I have to declare upfront that I had a peek at an early draft of this book. Also, over the years (from about 1981), I have watched Reid gather together the building materials that have gone towards the writing of The Music
Reviews
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Pray For Rain – Blue Mafia
Blue Mafia really caught my attention with their 2013 debut CD, My Cold Heart. It boasted of three strong lead singers, and a powerful new songwriting voice, plus the sort of dynamic guitar playing that sets the tracks on fire. Over the
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Brotherhood – The Gibson Brothers
In debates surrounding regional chauvinism in the roots of bluegrass music, New York's Gibson Brothers are often posited as modern exemplars of a sound that isn't dominated by cultural and musical conventions of the American south. It's true that their music is
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Snapshots – Darin & Brooke Aldridge
Largely thanks to cheerful love songs like Corn, Lonely Ends Where Love Begins, and That’s Just Me Loving You, husband and wife duo Darin and Brooke Aldridge have become known as the “Sweethearts of Bluegrass.” While there are a few
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That Was Then – Springfield Exit
One of my biggest gripes as a lover of bluegrass music is to hear terrific picking and singing on a CD only to hear that the band in question can’t replicate that sound – or even come close – on
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Times Are Not What They Used To Be – Poor Valley Girls
The Carter Family is almost ubiquitous in every variety of traditional music – and even some more mainstream genres. It’s difficult to find a bluegrass, folk, or old-time musician who hasn’t recorded a song the Carters made famous, and artists
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Fiddlin’ Billy Hurt – all the fiddle you can handle
I suppose I should admit to a bias right up front. Billy Hurt, Jr. is a good friend of mine, and one of my favorite fiddlers in all of bluegrass and old time music. We've played a lot of music
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Introducing Cardboard Fox
Bath, England is the latest foreign locale to contribute a group to the international bluegrass scene. Acoustic quartet Cardboard Fox has recently released its debut, self-titled EP. A collection of four band originals, the EP offers listeners a brief taste
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Live at the Old Feed Store – Chris Jones & the Night Drivers
Live albums usually fall in one of two camps. Sometimes, even with the most talented bands, the songs come off flat and lifeless, perhaps thanks to the musicians taking too much care to sound ‘perfect.’ Other times, the recording perfectly
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The School of Bluegrass is ‘In Session’
Contrary to popular belief, East Tennessee State University and other centers of higher learning which feature academic courses in bluegrass music are not "The School of Bluegrass." That distinction undoubtedly belongs to hall of famer, Doyle Lawson, and his band, Quicksilver.