Missy Werner

Hello!  Thanks for stopping by!  Good things just keep happening   Last month, for the first time in my life, I sang at the World Famous Station Inn in Nashville!  It was something that I had always wanted to do and, when Chris Jones and the Nightdrivers invited me to sing with them there, I was thrilled!  Here we are with another one of my favorite musicians, Paul Kramer, on fiddle.

The next few days were spent in Leadership Bluegrass.  The International Bluegrass Music Assocation created this highly interactive program to bring people together from all facets of the bluegrass music industry for an intense, three day experience.  I was delighted to be chosen to participate in this year’s class and it was life-changing for me.  The idea is to foster a better overall understanding of the state of the industry and to motivate people who are committed to bluegrass music to share perspectives and ideas.  Spending time with all of these consummate professionals gave me an appreciation for the industry as a whole and a sense of community that I never felt before.  I came away from this event rejuvenated and I know that we forged friendships that will last a lifetime.   I am proud to be a member of the Leadership Bluegrass Class of 2013!  Best class ever

 

The following week, the band and I traveled back to Nashville to begin recording our new CD at Rec Room Studio.  We recorded four songs and I’m happy to report that all have been mixed and we’re ready to begin work on the next group of songs.  We have chosen 14 songs in all for the new project and I absolutely love our new material.  I simply can’t wait to share it with you.  Stay tuned and I’ll keep you posted!

 

Wow, I have so many things I want to share with you, I don’t know where to start!  I guess the best place to start is with our chart action.  We are delighted to announce that our latest CD, Three Kinds of Lonesome, came in at number 22 on the Roots Music Report’s Top 100 Albums of 2012 and we are in great company!  Here’s a link to the chart:  http://rootsmusicreport.com/index.php?page=2012_year_end_chart&genre=bluegrass .

Our show at Plain Folk Cafe in January went very well.  Vicki and John, the hard-working owners of the Plain Folk Cafe, love their bluegrass and they make everyone feel right at home.  The food is wonderful, they have music several nights a week, and they host a jam session on Sundays.   Here’s a photo (many thanks to our friend, Bob Sheets):

Unfortunately, our recording session last month had to be rescheduled due to illness (that bug that was nasty!), but have no fear.   We have rescheduled the session for next month and we are ready to go!  These new songs are fantastic and we also have a Carter Stanley song for you that I absolutely adore.

My heart goes out to our guitarist and dear friend, Tim Strong, whose father passed away on January 31.  George Strong loved bluegrass music and instilled that love in his sons.  We will all miss him very much.

I have some pictures to share with you from SPBGMA.  SPBGMA is the Society for the Preservation of BlueGrass Music in America and every year they have a convention in Nashville at the end of January.  Hundreds of bluegrass musicians descend upon the Sheraton Music City on Thursday and the music doesn’t stop until Sunday night.  We had a great time and made a lot of new friends along the way.  I was thrilled to be asked to sing with Chris Jones and the Night Drivers on their showcase.  The lovely and talented (and sweet as can be) Emily Bankester and I provided background vocals along with CJND’s own Mark Stoffel for the Night Drivers’ new single Wolf Creek Pass.  We had a blast!  Here are a couple of photos of us rehearsing and performing together, thanks to my new friend, Phil Bankester.

Rehearsing backstage: L to R – Emily Bankester, Mark Stoffel, Missy Werner, Chris Jones, Ned Luberecki, and Jon Weisberger

Performing Wolf Creek Pass!

I love going through the trade show at SPBGMA.  It’s a great place to visit with friends and try out the latest instruments and gear.  I picked up a new Blue Chip pick and some of my friend David Harvey’s extraordinary Jubillee polish for my mandolin.  Artie and I also stopped by the Bluegrass Today booth to chat with our friends, Katy Daley and John Lawless.    Here a photo of us.  What a photogenic group

L to R:  Artie Werner, Katy Daley, John Lawless, Missy Werner

There is always an abundance of great jam sessions at SPBGMA and this year was no exception.  My mandolin got a serious workout!  I can’t even begin to list all of the fantastic musicians that I was blessed to get to sing and play with, but here’s a photo from very late Saturday night in the lobby of the hotel.  Thanks again to Phil Bankester for the photo.  I love it!

What a jam!  Robert Bowlin, Paul Kramer, Missy Werner, Greg Cahill, Wil Maring, Jon Weisberger

 Great things are happening!  I will keep you posted on our recording progress.  Thanks for stopping by!

 

2013 already?  My, how time flies!  We had a wonderful time over the holidays spending time with our families and we hope you did too.  Christmas always makes me reflect on life and how blessed we are.  Sometimes it’s nice just to stand and listen to the snow fall.  Beautiful!

We are excited to be getting back in the studio this year.  Our first recording session for the new album is January 26th at The Rec Room Studio in Nashville with engineer extraordinaire Ben Surratt at the helm.  I’m delighted to have my dear friend and mentor, Jon Weisberger, producing this project.  The songwriters have been busy and we have a great many fantastic songs from which to choose.  We have selected four so far to record at the end of this month.  We had our first rehearsal this week and it went fabulously!  Stay tuned and thanks for stopping by!

We’ve got some exciting gigs this month!  Here’s a video promoting our show at Bobby Mackey’s in Wilder, KY on November 24th (Thanksgiving weekend).  If you’ve never been there, you’re in for a treat, complete with mechanical bull and honky tonk attitude   It’s a really great place!

