Author: Lee Zimmerman

Imitation is one thing. After all, it’s said to be the sincerest form of flattery. Emulation is also admirable. That’s the ability to trade on a technique and offer it homage, even while opting for originality, all at the same

It would be far too easy for Steven Curtis Chapman to rest on his laurels. After all, he’s one of the most heralded artists in Christian music environs, having accumulated no less than five Grammys, 58 Gospel Music Association Dove

Hearing Carolina Red for the first time provides no hint whatsoever that the band that recorded it it, Red Wine, hails from any environs other than the United States. Indeed, the influences are so firmly imbued in solid bluegrass terrain

Dede Wyland has seen many of the changes that have impacted bluegrass over the expanse of the past several decades. As a budding musician and eager enthusiast active in the early ‘70s, and then through to her latest album, the

Steel & Wood make no apologies for the fact that they tap the tradition as far as their music is concerned. The only misnomer lies in the fact that the name of their new album — Along The Track is subtitled

Bluegrass in Belguim? Who would expect that a tiny country like that would boast a band with a fondness for arcane Grassicana. Nevertheless, eight years after Blue Maxx’s initial formation, the band is still going strong, and gathering a loyal

Damian Muller is a knowing singer/songwriter, and while his sentiments may seem obvious and even simple to any outside observer, the thoughts he expresses ring true, especially to anyone whose outlook on life remains untarnished by cynicism or sarcasm. Touching on

Credit Chris Jones and the Night Drivers for doing their part to expand the traditional tableau of bluegrass. While Jones has always offered his reverence for the roots, on his own, with his earlier outfits Special Consensus, Whetstone Run, the

Turning Ground tends to eschew both posturing and pretence in their determination to deliver sweet sentiment and a rousing good time. The Salyersville Kentucky-based quintet — singer/guitarist Nathan Arnet, guitarist/harmony singer Ralph Adams, bassist/harmony singer Kayla Amburgey, banjo/harmony singer Josh

It’s always interesting and intriguing to find a connection between America’s rural roots and the culture of other countries. It’s particularly fascinating to find an intrinsic element in the music made elsewhere that has common cause with bluegrass, nu-grass, grassicana