The Archives

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine November 1982, Volume 17, Number 5 Norman Blake is as close to being a “star” as a musician can get in the field of old-time acoustic music. With the aid of a single-minded sense of where he wanted his music to go; and of dedicated hard work that would satisfy…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine April 1973, Volume 7, Number 10 Rual Yarbrough and the Dixiemen have had a long and very successful career. The group has included some of the finest musicians and undoubtly some of the nicest people in bluegrass music today. Rual Yarbrough was born Jan. 13, 1930 in Lawrence County (south…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine July 1982, Volume 17, Number 1  He is popular with the people. He will talk to them for hours.” A bluegrass festival promoter is speaking. “He has alot of friends,” comments a popular bluegrass musician. “He’s a very versatile musician. He plays more instruments than most people know about.” So…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine January 1974, Volume 8, Number 7 David “Stringbean” Akeman was probably more loved as a total personality than anyone in show business today. He criss-crossed bluegrass and country lines for nearly four decades and, if somebody had tried to define which side of the fence he belonged on. String would…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine October 1984, Volume 19, Number 4 Enon Baptist Church is located just a few miles from the Atlanta suburb of College Park on a winding stretch of highway known as Stonewall Tell Road. Across the road from the church is a cemetery, full of sculptured granite and marble monuments. One…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine January 1978,  Volume 12, Number 7 The hills of North Carolina have been alive with the sound of music for hundreds of years. Some of the greatest musicians have their roots in these hills, with two of those being banjo player Earl Scruggs and guitarist Doc Watson. Ironically, I recently…