The new John Cowan release, The Massenburg Sessions, was recorded in a custom-built uniquely designed studio at John McBride’s Blackbird complex in Nashville capturing the crisp creative clarity of a “more perfect sound” allowing the musicians to hear the intricate work of each other.
Produced by the widely respected George Massenburg and Kazuri Arai, the disk has 13 selections. Throughout Cowan has extended his elastic New Grass Revival Americana roots’ rhythms. Simply known as “The Voice,” his transcendent soulful vocals roam as we tremble and pause in wonder hearing Cowan soar above the canopy of our expectations.
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Mixing musical styles, like advanced chemistry, is an activity that should be attempted only with protective goggles and a fire extinguisher handy. There are too many ways for any such project to go horribly awry.
But, when composer and producer Jack Clift combined forces with John Carter Cash to combine the music of Appalachia and Uzbekistan (over in Central Asia) something magical happened – musical alchemy. The result: Pale Imperfect Diamond, a collection of Americana/roots/bluegrass standards and a handful of new songs.
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In a set that seemed custom-made for the festival environment, the King of Telluride, Sam Bush, played his 36th Telluride Bluegrass Festival during the Satruday-evening time slot.
He joked that he was lucky to be only 38-years-old and playing his 36th festival and that he had known “about this gig for weeks.”
He told some stories about ‘Stringbean’ Akeman, his first time at Telluride and the formation of New Grass Revival and being told by Bill Monroe to stick with the fiddle instead of the mandolin. He declared he was left “verklempt” twice by his guests.
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After what seems like forever, the 36th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival is only a month away. And we’re so excited we can hardly stand it.
Honestly, we turn into giddy little children every time we think about it.
And why are we jumping up and down? It has a lot to do with the fact that there’s just nothing quite like the atmosphere in Telluride’s Town Park during the four days of the bluegrass festival.
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Bonnie came out about thirty minutes late because the band before her played late. She burst out on the stage, very energetic and she praised the previous band (Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Edgar Meyer, Tim O’Brien, Bryan Sutton) and said she couldn’t believe that she had to follow them. She said it was nice to be back and “You’ve had the bluegrass now we’ve got the blues! Let’s rock out!”
She started with Help Me Lord and did a cute little dance during the break and it was much slower than on the album. She admitted it was a little scary to be in Telluride but she was glad to be here.
She then said, “Now we’re gonna sing some songs from Souls Alike, this one’s from Souls Alike!” She did Two Lights In The Nighttime and added the best voice break to the first chorus, last ‘do’.
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