• Bluegrass folks line up for Dalton Harper

    Last Spring we shared happy news from Missouri's The Harper Family, when they signed with Crossroads Music's Pisgah Ridge label. Changes, their first album for Pisgah Ridge, was released in August 2012, and the band has been touring in support since

  • MerleFest instrumental contest winners

    Here are the winners from yesterday's (4/27) banjo and guitar competitions at MerleFest. Banjo 1st place - Steven Moore, Bethesda, OH 2nd place - Alex Edwards, Salisbury, NC 3rd place - Brandy Miller, West Jefferson, NC Guitar 1st place - Michael Ballard, Maiden, NC 2nd place -

  • Rebecca Frazier – When We Fall

    It wasn't long ago that Rebecca Frazier was a rising star in bluegrass music. Her band, Hit & Run Bluegrass, had been an invited showcase act at the 2005 IBMA World of Bluegrass, and she graced the cover of the Fall

  • Arthel’s Guitar from Jack Lawrence

    Jack Lawrence has announced the April 12 release of his next album, Arthel's Guitar, on Little King Records. It's a mix of vocals and instrumentals featuring the stellar guitar work and vocals of this long-time Doc Watson accompanist. Joining Lawrence are Wayne Benson on

  • Tony Rice monel strings from Martin

    Here's another new product from CF Martin introduced earlier this year at the 2013 NAMM show in Anaheim, CA. After many years endorsing strings from other manufacturers, Tony Rice now has a signature set from Martin. He has long favored strings

  • Kalamazoo Gals

    A new book released in January, Kalamazoo Gals, ties together several threads of mid-20th century Americana, bound together by the women who kept the Gibson guitar factory staffed during World War II. It was written by John Thomas, inspired by a

  • Paul Reed Smith – A Conversation On Tone

    Earlier this year, we reported on celebrated electric guitar builder Paul Reed Smith's move into the acoustic market, and his choice of hypersonic flatpicker Cody Kilby as an endorser. Recently, Smith convened an all-star panel of acoustic guitar masters for a

  • CBA Bluegrass Camp for Kids

    The California Bluegrass Association will add a new feature this year during their 38th Annual Father's Day Festival in Grass Valley, CA. It's a formal, four-day workshop for young grassers, ages 8-16. This is in addition to their Kids on Bluegrass program, which

  • The Fiction Twins – Toshio Watanabe

    The popularity of bluegrass music in Japan is a subject well known and widely discussed among US and European grassers. Since the postwar occupation of the island nation in the late 1940s, the Japanese have warmed to many aspects of