The Tradition

I Believe In Truth But Not In Spite Photo by Doc Hamilton Sonny Osborne started writing a monthly Banjo Newsletter column, “Keep On The Sonny Side” in October 1977 and, by my unofficial count, he wrote 36 columns. Sonny would talk the column onto a tape and then editor Hub Nitchie would transcribe it. (Which…

Remembered by his Older Brother Bobby and his Friends in the Bluegrass World The first signs that bluegrass legend Sonny Osborne was in real trouble came with the announcement that he had experienced a stroke in late August of 2021. The reality of what was to come was further solidified when it was announced that…

Hugging The Hound Clyde Mattocks has a lifetime of stories. He remembers seeing Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys play 20-minute shows between cowboy films at his hometown theater.  He’s shared the stage with Ervin Rouse, composer of iconic “Orange Blossom Special.” Barely out of high school, Mattocks played the TV-and-schoolhouse circuit in both Carolinas. He…

Bluegrass Innovator Seventy-five years ago the Stanley Brothers developed a distinctive sound in country music (a music that would later become known as bluegrass).  Carter’s lead voice, sparse rhythm guitar style and songwriting combined with Ralph’s soulful tenor voice and distinct approach to the five-string banjo to deliver a unique style of bluegrass music that…

Queries Q: I recently sold off some of my bluegrass memorabilia, including a 1951 Stanley Brothers song and picture folio. The booklet contained a photo of a disc jockey by the name of Jerry Donovan. Just curious as to who he is/was and why he’s included in a Stanley Brothers booklet? Tom Adler, Lexington, Kentucky….

The year 2020 was proclaimed by many as the 75th anniversary of the birth of bluegrass, a time that celebrated when the stars aligned in 1945 to provide Bill Monroe with an all-star cast of pickers and singers in his Blue Grass Boys band. At the top of the list were smooth Tennessee-born vocalist and…