Friends…a fun evening of ‘grass & roots THIS Thursday night at 3rd & Lindsley Nashville with The SteelDrivers, Abigail Washburn, Rebecca Frazier and Hit & Run, Bradford Lee Folk & the Bluegrass Playboys, Robby Hecht & more for a cause close to the Fraziers’ hearts: Planet Bluegrass and Lyons Musicians Relief Fund for Lyons, CO, home of John’s father & step-mom, our booking agent Brandon Mann, and many of our closest friends. Some of moved back into their homes, but many are still stranded and need our assistance. Hope you can make it out. 🙂 If not, please consider a direct donation to the Wells Fargo account # 3868653936. Every little bit helps.

Hard to believe “Darken Your Doorway” is on the bluegrass charts: so far #13 on Bluegrass Today Charts. #19 this week. Also the new album, When We Fall, is holding steady at #5 on the Roots Music Report national chart, and still at #1 on the Roots Music Report Colorado Chart.

John Frazier & I had the pleasure of a duo tour in Southern CA in mid-October. Our first stop was KSON Studios in San Diego with Wayne Rice, longtime host of Bluegrass Special on Sunday nights.

Next stop was in Los Angeles, where we did a taping for Folk Scene, an awesome program on KPFK founded by Roz Larman and her late husband, Howard, in 1970. Here we are at the Long House with Roz…she’s a compelling interviewer with a true voice of her own. We loved her!

Next stop: Citybilly with Rene Engel on KCBX. Rene was so much fun. Full of heart, full of laughs. Glad some Californians caught our folky duo treatment of this ‘grass on the airwaves. Looking forward to hopefully seeing CA next summer!

Full Article Here. “Into the Heaven-Sent Light” by David McGee

“But if we’re talking about gifted musicians we might as well start with Rebecca Frazier herself. One of the most celebrated flatpickers to emerge in recent years–she gets the highest praise from the likes of Bryan Sutton–Frazier steps out at select moments here (notably on three of her self-penned instrumentals), at which points the album’s wow factor increases about tenfold. The first exhilarating taste of what she can do comes four songs in, on her original instrumental “Virginia Coastline,” a rousing bluegrass toe-tapper she kicks off with a few bars of precision speed picking that veers ever so slightly into blues before it gives way to a high stepping, driving fiddle solo.”…

The reference at the outset of this review to “spiritual reconciliation” refers directly to the final, magnificent song, written by Rebecca and John, “Babe in Arms,” the album’s one explicit reference to the child the couple lost in 2010. Understated and hymn-like, with John’s mandolin chops and Cobb’s soft, weeping fiddle the dominant instrumental voices, Frazier sings in a clear but wounded voice of the family’s loss and of fitful efforts at making peace with the absence of a loved one she thought she would spend her life with…

As much as it is a musical achievement, When We Fall persists in memory for its flesh and blood humanity. Rebecca Frazier will be heard from by dint of her artistry as a singer, songwriter and instrumentalist but the heart informing her music makes all the difference. It also explains the weird light bathing her on the cover–it’s Heaven-sent.”

Headed out from Nashville after Billy Block show for a jam-packed tour–7 shows in 3 days! First stop was Richmond, where we visited 2 schools and performed a concert at In Your Ear Studios for JAMinc. This was an awesome, intimate downtown studio, where our crowd was full of ‘grass lovers. Thanks to Tim Timberlake & Wally Thulin for making this happen! St. Christopher’s School was so kind to us, and nothing beats a crowd of Mary Munford kids!

Next stop was Washington, D.C. We had the distinct honor of being the first-ever band in WAMU’s brand new studio! Lee Michael Demsey did an awesome job interviewing us for “Bluegrass Country,” and the staff at WAMU couldn’t have been nicer. (Thanks for pic, Katy Daley!)

