Grammy Nominated Albums Make Great Gifts!

Grammy Nomination for Micheal Martin Murphy

"Buckaroo Blue Grass"

nominated for Best Bluegrass Album

Rural Rhythm Records is very proud to announce Michael Martin Murphey’s GRAMMY® nomination for BEST BLUEGRASS ALBUM, “BUCKAROO BLUE GRASS” released last February. "We are so happy for Murph on his Grammy® Album Nomination! He has worked so hard to get his bluegrass album done right in a way that honors, respects and maintains the integrity of bluegrass music and at the same time presents his classic songs in a new and fresh Buckaroo Blue Grass style. Certainly having some of today's top bluegrass artists performing on the album has helped accomplish Murph's vision for the Buckaroo Blue Grass album,” said Rural Rhythm Records President, Sam Passamano, Jr.

This Billboard™ TOP 50 BLUEGRASS chart album (retail sales) album has received other impressive attention this year including holding the #1 spot on the Roots Music Bluegrass Report (airplay) for three weeks in a row last month. CMT.com recently posted a feature article “Michael Martin Murphey Embraced by Bluegrass”, plus named the album in their Top 10 Independent Releases Worth Checking Out article earlier this year.

“BUCKAROO BLUE GRASS” includes numerous fan favorites including, “Carolina in the Pines,” “Lone Cowboy,” and many more. Another track from the album, “Close to the Land (America’s Heartland),” is now in its fourth year as the theme song for the national hit television show America’s Heartland, and also includes a VIDEO RELEASE. This music video includes images from Paul Mobley’s book, THE AMERICAN FARMER - a recent winner of the Book of the Year Award from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.

Murphey was extremely grateful for the nomination and said, “It’s wonderful to be mentioned as a Grammy® nominee in the company of people like Steve Martin who has done so much for the bluegrass genre this year. I am so thankful to the Producer, my son, Ryan Murphey and Patt Flynn who organized the players (Sam Bush, Rob Ickes, Charlie Cushman, Andy Leftwich, Ronnie McCoury, Ryan Murphey, Craig Nelson, Pat Flynn, Tim Stidolph, Clay Riness, Matt Wilkes, David Davidson), Keith Compton (Engineer), and Rhonda Vincent who provided vocals and is also a Grammy® nominee in the same category.”

“I’m very grateful to all of the bluegrass bands that have recorded my songs over the years. I’m so blessed to have the support of my real family including my wife Karen, plus my new adopted family, Rural Rhythm Records that includes all the Passamano family and Penni McDaniel. I’m thankful for my Agent, Mike Drudge who introduced me to the Rural Rhythm family. He keeps us very busy on the road and I appreciate the support from PLA Media as well," he continued.

Murphey's performances were extremely well received during the recent International Bluegrass Music Association’s World of Bluegrass convention held in Nashville. Fans were thrilled when he appeared on stage with #1 bluegrass artist, Carrie Hassler, to perform a duet of “WILDFIRE,” and also “RUNNING GUN” with bluegrass veteran, Audie Blaylock & Redline. Both of these new single releases will appear on “BUCKAROO BLUE GRASS II (Riding Song) set for a February 9, 2010 release.

Many fans have been curious about the spelling of “BLUE GRASS” on the CD instead of “bluegrass” so record label President, Sam Passamano previously explained, "When Murph and I were developing the cover art for ‘BUCKAROO BLUE GRASS’, I mentioned that it would be cool if we used the old school alternative spelling for Blue Grass that can be found on many classic albums by our Bluegrass Legends and many of our Rural Rhythm titles released in the 60's that almost always used this ‘Blue Grass alternative spelling. Murph thought that this would be a nice touch to connect something from the genres past to the present as he delivers his own Bluegrass style to many of the well known and loved, Michael Martin Murphey classic songs.”

Rural Rythm Records

Find Micheal Martin Murphy's Grammy nominated album at Hitching Post Supply. It's a great addition to anyones Bluegrass collection.

Featured Craftsman!

Today we'd like to introduce you to craftsman, Refugio Morales (Reef). Reef is the talented maker of the Hand Turned Wood Pens that we are carrying at Hitching Post Supply. We asked Reef to tell us a little about himself and his work and this is what he had to share...

"Coming from a hard working migrant family, I was exposed to a great deal of woodworking items made by my father. Some of which included hand carved wood spoons, knick-knack shelves, bookcases and more. To this day he still enjoys working with wood when he has the chance. As for myself, my first exposure to woodworking came in the sixth grade when I was tasked with making a stagecoach for history class. Needless to say, at this young age, it was primarily built by my father. The first "real" project I can claim as being built by me was a rustic foot stool in shop class during high school. After a couple smaller projects later, I basically took a hiadus from woodworking until I built my own house several years later.

The hobby became a craft when my wife and I built a new home. I took on the task of building all the cabinetry, which included a kitchen, dry bar, coffee bar, and cabinets in our master suite and upstairs bath. Along with the cabinetry, I also took on the finish work, and to this day I still don't know why they call it finish work, it took me 6 years to "finish".

In the summer of 2006, workforce reduction gave me the opportunity to decide to further develop my woodworking skills. I was introduced to pen turning by a business supply owner and set forth to equip my shop with the neccessary tooling. My previous employment duties consisted of designing precision equipment and the transition to the lower tolerances of the art of woodworking made for some projects taking longer than they should. My wife would shake her head when I would sit at my PC to make a graphic model of a bookcase or shelf, but I believe it's that attention to detail that gives me the satisfaction of finishing a piece of work whether it's a pen or a bookcase. I recently read the following quote on a suppliers website; "Quality is when a customer comes back, not the product" and I intend on making my products with that philosophy in mind."

Refugio Morales Jr.

Check out Refugio's hand turned pens on the Hitching Post Supply website. They make a great gift for that special person on your Christmas list!