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In the bluegrass world - as in any other - a 25th Anniversary is something to celebrate. In our slice of the music business, anyone who survives for a quarter century is rightly lauded for persevering in the face of the obstacles that confront a niche market such as ours. Red Shipley, host of Stained [...]
George Shuffler, pioneering cross picking guitarist and one of the memorable personalities in bluegrass music, will be acknowledged by the North Carolina Arts Council with its annual Folk Heritage Award on October 25 in Raleigh, NC. Shuffler will lunch with NC Governor Mike Easly on the 24th, and receive his award the following day. Shuffler [...]
Larry Sparks is on the cover of the September/October '07 issue of Bluegrass Music Profiles. The cover feature finds Larry discussing his new CD, The Last Suit You Wear, plus his road band, his personal guitar, his sister's songwriting and his future performing and recording plans. Also profiled in the current issue are radio host [...]
Lonesome Day Records has two new artists on the roster, both of whom will have new projects in the near future. Back in June, Brance reported that Larry Cordle's new project, Took Down and Put Up, would be released on Lonesome Day later this summer. We still haven't seen a street date for this project, [...]
Friends and fans of noted newgrass vocalist John Cowan have long held that he has a heart as big as his voice, but even the heartiest isn't immune to health concerns. After experiencing chest pains last Thursday, John was hospitalized where a partial blockage was discovered in one coronary artery. A stent was inserted, and [...]
Our industrious British correspondent, Richard F. Thompson, is back with an expanded overview of a story Brance posted last month. Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs will be among this year's five new inductees into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Nashville Songwriters Foundation, Inc. announced on Monday. Flatt and Scruggs first met as part [...]
Roberto Dalla Vecchia is organizing what he feels sure is the first ever meeting of Italian flatpickers, scheduled for September 22 in Milan. The site of this six string summit will be the Italian Music Fair MEET, which Roberto describes as being similar to the Musikmesse in Frankfort, though on a smaller scale. Roberto invites [...]
Rounder Records has posted an interview with Charlie Sizemore on their web site. The occasion for the interview is his recent Rounder CD, Good News, but Charlie also talks about the influence of Ralph Stanley and The Stanley Brothers on his music. In the interview, Sizemore recalls how he came to join Stanley as a [...]
Country music legend Gene Watson has a new CD due on September 25 on Shanachie Records entitled In A Perfect World. On this release, Watson records several duets with other notable Nashville vocalists, among them bluegrass music's reigning queen, Rhonda Vincent. Their duet is Buck Owens' 1964 hit, Together Again, which was also successfully covered [...]
Sam Bush will be appearing on television twice this week as a member of Lyle Lovett's band, with whom he has performed on many occasions. Look for them on Tuesday (9/11) on Live with Regis and Kelly, and then on Wednesday (9/12) on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Late Night airs on NBC, typically following [...]
