Author: Richard Thompson

In September we drew attention to the excellent new book, I Hear A Voice Calling: A Bluegrass Memoir, written and illustrated by Gene Lowinger and published by the University of Illinois Press. In the book, Lowinger recounts his life in

Mountain Roads Recordings has announced the signing of Rich In Tradition, a quintet from the Galax, Virginia/Mt Airy, North Carolina, region. The group has already made its mark by providing the backbone in the studio for the recording of the

Richard Thompson contributes this brief overview of a seminal bluegrass artist. Raymond Allen Shelton RIP: July 2, 1936 - November 21, 2009 As already reported, banjo stylist Allen Shelton passed away on 21 November while in the Centennial Medical Center, Nashville. He

This post is part of our occasional feature, Songwriter Profiles. If you have a suggestion for a bluegrass songwriter we might want to consider, please contact us. Becky Buller was born in St. James, Minnesota. At the age of 10, she

Comedian Steve Martin had the opportunity on Tuesday night (11/10) to demonstrate to a British audience that he is a serious musician, and according to Wednesday’s review of his performance in the Guardian national newspaper he succeeded. Martin was on British

This post is part of our occasional feature, Songwriter Profiles. If you have a suggestion for a bluegrass songwriter we might want to consider, please contact us. Louisa Branscomb is an acclaimed songwriter and pioneer in bluegrass music, having been referred

Working Girl Blues: The Life And Music Of Hazel Dickens by Hazel Dickens and Bill Malone, has been named the winner of a Certificate of Merit for the 2009 Association for Recorded Sound Collections Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded

I Hear A Voice Calling: A Bluegrass Memoir, by Gene Lowinger Gene Lowinger, a New Jersey boy by birth, was the first northerner to play the fiddle for Bill Monroe. He first played with Monroe in 1964, filling in on shows

This post is part of our occasional feature, Songwriter Profiles. If you have a suggestion for a bluegrass songwriter we might want to consider, please contact us. Originally from Jacksonville, Florida, Chris Stuart plays guitar and leads his own band, Backcountry,

Toy Hearts, surely one of Britain's most aggressive young bluegrass bands, leaves today for a month in the US. The group is based on a family trio, Stewart Johnson and his two daughters, Hannah and Sophia. They will be playing at