• Kaz Inaba honors Earl Scruggs

    Noted Japanese bluegrass artist Kazuhiro Inaba sent along this video tribute to the late Earl Scruggs. I played “The Scruggs Medley” with my great respect and appreciation for Earl Scruggs last night at Mister Kelly’s in Osaka. Since I started to play

  • Harper Family signs with Pisgah Ridge

    The Harper Family of Missouri is the latest up-and-coming bluegrass act to be signed to Crossroads Entertainment' Pisgah Ridge label. This Gospel singing clan consists of Gaylon and Katrina Harper and their three children, Dalton, Dillon and Hannah, who have all been

  • New Gaudreau & Klein CD in May

    Rebel Records has announced May 8 as the release date for Home From The Mills, the second recording from the duo of Jimmy Gaudreau & Moondi Klein. This pair of bluegrass veterans have served their time in some of the most

  • Earl: Exceptional Efficiency, Extreme Elegance

    This commemoration of Earl Scruggs comes from Jack Hatfield, who has earned his living teaching Scruggs' music for almost 40 years. His Scruggs Corner columns for Banjo Newsletter are collectors items, as they contained start-to-finish transcriptions from Scruggs recordings, including

  • It’s About Time – Wayne Taylor

    In one of the most appropriately titled projects in recent memory, Blue Highway bass player and lead vocalist Wayne Taylor has just released his first solo project since joining the group, It's About Time. I had a chance to speak with Wayne recently

  • J.D. Crowe to hang up his banjo

    Another banjo milestone is about to be passed. The great J.D. Crowe has announced his intention to retire from performing at the end of 2012. He will turn 75 years old this summer. Crowe is widely regarded as among the most

  • Harmony Singing Made Easy DVD

    The latest instructional DVD release from The Murphy Method is Harmony Singing Made Easy, featuring Bill Evans, Janet Beazley, and Chris Stuart along with Murphy Henry. Using some very familiar jam session standards - Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Bury Me Beneath the

  • Ryan Cavanaugh on Earl Scruggs

    This Earl Scruggs tribute is a contribution from avant-garde and jazz banjo pioneer, Ryan Cavanaugh. I was fortunate enough to have a few conversations with our hero Earl Scruggs, and having spent my formative years in an extensive study of his

  • John McGann passes

    And the sad news just keeps coming... John McGann, noted instrumentalist and acoustic music educator passed away this morning in Boston. He was on the faculty at the Berklee College of Music where he taught mandolin and guitar, and led a

  • Dick Bowden on Earl Scruggs

    I grew up way Downeast in Maine surrounded by a country music loving family and friends. In the early 50s. By the time I started school in 1958 I was hearing the sounds of Flatt & Scruggs, Mac Wiseman, Bill Clifton,