The Tradition

The histories of old-time country music are pretty clear on the subject: everything important happened in the southeastern part of the U.S. Except it didn’t. The music was everywhere. In fact, one the most popular and celebrated old-time stringbands of the late 1920s and early 1930s came out of California.  This band toured widely on…

Adam Granger is a guitar player from Norman, Oklahoma who lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.  He learned banjo from fellow Normanite Alan Munde in 1968.  He was a columnist for Flatpicking Guitar Magazine, and is the author of Granger’s Fiddle Tunes for Guitar, published by Mel Bay.  Adam played and wrote humor for A Prairie…

Hartford is 24 Years Gone, Yet His Music and Personality Still Influences New Generations I got to know John Hartford a little bit through the sheer luck of geography.  As a native of Huntington, West Virginia, located on the banks of the mighty Ohio River, my family would eventually move to Cincinnati when I was…

Q – I have a question for you about Don Reno’s two cousins “Chuck” and “Jay” Haney. Are they still living? If not, any idea when they passed away? Apparently, there’s not much mentioned about them in bluegrass, at least not that I’m aware of . . . besides being on the early recordings of…

The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project, Volume 2Julia Belle: The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project, Volume 2 One of the many reasons why John Hartford is on the cover of this issue of Bluegrass Unlimited is that in January 2025 there are two very special events that coincide with this John Hartford cover.  The first…

Q – What can you tell us about “Those Two Mirthquakes of Fun” called Shufly and Buckeye Sneezleweed who appeared with Bill Monroe at several shows in 1949? Joe Ross, Roseburg, Oregon. A – An advertisement for an October 21, 1948, show by Bill Monroe in West Helena, Arkansas, revealed Buckeye Sneezleweed to be Mac…