Author: Lee Zimmerman

The honesty and good intent encompassing the whole of Kristen Grainger & True North’s Ghost Tattoo, an album that elevates them into a rarified position where endearing melodies and words of affirmation and integrity find a common bond, ought to

It may seem like an unlikely connection at first, but the ties that bind Scandinavia to the birth of bluegrass are more common than most would think. Many of the settlers that originally arrived in Appalachia came from those nordic

Fenced In harbor no allusions other than their intents. They eschew any sort of innovative stance in favor of a traditional tapestry, a seasoned sound built on bluegrass basics and a timeless template. It’s little surprise then that this self-titled

Credit Stephen Wade’s long ago, one-man show, A Storyteller’s Story: Sources of Banjo Dancing, for being a nominal yet insightful look at the place banjo played in America’s musical lexicon. It was produced and performed in May, 1979 at a

Midnight Skyracer has distinguished itself in several ways since the band first formed in 2017. Aside from the fact that this Anglo-Irish outfit is an all-female ensemble, they also earned the honor of being the first British act nominated for

Any band that opts to bend a few boundaries and tamper with a template deserves credit for daring to do so. After all, programers and pundits prefer to put music in a convenient box because it makes their jobs easier

There’s a certain truth to the tile of Kyser George’s new album, Taking the Lead, given the fact that it finds him expanding on the lessons learned from watching his father’s band early on and from immersing himself in the

Scythian has always been a difficult band to define. Influenced by a collision of sounds and cultures, they ably blend bluegrass, Celtic, folk, Americana and other traditional templates to create a sound that’s uniquely their own. The bands’s founders, Alexander

After eight albums and a career that goes back more than 15 years, Pert Near Sandstone have come to represent the essence of Minnesota’s thriving progressive bluegrass community, environs also inhabited by such likeminded luminaries as Charlie Parr, 4onthefloor, and

Johnny & The Yooahoos - photo by Ron Ronson Bavaria may be known to much of the world for its majestic mountains, its celebration of Oktoberfest, its rich cuisine, and a host of oompah bands. So credit Johnny & the Yooahoos