Reviews

I’m going to have to start this review on a personal note.  The author of this book was a good friend of mine, who I worked with for twenty years in my job as the editor and publisher of Flatpicking Guitar Magazine.  I received this book in the mail from Mel Bay Publications and, about…

Rebel Records Now based in Danville, Virginia, Starlett Boswell Austin and “Big” John Talley have become quite an impressive new pair of faces on the bluegrass scene. Having met in 2019, they soon found common ground and formed a band. On this new project for Rebel, Starlett (bass, vocals) and Big John (guitar, vocals) are…

Mel Bay Publications Mel Bay Publications has excelled at providing quality instructional material for stringed instruments for 0ver 75 years.   One of their newest offerings for mandolin players displays the quality of material and presentation that students of acoustic music have come to love from this music publisher. Mandolin Picking Tunes—Old-Time Gems provides mandolin…

As the press material accompanying Mile Twelve’s third album explains, and as most listeners will agree, their music on their third album explodes and smolders with the urgency of trying to make up for lost time. The songs of this Boston-based “acoustic string band” (to use the band’s own description) makes no direct reference to…

Kathy Kallick’s newest release is all about connections: between Kathy and her mom; between Kathy and her daughters; between older and younger musical generations; and between folk, old-time, and bluegrass musical styles. It is a double-CD set with the first disc featuring Kathy and friends on new studio recordings and the second featuring her mom…

“Shiny Side Up,” the first song on the Dirty Grass Players new album of the same name, is less an opening track than it is a grand statement of purpose.  With its David Grisman-esque feel, the 10-minute exploration boldly announces the arrival of the Dirty Grass Players latest album, Shiny Side Up, with an energetic-explosion…