The Archives

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine November 1977, Volume 12, Number 5 There are many young pickers in bluegrass and traditional music; child prodigies are visible in every field of endeavor, not only music. What is unusual is a teenager who can do it all musically, handling virtually every traditional instrument as well as singing, arranging,…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine November 1979, Volume 14, Number 5 EDITOR’S NOTE: As the right hand man off and on with the late Lester Flatt, Curly Seckler has been one of the true unsung heros of bluegrass music. His roots go back to the mid 1930’s and he has been a strong force in…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine October 1989, Volume 24, Number4 Whereas bluegrass band leaders and some musicians have long had an enduring quality about them—Bill Monroe being only the most obvious— continuity of personnel in bands is much less common. One quite atypical group in bluegrass music that has long endured with a consistent quality…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine February 1977, Volume 11, Number 8 Although bluegrass music has produced a number of great fiddlers and old-time fiddle players have influenced the art, the name of Chubby Wise must rank as one of the most significant. If one accepts the idea that bluegrass originated with Bill Monroe’s band of…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine January 1979, Volume 13, Number 7 We were sitting in the nearly deserted back section of Chet’s bar in Columbus, Ohio, on a mild June night in 1965, having come early to get one of the few “good” seats in the place. The musicians had not yet begun to arrive…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine November 1988, Volume 23, Number 5 “It’s sad but true that there are so few entertainers among some really superb musicians and singers in bluegrass music today. When people like Lester Flatt, Don Reno, Scotty Stoneman, Charlie Moore, ‘Cousin Jake’ Tullock and ‘Stringbean’ Akeman left us it was almost like…