Reviews

Sniff, Sniff.... What's that? Something's frying, and it sure smells good. Could it be a corndog? Maybe an Elephant Ear? I could sure go for some cotton candy too. Wait! There’s the sound of fiddles, banjos, guitars... yes, it's that time

It would be hard to imagine an album more genuinely inspired or better imbued with sincerity than Fireweed, the latest offering from Natalie Padilla, a musician, educator, and enthusiast whose career has found equal standing in the worlds of both

I’m back!! The past couple months have been problematic to say the least for this old timer. A knee infection put me in the hospital for three weeks, but I am well on the road to recovery now. This past Friday night

Granted, there’s sometimes a suspicion about the work of younger artists who are still years away from graduating high school, much less the university. The cutesy factor can easily enter the mix, and the more precocious and personable, the greater

Just when the leaves start to fall and the air has a little chill to it, the Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival (OIBF) arrives in Guthrie, OK. It begins the first weekend of October with family, feasts, and bluegrass music. For

Credit guitarist Mark Jones’ time spent in East Tennessee for instilling in him a love and admiration for authentic bluegrass, both in his mindset and his mantra. Although he now resides in his native UK, it’s clear that the lessons

JigJam boasts a clever handle, but aside from the catchy alliteration, the name neatly sums up the synthesis of bluegrass and Celtic sounds that breach the transatlantic divide, one that stretches from the band’s native Ireland to the source of

It seems almost gratuitous to say that the Songs From The Road Band is more than the sum of its parts. On the other hand, its players boast impressive credentials. That’s especially true of bassist and chief songwriter, Charles Humphrey

Credit Jason Barie, who operates here under the guise of The Ramblin’ Fiddler, for assembling a most impressive collection of singers and musicians for an album that pays homage to the origins of bluegrass and Americana music in general. Barie’s

With all due respect to their American cousins, our neighbors to the north often seem to show the yanks a thing or two when it comes to offering authenticity within the realms of bluegrass and beyond. Bands such as the