Author: David Morris

If the calendar says it’s time for the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival in the Boston suburbs, it’s usually safe to bet on snow. This year, though, you would have lost that bet. Mother Nature provided the perfect backdrop for the 34th

The Joe Val Bluegrass Festival in the Boston suburbs provided the perfect cure for cabin fever this year, as the music was hot and the snow that seems drawn to the festival weekend like metal to a magnet stayed away

When it comes to bluegrass Gospel, Rick Lang is one of very best songwriters in the genre. The latest proof can be found on Gonna Sing, Gonna Shout, a dozen songs “from the pen of Rick Lang” on Billy Blue Records.

From Virginia today comes that somber news that John Starling, a founding member of the Seldom Scene, is seriously ill. “It’s been a long two months, but my father, John Starling, is currently home and in hospice,” his son, Jay Starling

There are a fair number of bluegrass bands that can make me dance in my seat and cry within the space of a couple of songs. But Balsam Range, while doing just that with the new Mountain Home Music Co.

The DC Bluegrass Union has established a scholarship to honor the late Orrin Star, a Washington-area musician and teacher who died in November 2017 at the age of 62. The annual scholarship will fund participation in the summer bluegrass camp that

It’s time for one of my favorite things – listening back through all the terrific bluegrass music that was made in 2018 and picking my 12 favorites. It’s also one of the most difficult things I do. Narrowing the list to

IBMA will have some big shoes to fill for 2019 and beyond. Kelly Kessler, the association’s director of communications and professional development, is leaving to become a faculty member at Middle Tennessee State University. Kessler, who has been with IBMA since

Three well-known young pickers are the top winners in the 2018 Mike Auldridge Instrumental Composition Contest, sponsored by the DC Bluegrass Union. David Benedict of Mile Twelve won the $500 first place prize for The Golden Angle, according to an announcement

Family bands tend to have a limited run in bluegrass. It’s inevitable that the kids age, get married, have children. Life happens, as they say. In recent years, I’ve seen several of my favorites move on – Cherryholmes, the Bankesters