Bill Clifton

Many thanks to Kaz Inaba in Japan for sharing this historic video of Bill Clifton when he visited Japan in 1993, and performed at the Takarazuka Spring Bluegrass Festival. The festival has been hosted since 1972 by Saburo and Toshio Watanabe,

I have had to think long and hard about what to say about the recent Bill Clifton biography, America's Bluegrass Ambassador to the World, by Bill C Malone. In many respects it is a perfectly acceptable biography, scholarly, yet quite readable. However,

On June 1, (2017), we reported that Bill Clifton had been hospitalized for abdominal surgery. His recovery and subsequent release to return home was short-lived, as by June 10 he had to return to hospital, due to problems with his heart-rate.

Since reporting last week that bluegrass legend Bill Clifton had been hospitalized in Bristol, TN, we have received another update from his wife, Tineke Marburg. He had been admitted for emergency surgery to cut out several feet of dead and knotted

Tineke Marburg, Bill Clifton’s wife, reports that he is in the ICU in Bristol Regional Medical Center in Tennessee, to where he was transferred after spending two days in the Beckley Hospital in West Virginia with what she described as

Late in October 1963, bluegrass singer Bill Clifton and his family moved to England for what was planned to be a six to nine month stay. He remained in Europe for four years. During that time, he played in western

On this Day …….. On November 7, 1958, Bill Clifton recorded Springhill Disaster, a song that he adapted from a poem written by a survivor, Maurice Ruddick. The Springhill disaster took place on Thursday, October 23, 1958. Actually there were three disasters in

On this day …. On July 21, 1998, ace British mandolin player Andy Townend passed away in the Kent and Sussex Hospital, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England, after a short illness. He was aged 46. Born on January 12, 1952, he was a

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell has issued a proclamation declaring July 2011 as Virginia Bluegrass Festival Month. It, and six others recognizing Virginia natives who have profoundly affected the development of bluegrass music, will be read from the stage during the Oak

Recently the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) announced the names of the two inductees to the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame for 2008. In the living performer category is singer/guitarist Bill Clifton, the first international ambassador for bluegrass music. Born