Missy Werner Band promo for Bobby Mackey’s

I’m thrilled to announce that we are gathering material for a new Missy Werner Band album!  We’ve got some great songwriters on board already and I love the new songs that they’re sending us, so look for our new project next year.  Our producer, Jon Weisberger, has some great ideas for some special guests too.  Of course, I’ll keep you posted on our progress.  I can’t wait to get back in the studio!

On a personal note, I’m having a birthday this month and I plan on celebrating by going to see the new James Bond movie.  I love all of the Bond films and I’m already smitten with the new theme song for this one.  Fun!

Take care and thanks for stopping by our website!

-M

We had a fantastic time in Nashville!  It was a very eventful week and I’m thrilled to have so many great memories to cherish.  One of the highlights of my week was getting to meet one of the most influential and ground-breaking women in Bluegrass, Lynn Morris.  I was beside myself when she came to see Chris Jones and the Night Drivers at a late night showcase and I had been asked to sing harmony with them.  Afterwards, I met Lynn and gave her a copy of our latest CD, explaining that we had recorded “Blue Skies and Teardrops” in her honor.   She was exceptionally gracious and kind.   Here’s a photo that I love!

 

This year was the last year (at least for a while) that the IBMA Awards were held at the Ryman Auditorium.  Just walking into the Ryman, the Mother Church, gives me chills because I’m always reminded of all of the icons who have set foot on that stage and how much music lives there.  I snapped this photo before the Awards show began.

We left the convention inspired and excited to get started on our new CD project.  We talked to several great songwriters and we’re gathering material now.  Stay tuned for more details!

 

 

We had a great time in August!  Thank all of you who came out to see us at Bluegrass in the Park in Henderson, KY and at the Tri-State Bluegrass Festival in Kendallville, IN and everywhere in between.  We appreciate your support.  Take a look at our facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/missywernerband for more information about past and upcoming shows.

We’re preparing for IBMA World of Bluegrass in Nashville, TN at the end of this month.  We look forward to this week-long event including a business conference, awards show, and fan fest every year.  The Missy Werner Band is delighted to be co-sponsoring the DJ and Artists Reception on Tuesday, September 25 from 1:45pm to 3:15pm in room 206 of the Nashville Convention Center.  We’d love to see you there!

We’re also excited to be part of the Kentucky Wool Festival this year in Falmouth, KY on October 5th.  This one is near and dear to my heart because I played it many years ago as a part of my dad’s band.  There are lots of crafts, great music, and wonderful fair food (the caramel apples are my favorite) so come on out and enjoy!  For more information, visit http://kywoolfest.org/index.html .

Thanks for checking in!

-M

 

 

August is going to be an exciting month for us!  On August 10th, we’ll be playing at the Bluegrass in the Park Folklife Festival at Audubon Mill Park in Henderson, KY.  It’s a beautiful venue with a fantastic lineup and we are excited to be a part of it this year.  On August 18th, we’ll be playing at Willie’s Locally Known in Lexington, KY.  They have great food and they really love their bluegrass.  On August 25th, we’ll be playing a private party in Greenville, OH.  Finally, on August 31st and September 1st, we’ll be playing at the Tri-State Bluegrass Festival in Kendallville, IN which is hosted by the Northern Indiana Bluegrass Music Association.  This is a festival with a rich heritage and we are delighted to perform there.  We hope to see you at one of these events.  Thanks to all of our fans, the DJs, and the promoters for everything that you do.  We sincerely appreciate your support.   See you on the road!

We are delighted to find our names on the IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) second round ballot in the categories of Emerging Artist of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year.  I know it sounds trite, but it truly is an honor just to appear on the ballot.  This has been our best year yet and we have all of our fans, the DJs, and the promoters to thank for that.  I am humbled and thankful for all of the opportunities we have had this year and we have a lot of great shows coming up.  Take a look at our calendar and come and see us when you can.  We are playing at Essenhaus in Middlebury, IN this weekend and we have two festivals booked in August.  I can’t wait!  Thanks again for stopping by and for your support of The Missy Werner Band!  To all IBMA voting members, sincerest thanks for your votes and please consider us in the second round.

Thanks for stopping by our band page!  For my first ever blog entry, I thought I would tell you all about our experience at the World Choir Games.

Last week, all four members of the Missy Werner Band were honored to perform in the opening ceremonies of the World Choir Games with the Comet Bluegrass All-Stars.  The World Choir Games can be described as the Olympics of singing.  It’s difficult for me to describe the experience because it was so intense on so many levels.  We performed at US Bank Arena in Cincinnati, OH for a crowd of 17,000+ people from all over the world.  I believe that 65 countries were represented.  For many of the people who gathered for this event, it would be their first (and perhaps their only) visit to America.  For the vast majority, it was probably their first exposure to bluegrass music as well and I hope that they enjoyed hearing our songs as much as we enjoyed performing for them.  It gives me great joy to know that we represented America and bluegrass music to the world.  We performed (and I sang) Back Up and Push with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra backing us up. Conductor John Morris Russell invited us to perform and he is one of the most charismatic people I’ve ever met.  The entire experience was surreal.  The theme of the World Choir Games is that music can bring people around the world together in harmony.  I totally agree and I was honored and humbled by the opportunity to sing for this prestigious gathering of vocalists.

Here are some photos from big screen at the event.  Thanks again for stopping by our page!

Welcome to our relaunch of the blog. We’ve added some video, some songs you can listen to and you can now join our mailing list. Also, don’t forget to follow us on Facebook at The Missy Werner Band.