The Dixie Bee-Liners

The Dixie Bee-Liners
The Dixie Bee-Liners
	The Dixie Bee-Liners in 2009; from left to right: Buddy Woodward, Rachel Johnson, Brandi Hart, Jeremy Darrow, Casey Henry, Robin Davis
Background information
Origin	United States
Genres	Americana ; Progressive Bluegrass ; American folk music ; Alt.country
Years active	2002–2012
Labels	Pinecastle Records, Betty Troublesome
Members	Buddy Woodward ; Brandi Hart
Website	dixiebeeliners.com

Last updated March 09, 2025

The Dixie Bee-Liners are an American bluegrass group, formed in New York City in 2002 by Buddy Woodward and Brandi Hart. Their music has been called Bluegrass, Americana, alt-country, Folk, and "Bible Belt Noir".

Musical style
Awards, honors, distinctions
Performance
Discography
Upstate Manhattan-compilation
The Dixie Bee-Liners-EP
Timeless Flyte: A Tribute To The Byrds-compilation
Prime Cuts of Bluegrass Volume 90-compilation
RIPE
FestivaLink presents The Dixie Bee-Liners at MerleFest, NC 4/24/09
She Plays Like A Girl-Digital Single
Susanville
Santa Wants A Whiskey-Digital Single
Bluegrass Bands Helping Hands Volume Three: Big Leagues-compilation
Sources
Reviews, articles, notices
References
External links

The Bee-Liners have released three records, and two singles. Their first recording was a 2005 self-titled/self-released CD-EP on their own label, Betty Troublesome. Shortly after, Hart and Woodward relocated to Southwest Virginia, and signed with Pinecastle Records, who released their first full-length CD, RIPE, in April 2008.

Their third CD, Susanville, was a bluegrass concept album released in November 2009. Grammy winning producer/engineer Bil VornDick co-produced the 19-song CD, along with Woodward and Hart.

In mid-2012 the band revealed in an interview with Bluegrass Today that they were working on a new album with a projected release of Spring 2013, but the project was never completed and the band folded at the end of 2012.

Musical style

Ostensibly a bluegrass band,^{[ according to whom? ]} The Dixie Bee-Liners played a wide variety of acoustic music, liberally cherry-picking influence from traditional bluegrass, newgrass, old-time string band music, as well as west-coast country, country rock, 60's British invasion, surf music, Celtic, rhythm & blues, punk, ska, and English folk-rock bands. In mid-2012 the band revealed in an interview with Bluegrass Today that they were evolving their sound, and expanding their lineup to include drums and electric instrumentation,^[1] but the project was never completed, and they split at the end of the year.^{[ citation needed ]}

Buddy Woodward and Brandi Hart typically wrote all of the band's material—with Woodward also taking the role of arranger and producer—though they occasionally co-wrote with various band members, as well as Blue Highway's Tim Stafford, Jon Weisberger, and Ken Stringfellow of the American alternative rock band The Posies.^{[ citation needed ]}

In addition to standardized bluegrass instrumentation, the band were known to incorporate alternate guitar tunings, claw-hammer banjo, dulcimer, bouzouki, dobro, Dojo, harmonica, chanter, 12-string guitar, drums, electric guitar, pedal steel guitar, cello, Mellotron, harpsichord, and other keyboard instruments.^{[ citation needed ]}

Awards, honors, distinctions

Their self-titled EP debuted on the Roots Music Report bluegrass chart at No. 14, going on to spend 56 weeks on the chart, with 9 of those weeks in the Top 10. RIPE topped the Bluegrass Now Fan's Choice Top 20 chart twice, and also achieved two simultaneous No. 1's on Bluegrass Music Profiles' Top 20 Hot Singles, and the Roots Music Report Bluegrass Chart. The Bee-Liners spent nine consecutive weeks atop the RMR Bluegrass chart and two consecutive months in the Top Ten of both Bluegrass Unlimited charts. All-told, the band achieved 23 weeks of No. 1's in 2008, and was named the Roots Music Report's Bluegrass Artist of the Year in November 2008. Susanville debuted on the Billboard Bluegrass chart at No. 32.

Performance

The band toured extensively throughout the United States and Canada, playing such prestigious festivals as Merlefest, Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, Palisade Bluegrass & Roots Festival, Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion, FloydFest and Bean Blossom, among many others. They appeared live on BBC Radio Scotland, NPR, the Food Network, and were featured on radio playlists across the country and worldwide, including regular rotation on Sirius and XM satellite radio. In 2007 their music appeared on the soundtrack of the independently produced Civil War film FREEDOM. In August 2010, the band played Fairport's Cropredy Convention Festival in the Oxfordshire village of Cropredy, one of only two gigs in England before returning home.

Discography

Upstate Manhattan-compilation

October 2005 (207 Records)

Lost In The Silence - (Hart, Woodward)