Reviews

“The thing to think about with playing music and with playing an instrument is that whatever box you’re putting yourself in is the one you’re going to be able to create in,” Wes Corbett tells his students in Peghead Nation’s Contemporary Bluegrass Banjo course. Corbett is a former banjo professor at Berklee College of Music…

When Luke Abbott got bit by the bluegrass bug attending his first festival at the age of 11, no one could have imagined he’d one day create a practice software program thousands of people are using to keep their chops up during self-isolation. Strum Machine is an app that allows users to set the tempo…

 Josh Turknett In The Laws of Brainjo neurologist, and banjo player, Josh Turknett, MD does a phenomenal job busting a few myths about learning how to play music.  The first myth is that “natural talent” exists.  The second myth is the notion that the older you are, the harder it is to learn a new…

Barry Abernathy There’s a moving story behind the genesis of banjo ace Barry Abernathy’s first solo record, which, space-wise, can’t be told here. Suffice it to say, this exquisite release is a labor of love that has been several years in the making. The array of celebrated guest artists enlisted here is also a measure…

Dark Moon Hollow Equally rooted in the foundations of bluegrass and country music, much like their native Kentucky, is Lexington-based group Dark Moon Hollow. Their self-titled debut, released on Oct. 31, 2020, navigates between slow and somber bluegrass ballads to high-strung honky tonk. The 10-song effort recorded in the band’s hometown by Jason Groves at…

Alan Bibey & Grasstowne Alan Bibey, founding member of The New Quicksilver, IIIrd Tyme Out and Blue Ridge, has long been acknowledged as one of the most accomplished and influential mandolin players in bluegrass history. Not surprisingly, Bibey’s latest release with his band Grasstowne – Justin Jenkins on banjo, Zak McLamb on bass and vocals,…