Latest News SPBGMA Song of the Year Nashville, TN (02.04.08) JD Crowe and The New South carried home the 2008 SPBGMA Song of the Year award for "Lefty's Old Guitar." The awards show was held February 3rd, 2008 at the Sheraton Music City Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. SPBGMA Nominations Announced Nashville, TN (12.14.07) The nominees for the 34th Annual SPBGMA Bluegrass Music Awards are posted and "Lefty's Old Guitar" has landed in two categories: Song of the Year(title track) and Album of the Year. JD Crowe is nominated for Banjo Performer of the Year. The awards show will take place February 3rd, 2008 at the Sheraton Music City Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. Grammy Nomination For "Lefty's Old Guitar" Los Angeles, CA (12.06.07) The nominees for the 50th Annual Grammy Awards were announced today and the nominees for the Best Bluegrass Album are: Lefty’s Old Guitar - JD Crowe & The New South Cherryholmes II Black And White - Cherryholmes The Bluegrass Diaries - Jim Lauderdale Scenechronized - Seldom Scene Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular - Tony Trischka The Grammy Awards will be televised February 10, 2008 on CBS at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Rural Rhythm Records Signs Dwight McCall Nashville, TN (1.10.07) Rural Rhythm Records is proud to announce they have picked up Dwight McCall’s new album and will release the first single, Blue Eyed Boston Boy, on The Prime Cuts of Bluegrass, Volume 86 March 15, 2007. The album, Never Say Never Again will be released April 24, 2007 and includes guests, Alan Bibey, Steve Gulley, Lou Reid, Rickey Wasson, Ron Stewart, Harold Nixon, Randy Kohrs, Brian Stephens and Missy Werner. McCall said, "I am absolutely thrilled to have been asked to join the family at Rural Rhythm Records and to be involved with a label who has such a great history in Bluegrass Music.” “Dwight’s powerful tenor vocals have placed him in an elite group of today’s top bluegrass singers and landed him in one of today’s top bluegrass groups, J. D. Crowe and The New South! His first solo album turned a lot of heads and we are very excited about being a part of his new and future albums,” said Sam Passamano, President of Rural Rhythm. McCall is the son of bluegrass veteran and Rural Rhythm artist, Jim McCall of famed Earl Taylor & Jim McCall with the Stoney Mountain Boys. Taylor & McCall recorded three albums for Rural Rhythm in the mid-to-late 60's. McCall is the son of bluegrass veteran and Rural Rhythm artist, Jim McCall Many of those songs are represented in Rural Rhythm’s Sound Traditions Collection packages. Passamano also said, “Dwight is a perfect fit for Rural Rhythm bridging our rich past history, Earl Taylor & Jim McCall, with our present. He delivers a fresh contemporary new tradition bluegrass sound as a new generation artist that appeals to all ages.” Never Say Never Again has several original tunes by McCall including, Don't Break My Heart Again, a gospel tune, He Never Turned Away, and also the touching Goodbye My Friend, that pays tribute to McCall’s brother who died in a car wreck in 2000. McCall has compiled a great mix of songwriters including but not limited to, Mike Evans, Jon Weisberger, Brink Brinkman, Michael Martin Murphey and the title track written by Wayne Winkle and Craig Market. The most interesting selection is Time of Our Lives written by the techno dance DJ Paul Van Dyk from Germany. McCall explains, “I heard this song playing on HBO one night while I was sleeping and it woke me up. It was real slow so I just sped it up and tried to keep it as close to the melody as I could. It's just about living in the present and enjoying life and living it.”