The Archives

By Gary A. Henderson and Richard K. Spottswood Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine April 1968, Volume 2, Number 10 That Bill Emerson is currently just about the most skilled and respected banjo picker in the country will be disputed by few. Yet it will come as a surprise to many that his origins and background…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine July 1974, Volume 9, Number 1 One of the reasons that old-time and bluegrass music attracted a wide audience among urban college youth of the east was the long presence of the Lilly Brothers and Don Stover in the Boston area. Through their nightly appearances at Hillbilly Ranch and their…

The “Notes & Queries” column in Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine is one of the subscriber favorites.  This column started in the October 1967 issue.  For the first several years, it did not run in every issue.  Readers would write in with questions, answers, or “notes” and they would appear occasionally. When a Question came in and…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine June 1991, Volume 25, Number 12      “If only all those country (or pop or rock) fans who say they don’t like bluegrass would just give it a listen, they’d love it.”       “If only the mass media would give bluegrass some positive exposure…” Those of us who care about bluegrass are…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine April 1971, Volume 5, Number 10 Providing a strong lead voice and a rhythm guitar, Cliff Waldron maintains the position of front man. Handling bookings, M. C. work and any other business of the group. Cliff, a barber by trade, has achieved at 29 a driving manner of singing. His…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine August 1999, Volume 34, Number 2 Lynn Morris didn’t grow up in a “Blue Ridge Mountain Home” nor under the “Blue Moon Of Kentucky.” She grew up far from bluegrass country on the flat, dusty plains of West Texas. She was surrounded by cowboys instead of coal miners, by pedal…