Cybergrass Bluegrass Music News: Steep Canyon Rangers Wrap Up Year of Firsts

BMNN wrote: on Dec. 18, 2009:

Asheville, NC -- Award-winning bluegrass music band, the Steep Canyon Rangers, are getting ready to wrap up an amazing year full of new experiences. The Rangers—Woody Platt, Nicky Sanders, Graham Sharp, Charles Humphrey and Mike Guggino—are preparing for the final shows on the inaugural Bluegrass Jamboree tour in Germany. The tour consisted of 16 shows in 16 cities in 2-1/2 weeks.

In November the Rangers finished up a tour with Grammy® and Emmy® winning actor, comedian and musician Steve Martin at Royal Festival Hall in London. The tour with Martin included performances at the 20th Annual International Bluegrass Music Awards Show, the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, Carnegie Hall, the Ryman Auditorium, and other venues in cities including Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, Charlotte, Washington, Toronto, Chicago, Denver and Santa Fe.

The Rangers also performed with Martin on The Late Show with David Letterman, The View, NPR's World Café, and the BBC's Later . . . with Jools Holland.

In September, the Rangers hosted their own Mountain Song Festival at the Brevard Music Center in Brevard, North Carolina, for the fourth year. While Steve Martin was a surprise guest in 2008, this year he was on the bill, and the festival was a sellout. Other performers included the Moon Shine Babies, Town Mountain, Shannon Whitworth & the Refugees, Seldom Scene and The David Grisman Quintet, who headlined the event. The festival yielded a record $37,000 for the Boys & Girls Club of Transylvania County, bringing the total raised for the club by the festival to more than $130,000.

The Rangers On Playing With Steve Martin from SteepCanyonRangers on Vimeo.

The Steep Canyon Rangers released their fourth studio album for Rebel, Deep in the Shade, on October 6. It was in the top 10 on the Billboard Bluegrass Albums chart for the month of October, attaining the band's highest Billboard chart position at #3.

"The Mountain's Gonna Sing" from Deep in the Shade has been included in NPR Music's Best of 2009 series, in the Folk Alley top 10.

Deep in the Shade is the #1 CD for the month of December in Bluegrass Music Profiles, while two tracks from the CD—"Have Mercy" (#17) and "There Ain't No Easy Street" (#30) - made their debut in BMP's Top 30 Singles Chart. PopMatters included Deep in the Shade among its Top 10 Best Bluegrass of 2009 list.

In 2009 the Rangers completed their fourth year of performing over 100 dates. They show no signs of slowing down in 2010, which will include performances at the New Orleans Jazz Fest and MerleFest. Their January schedule includes the following: January 8 – Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel; January 9 – York, PA – Goodwill Fire Company; January 10 – Mount Holly Springs, PA – Holly Inn; January 14 – Annapolis, MD – Rams Head Tavern; January 15 – New York, NY – Joe's Pub; January 16 – Shelter Island, NY – Shelter Island School. For a complete tour update, visit www.SteepCanyon.com.

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