The Artists

50 YEARS OF BANJO You might call Mike Scott of Gallatin, Tennessee, a golden boy. Always smiling, always picking, the banjoist is celebrating 50 years of performance. This is his golden anniversary in the music business. “Fans can look forward to more songs, recordings and perhaps a book,” Scott relayed. A busy man, he definitely…

Michael Prewitt Special Consensus mandolin player Michael Prewitt grew up on an old tobacco farm in Whitley County, a 45-minute drive east of Somerset. It wasn’t until he left Eastern Kentucky for an English degree at grad school in North Dakota that he began to reexamine his bluegrass roots. “As far as making a conscious choice…

Bands Blurring the Lines of Bluegrass “I tell people we are the tradition of bluegrass, the attitude of punk rock and the culture of hip hop,” explains Kenny Feinstein (singer, multi-instrumentalist) of Water Tower.  That declaration perfectly sums up the unconventional musical personality of Water Tower, a Los Angeles-based string-band that is keeping old-timey, traditional…

The Heartbeat of Golden Highway There is no doubt that Molly Tuttle is extremely talented.  This Grammy-winning artist has continually displayed the ability to write songs, sing and play lead and rhythm guitar with the best that bluegrass music has ever produced.  But, typically, those who reach the mountain’s peak are blessed with others who…

Demigods don’t play the banjo. Scholars can point to a few lyre-playing immortals here and there in the pantheon, but that’s not picking the five-string, is it? And Earl Scruggs himself? Far too humble to make it in Valhalla. Yet some say there was a Buddha-like figure from the West, an ageless spirit with an…

Bands Blurring the Lines of Bluegrass “The cool thing about Broke Mountain Bluegrass Band is we thought we were something special,” says Anders Beck with a laugh, “but we were just five dumb kids.  Only time can tell if we were right or not.  I guess we were something pretty special though, because the bands…