No, this is not the Reno mentioned by Johnny Cash in "Folsom Prison Blues"

July 18, 2006

I just received a call from my wife and daughter.

WIFE: Bluegrass?!? A whole hour?!?

Since I quit recoding old episodes of "Beavis and Butt-Head" (primarily for their comments on the videos), the only thing that I have set for automated recording (at least until the English Premier League starts up again) is the RFD TV/Blue Highways TV show "Reno's Old Time Music Festival".

Bluegrass is the fastest growing form of music in America today and is also one of the oldest original American genres. Reno’s Old Time Music Festival is spearheading that growth with one of the most dynamic acoustical music programs on television.

Host Ronnie Reno is regularly joined by such legends as Dr. Ralph Stanley, Mac Wiseman, The Osborne Brothers and stars like Lonesome River Band, Claire Lynch, III Tyme Out and Rhonda Vincent.

Reno’s Old Time Music Festival contains a variety of special segments including live guest performances, historical Bluegrass footage, improvisational jam sessions and in-depth interviews.

Reno’s Old Time Music Festival, the music that has always been "unplugged".

From Ronnie Reno's website:

In the family tradition Ronnie called upon his younger brothers...and formed The Reno Brothers Band. From twenty years of playing with some of the musical greats in both Bluegrass and Country music, Ronnie’s experience led him to create his own unique sound. That, he realized, is what creates legends in any musical genre. For the next fifteen years, Ronnie Reno and the Reno Brothers toured together and played most of the major Bluegrass Venues and Festivals in the country.

During this time Ronnie also created, produced, and starred in his own cable television show, Reno’s Old Time Music Festival. Ronnie’s talents and the success of the show were rewarded with a nomination for television’s prestigious Cable Ace Award for Best Musical Series.

The best song that I ever heard on that show was a version of "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around" by the New Coon Creek Girls, done completely a cappella in a frightening, scary way. Here's how the New Coon Creek Girls sang the song:

I ain't gonna let nobody, turn me around
Turn me around, turn me around
I ain't gonna let nobody, turn me around
I'm gonna keep on a walking, keep on a talking
Going to a brand new home

It turns out that this song has had recent fame as a protest/Freedom Riders/Joan Baez type of song, with slightly different lyrics. I can't find any evidence that the New Coon Creek Girls ever recorded their version of the song, though.

P.S. This is part of the reason that my Yahoo! LAUNCHcast station primarily plays a mixture of bluegrass and trance. If I ever find a bluegrass trance (acoustica?) band, I'm flying to their shows.