Reviews

Take the crisp, clean instrumental licks that are a staple of Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers, add in almost heavenly three- and four-part harmonies and – just in case all of that isn’t enough – dashes of Ricky Skaggs,

Seize The Day…. In one way or another, that phrase became the catchphrase for an entire music festival this past Memorial Day Weekend, 2016. Seize The Day… Isn’t that how many of us feel as we arrive FINALLY to what is for most,

How to get a head ache in just 10 minutes. “It doesn’t take that long!”, Bill Nowlin, the author of The Rounder Book of Bluegrass Music Trivia might well respond. The recently published Rounder Book of Bluegrass Music Trivia examines bluegrass

And. Just. Like. That. Summer festival season is upon us. All burdens and worries lay crumpled on the asphalt behind us as cheery festival staff lasso our wrists with those colorful Charm City Bluegrass bracelets. We are in the grass now,

In recent years, country music fans who can’t stand today’s rap-infused “bro-country” sound have found a home in bluegrass. Many modern traditional groups sample from both the songs and sounds of '80s and '90s country, while many male and female

I’ve been grinning like a possum when I hear Stringbean’s Run Little Rabbit Run on Sirius/XM, from Jeff White’s Right Beside You. It’s a blistering traditional bluegrass treatment of one of String’s “big hits”. The CD arrived in the mailbox,

For every headlining, nationally touring, IBMA Award-winning group out there, there are a dozen local or regional bluegrass acts keeping the roads hot and the little clubs and community centers packed. In the northern Virginia area, one of those groups

If you don’t know the music of Ashleigh Caudill or know her mostly as an upright bass player with impeccable timing, her new CD Looney Bird will come as a pleasant surprise. If you already know the work of the Nashville

The Deer Creek Boys may appear to be 2016's overnight success story, based on the likely success of their Mountain Fever debut project, What Goes Up, but this energetic and youthful group has been together now going on 18 years.

Like two comets, tails a-blazing, chasing each other around the galaxy, dancing, jousting, and matter mixing to create something totally anew, Béla Fleck and Chick Corea jolted the Earth further upright on its axis and stunned the Boston crowd on