The Dixie Bee-Liners
Encyclopedia
The Dixie Bee-Liners are an American
Bluegrass
group, formed in New York City in 2002 by Buddy Woodward and Brandi Hart. The band members currently reside in Bristol, Virginia
, and Asheville, North Carolina
. Their music has been called Bluegrass
, Americana
, alt-country, Folk
, and "Bible Belt Noir
".
The band's current line-up features: Brandi Hart (lead vocals, rhythm guitar
, fiddle
, mountain dulcimer), Buddy Woodward (lead vocals, mandolin
, acoustic guitar
, banjo
, bass, harmonica
, high-strung guitar, percussion), Saravanan "Sav" Sankaran (vocals, upright bass), Zach Mongan (banjo
)..
The Bee-Liners have released three records. Their first was a 2005 self-titled/self-released EP
on their own label, Betty Troublesome. Shortly after, Hart and Woodward relocated to Southwest Virginia
, and signed with Pinecastle Records, who released their first full-length CD, RIPE, in April 2008.
Their third CD, Susanville, was a bluegrass concept album
released in November 2009. Grammy winning producer
/engineer
Bil VornDick co-produced the 19-song CD, along with Woodward and Hart.
, newgrass, old-time string band music
, as well as west-coast country
, country rock
, 60's British invasion
, surf music
, Celtic
, rhythm & blues, punk
, ska
, and English folk-rock bands.
Buddy Woodward and Brandi Hart typically write all of the band's material, though they have occasionally co-written with various band members, as well as Blue Highway's Tim Stafford
, Jon Weisberger, and Ken Stringfellow
of the American alternative rock
band The Posies
.
In addition to standardized bluegrass instrumentation, the band has been known to incorporate alternate guitar tunings
, claw-hammer banjo
, dulcimer
, bouzouki
, dobro
, Dojo
, harmonica
, chanter
, 12-string guitar, drums, electric guitar
, pedal steel guitar
, cello
, Mellotron
, harpsichord
, and other keyboard instruments as the mood strikes them.
charts. All-told, the band achieved 23 weeks of #1's in 2008, and was named the Roots Music Report's Bluegrass Artist of the Year in November 2008. Susanville debuted on the Billboard
Bluegrass chart at #32.
and Canada
, playing such prestigious festivals as Merlefest
, Palisade Bluegrass & Roots Festival, Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion
, Bean Blossom
, and FloydFest
. They have appeared live on BBC Radio Scotland
, NPR
, the Food Network
, and have been featured on radio playlists across the country and world-wide, including regular rotation on Sirius
and XM satellite radio
. In 2007 their music was featured on the soundtrack of the independently-produced Civil War film FREEDOM. In August 2010, the band played Fairport's Cropredy Convention Festival in the Oxfordshire village of Cropredy, one of only two gigs in England before returning home.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
group, formed in New York City in 2002 by Buddy Woodward and Brandi Hart. The band members currently reside in Bristol, Virginia
Bristol, Virginia
Bristol is an independent city in Virginia, United States, bounded by Washington County, Virginia, Bristol, Tennessee, and Sullivan County, Tennessee....
, and Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville is a city in and the county seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the 11th largest city in North Carolina. The City is home to the United States National Climatic Data Center , which is the world's largest active...
. Their music has been called Bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
, Americana
Americana (music)
Americana is an amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles...
, alt-country, Folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, and "Bible Belt Noir
Neofolk
Neofolk is a form of folk music-inspired experimental music that emerged from post-industrial music circles. Neofolk can either be solely acoustic folk music or a blend of acoustic folk instrumentation aided by varieties of accompanying sounds such as pianos, strings and elements of industrial...
".
The band's current line-up features: Brandi Hart (lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
, mountain dulcimer), Buddy Woodward (lead vocals, mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, acoustic guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, bass, harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, high-strung guitar, percussion), Saravanan "Sav" Sankaran (vocals, upright bass), Zach Mongan (banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
)..
