Reviews

Last month we wrote about young bands who developed their musicianship in the bluegrass realm, only to apply the instrumental technique and sense of harmony and rhythm to original songs that are equally influenced by modern pop music. The point

Germany’s Bear Family Records has become known in the traditional music world for its superbly curated box sets, featuring entire catalogs from artists such as Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, and The Carter Family. The company’s most recent traditional release

While it is a known fact that Blue Grass Boy Doug Green keeps a diary recording his activities, it isn't so well known that another bluegrass musician did so. Well, in fact, this book is based on journal entries by

Bluegrass music has often celebrated the life of the working man and the small town he lives in. North Carolina’s Unspoken Tradition, a new group based out of Asheville and Cherryville, embodies that theme in their debut release, Simple Little

Fast approaching their tenth year as a successful bluegrass band, The Grascals have just released their second album on the Mountain Home Music label, When I Get My Pay (MH 1485-2). The CD features 13 songs and sees Kristin Scott Benson

As the weather gets colder and lights, tinsel, and garland start appearing at stores everywhere, it's easy to know Christmas is getting closer. And with that also comes Christmas music, and the release of new holiday albums by some of

Over the years, Lexington, KY has served as home to a number of talented bluegrass musicians, perhaps most notably J.D. Crowe and, in the 1970s, the now-famous early incarnations of the New South that headlined at Lexington's Red Slipper Lounge.

On his first trip to the United States a few years back, Richard Cifersky said he absorbed so much about groove and feel from bluegrass musicians he jammed with at IBMA and elsewhere. He also learned, from Ron Block, about

Many of the bands who claim old time influences these days really have more of a folk or Americana style, with traditional songs set to a more modern sound. Brian Vollmer, a banjo and fiddle player originally from Maryland (where

As a reviewer, few things are more satisfying than encountering an artist with whom you are unfamiliar, and finding them to be as strong a contender for headliner status as anyone currently working the circuit. It's also a bit humbling,