Bluegrass Songwriting News

  • Louisa Branscomb – I’ll Take Love

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    Noted bluegrass/Americana songwriter Louisa Branscomb is set to release her 9th album on April 26 for Compass Records. I’ll Take Love combines Lousia's compositions with some of the finest vocalists in bluegrass (Dale Ann Bradley, Claire Lynch, Steve Gulley,

  • Blow Out the Candle, Laura

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    The Bankester Family is hard at work on their third CD, and guitarist and proud papa Phil Bankester has produced a video about the first single. I'll let Phil tell the tale... Very early on in the planning for this album,

  • Another Award For Hazel Dickens

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    Hazel Dickens, a pioneer who helped clear the bluegrass trail for Claire Lynch, Alison Krauss, Rhonda Vincent and others, will soon collect another award for her mantel. Dickens, 75, is the second winner of the D.C. Bluegrass Union’s Washington Monument Award

  • Harley Lee Allen remembered

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    In addition to the fine memorial David Morris provided for us earlier this week, Richard Thompson has put together a career retrospective of Harley Allen. As reported earlier, singer and song writer Harley Allen died on Wednesday, March 30 at his

  • Remembering a Songwriter’s Songwriter

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    You could stock a jukebox or your mp3 player with Harley Allen songs and never grow tired of listening. Harley wrote songs about the common themes in all our lives – love, longing and desire – without sounding trite or tired.

  • Harley Allen passes

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    We are sorry to report that Nashville songwriter Harley Allen passed away this morning. He had been diagnosed recently with a stage 4 cancer. Harley was the son of bluegrass legend Red Allen, and performed with his siblings and his dad

  • Songwriting analysis from Mark Simos

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    In the first part of our interview with Sierra Hull earlier this month, she discussed her current studies at the Berklee School of Music in Boston. One instructor she mentioned was Mark Simos, with whom she is studying lyric writing

  • Missy Raines – Ides of March

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    As a songwriter, I’ve been curious about the origins of a somber tune Missy Raines wrote called Ides of March since I first heard it in 2008. So with March 15 approaching, I decided to ask. Missy was a few weeks

  • Bluegrass in the ISC

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    A solid bluegrass banjo instrumental has made it to the finals of the 2011 International Songwriting Competition. The tune is Gone Beserk, written by Lee Marcus, and recorded by Dan Menzone on his Frostbite CD with help from Adam Steffey, Wyatt

  • Live chat with Jim Lauderdale

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    If you're an established songwriter or an aspiring one, here's an event you'll want to take notice of. Jim Lauderdale will be participating in a live chat on Facebook, on Tuesday, February 1, at 7 PM EST. The chat will