Brad Apple and "Back from Gone"

BRAD APPLE has just completed "Back from Gone" (ACS3322) under his own label, and it is great! Do you need 'pleasant'? What about 'top quality'? Of course you need those attributes!

Brad's newest CD project is entirely his own--from recording, mixing, mastering, and graphic design, to running the CDs through the shrink-wrap machine! The music will soothe away all your cares and leave you filled! This is major stuff from an artist with a magic touch!

"Back from Gone" is available through CD Baby and from Brad, too, when you can catch him over around Batesville or Mountain View, AR. You might consider reviewing the album for CD Baby.

Brad's friend, Herb Pedersen, says, "It's good to know that acoustic music has one more gifted musician to carry on the tradition. Well done, my friend." (Herb Pedersen, Los Angeles, 2012)

Familiar favorites Tim Crouch, Scott Vestal, and Danny Crawford provided strong support on this solid solo project from Brad Apple. In his liner notes, Brad pays special additional tribute to his wife Charlotte, his parents, and his brother Brandon Apple.

Congratulations to Brad on this newest release, "Back from Gone".

Pick away!

Bluegrass Music and Lots More to Delight Our Fans

We Have Bluegrass Music and Lots More!

  

Claire Lynch Trio performs at the UMC Sanctuary on the Square

You probably knew that already, didn't you? We have a weekly reminder about all sorts of things. Just e-mail us and we'll add you to the list!

We have an old-time music festival called Breakin' Up Winter, which takes place on the first weekend of March at Cedars of Lebanon (TN) State Park. It's a good wagon-greasin' from Memphis. That one is NOT bluegrass! Visit the site for the Nashville Old-Time String Band Association (NOTSBA):

www.nashvilleoldtime.org/BUW. At the NOTSBA site you will also see dates/locations for old-time jams all over the Nashville/Midstate area.

There's a dandy Thursday night Jackson Plectral Society jam in Jackson, TN, at the Casey Jones Railroad Museum. In the summer, pickers gather all over everywhere in the Old Country Store parking lot. When that shuts down for the night, some folks reassemble at IHOP in Jackson for another session of fine bluegrass music!

We have just the finest Friday night jam anywhere around here. Visitors are welcome, it's all FREE, and it's at the Collierville (TN) Historic Town Square from mid-April until mid-October. We have restaurants, a coffee shop, and 2 (count 'em) places to buy ice cream and frozen treats when the thermometer goes plum' crazy with the heat! In the winter, you can find us at the Common Cup Coffee Shop, which is part of the Collierville (TN) United Methodist Church. The coffee is always on! Bring mama-n-'em for a country-dog good time. (Bro.Joe loves that saying!)

There is other stuff in all these photos, but we didn't want you to miss a thing! The Banjo Camp photo here has a unique feature. See if you can figure it out. Well? Have you spotted the feature?

Tennessee Banjo Institute 1992  Cedars of Lebanon (TN) State Park

Lee Cagle shows her dulcimer to the kids at Storytime on the Square

Collierville's Christmas gift to her citizens and friends

Claire Lynch Trio Workshop at Sanctuary on the Square - Bryan McDowell (r)

Yonder sits little Maggie at a Sunday afternoon jam!

Quick Sunday pick outside Square Beans Coffee Shop

The David Pierce family checks out the Collierville Friday night jam at the Square

Collierville UMC welcomes pickers to the Common Cup Coffee Shop

Rob Ickes and an aspiring Dobro-playing Gallarno

Sorghum Hill at Wolf River Cafe, Rossville, TN: Phil Cox, Andrea Nash, Larry Windham

William See zoned out on a tune at Breakin' Up Winter in Lebanon, TN

High Strung at Wolf River Cafe - Donna Gray and Michael Osborne

Brush Arbor at Wolf River Cafe - Kacey Cannon, Joe Cupp, Bobby Williams, Preacher-man, Bruce White

Mulberry Fest at Collierville Square with 2 Mule Plow

Wildwood Express + Brush Arbor bring in the holidays at UMC's Common Cup Coffee Shop

Follow the fiddle and the arrow into Cedars of Lebanon State Park for Breakin' Up Winter

Toscanini Chamber Ensemble shows Mulberry Fest what kids can do

We miss seeing "the girls" at the Collierville Town Square pickin'

Roby Cogswell and others enjoy a quick pick at Cedar Forest in Lebanon, TN

Badges? We DO need these BUW badges

Mildred, Kevin, Kurt, and Curtis at Jackson IHOP for an after-pickin' pickin'

 

SPBGMA with Sugar on Top! Nashville, TN, February 2, 2013

       A little snow didn't keep the Jackson Area Plectral Society from being well-represented at the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America (SPBGMA) festival held at the Music City [Nashville, TN] Sheraton during the first weekend of February 2013. Several current and former members, some from years ago, such as BLAKE HOPPER, all seemed to be having a blast. 

       Saturday night, February 2, really got exciting when RHONDA VINCENT and the RAGE came into the hotel lobby and started playing and singing. Many of the pickers pushed their way through the crowd to get to jam with Rhonda, and she was so kind to select a few at random to stand next to her to perform. You would not believe (or maybe you would!) that our own KACEY CANNON was selected and asked to join Rhonda's circle to sing a song. How good is that? What a thrill that was for Kacey and her family and friends to hear Kacey sing "East Virginia Blues" with Rhonda and her great band! Other well-known personalities such as TOM T. HALL and DOYLE LAWSON were spotted signing autographs.

       For you 'old folks' who might remember "Hee Haw," RONI STONEMAN, the lady who had her front teeth blacked out and played a mean banjo, came in the lobby to perform with all the folks. What a great weekend! 

       *Story adapted with permission from Coley and Marilyn Graves. Photograph by Randy Cannon.