Author: Guest Contributor

Editor's note...This article is a contribution from Harold Smith, longtime mandolinist for East Virginia, a very popular bluegrass group from the Tidewater area of Virginia in the late 1970s and early '80s. They recorded a number of solid albums for

This detailed remembrance of the Father of Bluegrass is a contribution from Monte Warden. During the late 1980s, Warden got to know Bill Monroe while working twin bill shows with his band, The Wagoneers, who were an extremely popular "young

This remembrance of Ron Vigue is a contribution from Cheri Russo, Community Engagement Manager for WOUB Public Media in Athens, OH. WOUB is a member station of both PBS and NPR serving 55 counties throughout southeastern Ohio, western West Virginia and eastern Kentucky.

The desire among pickers to get together and play is not confined to bluegrass musicians, though the portable and non-electric aspect of it does make it easier. This contribution shared by Spanish banjo master Lluis Gómez shows shows how a

Jack Tottle at The Pickin' Porch in Bristol, TN (6/5/13) - photo by Dan Krill This entertaining yarn is a contribution from Jack Tottle. Now retired, Jack was the founder of the bluegrass music program at ETSU, and the author of

Kentucky bluegrass singer and songwriter Dale Pyatt passed away on April 15 in hospice care in Richmond, KY. He was 59 years of age. Owing to the COVID-19 restrictions, there was no public funeral. Dale was buried in Missouri near

Jack Tottle (far right) with friends picking on his porch on the Big Island Chris Wejrowski, Anne Pontius, Jim Blue, Phyllis Erck, Forrest Arnold, Jack Tottle This bit of practice motivation for bluegrass pickers comes from Jack Tottle, founder and Professor Emeritus

For more than three decades, singer-songwriter Daryl Mosley has applied his warm-as-country-sunshine voice and thoughtful lyrics to a wealth of memorable material. Throughout the 1990s, he toured as lead vocalist with much-celebrated bluegrass group, The New Tradition, then joined the

The following comes to us from Jack Tottle, Professor Emeritus, and founder of the East Tennessee State University Bluegrass, Old Time and Country Music Program. Although retired for several years, Jack continues his work to preserve the memories of bluegrass

This interview was conducted in February 2018. It was meant to be the first episode of a new radio show focused on the craft of songwriting that never panned out. Tim O'Brien is a great hero of mine, and a