Print Reviews

When the definitive history of bluegrass music is written, Rounder Records will play a sizable role, and deservedly so. The label was at the center of many key events since its founding in 1970, from the recording of J.D. Crowe &

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,

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

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

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

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

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

 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

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

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,