Articles

by Guy Clark and Shawn Camp “It has a charm about it … there’s something about the lilt and the sentiment in that song that quiets an audience. I don’t understand it, but it’s there,” said Shawn Camp of his cowrite with Guy Clark, “Magnolia Wind.” That charm of the song’s melody and lyrics has…

Fiddler Justin Branum was one of these musicians.  Before the pandemic, Justin was on the road with Lee Ann Womack, but it wasn’t just the pandemic that prompted him to come off the road.  In 2019 he got married, had already been teaching fiddle for many years, and he had also had success producing a…

At the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum New Years Eve 2021, I was walking down the hallway at the Jekyll Island Bluegrass Festival when I heard someone say, “Hey REAL Southern Gospel Music man!”  I turned around and saw an elderly couple seated on a bench in the hallway waving for my wife…

How One Girl Ended up Down at the Bluegrass Crossroads (and got her soul back….) On the morning of Saturday, May 25 I had a rude awakening. My weather obsessed daughter made a 6 a.m. appearance at my bedroom door. I knew as soon as I saw her face that we would be having tornados for breakfast…

Veteran Tina Adair has a lovely voice with a bit of a teardrop in it.  After growing up in a family band, she launched her solo career at age 17 on Sugar Hill Records. She’s more or less stayed in the game since then. She spent a number of years as part of the Grammy-nominated…

Ida Clare offers a new project of original material that blends their mix of bluegrass styles. The band is based in Louisville, Kentucky and includes Lea Cockrell (vocals, guitar), Jim Wheatley (vocals, mandolin, harmonica, guitar), Robin Thixton (vocals, banjo), and Nick Stevens (bass, piano). Others include Rob Edwards (percussion), Jeff Guernsey (fiddle, resonator guitar), Todd…