After spending a decade defunct, the "Mastertone" banjo is back, and it's no longer a Gibson. Wayne Rogers of Gold Tone Music Group has trademarked "Mastertone," and released a new line of offshore made instruments bearing the name. This first came
Bluegrass At Large
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Another bluegrass proposal – Katie Springer and Austin Koerner
Two North Carolina musicians, Katie Springer, fiddler with Sweet Potato Pie and Drive Time, and Austin Koerner, mandolinist with Drive Time, have been making beautiful music together in a band, now they are going to do it in life. The
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Medical fund established for Josh Shilling and family
Josh Shilling, Mountain Heart lead singer and popular Nashville bluegrass songwriter, was involved in a serious accident in mid-March when he, his wife, Aleah, and their oldest daughter, were thrown from an ATV while on vacation. Fortunately, Bella Kate, aged
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New Earl Scruggs Banjo Songbook expected in May
The Hal Leonard music publishing company has announced the imminent release of a new book of Earl Scruggs banjo transcriptions. Titled The Earl Scruggs Banjo Songbook, it will offer tablature for 84 classic Scruggs solos taken from both recordings and live
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King Records facility gets financial support for ongoing restoration
King Records, the iconic Cincinnati label that produced several celebrated and legendary musicians from the 1940s into the early 1970s (including first-generation bluegrass acts Jimmy Martin and Bobby Osborne; Reno & Smiley; The Stanley Brothers ; Moore & Napier; the
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Welcome Wesley Dauphinais!
Nick Dauphinais, guitarist with The Larry Stephenson Band, and his lovely wife Maegan, are celebrating the birth of their second child. Wesley Nicholas Dauphinais was born on March 18 at Mission Hospital in Asheville, NC. He came in at 7lbs 6oz, stretching
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Pluck It Music Brand offers variety of bluegrass merchandise
Pluck It Music Brand is a new entry in the casual clothing and merchandise line, offering a variety of bluegrass-themed items with a focus on the instruments used to make the music. The company is the brainchild of Matthew Munsey, mandolinist,
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Welcome Emeree Boone!
There is great rejoicing in bluegrass circles here in southwestern Virginia today. There is a new bluegrass baby, where both parents are not only bluegrass people, they perform together in the same band! Troy and Carolyne VanLierop Boone are celebrating the
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Frank Solivan returns to leatherwork during shutdown
When we are a decade or so down the road from the great COVID scare of 2020, you are likely to find musicians and artists of every type when they congregate, talking about what they did during that time to
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Another attempt to revive the former Gibson factory in Kalamazoo
There is another plan afoot in Kalamazoo, MI to revamp the property that once housed the Gibson factory, including a new hotel, museum, gym, and more on the site where Gibson operated from 1917 to 1984. A similar plan announced