin’ On” series. With the approval of the band, there are tons of live “bootleg” shows on the internet. Based out of Birmingham, Alabama the band uses www.rollininthehay.com as well as a very active facebook.com/rollininthehay to keep fans informed. Being listed in the Alabama Music Hall 0f Fame as “Music Achievers” is one of this bands proudest accomplishments!
Rick Carter- Vocals and guitar
Stan Foster- Vocals and electric bass
Johnny (Fontana) Kulinich-guitar and mandolin
Wildman Steve Bronson – Washboard

Source: Rollin In The Hay.com.

Ricky Scaggs "Bluegrass rules!" (1997)

Ricky Scaggs

By the time he was in his mid-thirties, Kentuckian Ricky Skaggs had already produced a career's worth of music. At age seven he appeared on TV with Flatt & Scruggs; at 15 he was a member of legendary Ralph Stanley's bluegrass band (with fellow teenager Keith Whitley). None of his '80s peers, male or female, had better musical credentials than Skaggs. The term "multi-talented" lacks the power to characterize this extraordinary singer and instrumentalist. Not only can he sing and pick with the best in progressive country, his broad and deep experience in traditional music separates him from the crowd. In the estimation of many, he is without peer as a combination vocalist and instrumentalist (guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo). After playing with Ralph Stanley for three years, Skaggs moved on to progressive bluegrass bands the Country Gentlemen and J.D. Crowe & the New South. With his own band, Boone Creek, he mixed the old and the new, even referencing the swinging Gypsy jazz of Django Reinhardt. Skaggs took Rodney Crowell's place in Emmylou Harris' Hot Band in 1977, and the band's excellent Roses in the Snow album showcased Skaggs' versatility. Two number one hits came out of his 1981 album Waitin' for the Sun to Shine, and the awards started arriving. Skaggs is largely responsible for a back-to-basics movement in country music. He showed many that a bluegrass tenor with impeccable taste and enormous talent could sell traditional country in the '80s, a time when pop music had invaded the land of rural rhythm.
Skaggs began playing music at a very early age, being given a mandolin from his father at the age of five. Before his father had the time to teach Ricky how to play, the child had learned the instrument himself, and by the end of 1959 he had performed on-stage during a Bill Monroe concert, playing "Ruby Are You Mad at Your Man" to great acclaim. Two years later, when Skaggs was seven, he appeared on Flatt & Scruggs' television show, again to a positive response. Shortly afterward, he learned how to play both fiddle and guitar and began playing with his parents in a group called the Skaggs Family. In addition to traditional bluegrass, Skaggs began absorbing the honky tonk of George Jones and Ray Price and the British Invasion rock & roll of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. In his adolescence, he briefly played in rock & roll bands, but he never truly abandoned traditional and roots music.
During a talent concert in his midteens, he met Keith Whitley, a fellow fiddler. The two adolescents became friends and began playing together, with Whitley's brother Dwight on banjo, at various radio shows. By 1970, they earned a spot opening for Ralph Stanley. Following their performance, Stanley invited the duo to join his supporting band, the Clinch Mountain Boys, and they accepted. Over the next two years they played many concerts with the bluegrass legend and appeared on his record Cry from the Cross. Skaggs also appeared on Whitley's solo album Second Generation Bluegrass in 1972.
Though he had made his way into the bluegrass circuit and was actively recording, Skaggs had grown tired of the hard work and low pay in the Clinch Mountain Boys and left the group at the end of 1972. For a short while, he abandoned music and worked in a boiler room for the Virginia Electric Power Company in Washington, D.C., but he returned to performing when the Country Gentlemen invited him to join in 1973. Skaggs spent the next two years with the group, primarily playing fiddle, before joining the progressive bluegrass band J.D. Crowe & the New South in 1974. The following year, he recorded another duet album with Whitley, That's It, and then formed his own newgrass band, Boone Creek, in 1976. In addition to bluegrass, the outfit played honky tonk and Western swing. Boone Creek earned the attention of Emmylou Harris, who invited Skaggs to join her supporting band. After declining her several times, he finally became a member of her Hot Band once Rodney Crowell left in 1977.
