The Artists
Aynsley Porchak
Any dyed-in-the wool fan of bluegrass fiddling will instantly recognize the names of such legendary fiddlers as Chubby Wise, Jim Shumate, Fiddlin’ Arthur Smith, Kenny Baker, and Bobby Hicks. The list goes ‘On and On,” as Bill Monroe would say. One name you might not yet be familiar with is Aynsley Porchak. This young Canadian…
Shades of Blue
Photo by Katrina Burgoyne Don’t try to pigeon-hole Kristy Cox into one set category of music. The bluegrass artist/songwriter from the Land Down Under has a colorful singing voice that can cover traditional to contemporary to country. Born in Adelaide (capital city, 800,000 people), Australia, Cox grew up in a nearby mountainous country town of…
Smith Brothers’
Impact on the Bluegrass Industry The brothers grew up in north central North Carolina near the site of the state’s first bluegrass festival, Camp Springs. They played at the first bluegrass festivals in Fincastle, VA, and appeared on Arthur Smith’s TV Show in Charlotte. Terry elaborated, “We played as the Smith family. At Fincastle, I…
Mickey Harris
Preparation meets opportunity Photos by Joseph Tipton For a Murfreesboro, Tennessee-based multi-instrumentalist whose musical roots stretch back six generations and predate the 1927 Bristol Big Bang, Mickey Harris is remarkably low-key. That simple acceptance of a musical heritage is the basis for his career with High Lonesome, Tim Graves and Cherokee, Larry Stephenson, Sally Jones…
Donna Ulisse
Living Large in Bluegrass Photo by Kim Brantley Bluegrass singer and songwriting ace Donna Ulisse is doing exactly what the title of her new album implies, Livin’ Large. The award-winning tunesmith has created an arsenal of bluegrass songs that other bluegrass artists have cut along with many that her critically-acclaimed voice has recorded. It’s a good…
Managing the Main Attraction
When you visit your favorite venue or festival and watch the bands perform, you may often find yourself in awe of the talent of the musicians on stage and you can appreciate the years of hard work that it took for them to get to that place. What you might not think about though is…