A host of new recordings are popping up to get us through the dark days of winter. Here’s a look at just a few of the many bluegrass and Americana recordings rolling out here in winter 2022.
A New Flow of Oyo Jams
Birthed out of jam sessions in the back of Marietta’s JustAJar Design Press, the rowdy and eclectic Americana band, Oyo is celebrating the release of a self-titled debut in early February.
The full album will premiere on WOUB (Ohio University/NPR affiliate: woub.org) leading up to the digital release on Feb.8. Oyo will celebrate with an album release party at the Adelphia Music Hall in Marietta, on Friday, Feb. 11, with special guest Drift Mouth. Tickets are $8 advance and $10 at the door. Cover includes a copy of the CD. Of note, for Sierra Ferrell fans, is that Oyo will be opening up for the red-hot Rounder Records recording artist at her April 30 show at the People’s Bank Theatre in Marietta. https://peoplesbanktheatre.com/event/sierra-ferrell/
Oyo’s debut album features 12 originals by band members Aaron Martin and Michael Bond recorded in true Oyo style around a single mic with lead vocals swapped between Aaron Martin (fiddle, mandolin), Cole Adair (guitar) and Michael Bond (guitar, keys, harmonica, spoons), with Bobby Rosenstock (banjo), Drew Tanner (bass), and Joe Ryckebosch (drums, washboard) joining in.
To capture Oyo’s raucous honky tonkin’ barn dance energy, the band enlisted renowned West Virginia old-time music all-star, Ben Townsend, known for performing around the world with such groups as the Fox Hunt, as well as performing on Mountain Stage (with Dave Bing) and at festivals and workshops around the U.S. Townsend, of Questionable Records, recorded Oyo in the sanctuary of an abandoned church in Elkins. The album was mixed and mastered by Michael Bond at Datawaslost Studios in Marietta, Ohio. Special guests include Townsend as well as Heather Hannah on background vocals, Andrew Gilmer on dobro, Ben Townsend on fiddle, and Read Connolly on pedal steel. Album artwork is by Bobby Rosenstock and Joe Ryckebosch, with photography by Shannon Brown.
Singles from the album are now streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Bandcamp, SoundCloud, and on their website, oyotheband.com.
The Wooks Flyin’ High Again
Central Kentucky-based contemporary bluegrass unit, The Wooks, are out with their third full-length album, Flyin High, set for release on Friday, Feb. 25. And you don’t have to wait long to see them as they are stopping by The Loud (formerly V-Club) in Huntington on their release day (Feb. 25) with openers, The Dirty Grass Players. Get tickets at https://tickets.holdmyticket.com/tickets/386475?tc=hmt
The band’s first recording release since 2018, was recorded over two sessions in Nashville in the home studio of bluegrass guitarist Jake Stargel. The Wooks — CJ Cain on guitar and vocals, Harry Clark on mandolin and vocals, George Guthrie on banjo and vocals, and Allen Cooke on Dobro — have been building buzz for the album with the December release of the Cain-written title cut that was inspired by the crash landing of a buddy’s World War I bi-plane. “He had bought this plane at a good price and would soon find out why,” says Cain. “He lost oil pressure and had to take her down in front of his family who had gathered in the yard to watch him buzz the farm. Luckily he made it out.” The resulting tune is a story of two different couples, real folks from the small town of West Liberty, The official video for “Flyin’ High,” animated by Josh Clark, follows the storyline in intricate, beautiful detail.
With a kinetic live feel, the album was not only recorded with that fresh feel but also mastered by legendary engineer Bill Wolf, who’s mastered records for everyone from The Grateful Dead to The Wooks’ guitar hero, the late, great Tony Rice.
“Jake recorded us way more live than I have ever gotten to record,” Cain recalls. “This album has a lot of solos and vocals and all kinds of stuff that’s just the raw take. There’s no click track. We were trying to get a sound like Bela Fleck’s Drive album or Tony Rice’s work at Arch Studios with Bill Wolf. That live feeling. So much of bluegrass these days is almost autotuned and fixed to the point of perfection. We were trying to run away from that quickly as possible.”
After Tony Rice’s death in December 2020, Cain wanted to honor his legacy in some way, so he cold-called Bill Wolf to see if he would master the album. Wolf wrote back, asking to hear it – and then elevated Flyin’ High to the next level. “For a guy who’s done iconic albums all his life, he put a ton of work into this,” Cain says. “Bill told me to listen to it to see if I was satisfied with it, and I was like, ‘Man, what am I supposed to listen for?’ And he said, ‘Is it fun to listen to?’ I think he accomplished that.”
You can find out more about The Wooks at https://wookoutamerica.com/
Bluegrass Legend Del McCoury Out With New Album
At age 82, Del McCoury is one of the most authentic traditional bluegrass band leaders and vocalists carrying the tradition. The nine-time IBMA Entertainer of the Year and two-time Grammy winner, has a new album, Almost Proud, set for release on Feb. 18.
According to Del, he listened to well over 200 songs, including some that had been in a neglected box in his music room for over 10 years. “I’m as excited about listening to new music today as the day I started—finding a new tune or a story that tickles me. This album is the best of what I heard while the world was on pause.”
Album highlights includes already released singles, “Running Wild” and “Once Again,” as well as a classic cut on “Rainbow of My Dreams,” which McCoury first heard Lester Flatt sing in the 1940s and “Honky Tonk Nights,” featuring guest vocals by Vince Gill.
The Del McCoury Band features Del’s sons Rob and Ronnie, as well as two Tri-State natives, fiddler Jason Carter (from Greenup County, Ky.) and bassist Alan Bartram (who was born in Huntington). The ace unit is back on the road this winter with a bunch of dates including a show at The Caverns in Tennessee, leading into a string of bluegrass festivals including the band’s own Del Fest, set for May 26-29 in Cumberland, Maryland. Go online at https://delfest.com/
Michael Johnathon – Cosmic Banjo
Folk all-star Michael Johnathon is best known as the creator and host of WoodSongs Old Time Radio Hour that has a radio audience of more than two million weekly listeners on 500 public radio stations, public television coast-to-coast, American Forces Radio Network in 177 nations and the RFD-TV.
This original recipe troubadour has also published five books, composed an opera about Woody Guthrie, and written the play Walden, which has been performed in 42 countries.Johnathon’s latest book, Woodsongs 5, was released in January, and his 18th studio album, Cosmic Banjo drops on Jan. 21 on PoetMan Records. A celebration of the Pete Seeger style long neck banjo, Cosmic Banjo.
Cosmic Banjo has an impressive list of special guests.. The opening track “Ballad of Bojangles” is a reimagined backstory of “Mister Bojangles,” made famous by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Founding member John McEuen plays mandolin on the song, and also appears on the Beatle-Esque interpretation of “Darlin’ Corey,” complete with a 21-piece string section and 17-time IBMA award winner Rob Ickes also performing.
“The Baghdad Breakdown” brings a bluegrassed/Middle Eastern flair with contributions from New Grass Revival’s Sam Bush & John Cowan, along with bluegrass icon Ronnie McCoury.
“Regarding the title track, Cosmic Banjo wasn’t an accident, as I wrote and recorded it with Classical Gas in mind,” Johnathon explained. “The long neck banjo is not used very much these days, so I felt complete freedom to re-invent, re-interpret, re-discover the instrument with my personal way of playing.”
Cosmic Banjo will available across all major digital music platforms, and CDs available at michaeljohnathon.com/banjo.
