Acoustic… On The Edge

Mountain Soul will be performing live at the Mellow Mushroom on Cumberland Avenue in downtown Knoxville!  Friends Daniel and Cary Kimbro, Jonathan Maness and Keith Anselmo will be whipping up a batch of eclectic, homegrown, bluegrass based fury for you.  Don’t forget the $.75 PBR’s and $1 High Lifes!!

Now I’m sure many of you Knox-villains are wondering what Thursday nights at the ‘Shroom are all about.  Allow me to spin you a narrative of epic proportions.  In the musical world of 1930’s and ’40’s rural south, the socio-economic climate created a void for a unified creative voice of southern Appalachian culture.  Technology, in the form of transportation, recording, and agricultural developments, brought together musical traditions on a level that had never been seen in those respective idioms.  Black blues musicians busking on street corners were mixing with white farm boys, learning each others songs on their respective instruments.  The old Scotch Irish traditional songs were to be forever changed in the form of one man, Bill Monroe.  He combined his musical exposures into what the world came to call “bluegrass”.  His influence has shaped a successful musical formula that continues in his direct musical descendants, Ricky Skaggs, Blue Highway, the Lonesome River Band, and many other fine musical groups shaped in his mold.

These days, technology has again brought us into a musical void.  Mass media and the power those people seek to further line their pockets with limit your choices and therefore your freedoms.  But the same technology that created a “monopoly on musical tastes”, also brings together new unexpected combinations of instrumentation, playing styles and idiomatic influences.  We are in an age where musicians like Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile have broadened the collective mindset for the term “bluegrass” and are paving the way for the next generation of innovators in their never ending search for personal growth.  Which brings our story back to Mountain Soul.

We are on a quest.  We are actively searching for the new recipe for a unified creative voice, not just for the south, but for anyone who wants a positive force in their musical alternatives.  We are a band of friends, collectively seeking the beauty that exists in homegrown music, created by the inexorable pull to express oneself by actively engaging the aural senses for the simple love of doing so.  We are the musical progeny of Bill Monroe’s extended musical family, the children that exist as a result of the musical polygamy of Mr. Monroe, the Carters, Johnny Cash, Bob Marley, Dennis McGee, Doc Watson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and many, many other of our heroes.  We are taking steps into what feels like an incredible journey of innovation and creativity.

So, friends, when you drive down Cumberland Ave. and you see that sign “Bluegrass with Mountain Soul”, don’t drive off.  First, remember this tale.  Second, please stop in and see what we’re conjuring up for you every Thursday night at the Mellow Mushroom on Cumberland Avenue in downtown Knoxville at 9 p.m.

This past Friday, I ran down to WDVX to hear the Kenny and Amanda Smith Band, Missy Raines and the New Hip, and the the Jerry Douglas Band.  It was AWESOME!!  Kenny played an old Martin and he really made it talk.  Jason Robertson is a great mandolin player and Joey Cox was mashin’ the five as they say.  Great band, and with Zach McLamb and Joey helping out on the vocals, the material off of their new gospel record sounded great!  Then Missy Raines and her band took the stage with a rockin’ set that included tricks from the jazz, blues, pop, and bluegrass playbooks.  Ethan Ballinger played his ode to Napoleon Dynamite with his original instrumental “Eye of the Liger”.  Megan McCormick sang a stirring ballad reminiscent of Kathleen Edwards.  Megan’s a killer songwriter and versatile guitarist.  She played about half the set on her Ibanez Archtop and the other half on her graphite CB acoustic.  Mike Witcher rocked the dobro, David Heyer played percussion and of course Missy tore it up on the bass.  Musically, this was my first introduction to the band, but I have to talk about Missy for a second, because she has been so nice to me since we first met about a year and a half ago.  I appreciate her willingness to go out of her way  to say hey when we see each other and she also has very positive things to say about me to other folks who are around at the time.  It’s folks like Missy who make the bluegrass world go ’round.  Many kudos to her for being a great person.  Jerry Douglas took the stage with his song “The Wild Rumpus”.  His band was Guthrie Trapp on guitar, Luke Bulla on fiddle, and Todd Parks on bass.  They all sounded great obviously, but Todd got the strongest ovations as the hometown boy.  He’s a UT School of Music alum and had a bunch of friends in the audience, including Mountain Soul’s own Daniel Kimbro.  After a rocking set from Jerry’s band, we all headed over to Tomato Head for some lunch.  I had to move my car so Daniel saved me a seat at the table.  I didn’t know until I got their that I was going to be sitting directly across from Jerry Douglas and his wife!  We got to visit a little and discussed his recent tour with Paul Simon, working with Alison Krauss, and Bill Monroe and innovation in bluegrass music.  He seemed like a great guy.  He came across like a working musician with all the same worries about record sales and promotion and balancing family life that we all have.  Below are some pictures.   I tried to get everybody but many shots came out blurry so if someone is not represented, they’re on my hard drive looking very fuzzy.

