Miscellaneous bluegrass news

Here are a few more photos that just came in of prominent bluegrass artists hopping on the Bill Monroe Stamp campaign. When The Infamous Stringdusters were at the Bluegrass Country studios yesterday in DC, Jen Hitt asked them to add their

We've made mention in the past about the campaign to convince the US Postal Service to issue a commemorative stamp honoring the musical contributions of Bill Monroe. According to the USPS guidelines, such stamps can not be issued until ten years

Mike Seeger has been named as the recipient of the 2009 Bess Lomax Hawes Award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Seeger has spent most of his life performing and recording traditional American string music, starting with a memorable stint

Alison Brown is among several banjoists whose playing has been described as "out of this world" - but she may be among the very few who can prove it. When space shuttle Atlantis took off last week to perform delicate repairs

Rounder Records also has a promotional giveaway going on to mark Bluegrass Music Month. The Grand Prize is a Deering Goodtime banjo, autographed by Steve Martin, whose CD The Crow is set for a May 19 Rounder release. 5 first prize winners

Happy news from the home of semi-retired banjo picker Alan Munde... Alan and his wife Kitty are celebrating the birth of Casey Patrick Alan Rice on May 1 - Alan's first grandchild! Also celebrating, of course, are the new parents, Rachel

The McPeak Brothers were a fixture on the southeastern US bluegrass scene from the late 1960s through the mid '80s. They appeared on national television and had a number of popular recordings during that time. Four different brothers were members of

Here's a quote from a recent post on the Dallas Morning News religion blog. My grandfather...was kicked out of a church in 1919 for playing the banjo with the youth group. Obviously everybody knew the banjo was an instrument of Satan! Discuss

Larry and Dreama Stephenson welcomed their baby girl to the world last Saturday. Falon Whysper Sidney Stephenson was born on the morning of April 25, weighing in at 6 lbs, and standing 18'' tall. Hearty congratulations to Larry and Dreama, who had

Vern Gosdin, who was known simply as "The Voice," passed away yesterday (4/28) in a Nashville hospital. The cause of death is not known at this time, but Gosdin is reported as having suffered a stroke a few weeks ago. Vern