• Duckpin – Charm City Junction

    Sometimes when I’m overextended, I listen to new music in the background while answering emails, preparing song licenses or making dinner. Then I circle back later and give the CD my undivided attention for a few listens before I write

  • Billy Droze is Ready for Renaissance

    Billy Droze is a relatively young man with an old soul. You get that sense listening to his music. But the point is driven home with hammer-meets-nail certainty when you spend a few minutes on the phone with him. He’s humble,

  • Detour returns to the bluegrass stage

    Many times when bands take a break from the road they’re never heard from again. That’s not the case, fortunately, for Detour, the Michigan-based band that made a big splash before dropping off the road a couple of years ago

  • Random notes from World of Bluegrass 2018

    IBMA’s love affair with Raleigh continues. Crowds seem bigger this year. Exhibitors report brisk business – one merchant sold two high-end banjos in an hour. And there’s more jamming per square inch than I remember seeing in Nashville. In fact, it’s

  • 2018 IBMA Momentum Award winners

    IBMA Executive Director Paul Schiminger speaks at the 2018 Momentum Awards while Board Chair Joe Mullins and host Sierra Hull look on - photo © Frank Baker The Trailblazers and Mile Twelve scored double wins Thursday when IBMA presented the 2018 Momentum

  • Jamie Dailey all business in IBMA Keynote

    Jamie Dailey’s keynote speech to open this year’s World of Bluegrass in Raleigh was the equivalent of mom urging you to ignore all the sumptuous entrees and desserts on the table and eat your vegetables. Playing music is fun, but bands

  • Daniel Pugh to Kevin Prater Band

    Daniel Pugh is one of the newest youngsters on the professional bluegrass circuit, joining the Kevin Prater Band on upright bass. The 17-year-old high school senior from Biscoe, NC, played a gig with the band in mid-August in Cambridge, Ohio. Prater

  • Benefit set for Eileen Carson Schatz

    Mark and Eileen Schatz Once again, the acoustic music community is coming together to help one of its own. A benefit concert for Eileen Carson Schatz will be held Sunday, September 16, at The Hamilton in Washington DC. Eileen learned in March