Not So Little Anymore

Ronnie Reno

But he was Little Ronnie Reno when he played in the Don Reno Band a half-century ago. Don was his legendary banjo-playing father, who -- with Red Smiley -- blazed the bluegrass trail in the 1950s and early 1960s with songs such as "I'm Using My Bible for a Roadmap" and "I'm the Talk of the Town."

Don died in 1984. With his two brothers, Ronnie formed the Reno Brothers to carry on the tradition with recordings such as Drawing from the Well. I remember seeing the brothers perform at Rockome Gardens in the mid-1990s.

Currently, Ronnie Reno & the Reno Tradition carry the torch. Ronnie also hosts Reno's Old-Time Music Festival on the BlueHighways television network. He came to Nashville in the mid-1960s, "about 50 years of just having a good time ... making a good living -- a clean living I might add -- and playing our music," he says.

March

Who is this bluegrass child prodigy?

This mandolin picker and singer is the son of a bluegrass pioneer. He was a musical prodigy, performing in his father's band when he was still so little he needed to stand on a milk crate to reach the microphone.

That was in the 1950s. Since then, he has performed and recorded with the likes of Johnny Cash, Conway Twitty, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Mel Tillis, and the Osborne Brothers. In the 1990s, he formed a trio with his brothers, Dale and Don Wayne. Currently, he fronts his own band.

He is also involved in the BlueHighways TV network, which broadcasts bluegrass music all over America via satellite as well as on 25 cable networks.

Significant March dates in bluegrass history

• 3rd: Doc Watson was born (1923)
• 4th: John Duffey, of the Country Gentlemen and the Seldom Scene, was born (1934)
• 15th: Last public performance by Bill Monroe, Friday Night Opry, Nashville (1996)
• 16th: Tim O'Brien (1954) and Ronnie McCoury (1967) were born
• 19th: Randall Hylton died (2001)
• 23rd: David Grisman was born (1945)
• 28th: Earl Scruggs died (2012)
• 29th: Mike Lantz, mandolinist for Front Range, died (2006)

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."

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

Special C

Special Consensus (l. to r.): Rick Faris, David Thomas,
Dustin Benson, Greg Cahill

In 1975, Greg Cahill got together with some college friends and formed Special Consensus. Those friends have long since departed, but Cahill remains, the glue that holds it all together.

The band's first album came out in 1979; the most recent project, the Grammy-nominated Scratch Gravel Road, was released last year. In all, the band has 16 recordings, and Cahill has played on them all.

He has also released three solo recordings and four banjo instructional videos. In addition, he teaches at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago and served on IBMA's board of directors from 1998 to 2010, the last four years as board president. In 2011, he was awarded IBMA's Distinguished Achievement Award.

My favorite Special C recording, from 1996 (l. to r.:
Bobby Burns, Diana Phillips, Cahill, Colby Maddox)

January

Who are these bluegrass "educators"?

This band celebrates its 38th year in 2013. Many members have come and gone, but the banjoist has remained a fixture from the beginning.

Though based in Chicago, the band has strong ties to Nashville, as two members of the quartet call the Music City home.

A major focal point for this band is introducing young people to bluegrass music. In the past 30 years, it's been estimated the band has performed for more than a million students.

One of its strong recordings is 1996's Strong Enough to Bend.



Significant January dates in bluegrass history

• 2nd: Red Smiley, of Reno & Smiley, died (1972)
• 6th: Earl Scruggs, who passed away last year, was born (1924)
• 10th: Butch Baldassari, founder of the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble, died (2009)
• 13th: Jimmy Martin recorded "You Don't Know My Mind" (1960)
• 19th: Charlie Waller (1935) and Dolly Parton (1946) were born
• 20th: Flatt & Scruggs played at Nixon's first inauguration (1969)
• 26th: Charlie Louvin, one half of the Louvin Brothers, died (2011)
• 30th: Reno & Smiley recorded "I'm the Talk of the Town" (1953)

2013 Bluegrass Calendar

A new year, a new calendar. But still the game goes on, or, as Sherlock Holmes would say, "The game is afoot." This year, each month will feature a different bluegrass act. Once again, it will be your task -- if you choose to accept it -- to identify the performer(s). As the title of the calendar suggests, each band is based in or around Nashville, Tennessee.

All the photos featured in the calendar were taken by Alane Anno, a Nashville native. Last year, she became the official photographer for the International Bluegrass Music Association's World of Bluegrass convention, awards show, and fanfest, held each year in Nashville.