The banjo is arguably the core of bluegrass music. For many folks, it’s the key to whether or not a song or album can be considered bluegrass. I’ve heard many a traditionalist despair that it’s been all downhill since Manzanita.
Reviews
-
-
Over You – Mark Whitt
It could be fairly said that all bluegrass music has roots in Kentucky. Even new music created a thousand miles and 70 years away still traces back to the commonwealth that gave its name to the sound that Bill Monroe
-
Southern Ohio Indoor Music Festival 2016
For over 5 decades, Southern Ohio has been a hotbed for bluegrass music, tracing back to the briarhoppers heading north for the industrial boom of the '50s and '60s. Supporting a family sometimes meant leaving your native mountains for the
-
Most Welcome – Branded Bluegrass
Wilson Pickins Promotions has been adding bands to its roster like wildfire throughout 2016, creating a lineup of up-and-coming groups whose sound falls mostly in the modern traditional vein. Branded Bluegrass signed on with Wilson Pickins earlier this year, just
-
Mountain Voodoo – Balsam Range
When Balsam Range came onto the scene in 2007, we all knew this Haywood County band would quickly become a major name in our beloved bluegrass world. It wasn’t because they were instrumental and vocal heavyweights—that’s common in our world;
-
Somewhere in the Middle – Robert Mabe
I wasn’t sure what to expect upon encountering a bluegrass album that featured an “intro” and “outro” on the track listing. Would there be spoken word tracks? Some kind of wild and crazy instrumentation? Was this a bluegrass opera and
-
A Distant Horizon – Jeff Brown & Still Lonesome
A Distant Horizon, the new album from southwest Virginia’s Jeff Brown & Still Lonesome, proves at least one thing: the band takes its name to heart. Many of the songs here contemplate loss – of chances, of a home, and
-
O’Connor Band at the City Winery
Last night, O'Connor Band performed at Nashville's City Winery, and the stars of Music City's bluegrass scene came out to enjoy the show. Our own Terry Herd was in the audience, and he sent along a few photos and some
-
The Road Back Home – Tony Rook
With so many subgenres and genre mixes and edge-of-this-or-that’s out there, sometimes it’s nice to just sit back and listen to straight-ahead bluegrass with a prominent five string and songs of heartbreak, hard work, and the mountains. That’s just about
-
A Life That’s Good – The Hinson Girls
There are plenty of brother acts in bluegrass, but sister groups have been a little harder to come by. Enter The Hinson Girls, four sisters in their late teens and early twenties, from Lancaster, SC. The girls have been performing