Author: Richard Thompson

The Walnut Valley Festival was launched in 1972 when a guitar maker , a farmer , and a businessman built their own music festival from the ground up. It has made the small town of Winfield into an annual destination

Bluegrass singer Brayden Williamson has long appreciated the legacy that Bill Monroe left, and has done much to build on that in his short musical career. Others are now recognizing his desire to keep traditional bluegrass alive, and encouraging the

As for many events around the globe, 2022 marks a return for the bluegrass music festival in La Roche-sur-Foron, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.  After two years of COVID restrictions the festival organizing committee met in early October 2021

Lockdown – remember that? - had many distressing effects. However, for some people it presented an opportunity to take on tasks that normal routine might not have permitted otherwise.  For producer, teacher/performer, and researcher Bob Carlin, the pandemic allowed him to

Dubbed "The oldest Bluegrass Festival in Europe," the Czech bluegrass community will celebrate the 50th annual Banjo Jamboree festival later this this month - June 17-18, 2022 – in the town of Čáslav, about 70 km east of Prague. Headlining this

Kentucky mandolin player Nolan Faulkner passed away on Wednesday, May 25, 2022. He was 89 years old. He was a huge Monroe fan, but also studied Hungarian, gypsy, jazz, and early black blues music to make his style truly unique.  Lee Nolan

On Friday (May 20, 2022) we posted a report about Danny Paisley and his announcement that he is suffering with throat cancer.  During the weekend, Darby Brandli and a few other California Bluegrass Association members have launched a fund-raising campaign to

After a four-year hiatus, the European World of Bluegrass festival returns to the village of Voorthuizen in central Netherlands this month. The three-day European World of Bluegrass 2022 takes place from Thursday May 26 through to Saturday May 28 at a

One of the most influential bluegrass songwriters of his time, Randall Hylton was recently honored with induction into the Blue Ridge Music Hall Of Fame, based at the Wilkes Heritage Museum in Wilkesboro, North Carolina.  Born in in southwest Virginia, he

Big Country Bluegrass bass player Tony King and his family need your thoughts and prayers.   King has a rare form of cancer that effects blood/bone marrow, and he will need a bone marrow transplant that will require him to stay