Non-US bluegrass news

Ace banjo player Jake Schepps sent along this fascinating report from his recent trip to Borneo with the Jeff and Vida Band, along with some photos and a video. Two weeks ago, the Jeff and Vida Band performed at the 12th annual

Our friends at ukbluegrass.com have really started a ruckus... In their post about We Banjo 3, an Irish quartet, they once again raise the spectre of the banjo band. The group features 3 - and sometimes 4 - banjos playing at

Starting tomorrow (7/16), Bluegrass Junction goes European. Sirius-XM hosts Chris Jones and Ned Luberecki will be spending the next few days broadcasting from Norway. Both are at the Ris??r Bluegrass Workshop and Festival in Ris??r, Norway, performing at the fest and

We hear from editor Richard F. Thompson that the Summer 2009 edition of British Bluegrass News is in the mail. The magazine is published quarterly by the British Bluegrass Music Association, and this issue is the first under the guidance of

Is the banjo a ferocious predator? It seems so. Three new species of dinosaurs have been discovered in Australia. The three were named after the Australian poet Banjo Paterson and characters in his poetry (Waltzing Matilda). The dino named Banjo is said

The Thailand Country & Bluegrass festival that debuted last year is set for a repeat engagement in 2009. The event has been a labor of love for festival organizer Thanit Tanitapanee, who has worked hard to see this come to light.

Here's a video for those who still think European pickers can't play hard-hitting traditional bluegrass music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwmwxDwGZ7wThat's Lilly Of The West performing at The Slovak Cultural Centre in Budapest, Hungary last week. The band is fronted by Bulgarian singer Lilly Drumeva

The Carter Brothers (Danny and Tim) are packing their grip for a long, long trip - across the ocean to Ireland. They have two weeks worth of shows running from June 18 through July 1. Tim will be on banjo, mandolin

No, not like that. We're talking about the city of Bath, two hours west of London, England. June 26-28, 2009, the streets of Bath will be overflowing with banjos. Those are the dates for this year's Bath International Banjo Festival. The festival is

Our friend Lilly Pavlak wrote from Switzerland to share news of the passing of Waldemar Matu?°ka, a popular Czech country and bluegrass artist. Living in the US at the time of his death, Matu?°ka was a musical hero in the