Non-US bluegrass news

This post is a contribution from Niall Toner, a popular bluegrass singer, songwriter and radio personality in Ireland. His reports from IBMA '07 will air on Ireland's RTE Radio One on 12/26-27 at 1:00 p.m. (EST). Season's Greetings, and good wishes

Our UK correspondent, Richard F Thompson, shares this news. Forty years before the 'O Brother/Down From The Mountain' tour, an earlier group of like-minded musicians took some Appalachian music on the road. Thankfully, some of the music performed by the small

CBS recently ran a short piece on Abigail Washburn and her banjo. What makes Abigail newsworthy is the fact that she's playing, and singing, American music in China. The video shows footage of her performing at the Beijing Jazz Festival, and

Congratulations to our friends at ukbluegrass.com! They have just completed their first year online promoting British Bluegrass, and are celebrating with a giveaway for their UK readers. Prizes are drawn from recent releases from a number of prominent bluegrass Brits (Howard

It seems that we are still playing catch-up, trying to make mention of the great many new CDs that have come our way this fall. Once again, I'll try to get to several more over this long holiday weekend. Time After

We heard yesterday from David Hollender, banjo player and professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Dave has been teaching bass and leading ensembles there for many years, and now also teaches banjo for students following the Acoustic

The European World of Bluegrass (EWOB) Festival is currently seeking submissions from bands that would like to showcase at the 2008 event. The event will take place in Voorthuizen, Netherlands on May 1-3, 2008. Showcase opportunities are open to bands from

One band that I did get to see at IBMA last month that really impressed me was G2, a young quintet from Sweden who won the 2007 European Band of the Year Award, announced at the EBMA European World of

Not long ago we brought you a story about Stephen Mougin playing in Slovakia. The tour is done, Stephen is back in the states and on the road with Sam Bush again, but he sent us some reflections on the

And yet even more great music on the radio today... Tonight (10/26) at 8:00 p.m., Canadian banjoist Jayme Stone will be featured on CBC Radio 2's Canada Live program. CBC will be broadcasting a pair of concerts featuring Stone's eclectic tastes