Non-US bluegrass news

Wayne Taylor & Appaloosa have recently returned from several weeks touring in Europe, with special guest Mike Scott on banjo in tow. Taylor sent along this quick recap of their time across the pond, along with a number of photos. We

It is becoming more and more common for bluegrass artists in non-English speaking parts of the world to write and sing songs in their native tongues. In the earliest days of bluegrass reaching beyond North America, most students of the music

Former Blue Grass Boy Curtis Blackwell has announced plans to tour Ireland in June 2012. The tour will include eleven shows in twelve days, most of which it appears are being held in community Arts Centres. (It's wonderful to see how

Following this weekend's Merlefest The Gibson Brothers are heading to Europe for a week of shows that will take them to Denmark, Germany, France and Italy. They play Merlefest tomorrow (4/28) and have a show in Denmark the following Wednesday. The

Maro Kawabata is a bluegrass musician, born and raised in Japan, but who lives now in the United States. It was as a child in Japan that he first heard the music of Bill Monroe, the music that marked him forever

Kelly Stockwell has been back home in Vermont for a week or so, after a Chroma Technology business trip to Japan with her company president Paul Millman. She offers these radom observations on leaping into the breach with a bunch

The Davidson Brothers, Australia's top bluegrass group, picked up three more major awards last week, this time at the Tasmanian Independent Artist Recognition Awards. Keep in mind that these were not acoustic, folk or bluegrass honors; they are inclusive of all

No, that’s not a reference to the Knights Who Say “Ni!” – Ni is Japanese for Deux. When we left our intrepid travelers Kelly Stockwell and Paul Millman of Vermont, they were winging their way to Japan on a business trip

... or, USA’s bass pickin’ Kelly meets Japan’s mandolin pickin’ Shin Some of us folks in the business world do a lot of traveling. For bluegrassers, business travel often spins off into great musical experiences like concerts, jams, vintage instrument stores, festival

This piece is a contribution from Niall Toner, a songwriter, mandolinist, and bandleader who lives in the Blackstairs Mountains in County Carlow. Niall will be recording a new album for Pinecastle Records in Nashville in May and touring the US. I believe it's