Reviews
Chris Thile Pick
Picks and their various materials and shapes are debated endlessly in online instrument forums. One new entrant to that conversation is the Chris Thile Signature Mandolin Pick from D’Addario (#2CA7-01CT), which the bluegrass mandolin world has been giving a lot of positive chatter to lately. The standard triangle pick with rounded points is made from…
Tyler Grant’s Master Flatpicking Course
I am excited to have the opportunity to review Tyler Grant’s “Mastering Flatpicking” course offered through JamPlay. While I have heard about Jamplay.com and have seen the ads on YouTube and social media I did not know exactly how it all works. JamPlay is a subscription-based website that offers hundreds of video lessons on all styles of…
Stephen Mougin’s Bluegrass Rhythm Evolution
I have worked with True Fire lessons for guitar for many years. At first, the site primarily offered guitar lessons for rock players, but they have added genres outside of rock and instruments other than the guitar. I have always enjoyed True Fire’s quality of presentation, ease of use, extra bonus features (like downloadable tabs…
Tunes & Ballads
Tim Stafford On his latest solo CD, Tim Stafford artfully carries the listener from the redolent smells of greasepaint, bison sweat and saddle leather inside the big top tent of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show to the gruesome and much publicized serial murders in Victorian London’s Whitechapel District (which oddly are overlapping eras) in a…
Cascade
Wes Corbett Padiddle Records “Cascade” is banjoist Wes Corbett’s first solo project since becoming the newest member of the Sam Bush Band. Corbett, a graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, now resides in Nashville where he also teaches banjo. Corbett cites his influences as Earl Scruggs’ banjo style, but also the melodic…
Companion To The Bluegrass Banjo For The Compete Ignoramus
By Wayne Erbesen Native Ground Music Long before the self-deprecating series of “Books for Dummies,” there was a banjo book for ignoramuses. This is the latest book in that series. It builds upon the author’s previous book, Bluegrass Banjo for the Complete Ignoramus. Unlike many books that spoon-feed information to the user while asking for…