The Bee-Liners have released three records. Their first was a 2005 self-titled/self-released EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
on their own label, Betty Troublesome. Shortly after, Hart and Woodward relocated to Southwest Virginia
Southwest Virginia
Southwest Virginia, often abbreviated as SWVA, is a mountainous region of Virginia in the westernmost part of the commonwealth. Southwest Virginia has been defined alternatively as all Virginia counties on the Appalachian Plateau, all Virginia counties west of the Eastern Continental Divide, or...
, and signed with Pinecastle Records, who released their first full-length CD, RIPE, in April 2008.
Their third CD, Susanville, was a bluegrass concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
released in November 2009. Grammy winning producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
/engineer
Audio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
Bil VornDick co-produced the 19-song CD, along with Woodward and Hart.
Musical style
Ostensibly a bluegrass band, The Dixie Bee-Liners have been known to play a wide variety of acoustic music, liberally cherry-picking influence from traditional bluegrassTraditional bluegrass
Traditional bluegrass, as the name implies, emphasizes the traditional elements of bluegrass music, and stands in opposition to progressive bluegrass. Traditional bluegrass musicians play folk songs, tunes with simple traditional chord progressions, and on acoustic instruments of a type that were...
, newgrass, old-time string band music
Old-time music
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music, with roots in the folk music of many countries, including England, Scotland, Ireland and countries in Africa. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dance, buck dance, and clogging. The genre also...
, as well as west-coast country
Bakersfield sound
The Bakersfield sound was a genre of country music developed in the mid- to late 1950s in and around Bakersfield, California. The many hit singles were largely produced by Capitol Records country music head, Ken Nelson. Bakersfield country was a reaction against the slickly produced, string...
, country rock
Country rock
Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...
, 60's British invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
, surf music
Surf music
Surf music is a genre of popular music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Orange County and other areas of Southern California. It was particularly popular between 1961 and 1965, has subsequently been revived and was highly influential on subsequent rock music...
, Celtic
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
, rhythm & blues, punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
, and English folk-rock bands.
Buddy Woodward and Brandi Hart typically write all of the band's material, though they have occasionally co-written with various band members, as well as Blue Highway's Tim Stafford
Blue Highway
Blue Highway is an American contemporary bluegrass band. They have released eight CDs, their sixth and seventh – Wondrous Love , and Marbletown – received Grammy Award nominations.-Personnel:...
, Jon Weisberger, and Ken Stringfellow
Ken Stringfellow
Kenneth Stuart Stringfellow is an American musician, best known for his work with The Posies, R.E.M., and the re-formed Big Star.-Musical career:...
of the American alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band The Posies
The Posies
The Posies are an alternative rock/power pop group. The band was formed in 1987 in Bellingham, Washington by primary songwriters Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow. They are best known for their radio hits "Golden Blunders" , as well as "Dream All Day", "Solar Sister" and "Flavor of the Month"...
.
In addition to standardized bluegrass instrumentation, the band has been known to incorporate alternate guitar tunings
Guitar tunings
Guitar tunings almost always refers to the pitch of the open string, though some tunings may only realistically be attained by the use of a capo on an unmodified instrument....
, claw-hammer banjo
Clawhammer
Clawhammer is a highly rhythmic banjo playing style and common component of American old-time music. The principal difference between clawhammer style and other styles is the picking direction...
, dulcimer
Appalachian dulcimer
The Appalachian dulcimer is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings. It is native to the Appalachian region of the United States...
, bouzouki
Bouzouki
The bouzouki , is a musical instrument with Greek origin in the lute family. A mainstay of modern Greek music, the front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but...
, dobro
Dobro
Dobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
, Dojo
Dojo (instrument)
The dojo is a hybrid instrument designed as a cross between the Dobro-style guitar and the banjo. The body and resonator are like the Dobro, while it is strung like a five-string banjo. The tunings and fingerings are also just like a banjo...
, harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, chanter
Chanter
The chanter is the part of the bagpipe upon which the player creates the melody. It consists of a number of finger-holes, and in its simpler forms looks similar to a recorder...
, 12-string guitar, drums, electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, pedal steel guitar
Pedal steel guitar
The pedal steel guitar is a type of electric guitar that uses a metal bar to "fret" or shorten the length of the strings, rather than fingers on strings as with a conventional guitar. Unlike other types of steel guitar, it also uses pedals and knee levers to affect the pitch, hence the name "pedal"...
, cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
, Mellotron
Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
, harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
, and other keyboard instruments as the mood strikes them.
Awards, honors, distinctions
Their self-titled EP debuted on the Roots Music Report bluegrass chart at #14, going on to spend 56 weeks on the chart, with 9 of those weeks in the Top 10. RIPE topped the Bluegrass Now Fan's Choice Top 20 chart twice, and also achieved two simultaneous #1's on Bluegrass Music Profiles' Top 20 Hot Singles, and the Roots Music Report Bluegrass Chart. The Bee-Liners spent nine consecutive weeks atop the RMR Bluegrass chart and two consecutive months in the Top Ten of both Bluegrass UnlimitedBluegrass Unlimited
Bluegrass Unlimited is a monthly music magazine "dedicated to the furtherance of bluegrass and old-time musicians, devotees and associates." First published in 1966, as of 2008 the magazine had a circulation of more than 25,000 copies and is widely considered the premier magazine for bluegrass music...
charts. All-told, the band achieved 23 weeks of #1's in 2008, and was named the Roots Music Report's Bluegrass Artist of the Year in November 2008. Susanville debuted on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Bluegrass chart at #32.
Performance
The band has toured extensively throughout the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, playing such prestigious festivals as Merlefest
MerleFest
MerleFest is an annual "traditional plus" music festival held in Wilkesboro, North Carolina on the campus of Wilkes Community College . The festival, which is held the last weekend in April, is hosted by Grammy Award winner Doc Watson and is named in memory and honor of his son, Eddy Merle Watson,...
, Palisade Bluegrass & Roots Festival, Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion
Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion
Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion a non-profit organization which hosts an annual 3-day Americana music festival in the twin cities of Bristol, Virginia and Bristol, Tennessee....
, Bean Blossom
Beanblossom, Indiana
Beanblossom, also spelled Bean Blossom, is an unincorporated town in Jackson Township, Brown County, Indiana. The town was named for the nearby Beanblossom Creek, which was in turn named for a person whose surname was Beanblossom....
, and FloydFest
FloydFest
FloydFest is a world music and arts festival held annually near Floyd, Virginia, situated in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It began in 2002 and has received excellent reviews ever since, earning a name for itself in 2005 when it played host to well-known folk singer Ani DiFranco...
. They have appeared live on BBC Radio Scotland
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
, the Food Network
Food Network
Food Network is a television specialty channel that airs both one-time and recurring programs about food and cooking. Scripps Networks Interactive owns 70 percent of the network, with Tribune Company controlling the remaining 30 percent....
, and have been featured on radio playlists across the country and world-wide, including regular rotation on Sirius
Sirius
Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. With a visual apparent magnitude of −1.46, it is almost twice as bright as Canopus, the next brightest star. The name "Sirius" is derived from the Ancient Greek: Seirios . The star has the Bayer designation Alpha Canis Majoris...
and XM satellite radio
Satellite radio
Satellite radio is an analogue or digital radio signal that is relayed through one or more satellites and thus can be received in a much wider geographical area than terrestrial FM radio stations...
. In 2007 their music was featured on the soundtrack of the independently-produced Civil War film FREEDOM. In August 2010, the band played Fairport's Cropredy Convention Festival in the Oxfordshire village of Cropredy, one of only two gigs in England before returning home.
