• A ‘Clusterpluck’ for Mike Auldridge

    It’s one thing when one of the most talented Dobro players on the planet attributes his success to Mike Auldridge. It’s something else entirely when a whole stageful of top Dobro players line up to pay tribute. Sally Van Meter had the

  • God Didn’t Choose Sides

    Music about the Civil War is a staple of bluegrass and folk music. There are some memorable songs and terrific collections that recall the pain and anguish of brother fighting brother. But I’m pretty sure there’s never been anything like God

  • Breaking news from Missy Raines

    If you catch Missy Raines playing a show in the next few weeks, it’ll be hard to miss her newest accessory – a dark sling to help immobilize her right arm and shoulder. Missy fell in a Y gym in mid-January, fracturing the humerus

  • Lynn Morris wins DCBU Award

    Lynn Morris, a national champion banjo player and award-winning vocalist, is this year’s winner of the Washington Monument Award, presented by the D.C. Bluegrass Union. Lynn is best known as the leader of the Lynn Morris Band and as a first-rate

  • SteelDrivers put the Hammer Down

    Listening to music from the SteelDrivers is a lot like watching an episode of NCIS. You know it’s only a matter time until a body turns up. With its third release on Rounder Records, Hammer Down, the band doesn’t waste any

  • Sing Me Home from Dawn Kenney

    The first time I heard Dawn Kenney sing, at an IBMA song circle two years ago, I so desperately wished I wasn’t next to perform. I don’t remember what I played or sang that night, but I guarantee I didn’t

  • In the Presence of Titans

    After a long night of picking and watching the sun come up on 2013, I was talking with a friend about the state of bluegrass music. It was far too easy to fall into a funk. Good bands led by talented musicians

  • 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