Saturday, February 16, 2013

Another North Carolina Jordan

l. to r.: Josh Goforth, Ben Greene, Lorraine Jordan,
Brad Hudson, Tommy Long
That's right. Not Michael. Lorraine. She fronts her own group, Carolina Road -- a band steeped in the tradition-rich sounds of the Carolina hills.

Though based in North Carolina, Lorraine loves coming to Nashville.

"It's just so wonderful to walk down the streets of Nashville and know that you're walking in the same steps that so many of the legends have walked," she says. "I've been coming to Nashville ever since I was a little girl ... and I'll be coming here until my dying days."

Friday, February 1, 2013

February

Who are these Carolina pickers?
This traditional bluegrass band, fronted by a mandolinist from North Carolina for the past 15 years, performs annually at the SPBGMA (Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America) Awards Show held each February in Nashville.

This N.C. mandolin picker received IBMA awards for Recorded Event of the Year in 2006 and 2009 for her participation in the Daughters of Bluegrass recordings, Back to the Well and Proud to Be a Daughter.

Overall, the group has seven nationally distributed recordings to its credit, including Carolina Hurricane, Back to My Roots, and A Stop in South Port Towne.


Significant February dates in bluegrass history

  • 1st: Del McCoury was born (1939), as was longtime Del McCoury Band fiddler Jason Carter (1973)
  • 3rd: Bill Monroe first recorded for Decca (1950)
  • 8th: Doc Watson's son, Merle, was born (1949)
  • 10th: Louvin Brothers joined the Grand Ole Opry (1955)
  • 18th: Dudley Connell (1956) and Don Rigsby (1968) were born
  • 19th: Grandpa Jones died (1998)
  • 20th: Chris Thile was born (1981)
  • 22nd: Flatt & Scruggs last appeared on the Grand Ole Opry (1969)
  • 25th: Ralph Stanley (1927) and Pete Wernick (1946) were born