Between 1977 and 1980, Skaggs helped push Harris toward traditional country and bluegrass, often to great acclaim. Skaggs also pursued a number of other musical avenues while he was with Harris, recording a final album with Boone Creek (1978's One Way Track), two duet albums with Tony Rice (1978's Take Me Home Tonight in a Song, 1980's Skaggs & Rice), and finally, his first solo album, Sweet Temptation, which was released on Sugar Hill. Sweet Temptation was a major bluegrass hit, earning the attention of the major label Epic Records. The label offered him a contract in 1981, releasing Waitin' for the Sun to Shine later that year. The album was a big hit, earning acclaim not only in country circles, but also in rock & roll publications. By the end of the year Skaggs had become a star and, in the process, brought rootsy traditional country back into the consciousness of the country audience.
During 1982 and early 1983 he had five straight number one singles -- "Crying My Heart Out Over You," "I Don't Care," "Heartbroke," "I Wouldn't Change You If I Could," "Highway 40 Blues" -- as well as earning numerous awards. Later in 1982 he was made the youngest member of the Grand Ole Opry. For the next four years, he was a major artistic and commercial force within country music, raking up a string of Top Ten hits and Grammy Award-winning albums. His success helped spark the entire new traditionalist movement, opening the doors for performers like George Strait and Randy Travis. Toward the end of the decade, Skaggs wasn't charting as frequently as he had in the past, but he had established himself as an icon. Each of his records sold well, and he collaborated with a number of musicians, including Rodney Crowell, the Bellamy Brothers, Johnny Cash, Jesse Winchester, and Dolly Parton.
During the early '90s, Skaggs and his traditional music were hit hard by the slick sounds of contemporary country, and consequently, his records ceased to sell as consistently as they had ten years earlier. Columbia Records dropped the musician in 1992 due to poor sales. However, Skaggs continued to perform concerts and festivals frequently, as well as host his own syndicated radio program, The Simple Life, which hit the airwaves in 1994. The following year, Skaggs returned to recording with Solid Ground, his first album for Atlantic Records. Life Is a Journey followed in 1997, and two years later he released Soldier of the Cross. Big Mon: The Songs of Bill Monroe followed in 2000 and was re-released in 2002 on the Lyric Street label as Ricky Skaggs and Friends Sing the Songs of Bill Monroe. In 2003 Skaggs released Live at the Charleston Music Hall on his own Skaggs Family label, followed by Brand New Strings in 2004, A Skaggs Family Christmas in 2005 and Instrumentals in 2006. He joined forces with the Whites for 2007's Salt of the Earth.
Released in 2008, Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass paid homage to Bill Monroe's classic mid-'40s lineup of the Bluegrass Boys and featured the only surviving member of that band, Earl Scruggs, as a guest player. For 2009's Solo: Songs My Dad Loved, dedicated to his father, Hobert Skaggs, he played all the instruments and sang all the vocals himself, while 2010’s Mosaic, co-produced by Skaggs and Gordon Kennedy, found him singing gospel-inflected country songs with more of a pop and rock feel. Released in 2011, Country Hits: Bluegrass Style saw Skaggs returning to some of his country hits and reshaping them as bluegrass pieces. 2011 also saw the release of a second holiday album, A Skaggs Family Christmas, Vol. 2, a ten-song CD that featured both studio and live recordings and came packaged with a bonus DVD, A Skaggs Family Christmas Live, presenting the family’s holiday concert filmed at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

Source: All Music.com.

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band "Will the circle be unbroken?" (1989)

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

MAY - AUGUST 1966
The band hangs out at McCabe' Guitar Shop in Long Beach, CA, trying to "figure out how not to have to work for a living." Perform in the LA/Orange County Folk-rock scene in 1920's pinstripe suits & cowboy boots. Early line up includes future Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer Jackson Browne.

