Reviews

When I was learning to play banjo in the mid-1970's, one of the first albums I bought was the two-album live recording from the Bill Monroe's Bean Blossom festival, which became one of my favorites and a great source of

Western Virginia fiddler Shannon Wheeler has released a debut EP album. It's called Growler, and features 4 fiddle tunes (2 of them originals), and a vocal. Wheeler is an active road and session player in the Virginia/North Carolina scene, and has

Last week, I took a hiatus from my regular Album of the Week column to celebrate the life and legacy of Jimmie Rodgers with a series of Rodgers Remembrances. Hopefully, you enjoyed learning more about the Father of Country Music. I had

In today’s music world there’s a whole lot more to starting a band than merely getting together with four to five guys, hacking out some tunes, booking, and playing shows. Each band must strive to create their own sound, generate

With a recent party at Margaritaville in Nashville, TN, Brand New Strings released their latest project on Rural Rhythm Records. Their sophomore release, appropriately titled Stay Tuned, features more great material from band members Mike Ramsey, Stuart Wyrick, Randall Massengill, Preston Schmidt, and

Marty Raybon is perhaps best known as the lead singer of popular 90’s country band Shenandoah, which had number one hits with such songs as Sunday in the South and Two Dozen Roses. However, he has also released several projects

Carrie Hassler has been working hard since her last release (2008’s CHHR2), and her efforts shine on her most recent project for Rural Rhythm Records, the solo album The Distance. The album debuted at number 10 on Billboard’s Bluegrass chart,

For the past 25 years, Darrel and Phyllis Adkins of Adkins Productions have hosted the Bluegrass Classic music festival in Columbus, Ohio. After their daughter, Mandy, passed away from an inoperable brain tumor in 2000, they joined with numerous bluegrass

This past week (May 9th) marked the 23rd anniversary of the passing of Keith Whitley. Every time his honest voice is heard, people across the globe wonder why he had to leave us so early in life. He joined the

You might not agree with all of the song selections and artist choices on Putumayo’s Bluegrass Collection, which comes out May 22, but you have to acknowledge that Putumayo founder Dan Storper is getting the music we love in front