Anthony Ihrig

Minnesota, Where the Grass Grows Underground

Anthony — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 03:29:18 +0000

grass is greener - Kai Schreiber (c) CC BY-SA 2.0

Continuing with the theme of my last post, I’d like to point out that the Minnesota Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Association (MBOTMA) is aware that all Grass Seeds eventually grow up and that the grass doesn’t always stay purely blue. In fact, Minnesota is starting to gain a national reputation for being a hotbed of hybrid and progressive forms of stringband music with bands like Trampled by Turtles and Pert Near Sandstone touring the country, building a name for our local acoustic scene and introducing banjos, mandolins and fiddles to a new generation of fans. As these new fans become interested in the roots of the music (and perhaps even want to pick up an instrument or start a band themselves) it is important that there are resources available to help them learn and grow and that there is a community willing to embrace them. This often means meeting these budding ‘grassers in their natural habitat – college campuses, bars, night clubs etc. That is where the MBOTMA Underground comes in.

Roe Family Singers will perform at the MBOTMA Underground kick-off event

According the Facebook event page for their upcoming kick-off/fundraiser at the 331 Club in NE Minneapolis:

“MBOTMA Underground is a subset of MBOTMA designed to filter new members into the organization through events around the metro area, the festivals, and beyond! We would eventually love to have monthly or bimonthly concerts (where we can actually pay our artsits!), jam sessions on college campuses, a presence at MBOTMA festivals (think: “Brought to You By…MBOTMA Underground!”), and much more.”

Wild Goose Chase Cloggers will perform at the MBOTMA Underground kick-off event

If you’d like to be a part of this exciting new movement or just show your support, you can do so this Saturday, April 28th 2012 from 5pm-9pm at the 331 Club in Minneapolis, where they will be holding their kick-off event and a fund raiser. Here are more details from their press release:

Saturday, April 28, 2012, 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM, Minneapolis MN: MBOTMA Underground Kickoff Concert, 331 Club (331 13th Ave NE). Roe Family Singers, Wild Goose Chase Cloggers, and Ruby Magpie. Help welcome MBOTMA Underground to the music community. There will be a raffle for those that do donate for tickets to the Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time Association’s Kickoff Music festival June 1-3 at El Rancho Maana, as well as some other prizes. The proceeds will go to the start up of MBOTMA Underground, which is dedicated to promoting the next generation of bluegrass and old-time music. $10 suggested donation. For more information call 800-635-3037 or visit www.MinnesotaBluegrass.org. Produced by the Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Association (MBOTMA).

Ruby Magpie will perform at the MBOTMA Underground kick-off event

I should mention that I will be there performing with a new progressive acoustic band that I have joined called Ruby Magpie, which features some of my favorite local pickers: Catie Jo Pidel (fiddle, guitar, ukulele, vocals), Pete Mathison (bass, vocals) and Ryan Kimm (guitar, dobro, vocals).

I look forward to seeing who shows up… …and who sticks around.

How to Grow a Bluegrass Community from the Ground

Anthony — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 16:05:58 +0000

When traveling around the country with the High 48′s, people are often surprised to hear what a thriving traditional bluegrass scene we have in Minnesota. Their ears always perk up when I tell them (with pride) about the Minnesota Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Association (MBOTMA), an organization that has been around for over 30 years, has 1000 members and over 100 member bands and hosts one of the premier bluegrass festivals in the country every August (nominated three times by the International Bluegrass Music Association in Nashville for Event of the Year).

However, what they are often most interested in hearing about is how we are actively cultivating the next generation of bluegrass musicians, through programs like the annual Grass Seeds Academy. Grass Seeds is a three day bluegrass “boot camp,” for kids and young adults ages 8-20 that takes place every March during MBOTMA’s Winter Weekend festival (a full-fledged bluegrass festival stuffed into a small hotel in the Twin Cities). Not only do the participants learn how to play some great songs, they are required to be part of a band and learn how to work together on arrangements as well as the ins and outs of stage performance. These kids/young adults start out the weekend as a room full of strangers at various skill levels and end it by playing together in bands on the main auditorium stage– it is very inspiring!