1966 - 1967
The band records Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Ricochet LPs; "Buy For Me the Rain" hits the Top 40 on the Pop charts. The band appears on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, living in the "Dirt House" with Duane & Gregg Allman. Appeared in concert with Jack Benny and The Doors in the same week.

1967 - 1968
The band records Rare Junk and Alive, stay in the Wallowa Whitman National Forest, Oregon, for 4 months filming "Paint Your Wagon" with Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin. Play Carnegie Hall as Bill Cosby's opening act, and jam with Dizzy Gillespie.

1969 - 1973
The band relocates to Colorado, and records Uncle Charlie and All the Good Times, "Mr. Bojangles" makes the Top 10 Pop charts. In August 1971 the band ventured to the uncharted wilds of Nashville to record Will the Circle Be Unbroken, the platinum selling 3 record set. Guest stars include Roy Acuff, Maybelle Carter, Junior Huskey, Doc. Watson, and many more. The Roy Acuff duet of "I Saw the Light" hits the country charts, and the album gets two Grammy nominations. The band tours Japan.

1974 - 1975
The band records Stars and Stripes Forever and Dream LPs, and play at an amazing variety of shows, including bluegrass festival one day before opening for Aerosmith. Play to a crowd of 190,000 at a Sedalia MO "Rock Festival" in 103 degree heat, performing as a 4-piece band. At the end of 1975 Ibbotson departs.

1976 - 1977
The Dirt Band becomes the first American group selected by the Soviet government to tour the USSR, spending a month in Russia playing to live audiences and a massive TV audience of 145,000,000. Tour incessantly, and release Dirt, Silver and Gold, a 3-record LP.

1977 - 1979
The band releases The Dirt Band and An American Dream LPs, and the single "American Dream" with Linda Ronstadt goes to #13 on the Pop chats. The band also appears on Saturday Night Live and provides arrangement and backing for Steve Martin's million selling recording of "King Tut."

1980 - 1981
The band releases Make a Little Magic and Jealousy, and the single "Make a Little Magic" with Nicolette Larson makes the Top 20 pop charts.

1982 - 1986
Ibbotson rejoins the band and they return to Nashville to record Let's Go, and "Dance Little Jean" goes Top 10 Country. The band also records Plain Dirt Fashion and Partners, Brothers, and Friends. "Long Hard Road" becomes the Dirt Band's first Number One record, and the band eventually has 17 consecutive Top 10 country songs. They receive nominations from both the CMA and ACM, and perform at the 1984 Olympics in LA and at the first Farm-Aid concert. The Twenty Years of Dirt collection is released, coinciding with the band's 20th anniversary of their first performance at the Paradox Club in Orange County on May 13, 1966. The Anniversary concert in McNichols Arena in Denver is a sell-out, with guests such as Ricky Skaggs, Emmylou Harris, Doc Watson, John Prine, and others. At the end of 1986 John McEuen departs band.

1987 - 1988
In early 1987 former Eagle Bernie Leadon joins the lineup. The band releases Hold On, it's 19th LP, with the Number One singles "Fishin' in the Dark" and "Baby's Got a Hold on Me." They appear on both the Today Show and the Tonight Show in the same week, and tour Europe. Plain Dirt Fashion and 20 Years of Dirt are certified gold in Canada, and the band releases Workin' Band, scoring three more Top 10 singles.

