Music Reviews

Those who have listened regularly to the Ray Davis show or are familiar with some of the Plum Pitiful recordings that have been released down through the years will be familiar with the name Scott Brannon, a regular in Davis’s

When you think about bluegrass music, Belgium is probably not one of the first locations which come to mind. However, with their latest album The Dark is Barking, Belgian group Rawhide has shown that bluegrass can be created just as

Many of today’s younger generation of bluegrass musicians grew up with the artists of the '80s and '90s as their major influences. Contemporary groups such as the Lonesome River Band, IIIrd Tyme Out, and Alison Krauss and Union Station were

Among the pre-Christmas releases is The Road Has No End (MC 1212), the latest album from Minnesota-based quintet Monroe Crossing. It’s their thirteenth CD – equating to one album per year since their formation in 2000. Not wanting to push their

With bluegrass music programs at high schools and universities across the country, initiatives such as the Foundation for Bluegrass Music’s Bluegrass in the Schools, and various local organizations which sponsor lessons and bands for young children, it’s no surprise that

There are few things in bluegrass I anticipate with quite the same enthusiasm as a new project from Kenny & Amanda Smith. I suppose I should admit that bias right up front. And I have not yet been disappointed by what

Montana's John Lowell, founding member and guitarist with the popular but now disbanded Kane's River, has just released a new album. I Am Going To The West consists primarily of Lowell singing his original material, with sparse guitar accompaniment. But when I

Jesse Gregory is a strong young vocalist from Maryville, TN, currently enrolled in the Bluegrass, Old Time & Country Music program at East Tennessee State University. She has the distinction of being the first woman to declare a bluegrass major

Throughout the twenty-plus years that Russell Moore has been leading IIIrd Tyme Out, they have continually provided fans with top-notch bluegrass music. They have occasionally branched into tunes from other genres on various albums, but never as much as they

The first time I heard Dawn Kenney sing, at an IBMA song circle two years ago, I so desperately wished I wasn’t next to perform. I don’t remember what I played or sang that night, but I guarantee I didn’t