The Tradition

Queries Q: We’re having a little controversy in our bluegrass community regarding the definition of the title of the fiddle tune “June Appal.” Is it simply a misspelled reference to certain apples that will bloom early or is it a reference, somewhat in abbreviation, to the word Appalachia? Or is it something else? Hope you…

Queries Q: I’ve always liked the song “Swinging A Nine Pound Hammer,” which I first heard from the singing of Mac Martin (from a 1970 album). I later heard live versions by Ralph Stanley (his first issue of the song was from 1983 on the Live At Old Home Place LP). I’ve long wondered where…

I’ll have to confess that the first record album that I owned was not a bluegrass album.  I was a suburban kid listening to rock radio in the 1960s and my first album was Paul Revere and the Raiders Spirit of ’67.  When I got the album, I not only listened to the music over…

Queries Q: When it comes to Clarence White’s guitars, it seems most of the attention is given (and not inappropriately so) to the iconic 1935 D-28 that ended up in Tony Rice’s hands. But, from what I’ve read, Clarence used the D-28 mostly for rhythm (perhaps owing to it not being set up very well)…

Classic Fiddler From the Early Days of Bluegrass I have recently been listening to some of my older bluegrass albums and kept hearing wonderful fiddle breaks and backup, particularly on the Emerson and Waldron albums. I knew that the fiddler was Bill Poffenberger but I didn’t know much about him. I remember meeting him at a…

Around jam session circles and festival campfires the conversation sometimes turns to bluegrass “conversion” stories. Among the baby boomer generation unless a bluegrass fan grew up in a family that played music at home, chances are good that the first time he or she heard the music was either Flatt & Scruggs on The Beverly…