Ted Olson, a professor of Appalachian Studies at East Tennessee State University, has become known as a go-to person for information on the early recorded music of northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia. Some music fans may recognize his name as
Author: John Curtis Goad
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Last Night, Tomorrow – The Dappled Grays
The Dappled Grays, an Atlanta-based band that has been together for just over sixteen years, is the kind of group that doesn’t let stylistic boundaries confine them. They call themselves a bluegrass band, and they are a bluegrass band –
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Back to the Mountains – Po’ Ramblin’ Boys
The debut album from the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, Back to the Mountains, is music for people like my dad. Old school bluegrass fans, who grew up on Flatt & Scruggs and the Stanleys, who believe that Bill Monroe set the
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Familiar with the Ground – The Boxcars
A new release from The Boxcars is, for many bluegrass fans, a time to celebrate. The group is one of the most talented collections of artists currently on the bluegrass circuit, and they generally release extremely tasteful albums with well-rounded
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Dave Adkins Band at The Station Inn
These days you never really know what a band is going to sound like when you hear them live, although you can usually bet they’re not going to sound exactly like the track you heard on your favorite bluegrass radio
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Just Ten – Presley Barker
When I see young children hailed as musical prodigies in the bluegrass world, I usually wonder if their early technical skill will translate into a true superstar career, with not just the knowledge to arrange notes in a complicated manner,
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The Gospel Side of Bill Emerson & Sweet Dixie
As a follow-up to 2014’s well-received Dancin’ Annie, Bill Emerson & Sweet Dixie has released a compilation album of the group’s favorite Gospel tracks from their previous albums. The Gospel Side of Bill Emerson & Sweet Dixie pulls from the
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And Then There’s This… The Grascals
It’s always interesting to see what will happen when new members enter a longstanding band that has previously had a relatively static lineup. Will they pick someone who sounds and plays just like the former member? Will they go in
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Down Memory Lane – Mark Kuykendall, Bobby Hicks, & Asheville Bluegrass
Though western North Carolina has long been known as a hotbed of traditional music, much of the attention has focused on the old-time, mountain styles – ballad singers, string bands, and the like – found throughout the region’s hills and
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I Want to Go Home – Kevin Pace & the Early Edition
One of the most universal themes in bluegrass music is home – particularly, missing it once it’s no longer what it once was. With their latest project, Spokane, Washington-based group Kevin Pace & the Early Edition has built an entire