Author: Richard Thompson

John Rice Irwin, cultural historian, writer and the founder of the Museum of Appalachia, passed away in Clinton, Tennessee, on January 16, 2022, at 91-years-old. He travelled the back roads and collected thousands of everyday items from the colorful mountain folk

Coincident with his recent 75th birthday, Pat Francis, one of Britain's most experienced bluegrass musicians, is retiring from stage performance. He was born in Wimbledon, a district and town of southwest London, into a home where in the early 1950s, with

Well-respected banjo picker Thomas W. 'Tommy' Neal passed away on January 11, 2022, after a very brief spell of hospice care. Born in York, Pennsylvania, he was 73 years of age. He had been known as 'Tommy' since the late

Roland White's illustrious bluegrass music career spans 65 years, and during that time he has been associated with progressive styles as well as the traditional forms.  He has played with The Country Boys (later the internationally acclaimed Kentucky Colonels), Bill Monroe

James Easter, the last surviving member of bluegrass Gospel group, The Easter Brothers, passed away on December 10, 2021. He was 89 years of age and had been admitted to hospital on November 29, 2021, then moved to ICU after

In August we featured some of the bands that performed at the recent Battlefield Bluegrass Festival, Naseby, Northamptonshire. This instalment presents five other British groups showcasing their talents during the weekend event in July.  Essex-born Dave Morris grew up in a family

Photo of Pete Corum on the left courtesy of Jim Beaver. Pete Corum, perhaps best known for his time with bluegrass great Lester Flatt & the Nashville Grass during the mid-1970s, passed away on December 1, 2021. He was 73. From Burlington,

Gary Scruggs, Grammy winner, songwriter, musician, and eldest son of the late Earl and Louise Scruggs, passed away on December 1, 2021. He was 72 years of age.  Gary Eugene Scruggs who was born on May 18, 1949, in Knoxville, Tennessee,

This is fun series in which we ask bluegrass music personalities, some famous, some not so famous, about their interests as well as about the music that they love. Maddie Denton is a third-generation fiddle player from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, who

One of the Blue Grass Boys of the mid-1970s, Bill Holden, passed away suddenly in Knoxville, Tennessee on November 15, 2021 at the age of 71.  William O'Neal 'Bill' Holden was born on July 25, 1950 in Fort Worth, Texas, and