Jim & Valerie Gabehart have announced Steve Acord as the newest member of their band, playing mandolin and singing harmony vocals. Acord hails from Beckley, WV and has performed professionally as a mandolinist, fiddler and guitarist. He has worked with a number of
We had extensive coverage last week of the momentous tribute offered to mandolin legend Herschel Sizemore at a benefit concert in Roanoke, VA on February 19. The show featured performances by artists as diverse as Punch Brothers and Seldom Scene,
Jeff Parker, the very talented and wildly entertaining mandolinist with Dailey & Vincent, is expecting to release a solo project this May on Lonesome Day Records. If you've caught the Dailey & Vincent show live, you know that Parker has a
I recently had the great pleasure of renewing my acquaintance with one of the great banjo players of the 1970s and '80s (and now for that matter), Mike Lilly. He and Wendy Miller are forever joined in history as part
Patuxent Music has released an album from noted mandolinist, Akira Otsuka, entitled First Tear. Joining the former Bluegrass 45 mando man are Tony Rice, Kenny Smith, Phil Rosenthal, Chris Stifel, Al Petteway and David Grier on guitar; Rickie Simpkins, Phil Bloch
A big package arrived recently from Mel Bay Publications, chock full of new instructional books that may hold some interest for pickers who read Bluegrass Today. Some are aimed at new players, or those with modest skills, while others will
While the phrase “du jour” may be familiar to coffee house goers and soup connoisseurs, it may be one that much of the bluegrass world encounters only rarely, especially where their music is concerned. However, there is at least one
One might say that becoming a bluegrass virtuoso was simply written in the stars for Buddy Merriam, a mandolinist originally from Hartford, Connecticut. Although he had played guitar since childhood, he became interested in the mandolin after seeing Frank Wakefield
Last week we shared the wonderful news that Herschel Sizemore had come through his cancer treatment with a clean bill of health. His wife, Joyce, is still undergoing treatment for breast cancer - as is one of their two daughters. The
Pioneering bluegrass mandolinist Herschel Sizemore has spent the past few months battling a cancer in his throat, undergoing radiation treatments since October of last year. Today he spoke with both his ENT and his oncologist, who both gave him a clean
