Bluegrass At Large

A number of prominent bluegrass instrument manufacturers are exhibiting this weekend at the annual convention and trade show of the National Association of Music Merchandisers, known as The NAMM Show. Held in January of each year in Anaheim, CA, it

The Charlotte Observer ran a piece a couple days ago featuring an interview with author Tom Warlick. Warlick co-wrote a book with his wife Lucy, in 2007 titled: The WBT Briarhoppers: Eight Decades of a Bluegrass Band Made for Radio. The

Special Consensus mandolinist Ashby Frank has agreed to send us updates and photos from their current tour of Britain and Ireland. Ashby is unsure how much web access he will have during the tour, but promises to send his musings

Here's an interesting story of a Lloyd Loar Mandolin that was recently discovered. The instrument had belonged to the lady's grandfather, but no one in the family was currently playing it. Thinking it would be good for one of the kids

Funeral services for Butch Baldassari will be held this Saturday (1/17) at St. Francis of Assissi church in Scranton, PA. The family will greet visitors at 10:00 a.m. followed by a Funeral Mass at 11:00. According to the obituary published in

I first met Butch in Las Vegas around 1979.  We were both in the gaming business.   Butch was a crap dealer at the MGM Grand, and I worked for the casino surveillance department of the Hilton.   I had just

Special Consensus mandolinist Ashby Frank has agreed to send us updates and photos from their current tour of Britain and Ireland. Ashby is unsure how much web access he will have during the tour, but promises to send his musings

Noted mandolinist Mike Compton has also sent along his reflections on the death of Butch Baldassari, who passed away after a lengthy battle with brain cancer on January 10, 2009. Butch's passing has sort of caught me off-guard really. He seemed

20+ years ago I was playing guitar in a lounge band in Vegas and working a day job too. I struck up a conversation with the guy who used to come into my office building to fill up the pop

We got a note last night from Chris Jones with a remembrance of his friend and former band mate, Butch Baldassari, prompted by Butch's untimely passing on Saturday (1/10). Chris is not only an accomplished bluegrass singer, songwriter and bandleader, but