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INDIO,
Calif. -- James
Dee Crowe has been actively performing bluegrass music since 1957.
He uses his initials J.D. as his stage name. Over the course of
the last 55 years, Crowe has performed alongside band members
like Keith Whitley, Ricky Skaggs, Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas, and
Doyle Lawson. J.D. Crowe and the New South's latest album, Lefty's
Old Guitar, was released in 2006. The group is set to perform
at Stagecoach: California's Country Music Festival. JD Crowe &
The New South takes the stage at 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 28
at the Empire Polo Club.
"I
was just trying to find something different that everybody could
remember," J.D. Crowe said about the name of his band. "It
also pertains to a certain kind of music."
Who are
some of the bands that sound like what you guys do?
"Well,
I don't know if they sound like us or if we sound like them,"
he explained. "The newer bands dislike what we did when we
were coming into the business. You always have somebody that you
emulate and you kind of try to sound like them. Then, you realize
you've got to have your own needle. I guess a lot of bands came
out from doing our material when they were first starting, probably.
That's the way things evolve as far as bands being different."
Can you
give me some highlights of your latest album, Lefty's Old
Guitar?
"Of
course, that album has been out for three or four years,"
Crowe added. "That particular song was brought into the band
by my guitar player, Rickey Wasson. I had not heard the song.
He had heard it somewhere and he remembered the words and he sung
it to me. Lefty Frizzell was one of my favorite singers. When
I heard that, I thought, that is a different song. It was written
different. It was not like every other song you hear. I said,
'We need to record that and we did.' It did well for us."
I see
that album was released in 2006. Are you guys working on a new
record?
"No,
not right at the present," the bluegrass musician said. "That's
a possibility. I'm not really sure right now, exactly what's going
on in the future."
What's
the story behind your latest single?
"Well,
we don't do singles anymore," he explained. "CD's is
what we do. The latest song is on the Lefty's Old Guitar
album. That's our latest thing. That song was written by a couple
of friends of mine that live here in Lexington, Ky. It was around
for 20 years and nobody every recorded it. That's how the singer
my group, Rickey Wasson, heard that song somewhere."
Can you
give me a preview of your upcoming performance at the Stagecoach
festival?
"The
same thing we usually do every place else," Crowe answered.
"You get on stage and do your thing. We try to do the songs
that we recorded and stay with that. We might throw in a couple
of others, somebody else has done that we've been doing. Mostly,
it's our own material that we do. It's bluegrass. Of course, I've
recorded some country stuff before. This will probably be more
bluegrass."
Will this
be your first time playing at the festival in Indio, Calif.?
"No,
this will be our second time," the banjo player and bandleader
said. "I think our first time was about two or three years
ago. I can't keep up with it, but we've played it before."
What's
your advice to fans who will be attending the Stagecoach festival
for the first time?
"I
would say you've missed one heck of a show," he added. "It's
probably one of the best festivals I've ever been at and been
able to enjoy. There's all kinds of music there. I hope to see
a lot of my friends there and all of the bands that we've met
throughout the years and meet some new people."
Look for
J.D. Crowe and the New South to perform at Stagecoach on Saturday,
April 28 at 3 p.m.
For
more information about J.D. Crowe and the New South, visit their
official website at www.jdcrowe.net.
Related
Story: '80s
country/rock band The Unforgiven to reunite for Stagecoach show
Logo
credit: Stagecoach Festival
For
more information about Stagecoach: California's Country Music
Festival, visit www.stagecoachfestival.com.