The Dixie Bee-Liners-EP
November 2005 (Betty Troublesome)- Davy - (Hart, Woodward)
- Brown-Eyed Darlin' - (Woodward)
- Lost In The Silence - (Hart, Woodward)
- Roses Are Grey - (Hart, Woodward)
- Family Tree - (Woodward, Gold, Ribyat)
- My Heart's Breakin' In - (Hart, Woodward)
- Yellow-Haired Girl - (Hart, Woodward)
- (Lord, Lay Down My) Ball & Chain - (Hart, Woodward)
RIPE
April 2008 (Pinecastle Records)- Down On The Crooked Road - (Woodward, VornDick, Hart)
- (Lord, Lay Down My) Ball & Chain - (Hart, Woodward)
- Yellow-Haired Girl - (Hart, Woodward)
- The Bugs In The Basement - (Hart, Woodward)
- Dixie Grey To Black - (Hart, Woodward)
- Why Do I Make You Cry - (Hart, Woodward)
- She's My Angel - (Hart, Woodward)
- Old Charlie Cross - (Hart, Woodward)
- Lost In The Silence - (Hart, Woodward)
- Grumble Jones - (Woodward, Stafford, Hart)
- Jefferson Railroad Line - (Hart, Woodward)
- Ripe - (Hart, Woodward)
Susanville
November 2009 (Pinecastle Records)- Enter Highway - (Hart, Woodward)
- Heavy - (Hart, Woodward)
- Restless - (Hart, Woodward)
- Find Out - (Hart, Woodward)
- Road Hog - (Hart, Woodward, Weisberger)
- Salem And Staunton - (Darrow)
- Turn Back - (Hart, Woodward)
- Truck Stop Baby - (Hart, Woodward)
- Albion Road - (Morrow)
- Susanville - (Hart, Woodward)
- (I Need) Eighteen Wheels - (Hart, Woodward)
- Trixie's Diesel-Stop Cafe - (Hart, Woodward)
- Graveyard Shift - (Hart, Woodward)
- Down - (Woodward. Molotov, Hart)
- Lead Foot - (Morrow, Woodward, Stringfellow, Hart, Darrow)
- Yawn - (Hart, Woodward)
- Brake Lights - (Hart, Stringfellow)
- In My Pocket - (Hart, Woodward, Darrow)
- Destination - (Hart, Woodward)
Reviews, articles, notices
- Roanoke Times "Dixie Bee-Liners Move To The Mountains" by Tad Dickens, July 24, 2006
- Country Standard Time " Are Dixie Bee-Liners 'Ripe' for Success?" by Ken Burke, April 2008
- Folk and Acoustic Music Exchange "Ripe" by Frank Gutch Jr., June 2008
- NPR Music.com "Dixie Bee-Liners: Musical Hospitality" by Jim Blum, July 1, 2009
- The Bluegrass Blog "Dixie Bee-Liners Video Shoot" by John Lawless, October 19, 2009
- BluegrassJournal.com "Dixie Bee-Liners, Sierra Hull Uncle Earl head out on American Revival Tour Oct. 29" by Travis Tackett, October 28, 2009.
- Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer "Reviews of new bluegrass music releases" by Keith Lawrence, October 30, 2009
- 9513 Country Music.com "Dixie Bee-Liners, Sierra Hull and Uncle Earl Spread The Gospel of Old-Time and Bluegrass" by Juli Thanki, November 4, 2009.
- Cybergrass "Dixie Bee-Liner's 'Susanville' A Trip for the Listener" by Bob Cherry, November 7, 2009
- Bluegrass Music Profiles "Dixie Bee-Liners - Susanville" by Lori Kerfoot, November 11, 2009
- Folkwax "The Dixie Beeliners Make A Bee Line for Hits" by Deborah Wilbrink, November 11, 2009
- Country Standard Time "Susanville - Dixie Bee-Liners" by Greg Yost, November 2009