The Artists

After 15 years, Montz Matsumoto (Montz) has released a new recording titled Missing Home. Who is Montz? He is one of the premier banjo players in Australia. Missing Home is an eclectic mix of Montz originals, old-time and bluegrass standards, and Irish-flavored tunes. For example, Montz plays “Jerusalem Ridge” with his Nechville LC banjo in open E tuning while staying true to the Monroe melody. The title cut “Missing Home” features a wonderful flute accompaniment that follows the melody line beautifully.

Missing Home

Photo by Melanie Lunden Montz is a fascinating character. He lives off the grid, four miles up a mostly gravel road on Cradoc Hill, which is approximately 30 miles southwest of Hobart, Tasmania. His one-room house with a loft is solar powered, and he uses a rocket stove for heat when needed. Montz is a…

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The Petersens (left to right): Matt Petersen, Ellen Petersen Haygood, Julianne Petersen, Katie Petersen, Karen Petersenm and Emmet Franz

Petersens

Photo by Aaron Clark Photography Some family musical partnerships are marked as much by personal conflict as by blood harmony. This is not the case with The Petersens, a family bluegrass band that has become a favorite in Branson, Missouri. With four siblings as the core of the band, anchored by their parents, both musicians,…

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Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers (left to right): Adam McIntosh, Chris Davis, Joe Mullins, Randy Barnes, and Jason Barie. // Photo by Stacie Huckabae

Joe Mullins

Let Time Ride “I’m very, very thankful to be a jack of all trades and a master of none,” says Joe Mullins, smiling. “I’ve had to do everything to get anywhere.” He’s only halfway correct here: over a career spanning more than three decades (and with no end in sight), he has certainly done everything….

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Billy Strings performing with Tony Rice’s guitar. Photo by Jesse Faatz

Pam Rice Talks About the New Tony Rice Festival, and Letting Billy Strings Play Tony’s D-28

It has been a rough two-and-a-half years for Pam Rice. On Christmas Day of 2020, her long-time husband passed away at their house in Reidsville, North Carolina. For Pam, it meant witnessing the transition of her beloved spouse. For the rest of the world, however, that was the day that Tony Rice—simply one of the…

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John Cloyd Miller and Natalya Zoe Weinstein. Photo by Sarah Johnston, courtesy of Organic Records.

 Zoe & Cloyd

Vibrant Branches Sprout From Deep Roots Married partners Natalya Zoe Weinstein and John Cloyd Miller are living proof that music brings people from vastly different backgrounds and geographical regions together, and that the result can be an amazingly rich creative collaboration.  Natalya grew up in the college town of Amherst, Massachusetts, with a violinist mother and…

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(Left to Right) Jacob Smith, Sam Stage, Liam Purcell (seated), Colton Kerchner, Rob McCormac.

Liam Purcell and Cane Mill Road

Photo by Craig Etchison For many musicians, releasing an album at twenty would be considered quite an achievement. At twenty, Liam Purcell of Cane Mill Road is preparing to release his fifth full-length album later this year. Now a senior at Berklee College of Music, where he studies music business and performance, Purcell continues a…

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