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As we could have predicted, a video capture of the recent triple banjo performance on The Late Show with David Letterman has made its way to YouTube. The clip is taken from Wednesday's program (4/26) and features Steve Martin, Tony Trischka and Bela Fleck playing Martin's The Crow, one of 14 double banjo pieces on [...]
We have written a good bit this year about Tony Trischka's latest CD, Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular. Each of the project's 14 tracks feature Tony performing in duet (with a full band) along with other prominent banjo pickers, including such luminaries as Earl Scruggs, Scott Vestal, Tom Adams and Bill Emerson. Tony will be appearing [...]
The 49th annual Grammy Awards were presented last night, and a few of our own were honored with awards. The biggest bluegrass award of the night was given to Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder who took home the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album, for their most recent work, Instrumentals. I believe this is the 12th [...]
With New Year's Eve upon us, let me recommend my very favorite version of the perennial December 31st classic, Auld Lang Syne. It comes from David Grisman's terrific 1983 release, David Grisman's Acoustic Christmas, and features a much younger and not-so-famous Bela Fleck on banjo. If you are a Rhapsody subscriber, you can find it [...]
We posted last week about some of the press coverage from China of the current Sparrow Quartet tour. The band features Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn on picked and non-picked banjo respectively, with Casey Driessen on fiddle and Ben Sollee on cello. There is a fascinating video up on YouTube that shows the Sparrow Quartet [...]
I found an interesting piece on Xinhua online, an English language version of ChinaView.cn about a set of performances this weekend by Sparrow Quartet in Bejing. The group includes Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn on banjos, with Casey Driessen on fiddle and Ben Sollee on cello. Washburn, who plays banjo with Uncle Earl and studied [...]
Destination festival Merlefest has just announced it's artist lineup for 2007. The event is scheduled to be held April 26-29, 2007. Tickets will go on sale Tuesday November 14, 2006 at 2:00 PM EST. Remember that this line up is subject to revision between now and next April. Personally I'm glad to see a nice [...]
Béla Fleck appeared this past Monday on the This I Believe segment of NPR's Morning Edition program. The concept behind these recurring segments is to air radio essays from non-radio people, who write and read their contributions for the show. Béla talks about what he believes, which turns out to be doing things his own [...]
David Royko has a nice feature in today's edition of The Chicago Tribune on Noam Pikelny, Chicago native and current banjo man with The John Cowan Band. Noam is also a prominent part of the upcoming Chris Thile CD, How To Grow A Woman From The Ground, and Thile is quoted repeatedly in the article [...]
Podcasting superstar Wichita Rutherford has just opened an online store where you can purchase a DVD of The Best of 5 Minutes With Wichita Vol. 1. The disc features 19 fan favorite interviews and videos from TV and video podcasts, music and photos, and Wichita and Dan Tyminski giving away the "Female Vocalist of the [...]
