Reviews

Learning to play music by ear is an important skill, especially for bluegrass musicians. Having music notation or tablature with you in the campground or parking lot jam sessions is not always possible. Additionally, you are not always going to know the tunes that are called out at the jam. If you want to participate…

“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…