robbif - Posted - 07/07/2012:  17:39:04

robbif - Posted - 07/09/2012:  08:21:00

Another recording from Doc Hamilton...The hits just keep on coming!



Doc just gave me his recording of Larry Sparks at Bean Blossom 1977...

Tom Boyd-banjo, dobro; Mike Carter-bass; Doc Hamilton-fiddle



Check it out: frobbi.org/hamiltoncollection.html

robbif - Posted - 07/09/2012:  09:42:31

Another Blockbuster from Doc Hamilton: A jam session with Clarence White, Tony Rice, Bobby Slone, & Larry Rice!



frobbi.org/hamiltoncollection.html



Correction: The Ralph Rinzler Bluegrass Story that was on the Doc Hamilton Collection page is actually from

June 20, 1977 Bean Blossom in the Ken Landreth Collection at frobbi.org/audio/landreth/Bean...ndex.html

Thank to Ken for keeping me honest!

robbif - Posted - 07/10/2012:  11:29:02

robbif - Posted - 07/10/2012:  15:49:56

robbif - Posted - 07/11/2012:  09:03:55

Hi Folks,



Thankfully, Al Osteen's widow Rebecca has confirmed that, "donations are always welcomed."



So I'm adding her address back on the web page frobbi.org/alosteen.html



Rebecca Osteen

790 N. Glassy Mt. Rd.

Landrum, SC 29356 

robbif - Posted - 07/27/2012:  17:52:48

Another historic recording from Doc Hamilton...

34 songs from Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys at Bean Blossom 1957...



frobbi.org/audio/hamilton/Bean...om57.html

robbif - Posted - 07/28/2012:  06:48:03

robbif - Posted - 07/28/2012:  10:21:23

robbif - Posted - 08/09/2012:  07:19:10

I've posted several Grey Fox 2012 videos recently.

The best way to keep track is to subscribe to the Grey Fox YouTube channel...

http://www.youtube.com/user/greyfoxbluegrass#g/u

robbif - Posted - 08/14/2012:  04:12:25

robbif - Posted - 08/17/2012:  15:10:09

From Doc Hamilton: Monroe on the Opry

robbif - Posted - 09/23/2012:  05:51:16

robbif - Posted - 11/20/2012:  06:15:58

Last weekend Lonesome River Band  gave a fantastic concert, presented by my Hudson Valley Bluegrass Association.

Sammy Shelor was so gracious to allow me to record the entire concert and post it on the HVBA's YouTube channel!



Set 1 is ready, with Set 2 hopefully in a few days. You can find them here...



http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=hvbavideo

robbif - Posted - 11/20/2012:  12:53:38

Also, recently at the Hudson Valley Bluegrass Association's Membership Day, good friends and very talented musicians Too Blue gave us an outdoor concert.

Here's one of their sets: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nL14Utq3WI

robbif - Posted - 12/02/2012:  11:33:08

robbif - Posted - 12/06/2012:  06:53:35

Sorry. Thanks for the heads up. I'll check it out right now.

robbif - Posted - 12/07/2012:  07:12:09

Recently, the Hudson Valley Bluegrass Association presented the Lonesome River Band.

The show was fantastic, to say the least. But on top of that, Sammy Shelor graciously allowed me to record and post the entire show!

Here it is for your enjoyment...

Set 1

Set 2

Note, as Sammy mentions during the show, Brandon Rickman had another schedule commitment for the weekend and Ashby Frank sat in for him.

robbif - Posted - 12/10/2012:  17:41:15

Hi Folks,



Ken Landreth surprised me this evening with a whole new bunch of wonderful music; and I posted it as soon as I could.



Have a listen to Christmas on the Radio 1958



All the best!

Fred

robbif - Posted - 12/17/2012:  08:01:51

Just thought I'd summarize my YouTube playlists in case you're interested...

Grey Fox

robbif - Posted - 12/17/2012:  15:11:17

robbif - Posted - 12/19/2012:  04:57:50

Thanks to Bear Acker and longtime friend banjoist Jerry Oland for providing me the cassette and allowing me to add it to my collection.



