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Dave Yates' 4-song EP, Cardboard In Her Shoes, has got East Tennessee written all over it. Of course Yates himself is on the faculty in the East Tennessee State University's bluegrass music program, and has plied his trade as a singer, songwriter and instrumentalist in the area for years. Fellow faculty members Adam Steffey and Hunter [...]
Wyatt Rice has been working as a professional musician since he joined older brother Tony's band in the late 1970s. He's a master of what has come to be known as the "Rice style" of lead and rhythm guitar, as one might expect, and has spent most of his musical career in support of big brother, [...]
For many bluegrass groups these days, a stop in Johnson City, Tennessee isn't complete without visits to both East Tennessee State University and The Down Home. ETSU frequently welcomes guest artists to its Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country Music Studies program, and the famed Down Home has played host to most of the top bands [...]
The Darrell Webb Band has brought Brandon Green on to play banjo. He did his first weekend recently on a tour through Kentucky. Green is on the faculty of the Bluegrass, Old Time and Country Music Studies program at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, TN. He serves as a lecturer in the department, [...]
While the 1927 Bristol Sessions, in which the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, and other early country music acts recorded some of their first songs, is well-known as the “Big Bang of Country Music,” it certainly wasn’t the only early country music recording session to leave a lasting impact on traditional music. It wasn’t even the [...]
The Down Home in Johnson City, TN will be hosting a pre-release screening of a new project from a pair of ETSU faculty members, along with a concert by Czech bluegrass band, Druha Trava on Monday (9/23). The film is Banjo Romantika - American Music & the Czech Imagination, a collaboration between Lee Bidgood and Shara [...]
Back in June, we reported to you about the Barefoot Movement, a young folk group with roots in the ETSU Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country Music Studies program. The band has recently released its second album, Figures of the Year, a sixteen-track collection that varies between folk-pop and authentic-sounding old-time. The majority of the tracks [...]
There are not many music genres in which fans are able to consistently interact with their heroes face-to-face, and even less where stars and legends will willingly sit down and talk or play music with fans. Thankfully, bluegrass is one of those genres. It’s not uncommon for some of the most popular musicians to be [...]
When Doc Watson passed away in May 2012, the world of traditional music lost one of its most beloved figures. Doc had quite a prolific career, recording albums both as a solo artist and with his son Merle, as well as many collaborations with such renowned artists as Earl Scruggs, Del McCoury, the Nitty Gritty [...]
Everybody loves a wedding, and what could be better than a bluegrass wedding on the beach? That is just what Danny Stewart and Ashley Wiese had last week when they tied the knot in Florida after spending a week at sea on his father's annual bluegrass cruise. Danny plays bass with the Larry Stephenson Band, and serves [...]
