The Tradition

Bluegrass Hall of Fame member Carlton Haney has received (and deserved) much acclaim for his production of a bluegrass festival in 1965 at Cantrell’s Horse Farm in Fincastle, Virginia, universally hailed as the first multi-day bluegrass festival and the model for all that followed. The only problem with this much-repeated narrative is that “Bluegrass Spectaculars,”…

“High on a mountain, wind blowing free  Thinking about the days that used to be High on a mountain, standing all alone Wondering where the years of my life have flown” 1 These iconic lyrics by Ola Belle Reed are a right of passage for any bluegrass singer or band.  “I’ve endured, I’ve endured, How…

Remembering my Friend, Bobby Osborne 1992 I first met Bobby in 1992 while attending the Old Joe Clark Bluegrass Festival in Renfro Valley, Kentucky. This was my first time attending a bluegrass festival and I was carrying around my first guitar for all the artists to sign. I had upgraded to a better instrument so…

Queries  Q: Can you tell me who the pickers and singers were on the 1950s recordings of the Country Pardners? Jerry Steinberg, Salem, Virginia. A: The Country Pardners was a short-lived group that came together in 1955 and disbanded two years later. Bill Price, a mandolin player/tenor singer from North Carolina was the founder and…

Mourning the Loss of a Legend  Photo By Scott Simontacchi The world of bluegrass music mourns the loss of one of its iconic figures with the death of Bobby Osborne. He passed away on June 27 at the age of 91 just four days after his friend—and another legend of the genre—Jesse McReynolds, died. For…

C.J. Lewandowski of the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys says that at fifteen years old, when he met Bobby Osborne, one of his heroes, he would never have dreamed of the friendship that would develop between the two musicians. Over the years that followed, Lewandowski, also a mandolin player, learned from Osborne—music lessons and life lessons. In…