I have been honored to be on the faculty of the Grass Seeds Academy for the last two years and can say that the future of bluegrass music in Minnesota looks awfully bright! If you are under 20, live in the Upper Midwest and are looking to take your bluegrass skills to the next level or have a child that has expressed interest in bluegrass music, I encourage you to sign-up next year. So mark your calendars and check out the registration page again in early 2013!

Brick and Mortar Music Community (the future of music stores?)

Anthony — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:26:20 +0000

It may sound strange in this age of digital music downloads, but I was extremely excited to get my new CD on the shelves at a couple of local Twin Cities music stores recently. Not because I’m going to make money or get much exposure from the half dozen or so copies that I dropped off at the Electric Fetus (a Minneapolis record store founded in 1968 that was voted one of the best in America) and the Homestead Pickin’ Parlor (a folk music hub in the Twin Cities since the 1970s), but because these are two of my all-time favorite places on earth and I’m grateful to be a small part of them!

Although I love browsing racks of vinyl at the Fetus and playing vintage banjos at the Homestead, don’t get me wrong, this is not about nostalgia for some by-gone era when these types of brick and mortar stores were the only way to access such merchandise. This is about the fact that when I walked into the Fetus to drop off my record, I ran into one of my band mates from the High 48s, who just happened to be there doing some shopping. This is about the employee there who I knew only through Facebook, but finally got to meet in-person and who made a point to personally make sure my record was processed and on the shelf quickly. This is about walking into the Homestead Pickin’ Parlor and being greeted by the owners and the staff by name and looking around to see local bands (and friends) CDs displayed prominently around the store.

This is about community

This is about an experience

I know these are uncertain times for retail stores like these, but the social need they fill will not be going away anytime soon. Even if music goes completely digital and there is no more physical media to sell, I am confident that there will still be places where people gather to geek out over a shared love of listening to, playing, discovering and studying music. The question is, what will these places be like? What is the future of music stores? I decided to ask the internet what it thought about this and found a couple interesting takes on it, both of which touch upon the role music stores play in fostering community and an experience:

Rough Trade and the future of the record store (Wired UK)

In an iTunes age, do we need the record store? (Salon)

Personally, I hope I am still patronizing the Fetus and the Homestead in 20 years. I doubt I would be buying music, but perhaps enjoying a pint at a listening party, jamming with friends before music trivia night, or trying out the latest Nechville Banjotron 3000 before a screening of the 30th Anniversary Edition of Oh Brother Where Art Thou… now that is a future I can imagine.

2011: The Year of Yes

Anthony — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:59:33 +0000

At some point last year I decided that 2011 would be the Year of Yes. I pledged that I wouldn’t turn down any gigs, recording sessions or teaching opportunities that came my way and, if I still had time, I might even get to that solo album I had been meaning to record. Well, 2011 has now come to a close and I must say that the Year of Yes was a success! I had many amazing musical adventures on stage, in the studio and in the classroom. Here are some of the highlights:

Rockin' w/ Walker Fields at the 400 Bar

American Strings Debut Performance

Live:
On top of many fun shows with the High 48s and the Mark Kreitzer Band, I dipped my toes back in the Minneapolis bar scene (400 Bar, Turf Club, Kitty Cat Klub etc.) with Walker Fields, kicked-off a High 48s side project with Eric Christopher called American Strings and played some interesting one-off gigs as well, like backing-up Jordan High School’s Pops Choir and pickin’ at the MN Craft Brewer’s Guild’s Autumn Brew Review.

With Matthew Zimmerman Wild Sound

I recorded plenty of drums this year!

