Akira Otsuka

What immediately follows when a group of retired friends get together? They start telling stories, of course. And if they have worked a full life in and around bluegrass, they will be bluegrass stories. If one of them is a recognized

Bluegrass 45 Reunion at the 2017 IBMA Wide Open Bluegrass festival - photo by Frank Baker It’s a well established fact that the Japanese have long been avowed fans of American music. Akira Otsuka can attest to that firsthand. Born in

This remembrance from the recording of Epilogue: a Tribute to John Duffey comes from Akira Otsuka. Together with Ronnie Freeland, he spent 15 years recording this loving tribute to a bluegrass legend, who was also a dear friend to Akira. It is

It’s early to start thinking about the 2019 IBMA awards, given that the finalists for this year haven’t been selected yet. But I already have a frontrunner for next year’s recorded event of the year, the award that goes to a

Well over 20 years after John Duffey’s passing in December 1996 he continues to be revered. And thanks to Sugar Hill Records (in 2000) with Always in Style: A Classic Collection and Rebel Records (in 2011) with Rebel Years: 1962-1977

Akira Otsuka with John Duffey's F-12 - photo by Michael G. Stewart American bluegrass audiences became aware of Akira Otsuka during Bluegrass 45’s first U.S. tour in 1971. Bluegrass 45 will celebrate their 50th anniversary by playing the Red Hat Amphitheater

Like many fans of the Seldom Scene, Bengt Adielsson’s memories of the band span the decades. But few take their adoration of the long-running act as far as Adielsson has, and even fewer have been rewarded with a stint on

Novelist Thomas Wolfe was wrong. You can go home again. The Seldom Scene proved it Sunday night, returning to the venue that provided the seminal band’s first home more than 40 years ago for a show that included current members and

Well it was another hot one at Grey Fox on Friday! Hot temperature and hot pickin! It is impossible to catch all of the cool things happening at once, but I will share with you some of the elements that

Back in the early 1970s, a talented young Japanese band caused quite a sensation at festivals here in the US - and not simply for what was then the novelty of a foreign band playing bluegrass. Calling themselves Bluegrass 45,