John had served as primary author and editor for The Bluegrass Blog from its launch in 2004 until being folded into Bluegrass Today in September of 2011. He continues in that capacity here, managing a strong team of columnists and correspondents.
The Knoxville News Sentinel ran a feature on Sunday (8/12) on Cheerful Diligence, a group of young bluegrass pickers from Russia who are spending their summer in East Tennessee. The five college students are in the US as a part of a YMCA-sponsored summer work program where young people from outside live and work in [...]
We just received a note from our friend Richard Hawkins, who operates The Bluegrass Ireland Blog, and also contributes to The European Bluegrass Blog. He wanted to let us know of the upcoming attempt to set the Guinness Book banjo speed record by Johnny Butten, a young British banjo picker. His record attempt is scheduled [...]
Italian flatpicker Roberto Dalla Vecchia will be touring in the US later this year, performing with Mark Cosgrove and conducting workshops. He will be spending time here in November and December, and is still looking for some additional dates while he is over. More details on this tour can be found on The European Bluegrass [...]
The John Cowan Band has posted some new audio tracks on their MySpace page, designed to showcase the newly revamped band sound. These recordings are otherwise unreleased and showcase John's more scaled down, acoustic approach since bringing new members into the band. He's currently touring with a smaller, four-piece outfit, featuring Tony Wray on banjo, [...]
Earlier this spring, Alison Krauss sat down with WGBH radio's Brad Paul to talk about her then upcoming compilation CD, A Hundred Miles Or More. The discussion was largely focused on the songs included on this recording, but she also talked about working with T Bone Burnett on the O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack. [...]
Just eight months ago we told you about the formation of a new band. Steve Gulley had left Mountain Heart, and Phil Leadbetter had announced his departure from Wildfire. In December '06 they joined forces with Alan Bibey, then with BlueRidge to form a new alliance, which soon adopted the name Grasstowne. Now, less than [...]
Regular readers of Bluegrass Today know that we always like to highlight the efforts of young bluegrass musicians - and the people who assist them in learning to play. We have a number of stories we would like to share along those lines. Last year around this time, we ran a piece about Scott Gates [...]
Banjo For Dummies, the book from Wiley Publishing we first told you about last December, is now available for sale. Written by Bill Evans, noted banjo instructor and subject of three popular AcuTab DVDs, this is the first bluegrass release from the publisher of the popular yellow and black covered Dummies books you find in [...]
Rounder Records has announced October 23 as the release date for the new project from Alison Krauss and Robert Plant. Raising Sand, a seemingly unlikely pairing of the whispery-voiced bluegrasser with the former Led Zeppelin vocalist, was produced by T-Bone Burnett. The material is said to include blues, country, folk and R&B songs with a [...]
