Author: John Lawless

  • Grascals on Mountain Stage

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    The Grascals were among the guests on Mountain Stage earlier this month, and the audio can be streamed online from the NPR web site. The 34 minute segment includes a number of songs from their latest CD, The Famous Lefty

  • Crooked Still – Some Strange Country

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    Yesterday (5/18) marked the release of the fine new Crooked Still CD, Some Strange Country on Signature Sounds. Like their several previous projects, this one combines a modified string band format (banjo, fiddle, bass, cello) with wispy vocals on a

  • Gangstagrass returns with new CD

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    Brance has posted a couple of times about Gangstagrass, the brainchild of New York artist Rench. His concept involves mixing the acoustic sound of bluegrass instruments and rhythms with hip hop beats and rhymes. It may not please purists in

  • The Boxcars – yeah baby!

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    This past Friday evening (5/14), I had the good fortune to catch The Boxcars at a small venue here in Roanoke. If you haven't heard the name, you will surely be hearing it soon. This is the latest bluegrass supergroup to

  • Fiddle from Vivian Wagner

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    Vivian Wagner teaches journalism at the Muskingum University in Ohio, where she also directs the school's interdisciplinary journalism program. She is also a widely published freelance writer, whose work has appeared in a variety of journals, Bluegrass Unlimited among them. In

  • Sunnyside Drive from The Farewell Drifters

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    Here is the third video preview from Yellow Tag Mondays, the upcoming album by The Farewell Drifters. This time, it's Sunnyside Drive, an autobiographical sketch from the musical brothers Britt (Joshua and Clayton). The song is yet another relentlessly cheerful Drifters

  • Crooked Still – Some Strange Country

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    Yesterday (5/18) marked the release of the fine new Crooked Still CD, Some Strange Country on Signature Sounds. Like their several previous projects, this one combines a modified string band format (banjo, fiddle, bass, cello) with wispy vocals on a

  • Welcome Briar Lee Rickman

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    And speaking of Brandon Rickman... Brandon and his wife Amy welcomed their first child, Briar Lee Rickman, into the world last week. Briar was born on May 11 at 12:45 p.m. (CDT). He weighed in at 7.9 lbs, standing 20.5'' tall. Welcome

  • Jesse Daniel to Josh Williams Band

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    Mandolinist Jesse Daniel has joined The Josh Williams Band. The position has been open for several months, with a number of pickers handling the shows, and Josh is happy to have Jesse on board. Daniels is a native of Fyffe, AL