Fervor Coulee’s Favourite Vinyl Purchases of 2022

As the days of 2022 draw to a close, I was inspired by a Twitter mate to reflect on my vinyl purchases of the past year. In the long ago 90s, I had way too many albums, and as storage became an issue I traded off and sold (both, too cheaply) boxes of them. While…

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Blueberry Bluegrass, 2018- in review

The 32nd Blueberry Bluegrass Festival delivered. While featuring several acts well-familiar in Alberta due to regular appearances over the last several years—Slocan Ramblers, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Jeff Scroggins & Colorado—these groups brought their expected ‘A’ game while other, less-frequently encountered performers including quality area  and regional artists  also quickly enamoured themselves to the…

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Blueberry Bluegrass, 2018: Day 1

The first day of the 32nd Blueberry Bluegrass Festival in Stony Plain, Alberta was as successful as anticipated. All acts were well-received, but it wasn’t acutely apparent which of two acts was the fan favourite. With an emphasis on show,The Kody Norris Show, a four-piece making their Canadian debut, performed a Jimmy Martin-inspired set of…

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The Albums That Shaped Me, August 2018

Over at Fervor Coulee Twitter  I am spending August exploring my music roots with Thirty-Two Albums That Shaped Me/Thirty-One Days Inspired by a summer of sorting (not that you would notice) and tidying (again, obvious only if you knew what it looked like before) I am going to try to explain my music journey in…

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Curly Seckler, a bluegrass legend, remembered

I don’t know when I first fully noticed Curly Seckler, but it may have been early in 2005 when he quipped, “Come here, you money-making thing!” to kick-off his penultimate album, Down In Caroline. I had, of course, heard Curly Seckler prior to that. As a keen listener of bluegrass for more than a dozen…

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A ballad of three Alberta bluegrass DJs

This is the brief tale of three Alberta bluegrass radio hosts, one failed, one successful, and one nearing status reserved for legends. About six weeks ago, I received a call out of the blue: would I be interested in auditioning as host of CKUA’s long-running bluegrass program? My immediate reaction was, Yes. Years ago I…

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IBMA Awards 2017- Live results & reactions

Well, I got the stream going just a couple minutes late- looks like Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver had the honour of starting things off. Hosts Bela Fleck and spouse Abigail Washburn are now attempting humour. Sigh. Funny that the screen has a big black box on the right side. Maybe just me. Namechecking every banjo…

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Do we need more negative bluegrass reviews?

Over at No Depression, thoughtful bluegrass prognosticator Ted Lehmann recently reflected on the overwhelmingly number of ‘positive’ bluegrass reviews against a wider view that there seems to be fewer reviewers willing to write challenging criticisms of albums. So as not to misrepresent anything Ted expresses, I refer you to his published piece. While I don’t…

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Rodney Crowell Trio, Red Deer August 16, 2017

Made the drive south to see Rodney Crowell Trio in Red Deer last night; a most unusual experience. I’ve written a review for CST, and you can get to it by clicking on this link. Good show, no doubt: very good. And as someone who has repeatedly criticized the sound quality at The Hideout, things…

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Blueberry Bluegrass & Country Music Society Festival, 2017

It isn’t often you get to reinvent yourself after 31 years, but that is what Blueberry Bluegrass needed and was able to achieve during their 2017 event, August 4-6.  Held in Stony Plain, Alberta, the Society celebrated their 32nd edition by pulling out all the stops to even hold the event. The current organizing committee…

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