Dixie Flyers
Gig Seeker Pro

Dixie Flyers

Band Country Bluegrass

Calendar

This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

Music

Press


"Bill Speaks"

"...the Dixie Flyers play good bluegrass, they play it the right way." - Bill Monroe


"Bluegrass Unlimited"

"...the Dixie Flyers have a long established reputation for good-natured, entertaining live shows with a consistently high standard of musicianship." - Bluegrass Unlimited


"London Free Press"

"a Dixie Flyers concert, that's entertainment..." - London Free Press


"Canadian Bluegrass Magazine"

"if you know Canadian Bluegrass, you know the Dixie Flyers..." - Canadian Bluegrass Magazine


Discography

THE DIXIE FLYERS
Right On Track
Flat Top Records
(14 Selections – Playing Time 43:19)
London, Ontario-based The Dixie Flyers, are one of Canadian bluegrass music’s seminal bands, dating back to the early 1970’s. Their series of albums on the Boot Records label during their early 80’s heydays, remain as classic examples of the best in Canadian bluegrass, and the bands influence has filtered through to today’s new generation in the genre. Personnel in the band has changed through the years, but the one constant has been founding members Bert Baumbach and Ken Palmer, who continue the handle the lead vocals. On this latest release, Baumbach (guitar) and Palmer (mandolin) are joined by Paul Hurdle (banjo), Rick Thompson (bass), John P. Allen and Peter Robertson on fiddles and Al Widmeyer on dobro. Although it’s been a while since we’ve been served with some new music by The Dixie Flyers, the title of this new album is confirmation that nothing has changed…The Dixie Flyers are still Right On Track (the vinyl kind, that is).

Bert Baumbach’ gritty and sometimes gruff vocal style is perfect for delivering the mix of country and bluegrass material that is presented here. Baumbach (and the ‘Flyers’, have always been able to incorporate traditional country tunes into their bluegrass repertoire, and on this outing we get three Merle Haggard tunes, Rainbow Stew, Ramblin’ Fever and a particularly right-on version of The Way It Was In ’51. Also featured is a version of Amanda, popularized by Don Williams and by Waylon Jennings; and there’s also a catchy version of the Vern Gosdin hit, Right In The Wrong Direction.

Hardcore bluegrass fans will like the three instrumentals – U.S. 15, Bye Bye Blues and Wild Card; as well as the Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs classic, I’m Gonna Sleep With One Eye Open (more recently covered by Hot Rize and by Dolly Parton); Love Of the Mountains, a modern day bluegrass standard recorded by Lost & Found (and also covered before by Seldom Scene, Larry Sparks, etc.); and the Jimmy Martin hit, Mary Ann, also recently done by The Lonesome River Band.

Just a great bluegrass album…and The Dixie Flyers are still Right On Track.


Photos

Bio

for live video...
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Dixie+Flyers

What can be said about a band that has been playing since 1974??..When the Flyers started…. Trudeau was prime minister…Nixon was president…the Vietnam war was still going…Bill Monroe was 63….Dale Earnhardt Jr. was just being born….”Chinatown was in all the theatres…”Happy Days “ was in its’ first season…

So….a brand new recording project…”Right on Track”…a reflection of what they have been doing in the last five years…same old….same old…not with the Flyers…

The only predictable thing about the Dixie Flyers is that….they are unpredictable…like their heroes, Bill Monroe, Jimmy Martin, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs … always looking for something fresh and different… putting their spin on the music that they love…..

Bert Baumbach and Ken Palmer met in a record store in London, Ontario..in March of 1974…Bert was looking a new bluegrass artist named Larry Sparks...a friendship was born…

Since that day….the Dixie Flyers have accomplished many things that were thought impossible for a Canadian Bluegrass band……nine recordings on Boot, Stony Plain and their own Flat-top labels……their own weekly radio show for BX-93 (CJBX-Fm),London-”Live From the Wellington” for 5 years….…a syndicated Television series-Bluegrass Express (guests included the Country Gentlemen, Tony Rice, Graham Townsend)……traveling and touring Canada in their own custom fitted highway coach….…running their own Bluegrass festival-Back 40 in Woodstock, Ontario….…their groundbreaking appearance at Bean Blossom on the invitation of Bill Monroe"...the Dixie Flyers play good bluegrass, they play it the right way."…many appearances on national radio and television..CBC Radio’s “Morningside” with Peter Gzsowski always a favourite….…being included in “Canadian Encyclopedia of Music in Canada”……and producing a consistent ,high quality show with top notched players and singers… … the Flyers’ alumni reads like a who’s who’s of Canadian music scene….Bert Baumbach (guitar) Canadian Bluegrass Entertainer of the Year, and Ken Palmer(mandolin), former CBC Radio host of “the Country Music Perspective”…Gordon Stobbe- host and fiddle guru of ATV’s ”Up Home Tonight”, Peter Robertson, 7-time Juno winner John P. Allen of Prairie Oyster (violin), David Zdriluk, Brian Abbey, Luke Maynard and Rick Thompson (bass), and Canadian banjo legend Denis Lepage, David Jack, two time Grammy nominee David Talbot of Grascals/Dolly Parton fame, former Ontario banjo champion, the late Walter Maynard and Paul Hurdle on banjo plus Allan Widmeyer(the Old Houndog) and Darin Parise(dobro) plus legendary songwriter/Juno winner Willie P. Bennett and Mike Ethelston (harmonica)……but all the Flyers’ alumni will tell you….it was a team effort…and always a lot of laughs