• Luberecki Feels Sirius XM Pinch, Too

    Sirius XM listeners who tune in for Ned Luberecki’s “banjo Sunday” shows will have to rearrange their schedules. Luberecki lost his Sunday shift on Bluegrass Junction as part of cost-cutting moves, according to sources familiar with the satellite radio giant’s recent

  • Claire Lynch Band Readies Holiday Project

    The Claire Lynch Band is working on a holiday CD that will be released later this year. The project, which mixes winter songs with Christmas numbers and one Hanukkah tune, will be released on Claire’s own label, at least initially, between

  • Sirius XM cuts go beyond bluegrass

    Sirius XM management's decision to cancel most shifts for acclaimed Bluegrass Junction DJ Chris Jones is part of a broader plan to eliminate hosts from some of its music channels. In addition to ending Jones' weekday shifts, the satellite radio giant

  • Schatz excited about Nickel Creek tour

    Mark Schatz will take a six-month leave of absence from the Claire Lynch Band to play bass during the highly anticipated Nickel Creek reunion this spring and summer. He’s already joined Chris Thile, Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins in the studio,

  • Frank Solivan Cooking Up a New CD

    Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen is back in the studio this week in Nashville, starting work on a second Compass Records project as a follow-up to the much heralded On the Edge. The band has been test-driving new material in recent

  • Chris Jones cutback at Bluegrass Junction

    Changes at Sirius-XM will severely cut popular disc jockey Chris Jones’ air time on Bluegrass Junction, Channel 61. Jones announced “with some sadness” on Facebook that it would be his last weekday show. “Because of changes there, my schedule will now

  • New Digs for an Old Friend

    WAMU’s Bluegrass Country has come a long way since Dick Spottswood and Gary Henderson signed on for their first show – 30-minutes one night a week, with one taped repeat – 47 years ago. And from the days in the early

  • Kip Martin, RIP

    The last time I talked to Kip Martin on the phone, we were trying to figure out how to get an Epiphone upright bass from my music room in the DC suburbs into his hands near Nashville. Kip was feeling good,

  • Rhonda Vincent’s Only Me

    Rhonda Vincent’s Only Me, released yesterday (1/28), settles a longstanding debate: Is she country or is she bluegrass? The answer found on this delicious recording is a resounding yes. There’s something for everybody: Six bluegrass cuts on one CD, six country

  • Kip Martin feted Sunday afternoon

    Kip Martin's friends filled a church sanctuary Sunday in Crofton, MD, opening their hearts and wallets for the ailing bass player. The former Sunny Mountain Boy was hundreds of miles away, surrounded by family in a hospice setting near Nashville, where