Anyone who loves to listen to or play bluegrass music at home should try their hand at recording. If you’re a musician, it can lead to a road of self discovery, improvements in technique, and a greater appreciation for the … Read More
Here’s a brand new CD of fresh traditional-style bluegrass music from Rock Hearts , a fine 5-piece New England band. It was officially released last Friday, Oct. 30. Rock Hearts named themselves after a great old Jimmy Martin recording from … Read More
This Contest is Closed The winner is Todd Evans October 30 TRIVIA QUESTION In the world of electric guitars, the current rage is a brand-new instrument that has been “distressed” at the factory to look old and used. This development … Read More
Andy Bing’s Bluegrass Blog – Week 10 Blog posts for weeks seven and nine mentioned in passing the Anthology of American Folk Music, which was issued on six LPs on Folkways in 1952. This week’s post is devoted to the … Read More
Bluegrass music has a lot of favorite themes: heartbreak, the blues, lonesomeness… hmm let’s see, what else… oh yeah, and trains! Some of the genre’s best anthems integrate the evocative sounds and feelings of the railroad. From Flatt and Scruggs’s … Read More
This Contest is Closed The winner is Mike Fowler October 23, 2020 TRIVIA QUESTION OK Bluegrass Trivia players, let’s switch gears a bit and play a Guessing Game based on the musings of that paragon of military bluegrass mountaineering, Colonel … Read More
“Bluegrass music undoubtedly has a robust standard repertoire. Songs that Flatt and Scruggs, Jimmy Martin, and Ola Belle Reed wrote half a century ago are still played from private jams to the Ryman auditorium—and everywhere between. Some songs have gotten … Read More
The week seven blog post discussed the 1965 documentary “Bluegrass Roots,” which focused on the old time and folk roots of bluegrass. A lot of us, this writer included, first heard bluegrass during the “folk revival” of the late 1950s … Read More
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