The Peaceful Bend Americana Festival takes place the weekend of May 14-17.  It is the best lineup of Flatpicking guitarists in the country.  I play a few sets with Josh Williams, and other performers include David Grier, Scott Nygaard, Robert Bowlin, Robin Kessinger, Jack Lawrence and Wil Maring.   The setting is the Peaceful Bend Winery in Steelville, Missouri in the beautiful Ozark Mountains.   click on this link for details and tickets: http://simplefolkproductions.com/americanaschedule/americana2009.htm
 

Good news! I placed 1st in the 2008 National Flatpicking Championship at Winfield, KS. First runner-up was Allen Shadd, 2nd runner-up was Brandon Davis. Roy Curry and Matt Lindsay also made the top five.
Feeling good about the victory and I know I have a lot to live up to this year!
I first visited The Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield in 2005 where I placed 2nd at the flatpicking contest. I could not attend the two subsequent years due to performing obligations with the Drew Emmitt Band. I put the weekend on hold this year to try again and I did it this time.
I also made the top 5 on mandolin but could not break the top three.

Did you know that there is a GENOCIDE happening right now in the Darfur region of Sudan in Africa? Over 400,000 innocent men, women and children have been brutally murdered, burned alive, raped, hacked to pieces, their villages looted and destroyed. This is an ethnic cleansing operation by the government of Sudan. Our government has done nothing, even though they have declared it a genocide. How could this happen?

Inform yourself of the issue and write your state senators and representative(s).

www.savedarfur.org

Tyler Grant: In the Light.(Sound recording review)
From: Sing Out! | Date: January 1, 2007 | Author: Ledgin, Stephanie P.

TYLER GRANT In the Light FGM 120

Flatpicking guitarist Tyler Grant is among a flood of hot young pickers who have surfaced on the acoustic music scene in recent years. He has toured and recorded with Adrienne Young's band and The Two-Stringers, and most recently went on the road with the Drew Emmitt Band.

In the Light is Grant's solo debut, and most of its 13 tracks are his compositions. He is joined by an outstanding supporting cast, the album having been recorded in two sessions with a shift of guests for the second. Both sets provide a comfortably intimate living room feel to their outcomes.

The first meeting brought together fiddler Casey Driessen, Andy Hall on Dobro, Chris Henry picking mandolin, banjo player Scott Vestal and Pat Enright lending tenor vocals. The second added veteran bassists Missy Raines and Mike Bub, Chris Pandolfi on banjo and Steve Sandifer providing very tasteful snare drumming.

The musicians and their playing are the strong suits here. Some interesting stories are told in Grant's original songs and they demonstrate his potential. Grant possesses a light, quick and clean touch on the guitar; execution is confident but not showy.

His solo treatment of Ed Haley's arrangement of the traditional "Half Past Four" is thoroughly engaging. "Azalea" exhibits a new-age, jazzy lilt, light and airy, and is an instrumental highlight of the album. At more than five-and-a-half minutes, the original focused some very nice spotlight moments on guitar, Dobro and fiddle.

Recommended for airplay are two originals, "Angela" and "In the Light," plus the traditional "Grey Eagle." "Angela" is a catchy Cajun-Tex-Mex-tinged keeper. The showpiece is "Grey Eagle." This jam cut elicits miles of smiles. The title cut brings the album home, reinforcing the strength of solid ensemble players who know how to put it all together cohesively. An admirable freshman release.

COPYRIGHT 2007 Sing Out Corporation

TYLER GRANT - IN THE LIGHT [December 2006 issue]
FGM Records
FGM 120

Appearing as this does on FGM Records (the recording arm of Flatpicking Guitar Magazine) and also having heard some of Grant's work as a guitar sideman with the Drew Emmitt Band and as a TwoStringer with Casey and Chris Henry, it's not a stretch to imagine, as I did in those first few moments after this CD arrived, that this was to be a guitar album. Well, it is and it isn't.


No doubt about it, the guitar does take the central role. Many of the tracks have multiple guitar solos and Grant selected five instrumentals, including the traditional tunes "Grey Eagle" and "Half Past Four," a cover of Bill Monroe's "Lockwood," and two originals, "The Naked Guitar" and the arpeggiodriven "Azalea." Each and all reveal a talented soloist possessing a smooth, even tone, a clean picking style, and a varied attack that goes from Brad Davislike percussive to Tony Ricelike fluid..in an instant. The cover of "Half Past Four" recalls David Grier's "I've Got The House To Myself" CD in the way that both keep a constant wall of sound, supporting the melody with a liberal use of strums and alternating picking and drone effects. Much of the same can be said of "Grey Eagle," particularly in Grant's attention to the droning low strings.


What makes this not a guitar album is finding Grant predominantly in the role of singer and songwriter. In both of those roles, he gives a solid account of himself. Of his seven vocal originals here, the cajuninfluenced "Angela" and the bluesy, lightly stomping "Solitary Man" stand out for me. "Solitary Man" is the strongest and fits well with what seems to be a foursong, subtheme of getting away from it all: "Come On Up The Mountain," "Goin' Back To California," and "Far Away From There." All of these and the rest of the vocals are delivered in an Americanastyle lead, of which Grant knows the range and never overreaches. Excellent guitar playing is the lure, but there is much to like throughout. (FGM Records, P.O. Box 2160, Pulaski, VA, 24301, www.fgmrecords.com.)BW

Hey Friends! Spring is here and there's magic in the air. I'm about to release my first solo album, In The Light, on FGM records. It should hit the shelves around June 1. Look for me on the cover of the July issue of Flatpicking Guitar Magazine.