• New faces this year in Backline

    Two new members have come onboard for Backline, the contemporary bluegrass group from South Carolina based around the singing and songwriting of Katelyn Ingardia. Katelyn tells us that they had a couple of players leave over the winter. "Jacob Connor, our mandolinist,

  • Slocan Ramblers make their Opry debut

    Toronto's Slocan Ramblers had a big night in Nashville last fall when they were invited to make their debut performance on the Grand Ole Opry. The got the full treatment, with their own reserved parking sign, and a big buildup

  • Henry Burgess to Rick Faris Band

    Singer, songwriter, and bandleader Rick Faris is continuing his bluegrass youth movement with the hiring of 17 year old mandolin wunderkind Henry Burgess, from Guthrie, OK, for his band. Raised under the tutelage of his father, Greg Burgess, a fiddler with

  • Alex Leach back with Ralph II

    With the recent departure of banjo picker Landon Fitzpatrick from Ralph Stanley II & The Clinch Mountain Boys, Ralph has brought Alex Leach back into the band, who had spent several good years with him previously. Landon is moving back to

  • Gibson Davis to Rick Faris Band

    Rick Faris has announced that teen banjo sensation Gibson Davis has joined his band on banjo. Turning 18 years old later this month, Gibson has grown up deeply immersed in bluegrass. He is a fourth generation musician who started out on

  • Wyatt Ellis builds his professional team

    With his debut album, Happy Valley, not even two weeks old, teen mandolin wizard Wyatt Ellis has assembled a serious team of industry professionals to handle his budding career. There are very few 14 year old artists with this sort

  • Mike Mitchell Band revamp

    This report is a contribution from bluegrass singer and songwriter, Dawn Kenney, whose songs have been recorded by Darin & Brooke Aldridge, Greg Blake, Dave Adkins, and many others. In the world of bluegrass music, change remains a constant force. Musicians