Reviews

Traditional Bluegrass Fiddle Solos

Fiddle Solos Annie Staninec has been playing the fiddle from the time she was 4 years old and was performing by the age of 11.  It seems that her love for music happened very early in life and endures into the present with her performing and teaching in Portland, Oregon and all over the world. …

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Chasin’ After the Wind

Daisy Caire It’s inspiring and heartwarming to encounter a young emerging talent like Northern Californian Daisy Caire. This 16-year-old is not just an enchanting singer and songwriter; she’s a fine fiddle player and guitar flatpicker to boot. Caire possesses a lovely sense of innocence and playfulness that’s simply irresistible. It comes through clearly in both…

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Dark Moon Hollow

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…

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Hitchhiking To California

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,…

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Industrial Strength Bluegrass—Southwestern Ohio’s Musical Legacy

Edited by Fred Bartenstein and Curtis W. Ellison Reviewed By Robert C. Buckingham University of Illinois Press The spread of bluegrass reflects the movement of populations from the poverty and adversity of the mountains to places with more opportunity. Southwestern Ohio, with its industrial economy, was one of these places. In a response to employment opportunities during…

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Late Bloom

Graber gryass Don’t say they didn’t warn you…The Facebook page for Graber Gryass lists the band as “Hard-hitting, joy-inducing original music and earth-bound bluegrass, acoustic psychedelic music from Memphis, TN. A collective joy-making machine. Astral yet rooted to the magnetic core.” After giving a listen to the group’s debut album, Late Bloom, it’s as good…

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