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I've had occasion this week to speak with both Alan Bibey and Wayne Benson, two of the premier mandolinists playing bluegrass today. They are teaming up this year for a number of projects sure to be of interest to students of the mandolin, and folks who just love to hear them played. Within the next [...]
Dailey & Vincent will be the guests on the next edition of Studio Special on XM Satellite Radio's Bluegrass Junction. They join host Kyle Cantrell for an hour of live music recorded in the Nashville XM studio, plus discussion about their debut, self-titled CD release. The show airs on Friday (3/7) at 8:00 a.m. on [...]
The Carter Brothers (Danny and Tim) brought their eclectic bluegrass-fusion sound to The Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour this week. They appeared this past Monday (3/3) along with Irish folksinger Tommy Sands, and the video for the full program is available on the Woodsongs web site. The Carters grew up in North Carolina, born into [...]
Gibson has posted an article on their web site about Grasstowne Dobro man Phil Leadbetter. The piece covers Phil's early experiences learning teh resonator guitar, his work with JD Crowe, his IBMA awards and teh debut CD with his new performance vehicle, Grasstowne. Since it's Gibson's site, of course, they also discuss his signature model [...]
Monday's (3/3) edition of the Charlottesville, VA Daily Progress featured a lengthy article on Stelling Banjo Works, whose small shop production facility is located in nearby Afton, VA. The article discusses founder Geoff Stelling's banjo design innovations, which brought him recognition from the US Patent Office. Frustrated by a pair of patent rejections, Stelling had [...]
Washburn has announced the release of two new mandolin models, both designed to mimic the appearance of gently worn vintage instruments. These are solid wood mandolins featuring flame maple back and sides and a hand carved spruce top. The Washburn folks are marking their 125th anniversary in 2008, and introduced these new models as a [...]
We posted last week that Punch Brothers would be appearing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on 2/29. The video from that program will be available online for a few more days. The Tonight Show keeps each full show up for web viewing for a week after it airs, so until Saturday, you can [...]
We got a note yesterday from Suzanne Lawson asking us to remind everyone that the Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver video for Sadie's Got Her New Dress On is in the running for CMT's Pure 12-Pack Countdown. The song is the debut single for Doyle's most recent Rounder release, More Behind The Picture Than The Wall. [...]
The rock music blogosphere is buzzing with the news that Robert Plant has reportedly turned down the notion of a Led Zeppelin reunion tour, preferring to focus his attention on his newfound musical partnership with Alison Krauss. Their duet CD, Raising Sand, was released on Rounder in October of 2007. A story published over the [...]
Brance and I had the opportunity to see The Dan Tyminski Band in concert on Friday (2/29) at The Jefferson Center here in Roanoke, VA. We had been looking forward to seeing them perform since the formation of the band was announced during the 2007 IBMA World Of Bluegrass convention, and The Jefferson's Shaftman Hall [...]
