Author: Sandy Hatley

Former Blue Grass Boy banjoist, Bill Simpson, 90, of Oakboro, NC, passed away on September 18, 2024.  In a 2017 interview, the multi-instrumentalist shared with me his history in music. "At twelve years old, my Uncle Jim taught me to play

Danny Paisley at the Camp Springs Labor Day Bluegrass Festival - photo © Laura Tate Photography Returning for the sixth time since its restoration, Camp Springs Labor Day Bluegrass Festival and its promoters, Cody and Donna Johnson, are celebrating a successful

Bluegrass musicians and festival promoters, Allen Dyer and Lorraine Jordan, have added two more festivals, the North Carolina State Bluegrass Festival and the McDowell County Country Round Up (both held in Marion) to their portfolio. The pair recently announced the

The iconic Camp Springs Labor Day Festival at Blue Grass Park is slated to return this weekend, August 30-September 1. Carlton Haney started North Carolina's first multi-day bluegrass festival on this rural site in the northwestern part of the state

Craig Morris, age 70, a banjoist and lover of bluegrass music from Spring Hill, TN, passed away on Saturday, July 27, 2024, at Williamson Medical Center. He was a member of the Alabama Bluegrass Music Association, a founding member of

Bob Underwood, owner of Satellite Beach, FL's Banjo Man's Old Tyme Pickin' Parlor (in the 1970s and '80s), local bluegrass radio show personality, swimming pool builder (who built his own banjo-shaped pool), dancer, farmer, and patriarch of the Underwood family,

Tennessee Bluegrass Band at The Station Inn - photo © Laci Mack The Tennessee Bluegrass Band welcomes three new members into their fold: Michael Feagan on fiddle, and young brothers: Jacob and Josiah Sheffield on guitar and bass, respectively. They join

There's an old saying, "Behind every good man, there's a good woman." In east Tennessee banjo picker Lincoln Hensley's case, it's "the man behind the man." The young banjoist is quick to credit 84-year-old Edison Wallin, a fellow Unicoi County,

Joe Dan Cornett, Jerry Salley, and Kyle Johnson look on as Caroline Owens signs with Billy Blue Records Caroline Owens, twice nominated for IBMA Momentum Vocalist, signed with Billy Blue Records in Nashville last week.  Ed Leonard, President, Billy Blue Records, stated,

Frank Poindexter - photo © Deb Miller (B Chord Photography) Dobroist Frank Poindexter was honored at the annual ResosGat (Resphonic Gathering) held this past weekend at the Holiday Inn in Wilkesboro, NC. ResoGat is a group of musicians who assemble once