Reviews
Long Hill To Climb
Wolfpen Branch is a Kentucky-based quintet formed by former members of the Wooks, 23 String Band, and Vince Gill’s band. The group includes Arthur Hancock IV (guitar, vocals), Chris Shouse (mandolin, vocals), Roddy Puckett (bass, vocals), Jeff Guernsey (fiddle), and Aaron Bibelhauser (fiddle). Focusing on tight harmonies and driving arrangements, the five artists present a…
On Banjo—Recollections, Licks and Solos
Ben Eldridge was the banjo player for the iconic Washington, D.C. area band the Seldom Scene for 45 years. During that period of time he proved himself to be one of the most innovative and unique banjo players in the history of bluegrass music. The Seldom Scene drew from a very wide range of musical…
Carl Bentley
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….
16 Easy Bluegrass & Old-Time Fiddle Songs
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…
Sagebrush Continuum
Originally from New York, Alex Graf picked up the guitar at the age of twelve and over the following years had immersed himself studying jazz by such greats as John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, and Charlie Parker. Moving to Colorado in 2017, he discovered there was also a home for him in bluegrass music, becoming influenced…
Pick Your Poison
Kristin Scott Benson, long-time banjo player for The Grascals and five-time winner of the IBMA’s “Banjo Player of the Year” award, and Wayne Benson, long-time mandolin player for Russell Moore and IIIrd Tyme Out, have been married 22 years. Yet this is their very first album-length collaboration. To the Bensons’ credit, this is not a…