1989 - 2000
The band releases More Great Dirt, the second authorized greatest hits LP. Will the Circle Be Unbroken Vol. II is hailed internationally for uniting old and new singers, such as Roy Acuff, Johnny Cash, Earl Scruggs, Bruce Hornsby, John Hiatt, Chris Hillman, Roger McGuinn, and others. Circle II goes gold in the US and Canada, and wins 3 Grammy's and the CMA Album of the Year. A long-form video documentary The Making of Will the Circle be Unbroken II is released on Cabin Fever Entertainment. The band returns to the Soviet Union for 3 sold out performances, and national Soviet TV appearances. The Rest of the Dream is released in June 1990, produced by the band and Randy Scruggs, who produced Circle II. In late 1990, the band goes on a major tour including Canada, Europe, and Japan. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band commemorates their 25th anniversary by recording Live Two Five in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada produced by T-Bone Burnett. In 1992 the band collaborates with Irish folk legends The Cheiftans on their Grammy award winning project Another Country. The prestigious Aspen School of Music creates their first scholarship honoring a pop group in the band's name. 20 Years of Dirt is certified gold at the end of 1993. In early 1994, the band returns to the studio and their origins, recording Acoustic, a self-penned, self-produced project that spotlights the "wooden" sound they have championed for years. In 1996, the band records a duet with Karla Bonoff, "You Believed in Me", which appears on the MCA Olympic album One Voice. They also record, "Maybe Baby" for the Buddy Holly tribute album Not Fade Away on Decca Records, and in 1996 celebrate 30 years on the road. In 1997 they release The Christmas Album, followed by Bang! Bang! Bang! in 1999.

2001 - 2004
In 2001 founding member John McEuen returns to the band after a 14 year absence. In Spring 2002, Capitol Records releases the 30th Anniversary Edition of the landmark Will the Circle Be Unbroken followed several months later by Will the Circle Be Unbroken Vol. III. That collection garners multiple Grammy nominations and a CMA nomination for Vocal Event with Johnny Cash for "Tears In The Holston River." In early 2003 the band produces a PBS Television special highlighting performances by guests from all three Circle projects. Capitol releases the box set Trilogy containing all three projects and a DVD of the TV special. NGDB records a duet with the legendary Kris Kristofferson for the Grammy nominated Carter Family tribute The Unbroken Circle. In 2004 the band releases Welcome To Woody Creek their first all new studio project in five years. At the end of 2004 Ibbotson departs the band.

2005 - 2008
The band begins the year by winning a Grammy for Best Country Instrumental for "Earl's Breakdown." The song features Earl Scruggs, Randy Scruggs, Jerry Douglas and the late Vassar Clements. The band tours throughout North America in support of the critically acclaimed CD Welcome To Woody Creek.

2009
The band starts the year with an extensive swing through Canada…And prepares for the launch of their 1st studio album in five years; Speed of Life.

Source: Nitty Gritty.com.

Nickel Creek "Nickel Creek" (2000)

