In August of 2015 at the Podunk Bluegrass Festival (remember those?) I saw Mark Stoffel (playing with Chris Jones and the Night Drivers band) be spotlighted by performing a tune on the mandolin using purely harmonic tones. That made such … Read More
What brings an artist to bluegrass? Robert Hale shows us with his great new CD, Blue Haze. Over the years, Hale has gained attention for his world class musicianship, performing with countless musicians. His background includes playing at the Grand … Read More
“Newgrass” has become such an integral part of bluegrass that sometimes you can lose track of what’s “new” and what’s “traditional,” not to mention the shadings in between. Fireside Collective certainly checks all the newgrass boxes; driving rhythms, powerful harmonies, … Read More
I have long been a fan of the Boston-based band Mile Twelve, and co-founder Bronwyn Keith-Hynes’ fiddling has been a major factor in the group’s appeal. It’s exciting to see her make her mark with her own album, especially one … Read More
When you’re someone who listens to as much bluegrass as I do, it takes a really impressive musical moment to truly surprise you. That happened to me when I found out about Special Consensus’s new album, Chicago Barn Dance, while … Read More
Having flipped out for High Fidelity after seeing them at the Joe Val Festival in Framingham Mass. in 2019, I was eager to review their new CD Banjo Player’s Blues. At Joe Val I felt they were the most exciting … Read More
Here is why you should buy Nate Lee’s first full-length solo CD, Wings of a Jetliner, as soon as it is released on June 12: This is an excellent, quite musical recording by a very talented player and singer, with … Read More
Bees in the Barn is an acoustic quartet based in Beacon, NY, consisting of nationally and internationally active and accomplished musicians working across numerous genres including musical theater, jazz, classical, international folk music, and progressive bluegrass. All these influences are … Read More
Della Mae’s recent album, Headlight, their first full-length release in over five years (though they did release the highly regarded EP Butcher Shoppe last year), finds the band breaking bluegrass tradition and exploring new areas both lyrically and musically in … Read More
Bluegrass of course started with Bill Monroe’s “high, lonesome sound” of Kentucky, but for those of you following modern bluegrass the scene has grown much bigger than that, and you might be more than a little familiar with the sounds … Read More