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Author: Brian Paul Swenk

  • Experienced – Larry Keel

    February 23, 2016 | by Brian Paul Swenk

    Few people can get away with describing their music as an “experience.” But then again, few words come close to actually describing the music of Larry Keel. To see Larry Keel perform is to have just that: a unique, singular

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  • Got Myself Together (10 years later) – Danny Barnes

    January 27, 2016 | by Brian Paul Swenk

    Texas-born, Seattle-based banjo pioneer Danny Barnes is coming off a good year. Being the sixth person to win the prestigious Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass award—along with its $50,000 —brings the name Danny Barnes up from

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  • Leaving Auburndale – Hank Smith

    January 14, 2016 | by Brian Paul Swenk

    Hank Smith, a banjo player from Raleigh, is a busy man. If playing gigs, keeping a steady stream of banjo students, forming a Béla Fleck tribute show, traveling to Wilkes County to study with Jens Kruger, and recently forming a

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  • Ryan Cavanaugh – a banjo anomaly

    November 9, 2015 | by Brian Paul Swenk

    The national popularity of bluegrass music might ebb and flow with social and artistic trends, but the quality of picking and musical ability has stayed on an impressively upward trajectory throughout the decades. Anyone who keeps up with the music

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  • Banjoist Hank Smith set to debut super-group at IBMA

    September 28, 2015 | by Brian Paul Swenk

    “What if Bela’s Drive had the vocals of Chris Thile/Michael Daves?” You’ve probably never asked yourself that exact question, but I bet you’re imagining it now. Hank Smith, a progressive banjo player from the Raleigh area, has started a project that

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  • Bluegrass is alive and well on the Outer Banks

    September 22, 2015 | by Brian Paul Swenk

    In all my years of playing bluegrass music, the Outer Banks of North Carolina have always held a special place in my heart. My band, Boss Hawg from Boone, NC, would travel all over the southeast, but the biggest highlight

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  • Steve Lewis – Inside the mind of a contest champion

    May 5, 2015 | by Brian Paul Swenk

    Steve Lewis, from Todd, NC (a tiny community just north of Boone) was gracious enough to talk with me about his experience playing and winning some of the toughest banjo and guitar contests in the country. In the interest of full

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  • Traveling Show – Songs From The Road Band

    April 21, 2015 | by Brian Paul Swenk

    Traveling Show is the third album from the aptly-named Songs From The Road Band, which is a side project led by Charles Humphrey III, the bassist for Steep Canyon Rangers. This project is a testament to one of the unique

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  • Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen – Leading The Way In Today’s Bluegrass

    March 12, 2015 | by Brian Paul Swenk

    With this profile of Frank Solivan we welcome Brian Paul Swenk to our roster of writers here at Bluegrass Today. Brian is a banjo player and bluegrass nut in Richmond, VA who performs with Big Daddy Love, a multi-genre touring

    Read More
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