Author: Sandy Hatley

The Isaacs and The Malpass Brothers at the 2025 Malpass BrothersBluegrass & Country Music Festival - photo © Sandy Hatley 2025 marks the fourth year since the Malpass Brothers became hosts of the annual Mother’s Day weekend Bluegrass & Country Music

Authentic Unlimited at The Malpass Brothers Festival in Denton, NC (5/8/25) - photo © Sandy Hatley The Malpass Brothers Bluegrass & Country Music Festival in Denton, NC is underway. Thursday, the first full day of the annual Mother's Day weekend event

Today, Tennessee Bluegrass Band debuts their first single, Nolichucky, with their new band configuration. Lincoln Hensley, banjoist, and Tim Laughlin, mandolinist, welcomed three new members into the fold in the summer of 2024. Young North Carolina bluegrass brothers, Jacob and

Bobby Joe "Pop" Baldridge, 79, patriarch of the Goldwing Express, passed away on May 2 in Ozark, Missouri after a courageous battle with cancer. Pop was the definition of a true entertainer: singer, picker, and hilarious comedian and jokester. His

Last night in Cary, NC, Alison Krauss & Union Station performed their sixth show out of 78 on a six-month tour in support of their new album, Arcadia. Bluegrass fans have been waiting 14 years for an album, and 10

The Wilkes Acoustic Folk Society has been involved with MerleFest since 2001, when the newly formed music club was invited by the festival committee to host the Pickin' Place (jamming tents) at MerleFest. It is a venue in itself. The

Valley Flower, an Austin, TX-based band, drops a single today. It is their version of It Rains Everywhere I Go, based on Lynn Morris's rendition from her 1995 Rounder Record, Mama’s Hand.  The tune features Rose Lichtenfels on lead vocals, Stegall

Big Lick Bluegrass Festival’s performers, attendees, and promoter, Jeff Branch, literally weathered the storm this past weekend near Oakboro, NC. The first act on the festival, Cutter & Cash, performed an all acoustic set inside the refurbished barn as heavy

Tomorrow (Friday, April 11) marks the end of an era for professional musician Terry Smith. Big Lick Bluegrass Festival near Oakboro, NC will be his last show in his home state. With only five other dates across other states, he

Once in a Blue Moon, winning band at Highfalls Fiddlers' Convention - photo © G. Nicholas Hancock The 2025 Highfalls' Fiddlers’ Convention, held April 5 at North Moore High School in Robbins, NC, was a great reflection of the talent central