The Archives

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine February 1967, Volume 1, Number 8 “You know, the best music that bluegrass musicians ever played or recorded seems to have been when they were starvin’ to death.” This comment was made to me by my good friend the late Don Owens of WAKL/WAVA, in Arlington, Virginia once while we…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine November 1986, Volume 21, Number 5 In bluegrass, those who have given their lives to the music often become casualties of the music, forgotten and buried when they fall from the top, while the crowds turn to some sharp, hot new group. Often the casualties of the music are those…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine September 1971, Volume 6, Number 3 This history of the musical careers of the Osborne Brothers is based primarily upon interviews with Bob Osborne (Bean Blossom, Indiana, September 26, 1965) and with Bob and Sonny Osborne and Benny Birchfield (Columbus, Ohio, March 18, 1967). Most of the discographical data was…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine   June, 1971 — Volume 5, Number 12 Red Smiley Red has been in semi-retirement for almost three years now and is working at a few of the major festivals and shows this past year. However, he is working now with Don Reno, his old partner and Bill Harrell, who has…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine March 1978 – Volume 12, Number 9 For a period of more than 15 years, the WBT Briarhoppers constituted one of the most popular regional country music groups in radio. Sponsored by Peruna, this aggregation achieved such a following in the Carolinas and adjacent states that it sometimes became necessary…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine February 1967, Volume 1, Number 8 The following interview was taped by Peter Wernick of WKCR, New York, N.Y. at the first annual Roanoke Bluegrass Festival in September, 1965. We are grateful to Mr. Wernick for allowing us to reprint it here. Peter Wernick: We’re talking with one of the…