The Archives
Carrying On Without Lester
Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine November 1979, Volume 14, Number 5 “Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time… —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow “It’s just not going to feel right without Lester Flatt,” Little Roy Lewis said to no one…
Tom Morgan—Best of Both Worlds
Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine August 1988, Volume 23, Number 2 If the term “Morgan Thoroughbred” makes you think of horses, and not banjos, then you haven’t met Tom Morgan yet. If you already know that the Thoroughbred banjo is a superb instrument designed and built by Tom and hand-crafted at the Morgan Company, you…
Jimmy Arnold—Back Again and Ridin’ High
Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine May 1983, Volume 17, Number 11 Jimmy Arnold popped in and out of the bluegrass scene in the seventies. During that time, the Virginia native managed to record one banjo and one guitar album for Rebel. Jimmy also put in a few years playing mainly banjo with Joe Greene, Cliff…
Wayne Henderson—Music Making Mountain Man
Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine February 2007, Volume 41, Number 8 As I pulled off 1-81 at the Marion, Va. exit and headed into the mountains on Rt. 16, I recalled the first time I ever met Wayne Henderson. I had enrolled in a guitar workshop at the Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, W.Va., and…
A Quarter Century of Bluegrass Fiddling — Clarence “Tater” Tate
Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine November 1973, Volume 8, Number 5 Among bluegrass musicians, fiddlers have frequently achieved special attention. At a number of festivals in recent years fiddlers such as Tex Logan, Chubby Wise or Howdy Forrester make guest appearances and occasionally several fiddlers perform at once on stage. Not even the banjo —…
The Basic Goodness of J. W. Gallagher
Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine August 1979, Volume 14, Number 2 A couple of summers ago in Harris, North Carolina, guitar maker John William Gallagher sat on a board stretch across some concrete blocks for seating at a bluegrass festival and remarked, “I don’t play myself, but I take pleasure in others enjoying what I…