Later that evening we performed our fave concert of the tour: Corner Store, hosted by Kris & Roy Swanson. If you haven’t been there yet, please check it out. An historic venue with fantastic vibes and a deliciously happy crowd.

Really enjoyed our late-night trip back into the mountains of Southwest Virginia. We woke up much too early in Staunton and trucked on to Marion, where we soundchecked at Lincoln Theater, and then moved on to Abingdon, where we got to see Frank Solivan tear it up before our set at Crooked Road Music Fest. Post-set, we lay on the grass and enjoyed Blue Highway before heading back to Marion for our set on the PBS-syndicated “Song of the Mountains” TV Series.

Sure was a hoot to travel out to the Loveless Barn and perform on Music City Roots! Said Craig Havighurst of our show: “East Nashville real deal bluegrass cooker/looker Rebecca Frazier went second, arriving with the floaty title track of her When We Fall album and sliding into the old-time bounce of her own “Better Than Staying.” The best moment for me was when the full band complimented her cycling guitar riff with a big slamming entrance on “Ain’t Going To Work Tomorrow.” So great to hear the Hit & Run band and Rebecca nail a traditional tune on top of her slick songwriting. Super fiddling came from Brian Arrowood. Rebecca’s husband John shimmered on the mandolin, and his bride’s voice really soared on the big finale of her sizzling set.”

We kicked off our Colorado CD release tour with live performance at KGNU Boulder, followed by hanging and hiking with old friends; we had an epic night at our

fave Front Range venue, Gold Hill Inn. We then headed up to KRFC studios in Ft. Collins for a “Live at Lunch” performance on air, followed by Loveland’s scenic Foote Lagoon concert series. Wow!

Crestone Music Festival was a hoot. They put us up at a hot springs (aaah) and then spoiled us with local “yak” pot roast, massages, and microbrews. And those Sangre de Cristos music lovers were something else–the crowd was AWESOME!

We then trekked up to Keystone for the Keystone Bluegrass & Beer Festival Saturday, where we also taught instrument workshops.

Onward from Keystone, we headed up the scenic Cottonwood Pass at dusk, experiencing majestic panoramic vistas and hairy turns on our way down to Crested Butte. We awoke in the morning to play at Crested Butte Arts Festival and visit Chris Coady at KBUT Studios on Sunday.

 Onward to KVNF in Paonia, we played a set on-air and enjoyed a visit to Carbondale where we played at Steve’s Guitars and KDNK Radio. What an incredible, scenic tour…complete with some of the nicest people we’ve ever had a chance to meet. Thank you, Colorado!

I can’t think of a place I’d rather be than Colorado next week. Seriously! We kick it all off at KGNU Tuesday morning, followed by KRFC and the historic, amazing, ridiculously cool GOLD HILL INN on Wednesday 7/31 for our Colorado CD Release Party!! Front Rangers, come on up and let’s do some picking, eating, and partying. We travel with the jaw-dropping talent of Christian Ward on fiddle.  Join the event on Facebook HERE and while you’re at it, “Like” RF&HRB!

It’s always a blast to play in our hometown, the beautiful and vibrant city of Nashville! Thanks to Susan & Courtney, proprietors of the brand new East-Centric Pavilion in East Nashville, we were a part of the Southern Drawl Bluegrass Festival yesterday. It was an awesome day of music with my friends from all walks of life including Scott Simontacchi, (with whom I used to play in Charleston, SC, in 1999) and Brad Folk (with whom Hit & Run used to play at fests in Colorado, in the early part of last decade)! Looking forward to seeing you all at Music City Roots on September 4!

What a hoot to drive around as a duo with a talented hubby for a few days! We hit some awesome radio stations across the Midwest, including WCBE (Columbus OH), WGCS (Goshen, IN), WFPK (Louisville, KY), and WFHB (Bloomington, IN). Thanks for hosting us, DJs and Program Directors…your stations and programs are evidence of thousands of hours of hard work and of generous community support. And thanks Brad Paul for putting it all together!