The Archives
The Road of Columbus: Beppe Gambetta Conquers A New World
Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine February 1995, Volume 29, Number 8 Its late; sometime after 2 a.m., and a charismatic guitarist with a gap-toothed grin and a full shock of reddish-brown hair and beard still performs for the cheering crowd clustered around the crude stage wedged among the campsites at the Walnut Valley Festival. Of…
The Freight and Salvage Gives Bluegrass A Microphone On The West Coast
Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine October 1996, Volume 21, Number 4 Tim O’Brien was just learning the fiddle in 1974 when he got the itch to go to California. He grabbed the instrument, slung a backpack over his shoulder, stuck out his thumb in Jackson Hole, Wyo., and hitchhiked to Berkeley. While checking out the…
The Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum
Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine August 2018, Volume 53, Number 2 The new $15 million Bluegrass Music Hall Of Fame & Museum is set to open October 18 this year. After a $100 million riverfront rebuild, Owensboro, Ky., is a new city and destination. To borrow an oft-used phrase, in the minds of bluegrass lovers,…
The Elusive Prewar Flathead
Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine May 1989, Volume 23, Number 11 Everyone chooses favorites and of all the Gibson banjos termed ‘prewar,’ the wreath pattern RB-3 with flat tone ring stands out as my all-time choice. There is a quality combining the delicate mother-of-pearl inlays, serviceable mahogany wood and nickel-plating, that is significant considering the…
The Serious Side of Roni Stoneman
Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine June 1990, Volume 24, Number 12 One of the most cherished traditions in country and bluegrass music is that of the performing family group. In addition to numerous brother and sister acts we have had the Carter Family, the Pickard Family, the Phipps Family, the McLain Family, the Lewis Family,…
The Baucoms — A Real Bluegrass Power Couple
Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine August 2012, Volume 47, Number 2 It may sound like a setup for a really bad banjo joke, but five-strings can bring people together. And, in at least one case, help forge a bluegrass power couple. Terry Baucom has established himself among the great banjo pickers of the last four…