Author: John Lawless

The Tennessean, Nashville's hometown paper, is reporting that Earl Scruggs passed away this morning at a local hospital. He was 88 years old. We know that all of our readers will join us in mourning one of the most celebrated artists

Balsam Range is in the studio this week, working on a new project for Mountain Home. At least most of them are. Fiddler Buddy Melton is still recuperating from a head injury and concomitant facial reconstruction surgery, and he was surely on

England's high-fashion, swing-singing sisters, Hannah and Sophia Johnson, are set to release a new Toy Hearts CD with their dad, Stewart, this Spring. Whiskey, their 4th album, is in the final post-production stages now and the band expects to announce a

Jim & Valerie Gabehart have announced Steve Acord as the newest member of their band, playing mandolin and singing harmony vocals. Acord hails from Beckley, WV and has performed professionally as a mandolinist, fiddler and guitarist. He has worked with a number of

Pete Wernick informs us that a full scholarship is being offered for his Dr. Banjo jam camp held April 23-26 in Boomer, NC, just prior to Merlefest. 2012 will mark the 14th consecutive year Pete has held this event in North

Eight years is a long time between recordings, but that's how long it has been since jam grass favorites Leftover Salmon dropped a new album. But that will be remedied May 22 when Aquatic Hitchhiker is released on Los Records. The band

Eastman Guitars is giving away 40 of their AC-420 dreadnoughts, and all you have to do to win is go check one out and fill out a brief survey. Each of their 40 dealers in the US has one of these

Though the official release date isn't until April 10, Rounder Records has released the latest Steep Canyon Rangers album, Nobody Knows You, for digital downloads today. Ranger's banjo man Graham Sharp says that as a special bonus for early adopters, pre-release

Canadian banjoist Jayme Stone will be debuting a banjo concerto written for him on July 22 in London, Ontario. The piece is being written by Andrew Downing, and is set to premiere during the Home Country Folk Festival with members of Orchestra

Yesterday (3/25), Boston's distaff grassers, Della Mae, played to a sold-out, hometown crowd at Club Passim. Here the band played some of their earliest gigs during the formative years, and Sunday's show featured both a triumphant homecoming, and an emotional