• Steve Martin to co-host Oscars

    The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that Steve Martin will co-host this year's (82nd) Academy Awards (otherwise known as the Oscars). Martin has been getting a lot of press recently for his banjo playing. He was involved

  • Allen Shelton coming home

    Thanks to Fred Robbins for keeping us updated on the condition of Allen Shelton, who has been hospitalized in Nashville for treatment of his leukemia since early October. Long-time bluegrass fans know Allen for his banjo playing with Jim Eanes and

  • A chat with Lynn Morris

    This afternoon, I had a lovely chat with Lynn Morris and Marshall Wilborn. Longtime bluegrass fans are well familiar with Lynn's many years as a performer, bandleader and friend to our music, and we all felt a great loss when

  • Rhonda and the Chiefs

    Mountain Heart weren't the only bluegrass stars to be featured at major sporting events yesterday. Rhonda Vincent had also been invited to sing the National Anthem prior to the kickoff of Sunday's NFL contest between the Kansas City Chiefs and

  • Casey Driessen fiddle hunt, part 2

    A lot of folks enjoyed Casey Driessen's 5-string fiddle hunt video, where he and Luke Bulla traveled to Scottsburg, IN to the shop of John Silakowski. John built Casey's existing fiddle, and the trip was made so that he could

  • Allen Shelton update

    Thanks to Fred Robbins, who has shared a couple of recent communications about Allen Shelton's condition. As we noted last week, Allen has been diagnosed with leukemia and is hospitalized in Nashville, where is unable to receive visitors due to

  • IBMA 2009 attendance figures

    IBMA has released preliminary numbers from this year's World Of Bluegrass and Fan Fest, held in Nashville September 28-October 3. As most people in the industry had expected, the economic downturn seems to have taken a toll on attendance, though perhaps

  • Tone Balls

    No, a Tone Ball isn't some new invention to help improve the tone of your instrument. A Tone Ball is merely a fancy name for the dust bunnies that tend to collect inside guitar bodies. Fretboard Journal ran a story about

  • Welcome Samuel John Mougin

    Samuel John Mougin was born on October 12 at 12:30 p.m. (CDT) to Jana and Stephen Mougin in Nashville. Stephen and Jana are both musicians, with Stephen currently working as guitarist with Sam Bush, and as a free lance producer and