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Bluegrass fans have loved Dave Evans for years, both for his soulful banjo playing, sing and songwriting, and for his determination in the face of overwhelming obstacles. Evans had worked with a number of seminal bluegrass bands, including Earl Taylor, Red Allen, The Boys from Indiana, and the Goins Brothers, but it was his time [...]
Larry Sparks has had a number of celebrated bands during his career, even recording recently with star-studded lineups. For many die-hard Sparks fans, however, the band that worked with Larry in the 1990s is considered to be one of his best. This lineup had Larry on guitar, Larry's son D. Sparks on bass, David Harvey [...]
Rebel Records has announced that the latest in their Vault Series, Dark As A Dungeon - Songs Of The Mines, will be released at the end of March. The CD will include mining songs from 14 Rebel artists including Blue Highway, Seldom Scene, Larry Sparks, The Country Gentlemen in the mix. The Vault Series is [...]
A number of CDs we have discussed recently on Bluegrass Today have hit this past few weeks. The sophomore release from Grasstowne, The Other Side Of Towne, came out on October 6. As visible as these guys have been since they formed in December of 2006, it seems a bit odd that this is only [...]
Rural Rhythm Records will launch their Gospel imprint (Rural Rhythm Christian) with a newly remastered reissue of a Larry Sparks Gospel album released in 2001 to limited distribution. I Just Want To Thank You Lord features Larry with his band at the time: Scott Napier on mandolin, Josh McMurray on banjo and Mathew Madden on [...]
Larry Sparks just sent along a photo of his latest edition of The Lonesome Ramblers, taken this past weekend at the Red, White and Bluegrass Festival in Morganton, NC. Larry is taking a larger group out this summer, including a couple of talented young pickers. Fiddler Olivia Smiley, who also fronts her own group, surely [...]
We've been in touch recently with Fred Robbins, a photographer and bluegrass enthusiast who has posted a brilliant set of photos from the 1972 Country Gentlemen Festival at Indian Ranch online. This was the first such festival hosted by the Gents, held in Webster, MA. Fred tells us that he just stumbled across the slides [...]
The Gospel Music Association on Friday (2/20) announced the nominations for their forthcoming awards show. Among the finalists for the 40th Annual Dove Awards are the following nominees in the two bluegrass categories. Bluegrass Recorded Song (song; album; artist; writer; label) Help Is On The Way; Help Is On The Way; Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver; [...]
Blueridge Guitars is set to introduce a limited edition, signature model guitar for Larry Sparks, honoring a true trend-setter among bluegrass flatpickers. It will be designated as the Blueridge BR-3060, and styled after Larry's legendary early 1950's D-28, including the distinctive double pickguard. Specifications for the BR-3060: Select solid Sitka spruce top White body binding [...]
Larry Sparks has announced that he will be introducing his own signature set of guitar strings. Most bluegrass fans know Larry primarily as among the most soulful and expressive singers in bluegrass music, but guitar players and pickers in general recognize him as a strong and influential rhythm guitarist as well. He has been working [...]