Bear Acker and Billings Gap - "Dark Highway"

robbif - Posted - 12/30/2012:  10:37:21

robbif - Posted - 01/09/2013:  05:51:10

robbif - Posted - 01/16/2013:  08:49:47

I now have a free "Google Custom Search" for my recordings. It still has growing pains but seems to be working pretty well.

There are still some things I have to do to make it complete.



Please give it a try. Search for festival names, people names, band names, etc.

Short text seems to work better, e.g. Crowe, Monroe, Berkshire.



I'd appreciate any feedback.



As noted, since the search is free, Google throws an ad into the results; but it's not bad, and an obvious different color.



http://frobbi.org/pickingsearch.html



There's also a link to it on my main Picking Page: http://frobbi.org/picking.html



Fred

robbif - Posted - 01/26/2013:  07:15:38

I just posted Part 4 of my Jesse McReynolds videos from Grey Fox 2012.

Here he is playing Okeechobee Wind.

robbif - Posted - 01/28/2013:  06:02:04

Thanks to James Stiltner, I've just added J.E. Mainer, Ed May's Home Studio, Kelsa, VA, 1958

robbif - Posted - 01/31/2013:  05:49:08

Reminder: My latest series of recordings, the Ivor Trueman Collection, has well over 800 MP3s dating from 1954 to 1976! Please check it out. Note all of my files are downloadable. If you need help, go HERE. And don't forget to try my new Search Feature. a work in progress that is about 95% complete so far.

robbif - Posted - 02/03/2013:  16:38:52

Another great one here.



Doc Hamilton has just given me a super-classic recording of his, and I've added it to my Doc Hamilton Collection.



It's JD Crowe & the New South at the Holiday Inn, Lexington, KY in 1975.



JD - banjo, Tony Rice - guitar, Ricky Skaggs - mandolin, Jerry Douglas - dobro, Bobby Slone - bass 

robbif - Posted - 02/06/2013:  07:15:45

Folks,



After being inspired my Doc Hamilton's classic 1975 Holiday Inn recording I recently posted, Ken Landreth contributed one that slightly predates Doc's.



This one is from 1974, just after Ricky Skaggs joined. Read Ken's story and listen here: frobbi.org/audio/landreth/JDCrowe74.html



I have been so blessed to have these great guys take their time to search through their archives, digitize their recordings, and honor me as the one to share them with all of you!

Fred 

robbif - Posted - 02/17/2013:  05:25:18

robbif - Posted - 02/18/2013:  16:05:58

robbif - Posted - 02/24/2013:  09:08:15

Hi Folks,



I have a new sub-collection added to the Ivor Trueman Collection.



Bean Blossom 1972 with about 300 individual songs... http://frobbi.org/audio/ivor/BeanBlossom1972.html



As before, these recordings were collected from other sites, some of which

no longer exist or the links no longer work.



I'm attempting to put them all together in one place that's also searchable.

Note that new items like this won't be searchable until Google "crawls" the

new web pages at some unpredictable time in the near future.



Since I mechanically copied the song and artist information from all that was

collected, there may be some errors (and maybe more introduced by me). So I'd

appreciate any feedback and will try to update the pages as time permits.



Enjoy!

Fred 

robbif - Posted - 02/24/2013:  11:43:46

P.S. In my latest addition, check out the Mandolin Workshop. (Scroll down past the Fiddle Workshop.)

robbif - Posted - 03/01/2013:  07:17:51

Just a quick mention that the Search My Recordings feature seems to be working very well now, including all the recent additions.

Please check it out.

robbif - Posted - 03/06/2013:  07:12:28

Hi Folks,

Take a listen to the March 5 additions to my Ivor Trueman Collection. 

You'll find...

