The Sound
For Luthier Lawrence Smart, X Marks His Spot
Photo by Bud Osborne Maybe it’s something in the Pacific Northwest’s air or water, or perhaps it’s being surrounded by the grand mountain forests of Idaho and the Pacific Coast that inspires brilliant luthiery. But whatever it is, that majestic region has spawned some of the world’s finest woodsmiths, including mandolin masters Michael Heiden, Fletcher…
The Violin Shop
Photos By Shelley Swanger Providing a combination of sales, repairs, rentals, workshops, performances, and musical fellowship, The Violin Shop has been the choice of Nashville’s finest fiddlers for over 30 years. Meeting the needs of four- (and even five-) string devotees from bluegrass to classical, Celtic to old-time, The Violin Shop (at 2504 8th Avenue…
Will Kimble J Model Mandolin
Photos By Bud Osborne Modern bluegrass mandolin players differ in many ways from their predecessors. Emerging players are more open to non-conventional bluegrass instruments, such as the lightweight Nechville banjo or the thin-bodied Bourgeois Guitars Odyssey Dreadnought played on stage by Andy Falco. Even Monroe acolyte Andy Statman joined that trend several years ago when…
Gaven “Gravy” Largent
Modern Day Dobro Construction from a Traditional Perspective Photos By Jake’s Visuals In our world of bluegrass and acoustic music, the news travels quickly when a young master emerges on the scene. The sound of the Dobro1 in this artist’s hands puts the icing on the cake, or in this case the Gravy (self-penned moniker)…
A 21st Century Bluegrass Guitar From Oregon’s High Desert
The D-MA from Preston Thompson Guitars in Sisters, Oregon has almost no interest in impersonating a vintage D-18. And that’s exactly what makes it such a compelling and distinctively modern flatpicking guitar. Even though it shares the basic D-18 DNA of a mahogany dreadnought body with a forward-shifted, scalloped-braced, tap-tuned Adirondack top, the Thompson D-MA…
The Legendary Tex Logan Jam Sessions
I first met the double-genius, Dr. Benjamin “Tex” Logan, in the mid ’60’s. My long-time friend and guitar player, Bernie Coveney, and I had recently discovered bluegrass music (in New Jersey of all places!) as we searched for a radio station in the car and ended up on WWVA and the Wheeling, WV Saturday Night…