Reviews

Jake Eddy is a new name amongst flatpickers. But his new solo CD, Live at Spanish Point, is further evidence we live in the golden age of flatpicking. Playing strictly as a solo flatpicking act here, Eddy shows he’s as much a master of this difficult disciple as David Grier or Steve Kaufman. One critical…

Italian Beppe Gambetta is very well-known to guitar players in the flatpicking guitar world.  He is an extremely talented guitarist, educator and entertainer who effortlessly provides great joy to his audience through his effervescent passion and commitment to, and enthusiasm for, his craft. In this new book, Beppe’s passion and love for both music and…

Published by MOC Press Mark O’Connor has written an emotional detailed account of his experience as a child musician. He first started on guitar as a six year old and began learning fiddle at age eleven.  He was a quick learner and at age twelve he won first place in the Junior Division at The…

Not much time passes before there’s a fresh musical salute to one or another of bluegrass’s founding figures. These tributes not only strengthen and reaffirm bluegrass’s crucial links to its past, they also seem to provide a subtle moral compass in terms of reinforcing the music’s integrity with each new generation of musicians. Along those…

East Kentucky-born Carl Bentley grew up singing in church in and around his hometown of McDowell. At age 10, he was given a Ralph Stanley album featuring Keith Whitley by his father, who was also a musician.  That was all it took. To this day, Bentley still wears the Stanley-Whitley influence, and wears it well….

Seven-time national fiddle champion, Grammy nominated recording artist, teacher, singer, touring musician, and flatfooter, Megan Lynch Chowning, hasn’t forgotten the challenges facing a newcomer and transitioning fiddle student. This teacher has true talent in recalling the apprehension and desire newer fiddlers have on where to start, how to learn particular songs and practical ideas on…