Recording:
I spent a lot of time in recording studios in 2011, not only on my album (we’ll get to that) but with other great Twin Cities bands and musicians as well. I played on records by the Minor Planets, Monroe Crossing, the Mark Kreitzer Band, and a couple different projects from artist and producer Michael Nelson. And finally, one of the more interesting recording experiences I had last year was for a family history DVD project, where I ended up playing a banjo-fiddle duet with none other than Ron Stewart!

Grass Seeds Academy class of 2011

Me and Bob

Teaching:
I was happy to expand my teaching experience last year as well, taking on new students for private lessons, working with talented children and young adults at the MBOTMA Grass Seeds Academy and (one of the highlights), doing a banjo workshop with Bob Black, one of Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys and a pioneer of the melodic banjo style.

Our first gig!

My first album! Missing Ghosts!

My own band and solo album!:
Perhaps the most gratifying accomplishment of 2011 was something that I had been meaning to say yes to for a while now, which was to get back to writing and performing original music. Since Free Range Pickin’ (original string band I was in for 10 years) dissolved, I had been looking for another outlet for my original brand of “Newgrass” music, and, after a lot of thought, I decided to put together my own band with some of my favorite musicians (Eric Christopher, Dan Christensen-Cowan and Jed Germond), record a solo album and get out and perform. I am VERY happy to say that the band has come together, the record, Missing Ghosts, has been completed and we’ve already had a handful of successful shows, including an amazingly fun album release party at the Aster Cafe last month.

Phew, it really has been quite a year and I’m so glad I decided to say yes to the things I am passionate about! How about you? What will you being saying “yes” to this year? Personally, I can’t wait to find out what 2012 will be the year of…

You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch!

Anthony — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 15:07:15 +0000

Here’s one from the archives, just in time for the snow and sub-zero temps here in Minnesota. My former band, Free Range Pickin’, played an annual holiday show at the Cedar Cultural Center every December for five years and we had a tradition of working up fun and unusual holiday songs for the occasion. This was the first and last time we performed “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch,” but the band was in rare form, singing out lines in cartoon voices and everything. Apologies for the poor video quality, hopefully the music makes up for it!

Missing Ghosts Album Release Party!

Anthony — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:37:13 +0000

After over a year of writing, rehearsing, arranging, recording, mixing, mastering, etc.– I’m very excited to announce that my new solo album Missing Ghosts is finished and ready to be shared with the world! The official release party will take place Saturday, December 3rd at the Aster Cafe in Minneapolis, MN. I will be joined by the same amazing musicians that perform on the recording: Eric Christopher on the fiddle, Jed Germond on the mandolin and pedal steel guitar and Dan Christensen-Cowan on the upright acoustic bass.

Missing Ghosts CDs have arrived! Wait, who buys CDs anymore?

The festivities kick off at 9pm at the Aster Cafe, one of my favorite listening rooms in the Twin Cities (not to mention their great food and beer selection). It is an intimate room, so reservations are highly recommended. We will be playing all of the songs off of the new record as well as originals from the various other projects we play in (The High 48s, Free Range Pickin’, Minor Planets etc.) and, of course, some choice covers too. For all of you audiophiles and art lovers out there, we will have actual physical CDs for sale, so you can take the pristine, uncompressed recording and wonderful original artwork of Tim Lee home with you. Here are the details:

Missing Ghosts: Album Release Party!
9pm, Saturday, December 3rd, 2011
Aster Cafe 125 SE Main Street Minneapolis, MN 55414
612 379-3138 | Website | Map
All Ages / $10 at the door

Hey Facebook friends, let me know if you’re coming, RSVP on Facebook!

Ghost Story for Halloween

Anthony — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:54:31 +0000

Getting in the Halloween spirit, I thought I would share the disturbing tale of a boy who would rather spend his time with ghosts then face his fears of intimacy and abandonment. Here is an early video demo for the title track of my upcoming release “Missing Ghosts.” The studio version will be available as a free download on 10/31/11, stay tuned!