Greenbriar Boys, Nathan's Restaurant, Oceanside, NY, 1962
J.D. Crowe & The New South, Partners II, Centerville, VA, 1975
J.D. Crowe & The New South, Kosei Nenkin Sho Hall, Tokyo, Japan, 1979
Kentucky Colonels, The Cabale, Berkeley, CA, 1964

Don't forget my new search feature.  
Note the most recent additions will not be found until Google "crawls" 
the new web pages in the next few days.

Enjoy,
Fred

robbif - Posted - 03/27/2013:  07:44:06

VIDEO: Jesse McReynolds and El Cumbanchero at Grey Fox 2012

I figured he'd still be "pretty good", but when he tore into this one, I turned away from the camcorder, fist pumped, and had tears in my eyes!

He's still got it!



I've posted these before, but here's a review of the other videos from that workshop:

youtube.com/watch?v=UxJ7u3YGr8Q

youtube.com/watch?v=FaX7S7-XE80

youtube.com/watch?v=XZlsNWmbLQU

youtube.com/watch?v=FFJty_ELTuM

robbif - Posted - 07/25/2013:  05:57:55

Ivor Trueman has acquired some of Chris Wing's tape collection. Ivor says Chris used to play mandolin with Tom Travis.



Today's installment is of the Johnson Mtn Boys on the BBC..



frobbi.org/audio/ivor/JohnsonM...ndex.html

 

robbif - Posted - 07/28/2013:  13:05:36

This morning Ivor Trueman gave me a whole lot more of the Johnson Mtn Boys.

This time it's from the Edale Festival in the UK, including one gospel set from 

their first appearance in 1987 and 4 sets from their 1994 return.

The MC explains that they normally invite a band only once; but the voting brought

the JMB back a second time.

Click here 

robbif - Posted - 08/04/2013:  17:18:48

I'm very happy to be able to make available a Dillards show from the BBC.

It was recorded by the BBC in 1989 and broadcast in 1990.

Chris Wing recorded it off the radio; Ivor Trueman digitized the tapes

and provided me the MP3s.

My thanks go to all I worked with on this project: Ivor, Mitch Jayne's widow Diana,

Doug Dillard's widow Vikki, and the Dillards' producer Lynne, the latter who

graciously gave me permission to share this historic recording with you.

Band members: Mitch Jayne, Dean Webb, Rodney & Doug Dillard, Steve Cooley

Click Here to Listen

robbif - Posted - 08/10/2013:  07:13:46

Regrettably I'm shutting down my audio recordings* for now.

All my videos are still available since they're on YouTube.

I've tried to make most of that clear on my updated recordings page: frobbi.org/picking.html

* There's one available audio exception: the recent Dillards 1990 BBC recording that's on SoundCloud, 

due to a play-only requirement by the publisher. It would be nice to put all of my recordings on SoundCloud 

or some similar service, but it would take literally months to redo my scores of web pages. Plus it would 

cost approx another $140/year whereas I'm only paying $60/year for the current website.

You will see a prompt asking for a password. That's the quickest way I could lock it all out.

I just found out my upload/download quota has apparently been exceeded. I guess it's because of all the 

latest wonderful additions that have been so popular.

But I've just been charged over $1,200 by my website provider for last month!

I did not know I'd exceeded the quota or what that quota was; I do now.

I wasn't able to get through to any of the providers phone numbers, even during their business hours.

I don't know what the solution will, if anything, be. I fear I will not be able to recover the monetary loss.

I'll try to argue with the web provider on Monday. They now offer cheap packages with unlimited data transfer.

Maybe I'll find another provider. Lots of questions and options right now.

I'm so very disappointed in not being able to share everything with you, for now.

I will keep you informed.

robbif - Posted - 08/12/2013:  12:55:39

I talked with Billing today and she said there was nothing much she could do.

She also noted that the next invoice being put together has another $300 on it!

I see that's because the last invoice went through 7/10 and I didn't shut down 

until 8/9 when I saw that invoice. So now I'm up to (or "out") $1,500+ !!!

She recommended I contact Complaints by email, so I'm carefully composing that right now

and expect to send it later today.

