• Roll Me, Tumble Me – The Deadly Gentlemen

    The Deadly Gentlemen’s third release Roll Me, Tumble Me is out this summer from Rounder Records. The Boston-based group has a rootsy, folk influenced acoustic sound using traditional bluegrass instrumentation, but the music is harder to describe. More progressive than traditional... hipster

  • Dan Miller is Going Through A Phase

    Opening disclaimer: I've known Dan Miller for the past 20 years, ever since he moved east from California to southwest Virginia in 1998. Dan had uprooted his young family and bought a home in the thriving metropolis of Hiawassee, VA to

  • The Sky is Weeping – Jimmy Bowen

    Numerous bluegrass artists performing today got their start in the late 1980s and '90s, helping to solidify the country-tinged mix of traditional and contemporary bluegrass that is so popular these days. One of these artists is Jimmy Bowen, who, after

  • Blue Side of the Moon – Blue Moon Rising

    Although they have been through numerous personnel changes in just over a decade as a band, Blue Moon Rising has consistently released albums full of well-written modern traditional bluegrass tunes. With their latest album (their sixth as a band), Blue

  • Walking Song – Ron Block

    Ron Block is what you might call a complicated artist. If you pick the five, you probably see him as the powerful banjo player with Alison Krauss & Union Station. Guitarists think of Ron in that role with AKUS, as

  • Donna Ulisse’s Gospel Collection

    Anyone who is new to sweet-singing songwriter Donna Ulisse is in for a treat when listening to her new Gospel collection, I Am A Child of God. Regular fans, on the other hand, might feel a bit of déjà vu

  • Bittersweet – Alice Gerrard

    This review is a contribution from Louisa Branscomb, one of bluegrass music's most prolific and celebrated songwriters. Do the math: a legendary singer-songwriter singing her own, plus a producer who understands the impressive scope of the material and how to render