News Releases

Updated May 25, 2006

For immediate release:


Dick Kimmel is currently completing a duo recording with DKC vocalist, Jerilyn Kjellberg.  The release is slated for later in 2006.  

Dick's last CD release, 6th recording for Copper Creek Records, is "Dick Kimmel & Co - My Lord Keeps a Record" (Copper Creek Records CCCD-0240).  This recording is an all-gospel CD featuring the full  lineup for Dick Kimmel & Co along with guest artist, Becky Buller, who added the fiddle tracks.  The recording includes Kimmel gospel orginals "It's Never Too Late" and "Door to Door to Heaven."  

Reviews of this album include, "Dick has been honored as an 'Ambassador of Bluegrass' in 1994 and it's easy to hear the energy and enthusiasm his band brings to the music...Definitely a must for fans of well done gospel music."
   - California Bluegrass Association, B. Hough (July 5, 2005)

For more information on Dick Kimmel & Co and this recording visit:

      http://www.dickkimmel.com

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Dick Kimmel's 5th European tour included his long-time duo partner, Adam Granger.  Kimmel and Granger have collaborated for duet performances since the 1980's.  For this tour, the duo played concerts in Scotland, England, and Wales.  

For more information and a performance schedule for Dick Kimmel & Adam Granger, visit:

http://www.newulmtel.net/~kimmel/granger.html

 


Comments from reviews of Dick's last solo CD,  "Dick Kimmel - Fishin' Creek Blues" (Copper Creek Records CC-0173), include:

"...high quality old-time country music.  The solo banjo playing of Dick Kimmel on 'Pretty Little Dog,' 'Hornpipe Medley,' and 'Ian Charles' are masterpieces of his style.  When you can play an instrument this good, no other instruments are needed."
  -Frank Overstreet, Bluegrass Music News (Spring 2001)

"Dick Kimmel...is best known to bluegrass fans as a fine mandolin player, but he has always been serious about the clawhammer banjo.  Now his fifth (Copper Creek) CD is dedicated entirely to this style.  Kimmel shows the full range of the clawhammer banjo whether as a solo instrument or in an old time band or playing bluegass."
  - Bluegrass Europe (April/May 2001)



What they are saying about Dick Kimmel. . .

"Now a Minnesota resident, the acclaimed singer/picker has spent the last four decades bringing traditional country, hard-core bluegrass and old-time string-band music to an international audience."
    -Isthmus Critics' Choice (Madison, WI), April 7, 2000

"...internationally acclaimed bluegrass artist..."
   - Applauze, March 2000

"An Ambassador of Bluegrass."
   -Len Kalakian, Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine, November 1994

"His vocal delivery is solid, pure, and confident...His rendition of 'The Prisoner's Song' is one of the best and most soulful you are likely to ever hear."
    -Alan Walton, Bluegrass Unlimited, January 1993

What they are saying about Dick Kimmel 
recordings. . .

Regarding "Dick Kimmel - Fishin' Creek Blues" 
(Copper Creek Records CC-0173): 

"This is (Dick Kimmel's) first release concentrating on his clawhammer banjo playing and it is long overdue...This is a very good project full of honest vocals and excellent picking from Kimmel and all of the others on this CD.  From the opening strains  of Tracy Schwarz's 'Fishin' Creek Blues,' through the closing strains of Lotus Dickie's 'Dickie's Discovery,' there is a lot to keep you coming back to this fine music." 
  - Robert C. Buckingham, Bluegrass Unlimited (November 2000)

"Veteran Kimmel does an outstanding job playing clawhammer banjo on 17 well-chosen, mostly traditional tunes.  An excellent & highly enjoyable old-time album." 
  - County Sales Newsletter (July 2000)

"This opening selection, the album title song, introduces the pleasures that await the listener on Fishin' Creek Blues...The four solo pieces display clean, clear, well articulated playing...Even the fastest pieces have the relaxed feel of a musician who is capable of placing every note exactly where it belongs without straining..." 
  - A.V. Shirk, Old-Time Herald (Winter 2000/01)

"Dick Kimmel has put together a clawhammer banjo masterpiece in "Fishin' Creek Blues," probably my favorite work of his to date.  He  plays with power and authority and a respect for the way these tunes should be played.  Highlights include the title track, "Waterbound," "Hornpipe Medley," "Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down" and "Dickie's Discovery."
  - Dave Higgs, WPLN-FM, Nashville (June 13, 2000)

