Bluegrass In College

The Berklee College of Music in Boston holds intensive crash courses each summer, both for incoming or potential students to get a taste of the Berklee experience, and to allow non-matriculated students to benefit from the school's storied faculty. For several

Young mandolinist Joe Walsh has found himself mentioned several times of late on Bluegrass Today. We posted a report in May 2006 when Joe was still a student at the Berklee College Of Music, and performed with other Berklee bluegrassers at

WOSU Public Media in Columbus, OH ran a piece yesterday about the bluegrass ensemble at Denison University in Granville, OH. Andy Carlson, the chair of the music department at Denison, began the bluegrass ensemble in 2000. Carlson is a classically trained

Last week, Brance had a wonderful story about Joel Sidney, a recent University of California at Berkeley graduate, whose honors thesis was entitled Innovation and Tradition in Bay Area Bluegrass: Historical Review and Analysis of Distinctive Regional Features. Here's another encouraging

Here's a cool story that demonstrates a bluegrass, can-do attitude. Joel Sidney graduated yesterday from the University of California at Berkeley. Joel's story is unique though. His grade-point average was almost perfect, his degree in American Studies, the subject of his

Our friend Dave Hollender gave us a nice report last month after Chris Thile and Punch Brothers offered a clinic at the Berklee College of Music in Boston on April 7. Dave shared some photos and a nice run down

This post is a contribution from David Hollender, Professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Dave has been a member of the ensemble department for several years, and teaching upright bass. He also teaches banjo for students following

James Montgomery discovered bluegrass music at age 9 in his native North Carolina. He was suffering from polio and spent a lot of time listening to the radio. Now, 68 years later, and retired in Austin, TX, Montgomery recently donated

Students at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC have been learning a lot about bluegrass recently. In the fall of 2006 the university began offering a concentration in Appalachian Music: Roots and Influences from the College of Arts and Sciences for

We heard yesterday from David Hollender, banjo player and professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Dave has been teaching bass and leading ensembles there for many years, and now also teaches banjo for students following the Acoustic