The Archives

Rose Maddox—Queen of the West

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine September 1984, Volume 19, Number 3 You’re as important in country music today as Roy Acuff was ten years ago.” Hank Williams was summing up his appreciation for Rose Maddox after a two hour conversation with her in a deserted Los Angeles night club. A few weeks later they were…

Read More »

Earl Scruggs and the Sound of Genius

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine June 2012, Volume 46, Number 12 We knew Earl Scruggs couldn’t live forever, even though we hoped he would. When the end inevitably came, we all felt a shift in our center of gravity, a hole in our hearts where Earl and his music have always dwelled. We remember where…

Read More »

The Earl Scruggs Goodtime Hour

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine February 1971, Volume 5, Number 8 This week we provide two perspectives on the documentary film about Earl Scruggs, with his family and friends, that aired on PBS in 1971.  One review was printed in our February 1971 issue and the other (as a response to the first) was printed…

Read More »

Original Five-String Flathead Prewar Gibson Banjos

Three Articles by Jim Mills that appeared in Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine in March 2002, August 2003, and November 2004 Article #1—Something Special Written by Jim Mills Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine March 2002, Volume 36, Number 9  The history on this banjo is pretty well recorded. As far back as I can trace, Mr. Mack…

Read More »

The Fiddle Music of Art Galbraith: An Ozark Family Legacy Passed Down Four Generations

Photos by Virginia Curtiss Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine January 1984, Volume 18, Number 7 Seventy-four-year-old Arthur Galbraith, of Springfield, Missouri, accurately represents the essence of old-time fiddle music popular in the Ozarks over 100 years ago. Art plays many of the same tunes that his Uncle Tobe Galbraith did, in the same lilting, traditional…

Read More »

Radio Flyer—Flying To The Top

Reprinted From Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine December 1986, Volume 21, Number 6 If there were four people in Louisville’s Riverfront Plaza/Belvedere in September, 1985 expecting Radio Flyer to be named “Best New Bluegrass Band of 1985” at Kentucky Fried Chicken Bluegrass Festival, it sure wasn’t Radio Flyer. After all, the year-old Springfield, Missouri band was following…

Read More »