"Kimmel is a known quantity, and he doesn't disappoint here.  The playing is crisp and well done..." 
  - Sing Out (Summer 2000)

"...high quality old-time country music.  The solo banjo playing of Dick Kimmel on 'Pretty Little Dog,' 'Hornpipe Medley,' and 'Ian Charles' are masterpieces of his style.  When you can play an instrument this good, no other instruments are needed."
  - Frank Overstreet, Bluegrass Music News (Spring 2001)

"Dick Kimmel...is best known to bluegrass fans as a fine mandolin player, but he has always been serious about the clawhammer banjo.  Now his fifth (Copper Creek) CD is dedicated entirely to this style.  Kimmel shows the full range of the clawhammer banjo whether as a solo instrument or in an old time band or playing bluegass."
  - Bluegrass Europe (April/May 2001)

"On this CD you will find 17 versions of the BEST 5-string on the market and radio today...you can not put it down until it's all been played..."  Country Western Corner, August 2000.

"Kimmel's banjo playing is casually virtuosic..."
  - Rick Anderson, All-Music Guide (July 2000)

"Fred Cockerham, Kyle Creed and Wade Ward are already in the history books as virtuosi of the banjo style known as clawhammer.  In the fullness of time another name will join them, that of Dick Kimmel." 
   - Pete Smith, Country Music Roundup (UK) (August, 2000)

"Thanks for your fine album.  I don't have enough Old-Time in my library and it's very welcome.  A nice album indeed.  I've had some complimentary comments from my listeners, too." 
   - Mike Kear, Hawkesbury Radio, Sydney, Austrailia (September 2000)

"...great instrumentation and features good old-time square dance and clogging music...good vocals...A very good CD of both songs and instrumentals." 
   - Betty Jane Dodrill, Bluegrass Gazette (July-August 2000)

"Kimmel...was interested in exploring more delicate sounds coming out of the banjo.  That comes across strongest on the four tracks where Kimmel plays the instrument without accompaniment - tracks such as the moody take on the traditional 'Pretty Little Dog.'  Kimmel's banjo playing in a minor key is precise and melodic." 
   - Joe Tougas, Mankato Free Press (March 16, 2000)

"A new CD by Dick Kimmel is not that unusual.  There have been more than two dozen recordings carrying Dick's music since the first time he entered a professional recording studio in 1962.  What is unusual about the newly released recording, "Dick Kimmel-Fishin' Creek Blues" (Copper Creek Records CC-0173), is that it focuses on Dick's wonderful clawhammer banjo playing."
   -Len Kalakian, Inside Bluegrass (March 2000)

"It's a beaut." 
   -Art Thieme (March 2000)

"I usually think of Dick Kimmel with mandolin in hand, leading his band in powerful, traditional hard-driving bluegrass.  But Dick has a great way of incorporating old-time style into his recordings and his band's performances.  Last spring, Copper Creek Records released 'Dick Kimmel - Fishin' Creek Blues' (Copper Creek Records CC-1073), a very successful recording featuring his clawhammer playing."
   -Katryn Conlin, Inside Bluegrass (September 2000)

"This is real stuff from a respected master of clawhammer banjo."
   -efolkmusic.com (April 2000)

"This is Dick Kimmel's fifth CD for the Copper Creek label and, like the previous albums, it presents a whole new set of surprises to delight the listener...While Kimmel's previous albums provided only brief glimpses of his ability on the clawhammer banjo, on this project he steps foward with cuts of sparkling five-string joy." 
   - Bluegrass Now (November 2000)


Regarding Past Releases:

"... a recording steeped in tradition"
    - Gregg Benson, Inside Bluegrass (January 1997)

"...a delightful selection of songs...now ranked in my personal top ten."
    - Frank Overstreet, Bluegrass Music News (1996)

"... a must have ... the new material and subtle arrangements should make it of interest to all who enjoy a traditional sound."
    - Bluegrass Unlimited (May 1995)

"This is hard driving bluegrass.  Anyone who loves bluegrass music will want to add this to their collection."
    -Jan Jacquet, Victory Review (November 1996)

"The more I played Dick Kimmel's '25-Year Collection,' the more I was amazed at Dick's wonderful talent, and the more I wanted to replay the CD."
    - Frank Overstreet, Bluegrass Music News (1996)

"This record may have been 25 years in the making but it was worth the wait."
    -Tim Farrell, Bluegrass In Review (1996)

For more information; performance schedules and to order recordings and books, check out:
http://www.dickkimmel.com

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