Articles

Bill Evans is one of those figures whose name is almost synonymous with the American banjo.  He’s not just an innovator (one fan described him as “the same thing to the banjo that Van Gogh was to color”); he’s also an instructor, student, author (Banjo for Dummies, among other titles) and historian of his chosen…

Although their prominence in bluegrass and roots music has receded and grown over the decades, archtop guitars (and their brethren in the mandolin family) have played a significant role in our music. Mother Maybelle Carter legendarily played a classic Gibson L-5 created by Lloyd Loar. Miscellaneous rhythm players in many early mountain, Western and folk…

Deeply relatable in lyric yet firmly fun in its delivery, “Everybody’s Got a Line,” written by Chris Jones and recorded by Chris Jones and The Night Drivers (Make Each Second Last, 2021), is a standout relationship song in today’s endless sea of relationship songs.  Written early in 2021, the song became a milestone for Chris…

The Future of Tablature Photo by Ryan Leach Learning to read music outside of the realm of classical or jazz music on instruments such as guitar, mandolin, banjo and Dobro, more often than not, involves learning how to read tablature.  Tablature is a written notation where the lines on the page represent the strings of…

In 1967, and again in 1971, Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine presented a Reader’s Poll and we have decided to bring it back in 2023.  There are a lot of categories that we might have selected to include in this poll, however, we decided to stay with tradition and use the same categories that we have used…

Feeling the Joy Of Playing Together Again Photo by Sandlin Gaither It was March 2020. (Cue ominous music.) The Foghorn Stringband was looking forward to their East Coast tour. Reeb Willms and Caleb Klauder were flying in from Portland West (Oregon); Nadine Landry and Sammy Lind were flying in from Quebec. Nadine: “We were starting…