Ed. Note: Take this with a huge grain of salt! Too late and too early; the sad story of the spun aluminum cones and cover plates of the resonator guitar. 1928 was a year of transition for stringed instruments. As … Read More
The story goes that back in 1833 C. F. Martin had a semi-thriving business in producing drink coasters for the Nazareth, Pennsylvania community by cutting perfect circles out of mahogany or spruce sheets which he had planed to a perfect … Read More
One of the first bluegrass instruments was the one string dulcimer, said to be jointly invented by Harry Dulcimininni and Martin Herkimer, who named the instrument by combining their two last names; the first part after the first part of … Read More
This article was originally published on August 11, 2007 There is a well known urban legend in which a man who buys an old faded painting at a garage sale for 10 dollars and upon removing the painting from the … Read More
Full Disclosure: These guys are friends of mine. I have a soft spot for 1-4-5 country style and honky-tonk music as opposed to the “new-grass” minor chord improvisation that sounds like a band that’s tuning up. That being said, Long … Read More
The end of July is corn season in the Hudson Valley and we sure got a taste of it, liberally sprinkled with high energy and humor, along with some good ‘ol honky-tonkin’, toe-tappn’, kick up your heels music on … Read More
I remember a picnic in the fall of 1968 when I was discussing music with the late Danny Del Santo, who was a member of the Arm Brothers Band with our own Jerry Oland. I was saying how I … Read More
Like Zoro, Paladin, Johnny Cash, and the other men in black, it must be easy to do Kinky Friedman’s laundry; no sorting required. With his trademark black hat, black jeans, black boots, black shirt, and black knee length “Hasidic” jacket, … Read More
I am not sure this record belongs in the “bluegrass” genre, but since it’s published by Sugar Hill, I figured I’d give it a shot. Connie Smith has been a country classic queen who hasn’t released a new album in … Read More
Lately I have had lots of time to lie around and really listen to music at a pretty loud volume whenever I have the house to myself. Whenever Lynn, my wife, comes home, there I am on the couch listening … Read More