The Artists

Photos By Beth Flick When pickers meet at festivals, good things often happen. After jamming together at Michigan’s Charlotte Bluegrass Festival, Eric Langejans and Todd Kirchner formed the contemporary bluegrass outfit Full Cord in 2008. “We wanted to have fun playing something unique and interesting,” says Kirchner. “Eric came up with the name when he…

Grammy Winner Stretches Multiple Genres Photo by Kaitlyn Raitz For most musicians, it’s pretty easy to classify what genre they fit into—essential, really, to success—but good luck locking Sarah Jarosz into any kind of category. The singer-songwriter isn’t exactly anything, but is a little bit of a lot of things and maybe that’s the secret formula…

Photo By Stephen Schauer John Reischman lives up in the woods. No, John’s home isn’t a log cabin high in British Columbia’s densely wooded Coast Range. The woods that nurture him and sing new melodies in his inner ear are the stately firs, hemlocks and huge lodgepole pines lining the regal British Columbian hiking trails…

Photos By Caty Smith If you’ve spent time around bluegrass festival jam sessions you may recall hearing someone in the jam who is as good as anyone that you’ve ever heard play and wonder, “Wow, who is this?”  There are many such local and regional bluegrass pickers and singers who are extremely talented but have…

This past year has been devastating for the music industry so it is welcoming when something positive emerges. With dreams of a bright future, Jake Goforth, a 14-year-old musical prodigy from central NC, is a beacon of hope. Jake’s musical journey began at age 7 when he petitioned his parents to take guitar lessons.  “Mom and Dad had CDs…

Faith, Family, Fiddle & So Much More Photos by Shelley Swanger Jim VanCleve—best known as a fiddler, writer, session player, and producer—is first and foremost a man of faith and family who exhibits a burning passion for music. He quickly credits his grandfather and father as major influences in his personal and musical development. As…