Power Pickin’ Volume 3

Published by Brance on September 27th, 2005
Filed under CD and DVD releases

Power Pickin’ Volume 3 - Playing Banjo Backup In A Bluegrass Band has just been released by AcuTab. This project was taped, tracked, mixed, edited, and authored here at Clear Blue Productions. It was produced by John Lawless. I posted about it over on the The Bluegrass Blog.

Larry Keel and Natural Bridge

Published by Brance on September 16th, 2005
Filed under Studio News

Larry Keel and his band Natural Bridge were in the the studio this last week and we starting tracking a new project. They cut 16 songs. It features some traditional stuff, some original stuff, and some unusual stuff. The playing is great, and I’m real pleased with the tones on everything. They’ll be back the first of next week to finish vocal overdubs, solos, and the fiddle parts.

Collings Guitars Rocks!

Published by Brance on August 18th, 2005
Filed under miscellaneous

I own a Collings D2H. It’s a lovely instrument that sounds incredible. A little over two months ago I was getting a drink of water while practicing and didn’t set the guitar down. I walked into the kitchen and started pouring a glass of water. The end pin (not original) came out of my guitar and the guitar fell to the floor, concrete floor I might add. I was sick to my stomach. The binding was loose from the side, the herringbone was mashed, and worst of all the spruce was splintered up. I called up the kind folks at Collings Guitars and they said they could fix it, so I sent it down for repair. Being without the guitar for over a month was sheer torture, but when they sent it back! Ah hah! I remember why I love to play the guitar! The instrument sounds as good as it ever did. The top is fixed beautifully. And what’s more, they re-sprayed the lacquer on the back where I had worn through it down to bare wood.

Thanks guys, you rock!

The Bluegrass Blog!

Published by Brance on July 21st, 2005
Filed under Bluegrass News

In cooperation with John Lawless I’ve started a new website.

The Bluegrass Blog

This is an exciting new website that features bluegrass music related news and information. Go over for a visit and read about what blogging is, how blogging can benefit the bluegrass industry, how you can get involved, and keep up with all the important news about this music we love so much!

Kenny and Amanda Smith - Live Recording

Published by Brance on July 19th, 2005
Filed under Studio News

I was in Nashville over the weekend. Kenny and Amanda Smith had a show at the Station Inn on Saturday night and I was hired to video tape and multi-track the performance. The place was filled almost to overflowing and they delivered a great show. The recording went very well, but don’t get your hopes up about a live DVD just yet. The purpose of this recording was purely for promotional use. They will be using the footage in their press kit, but won’t be selling it. The idea of a live DVD was mentioned though. If you really want to see that happen then you should contact Rebel Records and let them know.

Huber Banjos CD (Team Flathead Follow Up)

Published by Brance on July 19th, 2005
Filed under Studio News

The final mixes are done on the new Huber Banjos CD and they went off to be mastered last week. This project has some great playing on it and I’m sure it will become a favorite with everyone, not just banjo players. The band did an incredible job. They played to each banjo player and blended with his/her style, yet maintained a consistency that ties the project together as a whole.

Power Pickin’ III

Published by Brance on July 14th, 2005
Filed under Studio News

We have just finished the DVD authoring for a new release from AcuTab Publications. This new banjo instructional DVD, Power Pickin’ III, features Bill Evans teaching you how to combine the up the neck backup techniques taught in Power Pickin’ I with the first position backup taught in Power Pickin’ II.

This was a fun project. For the “band” demonstration sections we had quite a group of musicians in the studio. Kenny Smith played guitar. Herschel Sizemore played mandolin. Warren Amberson played bass and sang. And Nick Reeb played fiddle. A fine group indeed!

From the AcuTab website:

The mix of songs includes a variety of keys and tempos, allowing Bill to demonstrate a wide range of backup techniques and styles.

After the presentation of each tune, Bill then analyzes and demonstrates the techniques he employed, playing the examples slowly and often in a split screen setting to make them easy to learn. A tab booklet with many examples from the tunes will also be included.

This should be a great piece of instructional material for an intermediate level banjo player wishing to expand his backup skills. I believe they are still working on the tab book to accompany this DVD, but it should be available soon. I’ll keep you posted.

Intermediate Gypsy Jazz Guitar

Published by Brance on July 9th, 2005
Filed under Studio News

John Jorgenson’s new instructional package Intermediate Gypsy Jazz Guitar, is now available. This is a 2 hour DVD with an audio CD full of practice tracks and a large format book with tab. This was a fun project to produce. For those of you who might wonder, no I did not shoot the footage in Paris. John had a friend of his do that and just gave me the footage to edit. I did however shoot all the close ups that are in that music video. We shot those on the front porch of John’s Nashville residence.

I hope you all enjoy the material. We will be shooting Vol. 3 sometime this fall. It is going to be for the advanced player and will include several of Django Reinhardt’s solos to his popular tunes. Keep an eye out for it!

Flatpicking The Blues

Published by Brance on July 4th, 2005
Filed under Studio News

We just finished the final edit on a new instructional DVD titled “Flatpicking The Blues”. It’s taught by Brad Davis. Brad teaches bluegrass flatpickers how to take the skills and knowledge they already have and apply them to the blues. He teaches blues rhythm, improve soloing, styles from several major blues players, and then teaches the specifics of several songs. It’s a great peice of instructional material for anyone who already plays guitar and is wanting to add some blues to their playing.

The DVD will be available from Flatpicking Mercantile very soon. I’ll post a link when it’s ready.

Team Flathead - Mix Update

Published by Brance on June 30th, 2005
Filed under Studio News

Yesterday, John Lawless and I put the finishing touches on mixes for 8 of the 13 tunes on this project. The remaining 5 songs should be finished early next week. So far I’m real pleased with how everything is sounding. All the players took some amazing solos. Kenny Smith, you are the man! There is some incredible rhythm work on this CD.