Author: John Lawless

2021 continues to come up roses for Mason Via. The young North Carolina bluegrass artist started the year as a contestant on American Idol on ABC Television. He showed up on TV where the judges loved him, but was cut

Diligent readers of Bluegrass Today will recognize the name Troy Johnson, one half of Nebraska's Banjo Loco, who we profiled here some years back. Along with Matt Manning, the two perform on electrified banjo family instruments, with Johnson holding down

Earlier this week we wrote about the 13 students who graduated last week from East Tennessee State University with either a bachelor's degree or a minor concentration from the Bluegrass, Old Time & Country Must Studies program. Today we have

Excitement is brewing all over the US for the return of bluegrass festivals in 2021. After a forced absence last year, bands, fans, vendors, and promoters are eager to get back outside with the rest of us and hear bluegrass

Slide maestro Jimmy Heffernan has released his first ever single this week, a surprising factoid for a man who as worked as a professional musician since 1974. It's a resurrected version of a Bill Monroe classic, with the late Joe

Ralph Stanley II has just announced a very special way to celebrate the 75th year that The Clinch Mountain Boys have been on the road. Owing to ongoing changes in the COVID-19 restrictions in his native Virginia, Stanley will host a

The International Bluegrass Music Association is hosting another of its IBMA365 educational webinars next week on Facebook. This one is focused on the legal issues surrounding offering live streaming events online, and what sort of licenses are required to do

Hugh Moore with OMS Records in Nashville has put together another of his socially-distanced videos, combining tracks from pickers all across the US into an impressive audio and video mix of classic traditional bluegrass. This latest, for Don Gibson's Sea of

Veteran Irish grasser Niall Toner is back with a new song about the pleasures of aging, written and recorded with fellow Dubliner, Andrea Booth. Never Too Old For Love is just the sort of song to bring a smile to those

John Hickman, noted California banjo player, died on May 11 following a long illness. He passed away quietly in his sleep, at home with his wife, Sue, by his side. He was 78 years of age. Though known largely for his