banjo

As part of being awarded the 2012 Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass, Florida clawhammerer Mark Johnson will appear on The Late Show with David Letterman September 24. As was the case with prior honorees Noam Pikelny and Sammy

Chris Wade, the 24 year old banjo player with Marty Raybon, has been diagnosed with bone cancer. Though a frightening diagnosis at any age, for such a young person it is doubly shocking. The specific cancer is known as Osteosarcoma, and it

Clawhammer banjo innovator Mark Johnson has been announced as the 2012 recipient of the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass, the 3rd annual honoree. While a number of 3-finger banjo pickers have used a roll technique to play old

Award-winning banjoist Alison Brown is making last-minute preparations for her upcoming tour of Japan, starting later this week. In tow will be husband Garry West on bass, Larry Atamanuik on drums, and John R Burr on keyboard. Also traveling with Alison and Garry

Recording King has introduced two new banjo models in their budget-conscious Madison line, one targeted at bluegrass pickers and the other at old timers. For three finger players, the RK-R36 is a tone ring banjo with a mahogany neck and resonator, and

The Roys have announced Matt Downing as their new banjo player. He is taking the spot recently vacated by Sterling Masat who left to accept a faculty position at South Plains College. Matt has been with the group for a few

On Monday we shared sad news about the passing of Dale Vanderpool, a professional banjo player from Ohio who had toured extensively with a number of bluegrass artists. He had been receiving treatment for the colon cancer that eventually took

Seminal first generation banjo player Jim Smoak will be this weekend's guest on Best Of Bluegrass, hosted by Bob Mitchell. The show is broadcast on Radio Bluegrass International (RBI), an online radio service of the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro,

I’ve had a few emails about this series on practicing from people saying they have started spending time with their instrument again rather than just practicing “liking” things on FaceBook. And I’ve had a few emails from people saying they are

Dale Vanderpool, noted bluegrass banjo player and good friend to many in the central US, died Sunday after a three year struggle with cancer. He was 59 years old. His professional work included stints with Don Rigsby, Larry Stephenson and Melvin