• Outside Looking In – Lonesome River Band

    Lonesome River Band are one of those rare contemporary bluegrass outfits that have the means of combining old school precepts with a decidedly modern melodic sensibility, without sacrificing the integrity of either. It’s a difficult juggling act to be sure;

  • True Bluegrass Guitar – Various Artists

    At the same time as releasing a set of mandolin recordings from the Rebel and County Records’ vaults, Rebel Records has made available a bluegrass guitar anthology, True Bluegrass Guitar. Digging deep into their archives Rebel Records has assembled recordings by some

  • Tall Fiddler – Michael Cleveland

    It’s a testament to Michael Cleveland’s regal reputation within the bluegrass community that a host of special guests were apparently all too eager to join him on his new LP, the aptly dubbed Tall Fiddler. Of course, whether he was

  • 2019 Fly In Festival report

    I have been attending Bluegrass Festivals since the early seventies both as a band member and a spectator. When my friend Tim Corbett invited me to the Fly In Festival 2019, the fourth one, I decided to invite my friend Melinda

  • Somewhere Far Away – Blue Highway

    All too often, critics, pundits and the public as a whole seem intent on defining music by genre, opting for generalization simply for the sake of confining certain sounds to a comfortable niche. That, of course, isn’t only unfair, but

  • Roots To Rise Live – We Banjo 3

    Ireland’s exceptional We Banjo 3 have carved out a unique niche for themselves, courtesy of the fusion of styles they fondly refer to as “Celtgrass,” an astute combination of bluegrass, Celtic music, folk sounds, and both new and old world

  • The Butcher Shoppe – Della Mae

    It would be understandable if the uninitiated mistakenly mistook Della Mae for a sister ensemble. Their close-knit harmonies and astute arrangements have a cohesion and confidence that ensures a compact fit and an air of authenticity that recalls an old