D. A. Callaway - photo by Kaitlyn McConnell/Ozarks Alive For generations people have responded, often in jest, to the question, "What are you going to do now that you've retired?", with, "I don't know... I guess I'll write my memoirs." Of course,
Print Reviews
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On Banjo – Recollections, Licks, and Solos by Ben Eldridge
Talk about a long time in coming... A book about the banjo music of Ben Eldridge is a great many years overdue. Since 1970, he has been among the most influential banjo pickers in the bluegrass world, through many years as
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On The Bus with Bill Monroe: My Five-Year Ride with the Father of Blue Grass – Mark Hembree
Over the last few decades there have been several books written about the Father of Bluegrass. While some such as Tom Ewing's Bill Monroe: The Life and Music of the Blue Grass Man dive deep into Monroe's life journey, others
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The Complete Tune Playing Toolkit for 5-String Banjo
Mel Bay Publications' latest banjo instruction manual is one that any serious three finger player could benefit from adding to their collection. The title is quite a mouthful, The Complete Tune Playing Toolkit for 5-String Banjo - A Comprehensive Guide to Mastering
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The Earl Scruggs Banjo Songbook
We finally got our hands on a copy of the new Earl Scruggs Banjo Songbook from Hal Leonard, which will surely have a place on the bookshelf of every serious banjo player or student worldwide. At least all who have
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Speed Bumps On A Dirt Road – John Cohen
Most fans of old time and early bluegrass music know John Cohen as a musician, and a founding member of the New Lost City Ramblers, with whom he toured from 1958 until 2008. Their 20 albums of traditional and contemporary
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Pete Wernick’s JAM Songbook
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
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Don’t Give Your Heart to a Rambler – Barbara Martin Stephens
Author Barbara Martin Stephens was the common-law wife of Jimmy Martin, much troubled bluegrass star of the 1950s onwards. Her personal story, Don’t Give Your Heart to a Rambler: My Life with Jimmy Martin, the King of Bluegrass, relates the
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Bill Clifton: America’s Bluegrass Ambassador to the World – a review
I have had to think long and hard about what to say about the recent Bill Clifton biography, America's Bluegrass Ambassador to the World, by Bill C Malone. In many respects it is a perfectly acceptable biography, scholarly, yet quite readable. However,
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Onwards – Mile Twelve
We've written a good bit about Mile Twelve in recent months. The Boston-based group has been making noise in bluegrass with their virtuosic approach to the music, clever songwriting and arrangements, a nose-to-the-grindstone attitude, and a youthful energy that appeals