• Special Consensus in the UK next month

    Special Consensus is getting ready to cross the ocean just after the new year, spending two and a half weeks in the British Isles during January. They have stops in Ireland, Scotland and England, including a performance and workshop at

  • Jim VanCleve Grammy nomination

    We posted earlier this week that Mountain Heart fiddler Jim VanCleve had recently celebrated the birth of his first child, Ryaan. When the nominations were announced yesterday morning for the 49th Grammy Awards, it turned out that Jim has something

  • Grascals name new banjo player

    The Grascals have just announced that Aaron McDaris will be their new banjo player. He has been working this past six years with Larry Stephenson, and has a solo project, First Time Around, on Pinecastle Records. He takes the spot of

  • Free Christmas tune lessons online

    Just in time for holiday picking, BluegrassBooksOnline.com has added a new free lesson to their web site. This month, they have both mandolin and guitar lessons for Deck The Halls and It Came Upon A Midnight Clear. Each lesson contains a

  • Elmer Burchett joins Pine Mountain Railroad

    We have posted a few times recently about both management and membership changes in Pine Mountain Railroad. With one last announcement, it appears that the new band is fully formed. Yesterday, we got word from the band that they have hired

  • Jason Davis to Grasstowne

    Brance and I recorded interviews today with Phil Leadbetter and Alan Bibey, where they each discussed their new band venture with Steve Gulley, Grasstowne. We'll release the interview with Phil as a GrassCast later this week, and Alan's the following. One

  • More Monroe

    Earlier this week I posted about the new Bear Family box set of Bill Monroe material. In an effort to clarify which Monroe albums are represented in the set, Richard Thompson did a little independent research. Richard correctly concluded that tracks

  • Mandolin Clinic with Frank Solivan II

    Frank Solivan II has announced plans to hold a one day Mandolin clinic in Alexandria, VA on Saturday January 13, 2007. Frank plays mandolin with Country Current, the US Navy's country and bluegrass band. We interviewed Frank recently on The

  • Ernie Thacker profiled in Lexington Herald

    The Lexington Herald ran a story yesterday about Ernie Thacker and how he has continued to perform despite his auto accident earlier this year. We've spoken about his accident and recovery before here on Bluegrass Today and we're glad to

  • Infamous Stringdusters CD due in February

    We heard recently from Chris Pandolfi, banjoist with The Infamous Stringdusters. He confirmed that their debut on Sugar Hill, Fork In The Road, is still set for release in February, 2007. The CD was produced by Tim Stafford, who has