Articles
IssueM Articles
Ballad Hunting with Max Hunter – Stories of an Ozark Folksong Collector,
University of Illinois Press Although not as well-known as the Southeastern United States, the Ozarks region of Missouri and Arkansas has long been a hotbed of fine old-time fiddling, folk ballad singing, and bluegrass music. One of the primary reasons that so many ballads and tunes from the Ozarks have been faithfully preserved over the…
Coulee Creek
Coulee Creek features singer-songwriter Sarah Jackson and poet Rita Mae Reese. The group also includes Beth Becker (fiddle, cello), Michael James (resonator guitar), David Strudthoff (banjo), Tom Baker (guitar, bass), and Cori Vought (vocals). Guest artists are Brett Huus (harmonica), Terry Nirva (cajon), and Josh Rabie (mandolin). Most of them hail from the Wisconsin/Minnesota area…
Greener Grass
Billy Swinson is a bluegrass artist that has been playing and writing music for a couple of decades and has now stepped up his game with his first solo project and the help of resophonic guitar player Randy Kohrs. Swinson, a Florida resident, wrote eight of the ten tracks and contributes the mandolin breaks and…
Duck’s Eye
Nashville musician and songwriter, Charles Butler (banjo, resonator guitar) has gathered together a nice cadre of fellow musicians to back him up on this new project of all-original material from Butler. He is joined on the various selections by Brandon Birkedahl (bass), Billy Conteras (fiddle), Ian Craft (fiddle), AJ Fox (mandolin), Geoff Henderson (bass), Jeremy…
Smoky Mountain Favorites
Mountain Fever MFR230200 In 2019, while Troy Boone and the late Aaron “Frosty” Foster were regularly performing at a local Tennessee distillery, they decided to put together an album project of the popular tunes they had been playing. However, it was near the end of these sessions that Foster passed away. Foster had played guitar,…
Bluegrass Friendships, Associations and Storytelling
Photo by Ed Henry When Bill Monroe reportedly said, “Bluegrass has brought more people together and made more friends than any music in the world,” he could have been describing the history of the Seven Mountains Bluegrass Association (SMBA), which is celebrating its fortieth anniversary this year in York County, Pennsylvania. As Monroe’s quote continues,…