Nickel Creek

Distinguished by their youth and eclectic taste, Nickel Creek became a word-of-mouth sensation on the progressive bluegrass scene and soon found their appeal spreading beyond the genre's core audience. Guitarist Sean Watkins, fiddler Sara Watkins (his younger sister), and mandolin/banjo/bouzouki player Chris Thile first started performing together in 1989, when all three were preteens and taking music lessons in their native San Diego. They met while watching the local band Bluegrass Etc., which put on weekly performances in a pizza parlor. A bluegrass promoter liked the idea of such a young band, and thus Nickel Creek was formed, with Thile's father Scott joining them on bass. Nickel Creek were regulars on the festival circuit through most of the '90s, and during that time, Thile recorded two solo albums, 1994's Leading Off... and 1997's Stealing Second. In 1998, with help from Alison Krauss, Nickel Creek landed a record deal with the roots music label Sugar Hill. Krauss produced their self-titled debut album, which was released in 2000; with the kids apparently all right, Scott subsequently retired from the band. Though it was decidedly a bluegrass record, Nickel Creek boasted elements of classical, jazz, and rock & roll both classic and alternative; naturally, the influence of progressive bluegrass figures like Krauss, Edgar Meyer, and Béla Fleck was also apparent. Perhaps aided by the success of O Brother, Where Art Thou?, which brought traditional roots music to a whole new collegiate audience, Nickel Creek became a slow-building hit; by early 2002, it had gone gold, climbed into the country Top 20, and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Album. Meanwhile, Sean released his solo debut, Let It Fall, in 2001, and Thile followed suit with Not All Who Wander Are Lost. Nickel Creek released their sophomore set, This Side, in 2002; it debuted in the Top 20 of the pop charts and went all the way to number two on the country listings. Even more eclectic than its predecessor, the Krauss-produced album turned indie rock fans' heads with a cover of Pavement's "Spit on a Stranger." This Side won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album in early 2003, after which Sean issued his second solo album, 26 Miles. In 2005, the group worked with producers Tony Berg and Eric Valentine (the latter had worked with Smash Mouth and Queens of the Stone Age) to produce Why Should the Fire Die?, a dark and introspective collection of new material that found the trio steering even further away from their bluegrass beginnings. In mid-2006, Nickel Creek announced it would be taking an indefinite hiatus following a scheduled tour the next year, so its members could concentrate on solo work. Thile eventually formed Punch Brothers, releasing a debut album, Punch, on Nonesuch in 2009. Sara Watkins also released an album on Nonesuch in 2009, the self-titled Sara Watkins, which was produced by John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin fame. Sean Watkins, who had formed Fiction Family with Jon Foreman (of Switchfoot), also released an album in 2009, the duo's self-titled Fiction Family from ATO Records. Meanwhile, siblings Sara and Sean continued to host a monthly revue called the Watkins Family Hour at Hollywood's Largo club, playing free form and impromptu sets with the wide array of musicians who might be in town for the evening, including at different times Gabe Witcher, Benmont Tench, Greg Leisz, Jon Brion, Michael Witcher, Jackson Browne, Glen Phillips, Mark O'Connor, Ethan Johns, Matt Chamberlain, Tim O'Brien, and Tom Brosseau, among others.

Source: All Music.com.

Joshua Bell & Edgar Meyer, with Sam Bush and Mike Marshall "Short trip home" (1999)

