• American Drive taking a break

    We received a statement this afternoon from American Drive, formed when J.D. Crowe retired at the end of 2012. Essentially, they were the New South without Crowe, and the guys found a new banjo picker and kept it going. Now it seems

  • The Picking Dead: Bluegrass and Zombies

    One of the most popular cable series of the past few years has been AMC's The Walking Dead. Based on the popular graphic novels of the same name, this dramatic series deals with the psychology of human relationships following a fictitious

  • New American Drive album on the way

    The newly-reorganized American Drive is headed for the studio this weekend to start work on their sophomore CD. A debut single is expected in February, with a full CD to be released later this year. In the meantime, the band has

  • McIntosh, Bartley to American Drive

    Following the loss of two founding members at the end of 2013, American Drive has announced today the addition of Adam McIntosh on guitar and Shayne Bartley on banjo. Both are veteran bluegrass performers and are proud to become part of

  • Wasson/Hymer depart American Drive

    American Drive, who formed from the remaining members of the New South when J.D. Crowe retired at the end of 2012, has announced some personnel changes. Guitarist and vocalist Rickey Wasson and banjo picker Josh Hymer are leaving the group. Wasson wants

  • New agent, album for American Drive

    When J.D. Crowe announced his retirement at the end of last year, his very talented band made the decision to forge on without him. Though they had been The New South for many years, that name clearly belonged to Crowe,

  • Albums of The Year? – 2012 Edition

    Billboard has released their year-end list of the top albums in bluegrass music. As always for the magazine's charts, these are strictly based on sales as measured by SoundScan, and dependent on both Billboard and SoundScan's definition of "bluegrass." Here is their 2012 list: 15. Bright Morning

  • A Few of My Favorite Things

    As a Bluegrass Today correspondent, I get to listen to a lot of music during the year. Some on CDs, some live. Some traditional bluegrass, some most definitely not. Some of it terrific, some of it, well, not so much. But