The Tradition

A Life of Music, Stories, and Connections Roscoe VanBuren “Buddy” Hogan, Jr. (August 26, 1935 – October 13, 2025) was a man whose life was deeply intertwined with the world of country and bluegrass music. Although he frequently joked with family and friends that he was a “legend in his own mind,” Buddy lived a…

In Dan Miller’s wonderful and thorough retrospective article on Don Reno found elsewhere in this edition of BU, he gets into the music side of this amazing IBMA Hall of Fame artist.  Here, after wonderful interviews with his sons, Ronnie, Don Wayne, and Dale Reno, I try to unveil Don Reno as a man and…

Q: The very first time I ever saw Dr. Ralph Stanley, it was late ‘60s to early ‘70s at a German club in Dover, New Jersey: Germania Park. There is NO info on this in ANY history. I would like to know what the date was if anyone has it. I did talk to Ralph…

Follow Your Dreams Photos Courtesy of Jan Johansson Jan (pronounced “Yahn”) Johansson is a man who has defied all odds. A true connoisseur of bluegrass, he is a player, teacher, historian, collector, and much more. What makes him truly amazing is that he achieved all this by overcoming huge obstacles along the way: being born and…

Featuring The Bluegrass Cardinals, Hot Rize and Arnold Shultz Whenever I have interviewed bluegrass musicians who were born and raised west of the  Mississippi River, not only do I tend to ask them about the bluegrass scene in their part of the world, I also ask them if they felt like they grew up far…

Q: I just found that Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs actually recorded “The Family Who Prays Never Shall Part.” I know this is an old Louvin Brothers song, but do you know by chance when Flatt and Scruggs recorded it? Wayne Hoffman, via email. A: The song was never commercially recorded by Flatt & Scruggs,…