Recordings Will Take Place at Storied CMA Theater February 24 and 25
Nashville, TN – The Earls of Leicester, the Grammy award-winning, critically acclaimed sextet founded by 14-time Grammy winner Jerry Douglas, has announced a two night run at Country Music Hall of Fame’s CMA Theater, February 24 and 25.
The two night performance is special for the band as the recordings will be used for a live album due later this year.
“This two night stand in the CMA Theater at the Country Music Hall of Fame is a celebration for the Earls of Leicester – as exciting as when Flatt and Scruggs played Vanderbilt University and Carnegie Hall rolled into one,” says Douglas. “We will be debuting songs new to our repertoire and rolling out a few surprises as we videotape and record the culmination of five years of work in our mission to re-educate, and in many cases, reveal this body of work for the first time.”
The live album will follow the band’s 2016 release Rattle & Roar and their eponymous 2014 album, which won the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album and scored them four International Bluegrass Music Association Awards for Entertainer of the Year, Album of the Year, Instrumental Group of the Year, and Gospel Recorded Performance.
The Earls’ of Leicester oeuvre features songs originally recorded by bluegrass giants Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. In addition to Douglas, the band features some of bluegrass & country’s finest musicians, including singer and guitarist Shawn Camp, bassist Barry Bales, fiddler Johnny Warren, banjo player Charlie Cushman, and mandolinist Jeff White.
NPR Fresh Air’s Ken Tucker said “This album, Rattle And Roar, lives up to its title. It rattles and roars as frequently as it howls and croons. You begin to appreciate the way The Earls have taken this music, much of it from Flatt and Scruggs recordings in the 1950s and ’60s, and turned each song over — looking at it from different angles, deconstructing the essence of the melody and the lyric, and reassembling it for a new generation of listeners. The result is music that sounds as vital as any kind of popular music being made today.”
Acoustic Guitars’ Kenny Berkowitz notes “Charlie Cushman (banjo, guitar) is astonishingly good, but more than that, he’s well-matched by Barry Bales (bass), Shawn Camp (lead vocals, guitar), Johnny Warren (fiddle) and Jeff White (mandolin), and surpassed only by Jerry Douglas, who remains the greatest player the Dobro has ever known.”
Writing in culture blog Austin 360, Austin American Statesman critic Joe Gross proclaimed the Earls “bluegrass ninjas,” while No Depression‘s Lee Zimmerman praises the Earls’ “wholly unassuming blend of authentic down home mountain music, traditional bluegrass, and the solemn sounds of gospel stirred with reverence and authenticity,” and concludes “all praise is due these Earls. Long may they rule.”
The Earls of Leicester will also tour select cities during the month of February. A full list of dates is below.
The Earls of Leicester On Tour
2/15/2018 Carolina Theatre Durham, NC
2/17/2018 Rodeheaver Boys Ranch (Palatka Bluegrass Festival) Palatka, FL
2/19/2018 Capitol Theatre Clearwater, FL
2/20/2018 City Winery Atlanta, GA
2/22/2018 Lexington Opera House Lexington, KY
2/24-25/2018 Country Music Hall of Fame CMA Theater Nashville, TN