So excited to share this review from Bluegrass Today of our debut High Fidelity record!!! Click the link to read the review. Big thanks to John Lawless for the review we could have only dreamed of!!!
Traditional bluegrass band High Fidelity has just released their debut album. The self-titled release features 13 tracks of straight-ahead traditional bluegrass. The record for the most part showcases the band in four-piece fashion, with Jeremy Stephens on guitar and vocals, Corrina Rose Logston on fiddle and vocals, Kurt Stephenson on banjo and vocals, and Vickie Vaughn on bass. Mandolinist Daniel Amick contributes on a handful of selections. All songs were cut live in one room with minimal isolation, similar to how recording was done by the first generation bluegrass pioneers whom the band draws its inspiration from.
Marteka & William Lake, a young duo from West Virginia, have just released their latest record entitled Keepin’ It Real, featuring Corrina Rose Logston on fiddle. The record is bluegrass in the Flatt & Scruggs style and features covers of their classic tunes as well as some of Lester and Earl’s material that had previously been recorded in their folk years without fiddle, leaving Corrina to interpret a Paul Warren, Benny Martin, Benny Sims, or combination style fiddle break for several compositions. The Lakes also included their very first original song, “The Ballad of Lester & Earl.” If you are interested in the latest up and coming young traditionalists and you like Flatt & Scruggs style bluegrass, this is sure to be a record you will enjoy. Visit Marteka & William’s website for more information and to order: http://www.marteka-n-williamlakebluegrass.com/order-cds-shirts-pics-etc
Words cannot describe how honored and beyond excited I am to be making my Grand Ole Opry debut this Saturday, February 20, 2016, at 8:15 pm CST with one of my all-time heros, Jesse McReynolds.
Jim & Jesse have always been my favorite bluegrass group ever since I can remember. When I was 3 years old, I sang along with their In the Tradition record every day on my way to and from 3-year-old preschool. When I began playing fiddle, I dreamed of playing the Opry as a Virginia Boy, and thinking about it made me practice harder. To say this is a dream-come-true is almost an understatement.
Feel free to tune into 650 AM or www.wsmonline.com Saturday, February 20, 2016, at 8:15 pm CST and join me!!!
Bluegrass Today is one of my very favorite blogs — I have been a reader ever since it was known as The Bluegrass Blog — and John Lawless is simply a master journalist. Click the link above to check out this lovely article John wrote on me and some of my latest musical pursuits! Thanks, John and Bluegrass Today!!!
I’m so unbelievably excited to release my first ever official music video!!! It has been a while since I’ve focused on writing, but sometimes God has a way of bringing you around. When God gave me this song, I immediately had a strong urge to get into a studio and put a video out of it. I’d never done a video like this before, but everything just fell right in place for it to happen — and here it is!
The video features a stellar cast: Jeremy Stephens, Casey Campbell, P. J. George, and Kevin Buchanan in the band; Richard Smith of Tunesmith Studio heading up tracking; and Brad Benge behind the knobs of the audio/video editing/mixing/mastering. These guys all did an amazing job, with a special shout out to Brad Benge — I’ve been bandmates with Brad and played and sang with him in a variety of situations, but this is the first time we’ve worked together in this way, and he is an awesome creative force to work with!
Lord willing, this will be the first in a series of videos from the tracking session that day at Tunesmith Studio — a series I’ll be referring to as the Tunesmith Sessions. All of the songs were tracked and filmed live simultaneously, with the videographer right in the tracking room with us as the songs were going down! It’s all pretty exciting!!!
Hope you enjoy the new song/video, “The Veil Has Been Lifted.”