Music

British banjo ace Phill Morley passed away on Wednesday morning, 27 August, 2014, in Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, Essex. He had been ill for some time and had had major heart attacks on three occasions in recent years. Born on March 13,

Just as they celebrate the release of their latest album, The View, The Roys are on the hunt for a new banjo player. Daniel Patrick, who has spent the past year and a half on the road with the band, has

Ole Smoky Moonshine Holler in Gatlinburg, TN has embraced bluegrass music in a big way. Situated in the thick of the tourist attractions in Gatlinburg, Ole Smoky includes both a legal distillery for taxed, clear moonshine, and an entertainment venue

The Bluegrass, Old Time and Country Music degree program at East Tennessee State University has announced three new faculty members starting this Fall 2014 semester. Nate Olson has been hired as an Assistant Professor, a lecturer position. Growing up in the Western

Rural Rhythm Records has three new re-issues in its Heritage Collection, which brings back long out-of-print titles from the back catalog. When Sam Passamano acquired Rural Rhythm in 1987, one of his chief interests was the wealth of material the label had from

Eddie Collins has taken advantage of all the multimedia options offered by the iBook format in his latest instructional offering, Bluegrass Banjo in 10 Easy Steps. The package is available for iPads or Apple MacIntosh computers running OS 10.9 with

The world of a professional musician is all too often not the glamorous and luxurious lifestyle one might expect. This is especially true for bluegrass musicians—traveling long hours from gig to gig with a less than minimal salary. Some performers

Nonesuch Records has made free streaming audio available prior to next week's release of Bass & Mandolin, the aptly-named new album from Chris Thile & Edgar Meyer. It's a recording of this virtuoso pair's original instrumental music, and is as free-spirited and

Thomas W. Riggs, founder of Pinecastle Records and a long time bluegrass entrepreneur and impresario, died on Saturday (8/30) with his family by his side. He was 78 years of age, and had been in declining health this past four years. Riggs

Guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Colby Laney has returned to Volume Five, where he worked while attending ETSU a few years ago. For the past two years he worked with The Larry Stephenson Band, but Laney tells us that when the position