The Artists

Leading Ladies of Bluegrass Photos by Jon Roncolato Sister Sadie made bluegrass music history last year when they became the first all-female group to win the IBMA’s “Entertainer of the Year” award. The ladies in the quintet were astounded with the prestigious honor. “I never in a million years saw that coming,” said Deanie Richardson, who…

Bob Dylan said it in 1964, “The Times, They Are A Changing.”  Around that time, the Civil Rights Movement was burning a hole in our consciousness sometimes dividing North and South, and bluegrass music was still emerging from diverse musical forces.   In 1964, Bill Monroe’s band included Steve Arkin and Don Lineberger on banjo,…

Photo by Amanda Rowan Annie Staninec (featured in Bluegrass Unlimited, May 2017) is a stellar bluegrass fiddle player of Japanese/Czechoslovakian descent who grew up in San Francisco, California and currently lives in Portland, Oregon.  She learned to play the fiddle at a young age and became interested in bluegrass because her father played the guitar…

Photo by Sandlin Gaither A resident of Asheville, North Carolina, Sav Sankaran is an upright bass player and vocalist with the bluegrass band Unspoken Tradition.  Previously, he toured with the Dixie Bee-Liners, Kristy Cox and other North Carolina bands.  He is a first-generation American of Indian descent who points to Bob Paisley & Southern Grass…

Photo by Arnold Flenor Mackenzie Bell is a 15-year-old fiddle player who was born in Guatemala, adopted at the age of seven months, and has grown up just 10 miles from Bill Monroe’s hometown of Rosine, Kentucky.  When she was 7-years-old she heard a friend play the fiddle and thought that this was something that…

Photo by Daniel Coston For nearly half a century, fiddling ace Mike Hartgrove of the Lonesome River Band has been traveling highways across America playing bluegrass and country music.  “Mike is a road pro,” says Lonesome River Band leader Sammy Shelor. “The guy has been on the road since he was 17 years old, about…