Alum Ridge Boys & Ashlee at Bluegrass On The Grass, Carlisle, PA, July 2024. Photo by  Holly Cameron, HLC Art

Alum Ridge Boys & Ashlee

Finding a new favorite band through a performance or recording is one of the ultimate joys of being a music fan. Last June, at the California Bluegrass Association’s Father’s Day Festival in Grass Valley, the Alum Ridge Boys & Ashlee took the stage Friday afternoon for their first set of the weekend.  Three songs into…

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the artists

The Infamous Stringdusters (left to right): Jeremy Garrett, Chris Pandolfi, Travis Book, Andy Hall and Andy Falco. Photo by Daniel Milchev

20 for 20

Two Decades of Life, Music, and Personal Growth for the Infamous Stringdusters “Life is a constant journey, always changing, always presenting challenges and always forcing you to evolve,” says Infamous Stringdusters banjo-picker Chris Pandolfi. Pandolfi is reflecting on twenty years of the Infamous Stringdusters as a band. In those twenty years, the Stringdusters established themselves…

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1993 IBMA Bluegrass Youth All-Stars (left to right) Michael Cleveland, Josh Williams (only cap visible), Chris Thile, Brady Stogdill, Cody Kilby, Pete Wernick. // Photo by Nobuharu Komoriya

Bluegrass Youth All-Stars (1993) and the Young American Bluegrass Idols (2003)

In the early days of the IBMA conference, kids’ involvement was nearly non-existent.  Former IBMA president, Pete Wernick—who put together a kids band to perform at the 1993 IBMA awards show—explains, “In 1993 when the Bluegrass Youth All-Stars appeared on the awards show, that was the first time that kids had ever been on stage…

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(upper): Hot Rize at the Grey Fox Festival in New York, 2015 (left to right) Pete Wernick, Tim O’Brien, Nick Forster and Bryan Sutton. Photo by Darwin Davidson

Pete Wernick

Dr. Banjo Turns 80 As a kid growing up in the Bronx in the 1950s, Pete Wernick lived within a subway ride of Yankee Stadium. For 75 cents, he could get a seat in the bleachers and spend an afternoon cheering on his heroes — Mantle, Berra, Whitey Ford, et. al. While he did play…

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from the archives

Bill Monroe in the Studio—Recording the Grammy Winner

Photos by Raymond Huffmaster Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine April 1989, Volume 23, Number 10 Bluegrass music as played by Bill Monroe is like no other sound on earth—and setting it on tape is like no other recording session. The sounds of bagpipes, blues, mountain churches and running brooks are echoed in Monroe’s tunes—it’s not…