Bluegrass At Large

Dr. Ralph Stanley sent along this brief tribute to his long-time friend and bass player, Jack Cooke, who passed away earlier this week. “I have nothing but the best to say about Jack. He played with me about 40 years (and

Walking through the mall with my wife, I noticed a large poster displayed outside an entertainment store. I did a double take, asking myself why they had such a large poster of Chris Thile sitting out, before I realized it

The Loar, a division of The Music Link, has announced their first A-model mandolin, the LM-400. They have done very well with their two F-style mandolins (LM-600 and LM-700) and are pleased to offer this new instrument to their budget-minded line.

Nominations were announced yesterday (12/2) for the 52nd annual Grammy Awards. Omitted from the breathless news coverage of all the shiny pop stars was the real news that matters to readers of Bluegrass Today. Nominees for Best Bluegrass Album (Vocal or Instrumental): Could

We have just learned that Jack Cooke, long-time member of Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys, passed away last night (12/1) after suffering a massive heart attack. He collapsed at home and was pronounced dead at the hospital. Cooke performed

Alison Krauss is offering a special package of her many recordings this week from her web site. They are calling it The Complete Alison Package, and it includes 13 CDs and 2 DVDs for $150. This package will only be available

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

Erik Igelström, mandolinist with G2, and his wife Hanna, are celebrating the birth of their second son. "On Thursday 26th of November 1:05 p.m. (local Swedish time), we had our second son at Södersjukhuset in Stockholm. We actually haven't decided

The Collector's Weekly has a lengthy interview with Lowell Levinger where they discuss his extensive collection of vintage acoustic instruments. Levinger is better known to his followers as Banana, the nom de guerre he adopted as a founding member of

Jayme Stone picked up another trophy last Saturday (11/21) at the Canadian Folk Music Awards in Ottawa to add to his two previous Juno Awards. Not bad for a banjo player. He won for World Group of the Year for Africa