Author: John Lawless

Iconic banjo player Buck Trent is spending the holidays in the hospital this year, following an aortic valve replacement on December 22. His wife, Jean, tells us that Buck is recovering nicely and was able to sit up the day after

Though it's not actually scheduled for release until next year (which is later this week!), Gary Reid tells us that he has received an initial consignment of his new book, The Music of The Stanley Brothers, from University of Illinois

One of the hottest new acts in the north central US is an unlikely duo, Billy Strings & Don Julin. One's an old timer with a minimalist approach to mandolin, and the other a fiery young flatpicker with a flair

Here's a brand new Christmas song, written by Jim Shirey of the acoustic trio Wisewater. Jim plays guitar with the group, which also features Mark O'Connor's son Forrest on mandolin and vocals, and Kate Lee on fiddle and vocals. The song is

Joe Newberry has been playing banjo and writing songs for a good many years, and recently shared this video of him performing On This Christmas Day, a song he wrote about the first Christmas Day. I knew right away that

Alaskan dobroist Greg Booth has re-released another soulful interpretation of a Christmas classic on reso-guitar. Most years Greg records a new video for the holidays, but for 2014 he has posted this gem he initially shot for Alaskan TV in 2007. This

John Reischman & The Jaybirds are among the most unique and distinctive string bands working on the bluegrass scene today. Part of that comes the many folk and old time influences that are apparent in their music, as opposed to

Here's another Christmas video from Missy Armstrong and Jeff Rose of Detour, their version of Irving Berlin's White Christmas. This song is said to be one of the top selling records of all time, with various versions notching 100 million

Sierra Hull is in the studio again this month trying to finish up her third project for Rounder Records, which is expected to be released sometime in 2015. When discussing this record with Rounder's Ken Irwin this summer, he suggested

The Church Sisters have announced that Jacob Eller has joined their band on bass. Like the Churches, Jacob is a native of SW Virginia who learned to play bluegrass as a youngster. Before touring the world as a member of Sierra