Author: John Curtis Goad

If you’re looking for clear, high lead vocals in today’s bluegrass community, one of the first voices to come to mind likely will be Larry Stephenson. Stephenson has been producing quality traditional bluegrass music for close to forty years –

Since making the decision to pursue music full-time in 2011, Callahan, Florida’s Harris family – better known as Trinity River Band – has experienced quite a run of success. With songs like Better than Blue, How Blue, and Rusty Old

Even if you get to see your favorite band multiple times a year, it’s still a treat when they release a live album. If done right, live albums capture bands at the top of their game. They’re filled with hits,

We’ve carved the turkey. We’ve packed up the leftovers, and got them back out fifteen minutes later to finish off. We’ve fought through the crowds at Wal-Mart to score a good deal on a TV, and checked our phones every

Though Sideline was originally formed as a side project for several prominent musicians during the winter bluegrass off-season, the group has become a full-fledged touring and recording act. There have been a few changes to the band’s lineup, but they’ve

The banjo is arguably the core of bluegrass music. For many folks, it’s the key to whether or not a song or album can be considered bluegrass. I’ve heard many a traditionalist despair that it’s been all downhill since Manzanita.

Wilson Pickins Promotions has been adding bands to its roster like wildfire throughout 2016, creating a lineup of up-and-coming groups whose sound falls mostly in the modern traditional vein. Branded Bluegrass signed on with Wilson Pickins earlier this year, just

I wasn’t sure what to expect upon encountering a bluegrass album that featured an “intro” and “outro” on the track listing. Would there be spoken word tracks? Some kind of wild and crazy instrumentation? Was this a bluegrass opera and

A Distant Horizon, the new album from southwest Virginia’s Jeff Brown & Still Lonesome, proves at least one thing: the band takes its name to heart. Many of the songs here contemplate loss – of chances, of a home, and

With so many subgenres and genre mixes and edge-of-this-or-that’s out there, sometimes it’s nice to just sit back and listen to straight-ahead bluegrass with a prominent five string and songs of heartbreak, hard work, and the mountains. That’s just about