Music

The folks at Skaggs Family Records have created a free streaming site on iLike for the upcoming Ricky Skaggs CD, Solo - Songs My Dad Loved. You can listen to all 13 tracks in full on iLike until the release date

Mandolin player Buddy Merriam has recently released a new solo CD containing 14 of his traditionally styled, original mandolin compositions. Buddy is a special jewel within the bluegrass firmament. Not only is he a traditionalist at heart, but also an innovator.

How about this for a bluegrass fan? Any band would surely be honored to be memorialized in a fan's license plate, as were The Gibson Brothers by a big fan. Too bad the state of Virginia doesn't offer a banjo plate. If

Tina Adair made quite a name for herself in bluegrass before many performers her age had played their first show. Her family band, The Adairs, won the 1996 Pizza Hut Bluegrass Showdown when Tina was 17 years old, and within

Scott Anderson's name has been a familiar one to bluegrass fans in Florida for the past 20 years. He performed and recorded on banjo with Endless Highway, Gentle River and The Bluegrass Parlor Band, and toured as a member of

Niall Toner has sent along a copy of his latest CD with his band, NTB3, their 3rd CD of Toner's original music. Whereas prior releases have featured the Irish singer/songwriter in a bluegrass band setting, this new project is closer to

The Del McCoury Band is recording like they have something to prove. Not six months after releasing a 50 song career retrospective, with all recently recorded tracks, Del and the boys have another new album ready for release on October 27. Family

Mountain Heart is in England this weekend, where they performed at the Didmarton Festival in Gloucestershire. Before the fest, however, the boys were able to get in a bit of sightseeing, and sent along these photos from Stonehenge. Bass man Jason

I could hear the excitement in Rob Icke's voice when I spoke with him earlier this week about his recent trip to Israel. He and pianist Michael Alvey made the trip to perform at the Red Sea Jazz Festival in Eliat,

Here's a surprising change of pace... John Cowan, known for decades for his blues and rock-inflected take on newgrass and Americana music, had recorded a Christmas CD for Koch Records. The project is titled Comfort & Joy, and it is due