The Artists

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…

Bluegrass Unlimited first conducted a Reader’s Poll in 1967, the year after the magazine was established.  A second poll was conducted in 1971.  I asked Dick Spottswood, who was working for the magazine in those days, if he knew why the Reader’s Poll was not continued.  He replied, “In 1967 we were still trying to…

Presides Over One of the Most Important Two-Week Spans in Bluegrass History The rise of Billy Strings has been an amazing thing to watch. While playing a combination of open-minded, progressive roots music next to straight-ahead bluegrass, he has garnered a following that boggles the mind. Several years ago, Strings began to sell out the…

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…

Embarks on Next Career Chapter Photo by Terry Wyatt Considering her family history, there’s little wonder that Grammy-nominated recording artist Tina Adair ended up in the music profession. Before she was born her mom and dad, Debra and Jerry, had formed their own bluegrass band Bluegrass Edition, and at one point even owned a music…

“I was sitting with my bluegrass ensemble I teach at CU Denver and we were listening to the Bluegrass Album Band,” says bassist Greg Garrison.  The Bluegrass Album Band was a 1980’s supergroup consisting of guitarist Tony Rice, banjo-picker J.D. Crowe, mandolinist Doyle Lawson, fiddler Bobby Hicks, and bassist Todd Philips.  The group was founded…