The Archives

Foggy Mountain Boys Reunion

Photos by Greg Reed Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine May 1984, Volume 18, Number 11 Lester Flatt had been gone almost four and a half years, and Earl Scruggs couldn’t be there, but the reunion of the Foggy Mountain Boys at Blue Grass Park, Camp Springs, N.C., Saturday, September 3, 1983 was a milestone in…

Read More »

The New Tradition

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine August 1973, Volume 8, Number 2 “Tradition — Something handed down from the past; an inherited attitude, culture, etc.” Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary It was 9:30 at night on Saturday, June 2nd, at the Indian Springs Bluegrass Festival near Hagerstown, Maryland. Since Friday at 7:00 p.m. the ever-swelling crowd had…

Read More »

Joe Mullins—It’s Going To Swell Your Heart

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine July 1995, Volume 30, Number 1 Joe Mullins is passionate about bluegrass music. And he loves to share that passion with others, much, one gathers, as his musician father, Paul, originally did with him, 25 years ago. These days the two of them are kindling the flames of bluegrass fervor…

Read More »

Raymond Fairchild—Making His Own Way

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine March 1982, Volume 16, Number 9 They call him “The Old Man of the Mountains.” At the spry age of forty-two, that makes Raymond Fairchild a rather youthful “old man.” No matter. The mountains can age you before your time and Raymond has lived far enough back in the Smoky…

Read More »

The Country Gentleman—In The Truest Sense

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine June 1984, Volume 18, Number 12 Good as Gold and fine as diamonds, worth its weight in waiting for …” The sounds that ring through the capacity-filled hall are familiar to the cheering fans. The sounds have been produced, recorded, and enjoyed for over 26 years. There have been several…

Read More »

Porter Church—“If you can’t use a roll on it, it doesn’t sound right to me.”

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine January 1986, Volume 20, Number 7  He’s rarely played in public over the past two decades, and he’s not on many records, but Porter Church remains among the most eloquent of five-string banjo players. I may as well say it: in my opinion, when it comes to “golden era” bluegrass…

Read More »