Newgrass returns home to Louisville, Kentucky
Original members of New Grass Revival & The Bluegrass Alliance perform at major benefit concert event at the Galt House Hotel, filmed for PBS Television

THE BLUEGRASS HOTEL FESTIVAL & CONCERT March 20, 2009 - Galt House - Louisville, KY Featured The Newgrass Alliance with Sam Bush, Curtis Burch, John Cowan, J.D. Crowe, Tony Rice, and Dan Crary; Original Members of The New Grass Revival and The Bluegrass Alliance; and Special Guest Stars

Two of the world's most innovative and influential music bands returned home to Louisville, Kentucky, the birthplace of the NEW GRASS REVIVAL and its predecessor THE BLUEGRASS ALLIANCE. These bands created and defined a new style called Newgrass, mixing traditional Bill Monroe-styled Bluegrass with a fusion of rock, blues and jazz. Led by Dan Crary, who founded The Bluegrass Alliance in 1968, and Sam Bush, who founded the New Grass Revival in 1971, the recordings, concerts and members of those Newgrass era bands of the 1970s have become part of the history and folklore of the City of Louisville, and major forces within the music industry.

The original members of the New Grass Revival and The Bluegrass Alliance are now producing a major project celebrating the Newgrass era in Kentucky, titled THE BLUEGRASS HOTEL, a Kentucky Educational Television (KET) co-produced film that will be broadcast nationally on PBS stations in November 2009. A DVD, CD, and LP of new music by the prominent members of the bands will be released simultaneously on a major record label. The centerpiece of the PBS film is a major benefit concert that took place on March 20, 2009, at the Galt House Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky, with an All-Star performance featuring Sam Bush, Curtis Burch, John Cowan, J.D. Crowe, Tony Rice, and Dan Crary; a special guest appearance by Louisville artist Ben Sollee; and opening sets by original members of The Bluegrass Alliance, Buzzard Rock String Band, and Arnett Hollow. More...

Primal Twang DCPT-001 | $24.00

Primal Twang: The

Legacy of the Guitar
Now Available on DVD!

VIEW TRAILER
Requires QuickTime

In September 2006 San Diego hosted the world premiere of Primal Twang: The Legacy of the Guitar — the first definitive theatrical journey through the guitar’s colorful and surprisingly controversial 3500-year history. The story of the "instrument of the gods" was told through a combination of onstage narration, video projections of rare historical footage and electrifying live performances by world music legend, Dan Crary and an all-star ensemble of international guitar greats including Grammy Award winners Eric Johnson, Albert Lee, Doc Watson, Mason Williams ("Classical Gas"), Andrew York (Los Angeles Guitar Quartet),) as well as Richard Watson, harp-guitarists John Doan and Beppe Gambetta, Brazilian jazz master Peter Sprague, and Grand Old Opry star Doyle Dykes. The program debuted to enthusiastic sold-out audiences at the lavishly renovated, palatial Birch North Park Theatre.
     Primal Twang was the brainchild of flatpicking pioneer and Taylor Guitars artist, Dan Crary and writer/producer/director Anthony Leigh Adams. The duo wrote a script that begins with the guitar’s ancient ancestors and covers not only the wildly eclectic forms of music played throughout the centuries on variants of the steel-string, nylon-string, and electric guitar, but also the sociological impact the guitar has had in every era.
     Primal Twang reveals compelling stories and music from the guitar’s past, present, and future. Dan and the seven-piece band perform everything from ancient modal music to classical, flamenco, and the Chet Atkins school, and from the guitar-based vocal pop of the early 20th Century through the jazz, folk, and rock eras, right up to today. At key points in the show, featured guest artists join the band, and the viewer gets to see and hear some of the best guitarists in the world as the "instrument of the gods" emerges from antiquity, gathers steam over centuries, and explodes in our own time to become the "universal" musical instrument.
     Crary, a world-traveler, raconteur, and former communications professor, starred as the singer/narrator, accompanied by a stellar stage ensemble including music director and multi-instrumental, Dennis Caplinger (HBO’s Deadwood), drummer Duncan Moore, classical/flamenco guitarists Fred Benedetti and George Svoboda (who performed with rising flamenco dance star Lakshmi Basile), gypsy-jazz guitarist Raul Reynoso, bassist Jeff Pekarek, and pop-rock guitarist/vocalist Jon Walmsley ("Jason" on the TV series, The Waltons, and now an in-demand session player in Los Angeles).

