Central North Carolina bluegrass gospel group and Morning Glory recording artists, Last Hour Bluegrass, welcomes their newest member, mandolinist Nathan Orange, to the band. A fourth generation musician, Orange resides in Mount Airy, NC. On joining the band, Nathan shared... "I'm thankful
Brandon Shuping with Glenda Martin Fuller when he picked up Shep The late Charles "Speedy" Shepherd was musician and luthier from Salisbury, NC. He primarily built fiddles, but once and only once, he made a mandolin. It was a more difficult
James "Buddy" McNeill, 88, upright bass player, passed away on October 22. The Seagrove, NC native had performed in numerous area bluegrass bands over the past 40 years (1980-2020). Many musicians start playing an instrument in their youth, but Buddy didn't take
Connie Rose as Harpo Marx on Halloween at Orange Blossom, and on the air at WELE Connie Rose (Smith) was a groundbreaker, entrepreneur, and game changer during the 1970s in the Florida bluegrass world. She loved the music and wanted to
After winning the Don Gibson Singer Songwriter Symposium in Shelby, NC three times, bluegrass sing and songwriter Josh Hudson's award winning song That's Why We Stand has been made the title cut of the just-released Guitars 4 Vets CD, with
Crossroads, first place adult gospel band at Granite Quarry 2023 - photo © G. Nicholas Hancock The results are in for the 57th annual Granite Quarry Fiddlers' Convention, held the second Saturday in October in East Rowan High School's auditorium near
Jerry Stuart at the 2023 Granite Quarry Fiddlers' Convention - photo © G. Nicholas Hancock Jerry Stuart, 85-year-old mandolinist from Siler City, NC, was honored at the 57th annual Granite Quarry Fiddlers’ Convention Saturday evening near Rockwell, NC. Each year this
Tom Gray is inducted into the Bill Monroe Bluegrass Hall of Fame - photos by Barb Diederich Iconic bassist, Tom Gray, was inducted into Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Hall of Fame in Bean Blossom, IN last month. In the ceremony, coinciding with
Jesse Smathers, guitarist with the Lonesome River Band, has just independently released a new single, Sing Darling Sing. The lively toe-tapping original tune has an old-time flavor that features a clawhammer banjo, fiddle, and mandolin. This is the first taste
Thursday evening, October 5, a large crowd gathered at the Main Street Mini-Park in the western North Carolina town of Cherryville for the dedication of a mural of hometown celebrities, Darin & Brooke Aldridge. The ceremony was followed by a