Upcoming performances include:

Valerie Smith and Liberty Pike in Perry, Florida on April 6th and 7th at the Fifth Annual Florida State Bluegrass Festival

On Wednesday of this last week, Valerie Smith and Liberty Pike traveled up to Indiana to play five shows in that area.  Starting in Wakarusa, we played for the 75th Anniversary Celebration of the Farm Bureau Credit Union at Nelson’s BBQ.  They have world famous barbecued chicken.  Thanks to the fine folks at the Farm Bureau Credit Union of Elkhart, IN for having us play!  That night we got to visit with Ray and Wilma Yoder and we thank them for their continued grace and hospitality to us.  On Friday we made the short trip over to Goshen, IN and played at LVD’s Concert Hall.   We had a great audience at this intimate room at the Old Bag Factory.  Thanks to Andrew Wright of GuitarMatch.com for driving from Indianapolis to see the show!  Also, thanks to Elve D. Miller for his patience and hospitality!  We then went over to Naperville and played Naperville Bluegrass Festival.  We were stuck right between Michael Cleveland and the Grascals.  I would really like to give the Grascals a pat on the back for their backstage decorum.  While everyone backstage is very polite during stage rotation, the Grascals seemed to go out of their way to be sincerely supportive and encouraging to all of us in Liberty Pike.  The Martin Family was there too and really sounded great.  They’re good folks and I enjoy getting to visit with them when I get to see them.  In the jamming realm, I got to pick with Ashley Lewis and a bunch of her picking buddies for a few hours on Saturday night.  Ashley fronts her own band, Ashton Gap, and is a fantastic singer and songwriter!  She is playing some these days with Doug Knecht, a fantastic banjo player from that area.  Another jammer was Steven Briggs, the President of Blue Night Records, which is John Carlini’s record label.  He was a joy to pick with and a genuinely nice guy.  Thanks for the CD, Steve!!  On Sunday we made our way to the hometown of Bobby Davis, Liberty Pike’s bass player for an evening of music there.  Bobby’s family was great to us.  They fed us more in three hours than I normally eat in an entire day!  Our thanks go out to Walt Estes, for making us some great straps and also doing a great job on the sound board.  We all had a great time this weekend in large part due to the awesome folks we met out on the road.

This week, I am playing at:

Twig’s Restaurant and Bar - Blowing Rock, NC - March 28 at 8:00 p.m.

Mellow Mushroom - Downtown Knoxville -  March 29 at 8:00 p.m.

Y’all take care,

Jonathan Maness

Today, I heard that the Infamous Stringdusters were going to play on the Blue Plate Special so I went down there and supported this fine band of great guys.  They were awesome and I don’t know if they are always this funny, but they were a bunch of cutups at WDVX today.  Thanks for an hour of killer music, guys.  Here’s a cell phone pic:

Tonight Melony and I went to Sunspot on the strip in Downtown Knoxville and had dinner with two fellow members of her department, Taylor and Jenny.  The UT Music Department is gearing up for their production of Steven Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music” and since I can’t see the show, I wanted to catch one of their last rehearsals before opening night.  I took a picture of Melony at rehearsal.  She’ll kill me for posting it but theatres are always so neat looking that I had to take a picture of the moment.

Melony, I am sorry in advance!

Y’all take care,

Jonathan Maness

I think I am about over this cold that rendered me worthless all weekend! In other news, visit the following people cause they are awesome!

GHS Strings - I use LJM40’s and A270’s

Conley Guitars - Great luthier from Portland, Maine

Guitarmatch.com - My good buddy, Andrew Wright, matches high end acoustic guitars with discriminating players.

Santa Cruz Guitars - makers of my main ax, a TR model

Weber Mandolins - Killer Mandolins, like my Bitterroot model

D’Andrea Picks -Pro Plec Ultra 346 for guitar and …

Dawg Picks - for mandolin

Tone-Gard.com - Tone protection for most acoustic instruments

Without tools like these for me to use, making music would be a real chore. So I thought I’d give a shout to these fine folks who have helped so much.

Upcoming performances include:

Friday, March 23rd at LVD’s Concert Hall in Goshen, IN at 7:00 p.m. with Valerie Smith and Liberty Pike

Saturday, March 24th at the Naperville Bluegrass Festival in Naperville, IN with Valerie Smith and Liberty Pike

Wednesday, March 28th Solo set at Twig’s Restaurant and Bar in Blowing Rock, NC

Y’all take care,

Jonathan Maness

Today I played a solo set on East Tennessee’s Own…WDVX. While I wasn’t feeling my best, it was fun and the response was good. I’ll edit this entry with some excerpts when I get the show cut up into separate songs. There were also a couple real nice folks taking pictures who said they would share them with me and I expect to post those as well!

Here are some photos by Jack Goodwin

And here are some photos by Amanda Dewald:

Upcoming performances are:

Tonight at Mellow Mushroom in downtown Knoxville with Mountain Soul from 8 to 11 p.m.

Friday, March 23rd at LVD’s Concert Hall in Goshen, IN at 7:00 p.m. with Valerie Smith and Liberty Pike

Saturday, March 24th at the Naperville Bluegrass Festival in Naperville, IN with Valerie Smith and Liberty Pike

Wednesday, March 28th Solo set at Twig’s Restaurant and Bar in Blowing Rock, NC

Y’all take care,

Jonathan Maness

Hey Y’all,

Today I played on East Tennessee’s Own…WDVX.  They have a lunch time live radio show that is played by local artists and world class talent as well.  Daniel Kimbro of Mountain Soul, Matt Leadbetter of the Lonesome River Band, and Nashville based guitarist Tony Watt were kind enough to help me out and they all did a great job!  Here are some excerpts from the show.

I’ll Remember You Love In My Prayers

Three Days

Small Town

I’ve Waited As Long As I Can

Here are images from Grandview Point in Grand Canyon National Park The last one here shows the tower in an entry two prior to this one with my camera zoomed all the way in. It’s on the horizon a little to the right. Scroll down for an estimation of the size and distance.