Reviews

In our May 2025 issue, we printed an article by Jack Bernhardt introducing us to a bit of the history of bluegrass gospel music.  Bernhardt, an anthropologist and journalist, researched the history of gospel bluegrass while preparing this new book, which focuses on the gospel bluegrass of Jerry and Tammy Sullivan, father and daughter bluegrass…

The Stillhouse Junkies have gone all out on their latest venture. It’s a sweeping and ambitious 20-plus-track concept album that’s been years in the making. Some of the material even predates the Junkies’ previous release, 2022’s Small Towns. The band’s founder, guitarist, principal songwriter, and singer Fred Kosak describes The Ballad of Charlie Avalon as…

With four lead singers, East Nash Grass has a lot of flexibility and the band uses it well.  Winner of the 2024 IBMA “New Artist of the Year” Award, East Nash Grass employs its division of labor on their latest album much as it did on its previous release, Last Chance to Win, and with…

Parallel with his two decades as a founding member of The Infamous Stringdusters, Jeremy Garrett has had a prolific solo career with no fewer than seven albums to his credit.  His latest, the follow-up to 2022’s River Wild, is an impressive outing featuring songs that — as Garrett explains in the accompanying press material —“didn’t…

The Turnpike Troubadours are possibly the most famous band that many people have never heard of. That’s a shame.\ They’re not exactly bluegrass, although they’ve covered John Hartford. They’re not exactly country, but they’ve covered Alabama. They’re not really folk, but they have covered John Prine. And while all those covers are strong fresh takes,…

Graham Sharp is no stranger to bluegrass fans. For nearly a quarter century, he shared vocal duties with co-founder Woody Platt in one of the most successful groups of this century, the Steep Canyon Rangers. When Platt announced his departure, the band regrouped, added another distinctive voice in Aaron Burdett, and kept going. Sharp’s distinctive…