Album Art Still Matters

Anthony — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 12:51:15 +0000

I’ll admit that I’m a bit nostalgic for the physical experience of buying new music. I miss ripping the shrink wrap off of a vinyl record, the smell of the paper insert of a store-bought cassette tape when first unfolded, and flipping through the thick glossy booklet that (barely) fit under the little plastic tabs on the inside of a CD jewel case. Although these experiences are mostly in the past, the album artwork, the visual window into the music “inside” still lives on, in fact, I think it is more important than ever.

This is why I was so excited a few months back when I received a new Twitter follower by the name of Tim Lee, a North Carolina-based artist who specializes in “Surreal Americana.” I was intrigued! When I went to Tim’s website and discovered the mandolin playing character in Vintage Gintage, I knew I had found the artist for my first solo project, Missing Ghosts, which is a mixture of folk, bluegrass and Americana music.

Working with Tim was a real pleasure and a relatively quick and straight forward process. After an initial email exchange, I sent him lyrics and a rough mix of the title track of the album and he went right to work. I did my best not to micromanage the art direction, in order to let the professional artist do what he does best- be creative. I’m very glad I did. Check out the photo gallery below for a little glimpse of his process:

I now feel like the album art is part is part of the music itself and am amazed at how it affects even my own perception of the music’s mood, sonic quality etc.. I’m very happy that the tradition of album art lives on in the digital era, as I believe it really enriches the overall experience of listening to music. Now here’s hoping that digital liner notes catch on…

Find out more about Tim Lee and his artwork at http://www.timleeartwork.com/ and http://www.etsy.com/shop/timleeartwork

BG Festival, Wisconsin Style!

Anthony — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 04:45:00 +0000

Anthony & Dale in "Dueling Banjos II: Deathmatch (Uncensored)"

Just got back from playing with The High 48s at an incredibly fun bluegrass festival in central Wisconsin called Bluegrass in the Pines. It is hosted by one of my all-time favorite bluegrass bands, Art Stevenson and Highwater. They have managed to put together an event that combines a great location (literally in the pines – full of shade, soft ground, fragrant air etc.), with top-notch music (Bluegrass Patriots, Briar Pickers, Hand-Picked Bluegrass, Sloppy Joe etc.) and one of the most amazing, fun-loving, appreciative bluegrass crowds I have ever had the pleasure of playing for.

Highlights include: the dancing at every set (day or night), the all-ages crowd (infants to elderly), the top-notch jam circles, the local microbrews (New Glarus and Central Waters available on-site), the authentic Wisconsin dinners (fried cheese curds and beer), hangin’ with Highwater and, of course, the final uber-jam version of ”Will the Circle Be Unbroken” to finish off Saturday night… Amazing!

Offstage antics at MBOTMA 2011

Anthony — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 05:49:07 +0000

Backstage with Bob Black

It was a real treat performing at the annual Minnesota Bluegrass & Old Time Music Festival last weekend, one of the best run festivals in the country IMO (IBMA “Event of the Year” nominee multiple years). Of course, I had an amazing time playing with the Mark Kreitzer Band on Fri. and Sat. (we were really warmed up after the previous weekend in SD), but I also had some great adventures far from the main stage as well.

Old time clogging in Sherwood Forest

The highlight of the weekend for me was performing in the bluegrass banjo showcase with Bob Black, one of Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys (as well as one of the best melodic, “Keith Style” banjo pickers out there today), what an honor! Other great offstage experiences included: hanging with my new friends in the Foghorn Stringband for another weekend in a row; teaching an advanced banjo workshop to a really nice group of pickers; playing drums at a drunken, country-fried, Ranch House afterparty (Clay Hess being among the pickers!), and, it was my first time crossing party lines and camping with the Old-Time folks in “Sherwood Forest”– very hospitable people I must say (of course, I kept my finger picks in the case). All this and I got to see a bunch of great music on stage and off.