Not Who, but Where

Better late than never.

I just acquired this beatific calendar two days ago, so now I am finally ready to continue my calendar blog. But with this caveat. Instead of, as in years past, asking for who is being pictured each month, I will now be asking where the location is that is pictured (or the name of the location).

The common theme: All locations are to be found somewhere (as the title of the calendar implies) in the beautiful Hawaiian islands.

An interesting feature of this calendar is its inclusion of the Hawaiian name for each day of the week: Sunday = Lapule; Monday = Po'akahi; Tuesday = Po'alua; Wednesday = Po'akolu; Thursday = Po'aha; Friday = Po'alima; Saturday = Po'aono.

Melvin Goins

Melvin Goins

Turning 80 in a couple of weeks, Melvin Goins has been a professional bluegrass musician for 62 of those years. For Melvin, like many of that era, his interest in music was kindled around the family's radio.

"We didn't have electricity," he recalls of his childhood. "But we had an old battery radio and we had to listen to that old battery radio on Saturday night to hear the Grand Ole Opry. We would gather around the old fireplace ... the old oil lamps a-burning. Mommy would make some gingerbread and pop some popcorn."

One wonders if he dared imagine that he would one day appear on that very same Opry -- many times, in fact. Well, he has, making Nashville almost like a second home. And when he's not appearing there, he can still be seen fronting Windy Mountain at various bluegrass festivals.

December

Who is this bluegrass pioneer who turns 80 this month?

Brother acts have always had a place in bluegrass music, from the early days (Monroe Brothers, Stanley Brothers, Jim & Jesse) up to the present day (Spinney Brothers, Gibson Brothers). This bluegrass pioneer played with the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers before forming a band with younger brother Ray in 1953. Then, after Ray retired from the music in the 1990s, he began fronting his own band, Windy Mountain, and continues to this day.

He first came to Nashville to record with the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers as a young whippersnapper of 20. He was, by his own account, "scared to death. I'd never been in a studio in my life. Sweat was rolling down my legs ... you could have took a bath or shower in my shoes when I got done!"

Obviously, he got over his nerves. He is now a member of the Bluegrass Hall of Fame, the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame, and the IBMA Hall of Fame.

Significant December dates in bluegrass history

• 1st: Carter Stanley (1966) and Jack Cooke (2009) died
• 5th: The Traditional Grass formed (1983)
• 7th: Bobby Osborne (1931) and Jason Burleson (1967) were born
• 10th: John Duffey (1996) and Dempsey Young (2006) died
• 11th: Flatt & Scruggs recorded "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" (1949)
• 19th: Uncle Dave Macon first appeared on the Grand Ole Opry (1925)
• 25th: "Rocky Top" by the Osborne Brothers was released (1967)
• 30th: Melvin Goins (1933) and John Hartford (1937) were born

James King

l. to r.: Donald Dowdy, James King, Eddie Biggerstaff,
Clay Lillard

During the mid-1980s, James King performed with Ralph Stanley, his musical idol, filling in when Ralph's lead singers couldn't make a show or a tour. Then, in 1988, King formed his own band, and he's been leading a band pretty much ever since.

But he has never forgotten that Stanley influence. The current edition of the James King Band is pictured here at Bradley's Barn, the now-abandoned studio founded by producers Owen and Harold Bradley where greats like Bill Monroe and the Stanley Brothers recorded some legendary songs in the early 1950s.

"I never thought I'd ever be in this studio," King says. "When I found out about it, I got cold chills ... hoping that Carter would say something to me."

November

Who is this singer with the royal name?

This bluegrass singer (pictured second from left) first came to Nashville in 1985 as a member of a band called Dealer's Choice (you think they liked to play cards?). The band participated in that year's SPBGMA band competition, eventually finishing in 16th place (out of how many, I don't know).

Now the leader of his own band, he has been back to the Music City many times, as well as all over the country. I have seen him perform many times through the years at festivals here in the Midwest, and I own two of his fine recordings from the 1990s: These Old Pictures (1993) and Lonesome and Then Some (1995).

The band appears to be pictured in front of an old brick wall, paint peeling off and all. Just where this is located and why the band is there will be revealed when this bluegrass singer's identity is revealed.

Significant November dates in bluegrass history

• 1st: The Seldom Scene formed (1971)
• 8th: Roy Lee Centers, former Clinch Mountain Boy, was born (1944)
• 11th: Banjoist Don Stover died (1996)
• 13th: Bassist Mike Bub, formerly of the Del McCoury Band, was born (1964)
• 16th: The Osborne Brothers recorded "Rocky Top" (1967)
• 20th: Bill Vernon (1996) and Charlie Cline (2004) died
• 21st: Jim Eanes (1995) and Allen Shelton (2009) died

Another Larry

The Larry Stephenson Band (l. to r.: Larry Stephenson, Kenny
Ingram, Danny Stewart, Kevin Richardson)

A member of Virginia's Country Music Hall of Fame, Larry Richardson has won SPGMA's Male Vocalist of the Year award five times during his nearly 40 years in the business. He also had a no. 1 hit ("Clinch Mountain Mystery") during his days with Pinecastle Records.

A few years ago, the Larry Stephenson Band's 20th Anniversary collection won IBMA's Recorded Event of the Year. Just one look at the stellar supporting cast is enough to explain why it won: Sonny Osborne, Dale Ann Bradley, Marty Stuart, Ricky Skaggs, Connie Smith, Del McCoury, and Dudley Connell.

Larry and the band have also appeared on the Grand Ole Opry many times and on the RFD television network.

October

Who is this high-singing mandolin player and his band?

Hailing from Virginia, the leader (pictured at far left) of this foursome cut his musical teeth in the Washington, D.C., area with the likes of Cliff Waldron and Leon Morris. Later, he played mandolin and sang tenor with the Bluegrass Cardinals and Bill Harrell and the Virginians.

In 1989 he formed his own band and, three years later, relocated to Nashville, and has been headquartered there ever since.

After releasing 18 albums on Pinecastle Records during an 18-year-stint with the label, the group recently signed with the Nashville-based Compass Records.

Significant October dates in bluegrass history

• 2nd: Earl Scruggs was involved in a serious auto accident (1955)
• 7th: Bill Monroe recorded "Mule Skinner Blues" (1940)
• 10th: Sammy Shelor, longtime banjoist for the Lonesome River Band, was born (1962)
• 15th: Bill Monroe recorded "Uncle Pen" (1950)
• 16th: Don Reno died (1984)
• 22nd: First Rounder Records LP released (1970) and Maybelle Carter died (1978)
• 23rd: Merle Watson, Doc's guitar-playing son, died in a farming accident (1985)
• 27th: Joe Mullins, formerly of the Traditional Grass, now a Radio Rambler, was born (1965)