Author: John Lawless

We got a note last night from Chris Jones with a remembrance of his friend and former band mate, Butch Baldassari, prompted by Butch's untimely passing on Saturday (1/10). Chris is not only an accomplished bluegrass singer, songwriter and bandleader, but

Ronnie McCoury has sent along a note remembering his friend, Butch Baldassari. He was on vacation with his family when he first learned of Butch's passing, and just now had a chance to share his thoughts. Butch was someone I admired

New CD releases have been few and far between this past few months. The labels tend to hold off on new projects after October, fearing that they could get lost in the holiday shuffle. Now that the new year is

Here are some more reflections on Butch Baldassari from members of his musical family. It has been nearly 20 years ago that Butch and I moved to Nashville with Chris Jones and Ward Stout to pursue our musical endeavor in Weary

The Tennessean, Nashville's hometown newspaper, remembered Butch Baldassari with a pair of articles over the weekend. Both were written by Peter Cooper, who noted Butch's passing on Saturday (1/10) and celebrated his work with The Nashville Mandolin Ensemble on Sunday (1/11). Mr.

Butch Baldassari's passing yesterday, far too early at the age of 56, has brought out just the mix of sadness and praise that you might expect from his mandolin peers. He touched the lives of countless mandolinists, from his fellow professional

We are saddened to note that Butch Baldassari, mandolinist, business owner and bluegrass entrepreneur, passed away earlier today (1/10) in Nashville. Butch had fought a long and hard battle with a pernicious brain cancer, by all reports remaining upbeat and in

The Grascals will have two spots in the national media this weekend. Tonight (1/9), they will appear on the Friday Grand Ole Opry during the 10:00-10:30 p.m. segment. The Friday Opry show is available over the air on WSM AM 650, on

Rhonda Vincent reports on her web site that they will complete the tracking for her next CD today. She says that they plan to finish mixing over the remainder of January, with an eye towards a release on Rounder Records

Here are a couple of good choices for online listening for Friday, January 9. At noon, The Kati Penn Band will perform live on Blue Plate Special, broadcast from The Square Room in Knoxville, TN on WDVX. They will perform material from