TOGETHER AND APART: “Say You’ll Be Mine”, a new song co-written by MARK OLSON and his former Jayhawks bandmate GARY LOURIS, will be included on Olson’s next Creekdippers album December’s Child, due July 23 on Dualtone. Olson’s wife and Creekdippers compatriot VICTORIA WILLIAMS also has a record due on Dualtone in August, a collection of standards called Sings Some Ol’ Songs….
Tom Parr, longtime guitarist for the BOTTLE ROCKETS, quit the band during this year’s SXSW conference in Austin. (His last performance with the group was a Friday afternoon show at Yard Dog art gallery; the band played as a trio for their official SXSW showcase the following night.) His departure marks the end of a musical association with Rockets frontman Brian Henneman that dates back to 1977. Parr also played with Henneman in Chicken Truck, as well as his first band, dubbed Waylon Van Halen & the Ernest Tubbadours.
DOTTED LINE: A self-titled studio album from Ralph Stanley, due June 11, is the debut release from DMZ RECORDS, a joint venture with Columbia. The acoustic quartet backing Stanley includes Norman Blake, Mike Compton, Dennis Crouch and Stuart Duncan. DMZ was formed by producer T Bone Burnett and filmmakers Joel & Ethan Coen….
After 16 years with Warner Bros./Reprise, DWIGHT YOAKAM has split from the label….
Joining the Warner Bros. fold is ELIZABETH COOK, who was originally signed to Atlantic’s Nashville office before it closed down last year. She’s expected to have an album out this summer….
Shortly after Mercury dropped ERIC HEATHERLY, he was picked up by Dreamworks. A new album should be out in the fall….
RAY PRICE has signed with Audium and is eyeing a summer release….
The LONESOME RIVER BAND has joined Doobie Shea Records….
After three albums, ANDREW BIRD and Rykodisc have mutually agreed to part ways.
IN TRIBUTE: Pam Tillis is producing a tribute album that showcases the songwriting of her father, MEL TILLIS. Due July 30 on Columbia/Lucky Dog, the disc will be co-produced by Ray Benson of Asleep At The Wheel….
Meanwhile, AATW drummer David Sanger and Austin guitarist Casper Rawls are teaming to produce a BUCK OWENS tribute. Due in August on Texas Music Roundup, Happy Birthday Buck features David Ball, Rodney Crowell, Rosie Flores and Jim Lauderdale….
Steve Forbert is recording a disc of JIMMIE RODGERS tunes, with Garry Tallent producing. It should be out this summer….
April 30 is the release date for RCA’s ZZ TOP tribute, Sharp Dressed Man, featuring Willie Nelson, Hank Williams III, Dwight Yoakam and a dozen others….
The U.K. arm of Berlin-based label City Slang will release a Lee Hazlewood tribute on June 3. Artists on Total Lee include Calexico, Johnny Dowd, Lambchop and the Webb Brothers.
TV & MOVIES: The Ryman Auditorium’s April 14 all-star tribute to WILLIE NELSON will be broadcast May 6 on the A&E cable network. Scheduled participants include Emmylou Harris, Norah Jones, Ryan Adams and Hank Williams III….
BOB DYLAN has signed on to play the role of Jack Fate for an Intermedia Films drama to be directed by Larry Charles. The film, which has the working title Masked & Anonymous, concerns a fictitious troubadour who is brought out of prison for one final concert. Dylan will reportedly perform his own music.
ON THE ROAD: The O Brother-inspired DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAIN tour returns to amphitheaters June 25 through August 4. The roster will include Emmylou Harris, Chris Thomas King, Alison Krauss, Patty Loveless, Del McCoury, Ralph Stanley and the Whites. The lineup varies for certain dates; a new addition this time around is Ricky Skaggs….
The sixth annual TWANGFEST is set for June 5-8 at the Duck Room in St. Louis, Missouri. Performers include Billy Joe Shaver, Mike Ireland, Slobberbone, Lonesome Bob, Kelly Hogan, Gurf Morlix, Calvin Cooke & the Sacred Steel Ensemble, Kevin Russell, Christy McWilson, Tommy Womack, the Morells, Dallas Wayne, Thad Cockrell, Marti Brom, Marlee MacLeod, James Intveld, One Riot One Ranger, the Sovines and Lonesome Pines….
The 29th annual TELLURIDE BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL, June 20-23 in Colorado, will feature stalwarts Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, Peter Rowan and Tim O’Brien, as well as Rhonda Vincent, Lucinda Williams and a special bluegrass set by Linda Ronstadt.
SOUTHERN CULTURE: The Birthplace of Country Music Alliance will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the famous BRISTOL SESSIONS with a series of lectures and concerts July 25-August 3 at several venues in Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee. The event celebrates the 1927 recording sessions in which the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers cut their first sides. Performers will include Little Jimmy Dickens, Doyle Lawson, Loretta Lynn, Jim & Jesse McReynolds, Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, Mac Wiseman and dozens more. Details are at www.birthplaceofcountrymusic.org….
The Bristol Sessions celebration is the first event in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival’s YEAR OF APPALACHIA. This exploration of Appalachian music and culture will culminate with a ten-day concert series in the summer of 2003 at the National Mall in Washington, D.C….
The Bristol Sessions are also the subject of a panel at the 19th annual INTERNATIONAL COUNTRY MUSIC CONFERENCE, to be held May 30-June 1 at Nashville’s Belmont University. Participants at the academic conference will include noted authors Ronnie Pugh and Charles K. Wolfe….
The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences has awarded a $22,649 grant to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The grant will allow the UNC library to preserve and make available to the public over 200 recordings in its Southern Folklife Collection. Among the artists represented are Bob Dylan, Janis Ian, Tom Paxton and Pete Seeger. The recordings were donated to UNC by Agnes Cunningham and the late Gordon Friesen, who published Broadside magazine for a quarter century.
AWARDS AND HONORS: The first AMERICANA MUSIC AWARDS SHOW will be held in conjunction with the third annual Americana Music Association Conference September 12-14 at the Hilton Suites in Nashville….
Details from the 22nd annual TEJANO MUSIC AWARDS, which were held shortly after our press time on April 13 in San Antonio, are available at www.tejanomusicawards.com….
Among the artists inducted into the KENTUCKY MUSIC HALL OF FAME on February 28 were Red Foley, Tom T. Hall, Grandpa Jones, Loretta Lynn, Bill Monroe, the Osborne Brothers and Merle Travis….
Yolanda Adams, Inez Andrews and Bill & Gloria Gaither are among the ten acts to be inducted into the GOSPEL HALL OF FAME on October 26 at Detroit’s Renaissance Center.
ALL THE FIXINS: An article on Larry Sparks in ND #37 (Jan.-Feb. 2002) incorrectly stated that the author of the song “John Deere Tractor” was unknown. It was written by Lawrence Hammond….
A review of Scott McClatchy’s Redemption in ND #38 (March-April 2002) incorrectly stated that McClatchy was “a member of the final incarnation of the Del Lords.” McClatchy worked with Del Lords members Scott Kempner and Manny Caiata, but was never a member of the band.
