Author: John Lawless

Another major benefit concert is scheduled for March 20 in Louisville, KY. The show is intended to mark 2009 as the 40th anniversary of newgrass music, and the crucial role that Louisville played in its birth and development. In fact there

Some of the most closely followed topics in the banjo world are discussions about the metals and alloys used in banjo construction. The most common materials used in high end banjos tend to vary very little, though you do read from

There is a wealth of Punch Brothers media recently posted online, showcasing them both as exquisite musicians and fun guys. First off, video from their 2/9 appearance on The Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour has been made available online. This program

The Infamous Stringdusters are finishing up their annual Colorado tour this week, and banjo man Chris Pandolfi has posted the first of a promised four travelogue videos. This initial installment runs seven and a half minutes and finds the band in

SPBGMA (Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America) is notoriously slow in posting the winners of their annual awards. No official list of last night's winners can be found on the SPBGMA site, but Ben Hughes did a

Our friend Dean Hoffmeyer sent along some great photos from yesterday's 2009 SPBGMA Awards in Nashville. Dean is a professional photojournalist (Richmond Times Dispatch), banjo enthusiast, and free-lance photographer with an interest in bluegrass music. He has shot a number of

We heard recently from Brandi Hart with the Dixie Bee-Liners. She said that the band is headed back into the studio this month to begin work on their next CD for Pinecastle Records. The new project with be titled Susanville, and

Ignorance on parade... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9Lge8J-s7wIs there anything more obnoxious than people who believe something is worthless if they haven't heard of it? Of course, I've never heard of these guys, or their YouTube show, but it seems to be a popular online video

Banjo fanatics have long been recognized as one part tinkerer and one part alchemist. They obsess over minor variations in the exact mix of metals in banjo components, and fret about differences of a few thousandths of an inch in

When the complete list of nominees for the 2009 Academy Of Country Music Awards were announced yesterday (2/11), a number of bluegrass pickers showed up on the list. No... not that list (the one with all the Nashville glitterati in their