Reviews

Nothin' Fancy at the 2019 Florida Bluegrass Classic - photo © Bill Warren The 2019 edition of the Florida Bluegrass Classic has come to a close. Friday opened with a songwriter workshop hosted by Ohio’s Brink Brinkman. Brink and his wife

Nightime jamming at the 2019 Florida Bluegrass Classic - photo © Bill Warren Thursday saw the opening of the mainstage show at the Florida Bluegrass Classic. Vintage country artist David Church opened the day with music from the days of Hank

 Pete Wernick has given a great deal to the banjo and bluegrass communities over the course of his lengthy career. The author of several top-selling instructional books for banjo, he was also a founding member of Hot Rize, and the

It can be argued, and effectively at that, that music not only speaks to us as individuals, but that it has the capacity to educate us as well. Whether through its lyrical content or the origins from which it’s derived,

Appalachian Road Show at the 2019 Joe Val Bluegrass Festival - photo © Dave Hollender This review is a contribution from David Hollender, a Professor in the Ensembles Department at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He is a classically

The early arrivals at the Florida Bluegrass Classic did what bluegrassers do best – we ate. The annual Wednesday evening potluck was a huge success. No one went away hungry! The crowd then enjoyed a radio/open mic show hosted by Nashville

If the calendar says it’s time for the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival in the Boston suburbs, it’s usually safe to bet on snow. This year, though, you would have lost that bet. Mother Nature provided the perfect backdrop for the 34th

Blue Mother Tupelo might not be bluegrass in the strictest sense, what with a bare boned musical approach that relies on little more than two voices, a robust strum, and a steady stream of natural percussion. If anything, they lean

The Joe Val Bluegrass Festival in the Boston suburbs provided the perfect cure for cabin fever this year, as the music was hot and the snow that seems drawn to the festival weekend like metal to a magnet stayed away

The Del McCoury Band at the February 2019 Palatka Bluegrass Festival - photo © Bill Warren Whenever Doyle Lawson and Del McCoury appear on the same day at a festival – well just wow! That was the case on Friday at