The Primal Twang Band
Dennis Caplinger (Music Director) | Lakshmi Basile
Fred Benedetti & George Svoboda
Patrick Berrogain | Duncan Moore | Jeff Pekarek
Raul Reynoso | Jon Walmsley | Sharon Whyte

Renaissance of the Steel String Guitar Dan Crary TM-039 | $16.95 Renaissance of the Steel String Guitar will take you on a journey into the past and recent history of the instrument, with performances of the music that has punctuated its rise.

Renaissance of the Steel String Guitar
Dan Crary

For years audiences have told Dan Crary that they appreciate the stories he tells in concerts, stories about the guitar, stories about how the steel-string guitar rose to become the world's most popular instrument, and stories about the guitar heroes who showed the world what it could do.
     Renaissance of the Steel String Guitar will take you on an instrumental journey into the past and recent history of the instrument, with performances of the music that has punctuated its rise. A very special 16-page booklet is included, recounting some of the stories and history of the guitar that audiences have enjoyed.
     It is Dan's hope that you will find the music and stories of the guitar entertaining, and also gain a new appreciation of the universality of the instrument itself. This CD is dedicated to the proposition that the steel string guitar can be a means for bridge-building, understanding, and connection among diverse people in an unsettling world.

Learn More | Sound Clips

ThunderShots® Flatpicking Guitar Series Dan Crary | DVD Soldier's Joy TM-DVD-DC203 $19.95 Forked Deer TM-DVD-DC202 $19.95 Billy in the Low Ground TM-DVD-DC201 $19.95

The ThunderShots^® Flatpicking Guitar Series
Dan Crary

In these ThunderShots® Flatpicking Guitar Series lessons, Dan Crary shows you how to move ahead with your playing faster and more effectively by, among other things, listening more effectively to the music you want to play.
     In addition, Dan will guide you through both beginner and advanced arrangements, suggest beautiful and powerful accompaniment ideas, and show you how to create your own original variations.
     We think we have found a way you can learn guitar techniques, songs, and tunes that is faster and more effective, and keeps on teaching you because it emphasizes how you can continue to teach yourself to play and stay excited about your progress.

I bought BILLY IN THE LOW GROUND Thunderation DVD at a Taylor Guitars Workshop with Dan Crary . . . . I have loved learning to play it. As one who is comfortable reading tablature, I then purchased the Flatpickers Guide. I really appreciate the CD that is with that. The Thunderation DVD is good in that while I was learning the song I played it a lot of times. And I really KNOW that song now! Deep thanks for all the work that has gone into these DVDs.
— P. Dunn, Maine

You're a teacher, Dan, so I'm going to tell you something you probably already know: the simple approach, the one that yields results best and fastest with the least amount of effort, is usually the approach that gets overlooked. You didn't overlook it. You cultivated it on the Soldier's Joy DVD, and I've finally got a tune down well.
     I've struggled with learning tab arrangements for years. I believe your simple approach--getting the melody bit by bit in your head (and heart)--is the one that works. You know, it worked for centuries, for people who couldn't read. Thanks, Dan!
— R. Boyle

The DVD has finally arrived and it was worth the wait! The lesson is excellent and will keep me busy for a while. I see that the DVD has been completely repackaged, nice job. Once I get through 'Soldier's Joy' I plan to order more of Dan's DVD series. Thanks again.
— J. Finn, New Jersey

Coming Soon: Steve Spurgin's six-part ThunderShots Songwriting Series!

Live: Men of Steel The Art of the Steel-String Guitar Men of Steel TM-041 | $15.00 Their music is as diverse as their cultures. From the Mediterranean, Canada, Scotland, and the United States, these artists of the steel-string guitar create a spellbinding acoustic performance.

Live: Men of Steel
The Art of the Steel String Guitar
MEN OF STEEL

Beppe Gambetta, Dan Crary, Tony McManus, and Don Ross

Four of the most dynamic and powerful guitar artists in the world, each a master of the acoustic guitar, combine their talents into one amazing ensemble. Men of Steel is Beppe Gambetta (Italy), Dan Crary (US), Tony McManus (Scotland), and Don Ross (Canada).
     Men of Steel's new CD release, Live: Men of Steel, features exciting original material and new arrangements of some traditional music from around the world. This is not just four guitarists onstage taking turns doing solos; they have written material and arrangements for solos, duos, trios, and quartets that are unlike anything audiences have seen before, a new synergistic performance style between the artists, flowing from one to the other and back again ... an ecclectic and electrifying interplay that delights their audiences.
     For an idea of just how dynamic Men of Steel are, check out each artist's individual website:

Beppe Gambetta | Dan Crary | Tony McManus | Don Ross