Joshua Bell

JOSHUA BELL has enchanted audiences worldwide with his breathtaking virtuosity and tone of rare beauty. His restless curiosity and multifaceted musical interests have taken him in exciting new directions which have earned him the rare title of “classical music superstar.” Often referred to as the poet of the violin, Bell is the recipient of the Avery Fisher Prize and is the newly named Music Director of The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Bell first came to national attention at the age of 14 in a highly acclaimed orchestral debut with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra. His Carnegie Hall debut and a recording contract further confirmed his presence in the music world. Today he is equally at home as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestra leader and composer who performs his own cadenzas to several of the major concerto repertoire. “Bell, Gramophone stated simply, is dazzling.”
Bell’s 2011 festival appearances include Ravinia, Tanglewood, Verbier and Mostly Mozart. He will perform with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Montreal, Dallas, Colorado, Atlanta, and National Symphony orchestras, in San Francisco, as part of the Symphony’s 100th anniversary celebration in recital, with the orchestra, and as leader and soloist with The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Fall highlights include a recital at Carnegie Hall, appearances with the New York Philharmonic and extensive tours through Europe including cities such as Munich, Berlin, Vienna and Paris.
2012 highlights include a 15-city US tour with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and a North American recital tour with pianist Sam Haywood. In Europe, Bell will tour with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Vladimir Jurowski and in recital with Jeremy Denk in cities to include London, Paris and Berlin.
Bell records exclusively for Sony Classical, a MASTERWORKS label. French Impressions, his new album with Jeremy Denk will be released in January 2012 and is Bell’s first sonata recording for Sony Classical. The disc will include repertoire by Ravel, Saint Saëns and Franck.
Since his first LP recording at age 18, Bell has recorded more than 36 CDs. Recent releases include the soundtrack to For Colored Girls, At Home With Friends, featuring Chris Botti, Sting, Josh Groban, Regina Spektor, Tiempo Libre and others, the Defiance soundtrack, Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, The Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic, The Red Violin Concerto, The Essential Joshua Bell, Voice of the Violin and Romance of the Violin which Billboard named the 2004 Classical CD of the Year, and Bell the Classical Artist of the Year. He has also recorded critically acclaimed recordings of Sibelius and Goldmark as well as Beethoven and Mendelssohn concertos both featuring his own cadenzas, and the Grammy Award winning Nicholas Maw concerto. His Grammy-nominated recording Gershwin Fantasy premiered a new work for violin and orchestra based on themes from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Its success led to a Grammy-nominated all-Bernstein recording that included the premiere of the West Side Story Suite as well as a new recording of the composer’s Serenade. With the composer and double bass virtuoso Edgar Meyer, Bell appeared on the Grammy-nominated crossover recording Short Trip Home and a disc of concert works by Meyer and the 19th-century composer Giovanni Bottesini. Bell also collaborated with Wynton Marsalis on the Grammy-winning spoken word children’s album, Listen to the Storyteller and Bela Fleck’s Grammy Award winning Perpetual Motion. Sony Classical film soundtracks on which Bell has performed also include The Red Violin, which won the Oscar for Best Original Score, the Classical Brit-nominated Ladies in Lavender and Academy Award-winning film Iris.
Bell has premiered new works by composers Nicholas Maw, John Corigliano, Aaron Jay Kernis, Edgar Meyer, Behzad Ranjbaran and Jay Greenberg.
Bell and his two sisters grew up on a farm in Bloomington, Indiana. As a child, he indulged in many passions outside of music, becoming an avid computer game player and a competitive athlete. He placed fourth in a national tennis tournament at age 10 without having taken a single lesson, and still keeps his racquet close by. Bell received his first violin at age four after his parents, both mental health professionals, noticed him plucking tunes with rubber bands he had stretched around the handles of his dresser drawers. By 12 he was serious about the instrument, thanks in large part to the inspiration of renowned violinist and pedagogue Josef Gingold, who had become his beloved teacher and mentor.
Millions of people are just as likely to have seen Bell on The Tonight Show as Tavis Smiley, Charlie Rose, or CBS Sunday Morning. In 2010 Bell starred in his fifth Live From Lincoln Center Presents broadcast titled: Joshua Bell with Friends@ The Penthouse. Other PBS shows include Great Performances – Joshua Bell: West Side Story Suite from Central Park, Memorial Day Concert performed on the lawn of the United States Capitol, Sesame Street and A&E’s Biography. He has twice performed on the Grammy Awards telecast, performing music from Short Trip Home and West Side Story Suite. He was one of the first classical artists to have a music video air on VH1, he has been the subject of a BBC Omnibus documentary and he appeared as himself in the film Music of the Heart starring Meryl Streep. Bell has been profiled in publications ranging from The New York Times and Newsweek to People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People issue, Gramophone and USA Today.
Stated Strad: “Joshua Bell will be the one remembered in 50 years time.”
In 1989, Bell received an Artist Diploma in Violin Performance from Indiana University. His alma mater honored him with a Distinguished Alumni Service Award only two years after his graduation. He has been named an “Indiana Living Legend” and has received the Indiana Governor’s Arts Award.
Bell was named 2010 Instrumentalist of the Year by Musical America Bell, he is an inductee of the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame, recognized as a young global leader by the World Economic Forum, serves on the artist committee of the Kennedy Center Honors and is on the Board of Directors of the NewYork Philharmonic. He is the recipient of the Humanitarian Award from Seton Hall University; was honored by Education Through Music for his dedication to sharing his love of classical music with disadvantaged youth and received the Academy of Achievement Award for exceptional accomplishment in the arts.
In 2009 he performed at Ford’s Theatre before President Obama which was followed by an invitation from the President and Mrs. Obama to perform at the White House.
Bell performs on the 1713 Gibson ex Huberman Stradivarius violin and uses a late18th century French bow by Francois Tourte.

Source: Joshua Bell.com.

Jerry Douglas, Russ Barenberg & Edgar Meyer "Skip, hop and wobble" (1993)