Music Reviews

Since their beginnings a decade ago, upstate South Carolina’s New River Bluegrass has focused on bluegrass Gospel music, even hitting number one on the Singing News bluegrass chart in 2013 with When I Look Back Down the Road from their

How often do we discover bright young talent in family bands? The dynamic seems to entice and encourage the growth of budding pickers, who often develop rapidly in this supportive environment. It seems we never lack for examples, and here's

Adkins & Loudermilk hit with a bang when they announced their partnership back in November of 2013, with reverberations sounding across bluegrass music. Edgar Loudermilk left his position on bass and harmony vocals with IIIrd Tyme Out, and Dave Adkins

Who cares that geezer rocker Steven Tyler is making a country record? We’ve got real reason to celebrate: Ronnie Bowman made a new bluegrass record! Bowman, who has spent most of his time in country music since leaving the Lonesome River

Twice before we have raved about recordings from Shannon and Heather Slaughter. The first was actually for Shannon's solo album, The Sideman Steps Out, on which she was prominently featured, and the second, One More Road, their first duet album

Ohio-based band Nightflyer has named their second album Rail River & Road – a fitting name that neatly sums up the themes of the majority of the thirteen songs within. They sample from a number of popular bluegrass songwriters here,

The last we heard from Grandpa's Cough Medicine was with their 2012 album, The Murder Chord. It's title track suggested that a heavy metal chord existed that could induce suburban teens to knock off their parents. They take a similarly irreverent,

Despite the textual paradox, 15 year old Victor Furtado is indeed a master of old time, or clawhammer banjo. He has the various trophies from instrumental competitions within reach of his northern Virginia home to prove it. And if you may infer

Blue Mafia really caught my attention with their 2013 debut CD, My Cold Heart. It boasted of three strong lead singers, and a powerful new songwriting voice, plus the sort of dynamic guitar playing that sets the tracks on fire. Over the

In debates surrounding regional chauvinism in the roots of bluegrass music, New York's Gibson Brothers are often posited as modern exemplars of a sound that isn't dominated by cultural and musical conventions of the American south. It's true that their music is