Author: John Lawless

Volume Five is one of those acts that consistently turn out headliner-quality music, but have seemed to be stuck in a second tier status. Their original music is clever and compelling, they can pick with the best of them, and their

The Deering Banjo Company has introduced their first 6 string model in their popular Goodtime Banjo series. The Solana 6 is a nylon stringed model, tuned and played like a guitar, with a rock maple 22-fret neck attached to Deering's 16-bracket

Darin & Brooke Aldridge have offered up a video tease from their upcoming Mountain Home album, Snapshots. It's their version of the Bill Monroe number, My Rose of Old Kentucky, with Bobby Hicks on fiddle.   Radio programmers can download tracks from

Surely many of our readers live in areas that might be described as a "bluegrass wasteland." These may be places where some bluegrass fans may live, but no one is actively sponsoring or promoting the music at live shows. Or it could be a

Deeper Shade of Blue, an established regional bluegrass band based near Charlotte, NC, has announced the addition of Matt Love on bass. He brings many years of bluegrass experience to the band, having toured with Darin & Brooke Aldridge on

For years, Murphy Henry has been teaching banjo pickers all over the world, in private lessons, at camps and workshops, and with her Murphy Method lesson videos and DVDs. Throughout her focus has been to encourage students to memorize material

Buddy Merriam has been recognized for decades as among the most authentic practitioners of the mandolin style pioneered by Bill Monroe in the 1940s. For 34 years now Buddy has traveled with his band, Back Roads, across his native New England, along

While preparing for the National convention of the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America next month in Nashville, we should mention that the organization held a regional convention and awards presentation earlier in January. The 41st Annual Midwest Awards Show

Texas songwriter and singer, Robert Earl Keen, has decided to go grass for his next album, Happy Prisoner - The Bluegrass Sessions. Though Keen has largely hewed close to the folk/Americana realm, this album marks a departure both in that it

For much of the past decade, rumors of the retirement of the great Ralph Stanley have been rampant - some of them coming directly from his organization. But despite the rumors, and the challenges of recording and touring into his