David Royko
10-07-2003, 11:31 AM
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
ARTS REVIEWS & NEWS
Tuesday, October 7, 2003
BLUEGRASS
McCOURY GETS SURPRISE IN 2003's TOP AWARD
By David Royko
Special to the Tribune
LOUISVILLE -- The International Bluegrass Music
Association's annual weeklong World Of Bluegrass is
the genre's big event, allowing the industry to honor
the giants of the past and present while introducing
the artists who represent the future.
Thursday night's International Bluegrass Music Awards,
hosted with poise and humor by Alison Krauss and Dan
Tyminski, held several surprises, none more potent
than that delivered to Entertainer of the Year winner
Del McCoury. Stepping onto the stage to receive the
award, McCoury was greeted by Ricky Skaggs and Sonny
Osborne, on hand to invite him to become the newest
member of the Grand Old Opry. To see sons Ron and Rob
McCoury--both members of the Del McCoury Band--wiping
tears from their eyes as their father accepted the
honor brought home the fact that while the bluegrass
business might in many respects be like any other part
of the music industry, the emotion and meaning of the
music is just as powerful for those at the top as it
is for those trying to get there.
And those trying to get there had their ultimate
representation in a performance by the Young American
Bluegrass Idols. These children, including the
charismatic 12-year-old mandolinist Sierra Hull, were
chosen for their precocious talent and served as a
reprise of the first IBMA Bluegrass Youth All-Stars,
organized for the 1993 awards. After the Idols' first
number, they were joined by the members of the 1993
unit, which included Josh Williams, Cody Kilby,
Michael Cleveland--all established bluegrass
heavyweights--and Chris Thile, the Nickel Creek
mandolin phenom.
This year's Hall of Honor inductee, banjoist and
bandleader J.D. Crowe, performed The Old Home Place
with what has become one of the most revered front
lines in bluegrass history, the original New South
with Tony Rice, Skaggs, Bobby Slone and Jerry Douglas,
another example of young pups who grew into today's
big dogs.
But it was a quartet of pups that offered perhaps the
most exciting new music of the week. Performing in
various showcases and on the Fan Fest's Roots and
Branches stage, the newgrass group Daybreak brought a
unique sound and dazzling creativity to every tune it
delivered. Drawing from jazz and Celtic forms as well
as bluegrass and old-time string-band music, the band
leavened its virtuosity and serious compositional
devices with a ticklish wit that brought the urge to
both giggle and marvel.
The banjo-free sound of Daybreak, along with their
youthful hipness and good looks, and the fact that
they are fronted by a woman fiddler, has already
elicited comparisons with Nickel Creek. Such
comparisons, however, are facile, and one need only
look at their recent composition, Smurfin' to hear
why. The piece's wisps of cockeyed dissonance were
mingled with a Swingle Singers-like trio of voices
employed to drive an island groove. The result was an
ideal balance of the visceral and the cerebral.
Daybreak's instrumentation--fiddle, guitar, Dobro,
acoustic bass--allowed for a wide range of expressive
possibilities, and the pure joy that its members,
particularly guitarist Edward O'Day and fiddler DeAnn
Whalen, projected was reflected in the music's energy.
Daybreak is a band to get excited about.
Another festival highlight was Doyle Lawson and
Quicksilver, who came up big in this year's awards,
taking the prizes for Gospel Recorded Performance,
Vocal Group, and Song of the Year. The group's
trademark blend of vocal harmonies and passionate
delivery proved that there is plenty left to mine from
the deepest bluegrass traditions.
--------------------------------------------
Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune
[Photo: Doyle Lawson (left) and Jamie Daley of Doyle
Lawson & Quicksilver perform Thursday at the 14th
annual bluegrass awards.]
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/printedition/chi-0310070209oct07,1,1407228.story?coll=chi-printmetro-hed
ARTS REVIEWS & NEWS
Tuesday, October 7, 2003
BLUEGRASS
McCOURY GETS SURPRISE IN 2003's TOP AWARD
By David Royko
Special to the Tribune
LOUISVILLE -- The International Bluegrass Music
Association's annual weeklong World Of Bluegrass is
the genre's big event, allowing the industry to honor
the giants of the past and present while introducing
the artists who represent the future.
Thursday night's International Bluegrass Music Awards,
hosted with poise and humor by Alison Krauss and Dan
Tyminski, held several surprises, none more potent
than that delivered to Entertainer of the Year winner
Del McCoury. Stepping onto the stage to receive the
award, McCoury was greeted by Ricky Skaggs and Sonny
Osborne, on hand to invite him to become the newest
member of the Grand Old Opry. To see sons Ron and Rob
McCoury--both members of the Del McCoury Band--wiping
tears from their eyes as their father accepted the
honor brought home the fact that while the bluegrass
business might in many respects be like any other part
of the music industry, the emotion and meaning of the
music is just as powerful for those at the top as it
is for those trying to get there.
And those trying to get there had their ultimate
representation in a performance by the Young American
Bluegrass Idols. These children, including the
charismatic 12-year-old mandolinist Sierra Hull, were
chosen for their precocious talent and served as a
reprise of the first IBMA Bluegrass Youth All-Stars,
organized for the 1993 awards. After the Idols' first
number, they were joined by the members of the 1993
unit, which included Josh Williams, Cody Kilby,
Michael Cleveland--all established bluegrass
heavyweights--and Chris Thile, the Nickel Creek
mandolin phenom.
This year's Hall of Honor inductee, banjoist and
bandleader J.D. Crowe, performed The Old Home Place
with what has become one of the most revered front
lines in bluegrass history, the original New South
with Tony Rice, Skaggs, Bobby Slone and Jerry Douglas,
another example of young pups who grew into today's
big dogs.
But it was a quartet of pups that offered perhaps the
most exciting new music of the week. Performing in
various showcases and on the Fan Fest's Roots and
Branches stage, the newgrass group Daybreak brought a
unique sound and dazzling creativity to every tune it
delivered. Drawing from jazz and Celtic forms as well
as bluegrass and old-time string-band music, the band
leavened its virtuosity and serious compositional
devices with a ticklish wit that brought the urge to
both giggle and marvel.
The banjo-free sound of Daybreak, along with their
youthful hipness and good looks, and the fact that
they are fronted by a woman fiddler, has already
elicited comparisons with Nickel Creek. Such
comparisons, however, are facile, and one need only
look at their recent composition, Smurfin' to hear
why. The piece's wisps of cockeyed dissonance were
mingled with a Swingle Singers-like trio of voices
employed to drive an island groove. The result was an
ideal balance of the visceral and the cerebral.
Daybreak's instrumentation--fiddle, guitar, Dobro,
acoustic bass--allowed for a wide range of expressive
possibilities, and the pure joy that its members,
particularly guitarist Edward O'Day and fiddler DeAnn
Whalen, projected was reflected in the music's energy.
Daybreak is a band to get excited about.
Another festival highlight was Doyle Lawson and
Quicksilver, who came up big in this year's awards,
taking the prizes for Gospel Recorded Performance,
Vocal Group, and Song of the Year. The group's
trademark blend of vocal harmonies and passionate
delivery proved that there is plenty left to mine from
the deepest bluegrass traditions.
--------------------------------------------
Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune
[Photo: Doyle Lawson (left) and Jamie Daley of Doyle
Lawson & Quicksilver perform Thursday at the 14th
annual bluegrass awards.]
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/printedition/chi-0310070209oct07,1,1407228.story?coll=chi-printmetro-hed