Author: John Curtis Goad

For any college age musician, selling your ‘axe’ to buy a wedding ring would be a quite disheartening event. However, for at least one banjo picker, Mark Rigney, it was probably for the best. After laying down his beloved Gibson and

The world of bluegrass is full of hot pickers and singers, but very few appear as triple threats; singing, playing, and writing their own material. With the release of a brand new ten song, thirty-two minute album entitled Down Another

On April 30, 2010, a young musician named Houston Caldwell, of Galax, VA, passed away in a motorcycle accident. Houston was a great advocate for traditional music, and was a skilled banjo and guitar player. Since that time, a festival

It wasn't too many years ago that the concept of a “band" began to change from simplistic to more complicated definitions. In fact, at the turn of the last century, many individuals would have considered the act of two people

Many students studying mechanical engineering may only be interested in the latest and greatest gadgets, but at least one undergraduate at Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania isn’t. Having just released his first project entitled Searching for a Home on Patuxent

Many bluegrass, old time, and country music fans, and surely readers of Bluegrass Today, are likely familiar with the Carter Family of Southwest Virginia. They were a major part of the seminal 1927 Bristol Sessions, which laid down the pathway

With a sound sitting comfortably between Old Crow Medicine Show and newer forms of bluegrass, The Steel Wheels of Harrisonburg, VA provide a unique listening experience. Comprised of four guys with backgrounds ranging from Mennonite Gospel quartets to concert bands

Since their formation some 15 years ago, the Portland, Oregon based band Jackstraw has released five albums and traveled the country performing their own brand of acoustic music. Now, with some personnel changes including brand new member Cory Goldman (formally

While bluegrass listeners are becoming increasingly familiar with the music of Wayne Taylor and Appaloosa, which formed in 2008, newer fans may be unfamiliar with Wayne’s background. With his earliest recollection of music occurring at the American Legion where his father

While the phrase “du jour” may be familiar to coffee house goers and soup connoisseurs, it may be one that much of the bluegrass world encounters only rarely, especially where their music is concerned. However, there is at least one