I'd hate to do it, but I've had recommendations to use Paypal or Kickstarter, but I don't 

know the tax implications of that approach. Any other suggestions are welcome.

If I switch to their "Unlimited" account (unlimited space and monthly traffic), it'll cost 

$48/year with a 36-month commitment, less than the $60/year I'm paying now. 

More as this saga continues.

robbif - Posted - 08/13/2013:  17:41:37

Hi Folks,



Amidst all my website woes, one silver lining I'm thrilled to announce...



After working with the two artists, I have now released a 2-song sampler

of our Hudson Valley Bluegrass Association's intimate concert with Jim and Rob.



youtube.com/watch?v=MULEXgxvv-...p;index=1



It will also be announced by the HVBA in a few days.



I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!



Fred 

robbif - Posted - 08/14/2013:  11:33:22

Hi Everyone,

I talked to my trusted accountant of many years this morning. He strongly advised me that I 

should not accept any money via any method. There are just too may potential snags. At this 

juncture, after this painful reality check, as much as it hurts, I believe him.

I just received a response from the Complaints Dept. They offered to refund my latest bill of

$307. I again asked them to refund the previous bill of $1,236, but they would not budge. I 

accepted the offer. 

I just switched to the package with unlimited space and upload/download traffic. I thought it

was $48/year, but that was for first-timers. I'll pay $84/year. I should be back online 

tomorrow (Thur). For now it's the cheapest, simplest, easiest, and most reliable way to get 

back online soon, since I have so many web pages that might have to be changed if I used any 

other approach. Once the dust settles, I may use other additional methods recommended by my 

(better-than-me) tech buddies.

Meanwhile, I'm getting ready to volunteer with my usual videographer act at the Rhythm & Roots 

Festival in Rhode Island over Labor Day Weekend.

My continued thanks for all your encouraging comments, ideas, and offers. One good thing has

come out of this mess: I'm so gratified at how much my efforts are appreciated. I've always

said that's exactly what makes it worthwhile.

Will keep you posted.

Fred

robbif - Posted - 08/14/2013:  14:50:16

Back in Business!

frobbi.org/picking.html

Thanks everyone!

Fred

robbif - Posted - 08/17/2013:  18:51:24

Reminder: Take a Fresh Look at My Recordings

I just took a look and found I have over 2,300 MP3s!



Many are single songs, but a good number are multi-song and complete sets.



So, now that I have unlimited download, please take a fresh look and some

time to go through the selections, especially the Collections. For example,

the Landreth Collection has 115 MP3s and the Ivor Trueman Collection has 1,900!



Start at frobbi.org/picking.html



And search for your favorite artist, song or instrument at frobbi.org/pickingsearch.html

The latter feature works pretty well, but I'll be making it better.



I welcome you to download and provide directions how to do it..



So please dive in and enjoy yourself.



Fred

robbif - Posted - 09/29/2013:  14:26:54

Another gem recorded from the BBC by Chris Wing and digitized by Ivor Trueman...



frobbi.org/audio/ivor/Stanley-...ndex.html



Ivor says...



I guess this'd be significant as it's presumably either one of the last gigs where Ralph played all the banjo or one of the first with Steve Sparkman?

It's mentioned that Ralph was in a wheelchair - but there's no mention of Steve Sparkman.

robbif - Posted - 09/29/2013:  14:44:36

I'm proud to have contributed to this video production that was shown at the IBMA this week. Thanks to all my fellow media volunteers who contributed, especially good friend and  Grey Fox Media Crew Chief Steve Ide for putting it all together!

robbif - Posted - 10/31/2013:  10:45:20

I'm thrilled to share with you a recording from longtime friend Robert Pool. Robert (bass) and

another longtime friend, Tim Duran (mandolin) [both with the Arm Bros. when I met them in the early 1970s],

along with Tommy Boyd (banjo), were onstage with Larry Sparks at the Delaware PA, Festival in 1976.

According to Robert, the recording, by Jim Baldwin (now deceased), has never been heard until now.



Listen to Larry Sparks 1976