by Paul Castle

Contents:

UK News
- BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
- An interview with legendary bluegrass flatpicker, Dan Crary
- Alison Brown in London
London Gigs
Best of the Rest of the UK
UK Festivals

February in the UK, and it's time once again for the annual BBC
Radio 2 Folk Awards. This year's highlights, due to be broadcast
on Mike Harding's BBC Folk Show on Wednesday February 7th
(8 - 9pm GMT - listen on the net), are due to include a performance
by The Copper Family, fronted by Bob Copper, who has recently
celebrated his 86th birthday, accompanied by a folk supergroup
consisting of Mary Black, Kate Rusby, Billy Bragg, Shirley Collins,
Barbara Dickson, Waterson : Carthy, John Tams, Vin Garbutt and
Bill Jones. Also making special appearances on the night will be Taj
Mahal, Scotland's Blazin Fiddles and flautist Michael McGoldrick.
Bert Jansch will also be there to collect a lifetime achievement award.
To find out who wins this year's awards, check out Mike Harding's
BBC website.

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Across the Pond Interview with top US acoustic guitarist,
Dan Crary

From the first time I heard the guitar playing of Doc Watson - on
an old Newport Folk Festival LP - as a teenager living in Oxford
(England) back in the late sixties, I've been a lover of bluegrass
'flatpicking'. This month, two absolute 'masters of the craft', Dan
Crary and Beppe Gambetta, are crossing the pond for a brief tour
of the UK and Ireland.

Dan, who is one of the originators of this style of acoustic guitar
playing, is recognized world-wide for his artistry and originality. A
founding member of various bands including The Bluegrass Alliance
and California with fiddler Byron Berline and banjo player John
Hickman, he has also released several solo albums on Sugar Hill
Records.

So I took the opportunity to ask him about his early influences
and his recent collaborations with Italy's renowned flatpicker,
Beppe Gambetta.

PC: "Can you tell me a little about your background and what first
attracted you to this style of playing?"

DC: "I actually had very little exposure to traditional music and none
at all to the guitar, but one day in1952 I heard an acoustic guitar
played on the radio, loved it, and wanted to do that, whatever it was.
In 1952 nobody much played serious steel-string guitar except for a
handful of early heroes and the blues players on the race labels, so it
was like God said 'here's a guitar' and I said 'yessir.' As to the style
of playing, there wasn't such a thing as a 'style' on the steel-string
guitar, so I played with a pick like my accordian/guitar teacher did.
In 1952 the number of flatpicking guides in the world is quite
well-known, zero being quite precise. So I thought that was how you
did it, and later sorta' stumbled into something you might call a style.
This back door approach was agonizing and inefficient as a way to
learn, but at least I came out of it sounding different from other
players."

PC: "A couple of years ago I bought one of your instructional videos -
'Bluegrass Guitar Workshop' (Homespun Video) and I'm still working
with it regularly. I like the emphasis on teaching students to 'teach
themselves' to play. It's very inspirational, particularly when I feel I've
hit a bit of a plateau."

DC: "Yes, the advice is to organize your playing into segments that
present small challenges you can reach in a single practice session, or
possibly two. It's important to succeed every day, even if it's only at a
few measures...... people are motivated by success, not by constant
failure. So plan to get a little better with a small but specific goal, one
you can put into words, do that today, then when you've done it, tell
someone about your success, declare a victory and move on.
Tomorrow you'll have the unique experience of actually wanting to
practice!"

PC: "Can you tell me about your collaboration with Beppe, and your
new 'Live on Tour 2000' album? I see this was recorded at concerts
in Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Switzerland, and Germany last year."

DC: "We've been going on the road together for years; at some point
it actually became art, and we thought to release an album that
captures the energy and interest of a live performance. I think the
new release does that, and it's one of the few serious acoustic guitar
live albums we know of in recent years. Damn, we were good."

PC: "I see that this is being released on your own new Internet-based
label."

DC: "I'm going ahead with an e-label; we have projects completed or
almost completed which don't exactly fit the standard mold (mould? ...
that too), so we're going on the net, but you'll see us in stores as well.
But we believe the internet will be a friendly environment for fringy
but loveable musicians such as ourselves."

PC: "Thanks so much Dan - I really hope you both enjoy your tour
over here and that you come back regularly."

DC: "Thanks, Paul.... just point me to a pint of West Midlands real
ale and I'm here.

PC: "Cheers, Dan."

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Note: Following his UK/Irish tour, Dan will be appearing solo at
The Mid-Winter Bluegrass Festival in Denver, Colorado on
Saturday February 17th, followed by a Taylor Guitar Workshop
with Artie Traum at Melodee Music in Sterling, Virginia on Sunday,
March 4th (see full tour dates)
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Alison Brown, with fiddler Casey Driessen and
bass player Garry West at The Borderline, London (1/11/2001)

Still in the world of bluegrass (and jazz!), banjo player Alison Brown
did a storming gig at The Borderline in London last month with her
Quartet (bass player Garry West and pianist John R Burr , fiddler
Casey Driessen, and drummer Kendrick Freeman), followed by an
interview and live session on BBC's Bob Harris Country radio show,
before heading off for Glasgow to play at The Celtic Connections
Festival. In the Bob Harris interview, Alison, who has just been
nominated for two Grammy Awards for her latest album, 'Fair
Weather', also discussed Compass Records, the label she started
with Garry West, now the US label for several artists from this side
of the pond, including Kate Rusby, Eddi Reader and soon,
Paul Brady .

It's another good month on the UK gigs front, with North American
visitors including singer songwriter Rickie Lee Jones, Americana-
men Bob Cheevers, Chris Mills and Jeff Finlin, and bluesmen
Chris Smither and Charlie Musselwhite (see Gigs below). I'm
off to pack my bags for Vancouver - my first Folk Alliance Conference -
hope to catch up with some of you there. Wherever you're bound
this month, have a great time.

PS. If you would like to receive 'Across the Pond' as a monthly
'plain text e-mail' please let me know.

Paul pdcmusic@freeuk.com

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