Articles

“Shiny Side Up,” the first song on the Dirty Grass Players new album of the same name, is less an opening track than it is a grand statement of purpose.  With its David Grisman-esque feel, the 10-minute exploration boldly announces the arrival of the Dirty Grass Players latest album, Shiny Side Up, with an energetic-explosion…

Bluegrass Renaissance Man Photos by Madison Thorn  The small village of Pegram, Tennessee sits about 20 miles west of metropolitan Nashville on I-40. Take exit 192, drive north on McCrory Lane North, and turn left onto US 70 at Eddie’s Market. Drive west, and after the light at Hannah Ford Road is the Musical Heritage…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine October 1984, Volume 19, Number 4 Enon Baptist Church is located just a few miles from the Atlanta suburb of College Park on a winding stretch of highway known as Stonewall Tell Road. Across the road from the church is a cemetery, full of sculptured granite and marble monuments. One…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine January 1978,  Volume 12, Number 7 The hills of North Carolina have been alive with the sound of music for hundreds of years. Some of the greatest musicians have their roots in these hills, with two of those being banjo player Earl Scruggs and guitarist Doc Watson. Ironically, I recently…

Reprinted From Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine November 1970, Volume 5, Number 5 It became very obvious after spending hours talking with Doc and compiling page upon page of notes, that the hardest part of this article would be to construct a satisfactory introduction; an introduction which would serve as a solid foundation upon which to build…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine September 1982, Volume 17, Number 3 The Washington D.C. area is full of veteran bluegrass musicians who learned to play in the ’50s, when both they and the music were young. Over the years, most of them migrated to the nation’s “bluegrass capital” from Appalachia. Guitarist and singer Leon Morris,…