Latest Music News
New books from Mel Bay
A big package arrived recently from Mel Bay Publications, chock full of new instructional books that may hold some interest for pickers who read Bluegrass Today. Some are aimed at new players, or those with modest skills, while others will be quite demanding indeed. Serious [...]
The Likely Culprits
The Likely Culprits will make their official band debut, Saturday night at the world famous Station Inn, in Nashville, TN. This new group consists of Ashby Frank (mandolin, vocals), Deanie Richardson (fiddle), Melonie Cannon (vocals), Garnet Imes Bowman (vocals), Brandon Bostic (guitar, vocals), Austin Ward [...]
The Church Sisters
Procrastination alert… this is a piece I’ve been meaning to write for weeks. Months even. You can mark this down as one of those “power of World of Bluegrass” stories, where it happened that I had to go to Nashville to discover a trio of [...]
Tuttles kill in Northern California
We posted about The Tuttles with AJ Lee just a week ago, noting that the band of young pickers had been signed with Roe Entertainment for artist representation. What we didn’t know at the time was the fact that this Bay Area group had cleaned [...]
Nobody Knows You from the Rangers
Rounder has announced April 10 as the release date for Nobody Knows You, the next CD from Steep Canyon Rangers. This will be their first band release since Deep In The Shade in 2010, though they collaborated with Steve Martin for his 2011 album, Rare [...]
Bluegrass At Large
Bluegrass Jam Ball
Here’s something fun we found online, courtesy of the good folks at Janet Davis Music. We all remember the Magic 8 Ball, the ersatz occult toy that rose to popularity in the 1950s, along with the Oiuja board. Children (and adults?) were to hold the [...]
J.D. Crowe update
We reported over the weekend that banjo legend J.D. Crowe was taken ill during a show Friday night, and had to leave the stage. Fortunately for the audience and the band, Josh Williams was in the house, and hopped up to take over banjo duties [...]
Josh Williams saves the day
Friday night at the Station Inn in Nashville, J. D. Crowe became ill and was unable to finish the show. According to New South guitarist Ricky Wasson, Crowe was recovering from a recent bout with pneumonia, and probably overexerted himself. Fortunately, consummate multi-instrumentalist Josh Williams was [...]
Grascals file counter suit against Webster
We reported last month that a suit had been brought against The Grascals by Entertainment Evolution, a company managed by Nashville publicist Kirt Webster. At the time, the band offered no comment on the merits of the suit. Now, a countersuit has been filed by [...]
James Alan Shelton suffers a stroke
James Alan Shelton, long-time guitarist with Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys, has spent the past two days in the hospital in Kingsport, TN after suffering a mini-stroke at home. He is scheduled to be released today. According to Stanley, James fell to the [...]
Latest Events
2012 Bluegrass All-Star Jam
This past few years have seen a bluegrass variety show travel across the eastern US, billed as the Bluegrass All-Star Jam. Over the years it has hit dozens of cities, with a live concert featuring a bevy of top bluegrass artists performing together in a [...]
Dixie Pals reunion in Roanoke
Living as I do in Roanoke, VA, I am able to enjoy its vibrant and varied acoustic music scene. Roanoke has a rich bluegrass history, having served as the home for both Flatt & Scruggs and Reno & Smiley on radio, but I rarely mistake [...]
SPBGMA photos
Here’s a gallery of photos taken at SPBMGA 2012 by Valerie Gabehart.
SPBGMA: Jamming Heaven
This past weekend at the Music City Sheraton in Nashville, TN, the Society for the Preservation of Blue Grass Music in America (SPBGMA, pronounced “spigma”), held its 38th Annual Convention & Awards. This convention is a multi-faceted event comprised of performances, vendor exhibits, a band [...]
Phil Leadbetter benefit in March
Another benefit concert has been scheduled in Knoxville for Phil Leadbetter, who continues to undergo treatment for a very stubborn cancer that has been try resistant to common therapies. Phil has dedicated his life to bluegrass music, working in turn as resonator guitarist for such notable [...]
Bluegrass in the Media
Scott Avett interview online
Deering Banjos has published a lengthy interview with Scott Avett, of the notorious Avett Brothers. I say notorious because discussions about the band can become quite heated in bluegrass circles, especially where the “that’s not bluegrass!” crowd is concerned. From the start, Scott has played [...]
More on Grascals v. Webster
Fox 17 news in Nashville ran a story on Tuesday about the nasty contract dispute between The Grascals and Entertainment Evolution. A channel 17 reporter caught up with the two attorneys representing the band and Kirt Webster, owner of Entertainment Evolution and Webster & Associates [...]
Cumberland River and Justified on WNYC
Cumberland River’s Jamie Dean will be on WNYC’s Soundcheck program Thursday afternoon, along with Greg Still, Music Supervisor for TNT’s popular Justified series. The pair will visit with host John Schaefer to talk about the show, and of course the contributions Cumberland River has made [...]
IBMM moving to Nashville?
Over the weekend, I picked up a couple of startling news stories coming out of Owensboro, KY. The mayor, Ron Payne, was quoted speaking about the possibility of the International Bluegrass Music Museum moving from Owensboro to Nashville, unless $3 million in funding is approved [...]
Sweet Dixie and InMotion
In my own small brush with posterity, I once exchanged emails with Craig Newmark of Craig’s List back in 1997. I had run an ad on the San Francisco-based bulletin board system that read, “Free beer and Bluegrass in Fairfax this Friday,” and he wanted to [...]