Articles

Queries  I just borrowed a copy of a release on John’s Gospel Records, RI-1635, 12” vinyl 33 1/3 RPM.  Side A appears to be the Stanley Brothers with the same song list as Wango 103, while Side B is Clyde Moody, the Tate Brothers & the Gospel Trio, along with recitations by Ray Davis.  There…

As John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers were to British rock guitar, Muddy Waters was to electric blues, and Miles Davis was to modern Jazz, West Virginia’s Lonesome Pine Fiddlers (LPF) were to bluegrass music. The group was a training ground, a triple A ball team if you will, for a genre that has grown exponentially since its beginnings…

Headwaters of a Legend Born December 30, 1937, in New York City, John Cowan Hartford grew up in St. Louis, Missouri where he cultivated a passion for the Mississippi River and music.  Upon seeing Flatt & Scruggs perform live at the Chain of Rocks Amusement Park in St. Louis in 1953, John was immediately drawn…

by Molly Tuttle and Melody Walker “It’s about embracing what makes us unique,” said Molly Tuttle of her hit song, “Crooked Tree,” which, among other accolades, is this year’s winner by a large margin in the Bluegrass Unlimited Reader’s Poll (Favorite New Song Category).  Cowritten by Tuttle and Melody Walker (Front Country), “Crooked Tree” is the…

If you take an ailing bass fiddle into Bob Beerman’s shop for repairs, you feel as if you are entering an operating room. The instrument is gently laid upon a table in the back room then one employee examines the patient while another hovers with a clipboard jotting down its diagnosis. Beerman is the veteran…

And the Free-Strings Curriculum Several weeks ago I received a press release from Turnberry Records announcing their launch of a new “Education Division.”  The release explained that the first launch of the new division was called “Free Strings—Join The Jam.”  They stated that in initiating this curriculum they were partnering with fiddler Annie Savage, veteran performer…