Articles

IssueM Articles

Highways and Heartaches—How Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, and the Children of The New South Saved the Soul of Country Music

Hachette Books, 2023 Most avid bluegrass music fans are familiar with the similar trajectories of the careers of Ricky Skaggs and Marty Stuart.  Both Skaggs and Stuart started performing at a young age with first generation bluegrass legends—Skaggs with Ralph Stanley, Stuart with Lester Flatt.  They then both entered the journeyman phase of their careers…

Read More »

Dave Maggard in the studio. // Photo by ST Photography, Co.

Sound Biscuit Studio

It’s never too late to chase a dream. Dave Maggard turned a retirement hobby into a full-fledged recording studio and independent label, focused on bluegrass and Americana artists. A sculptor by trade, Maggard now extracts the art of music from wood and wire at his Sound Biscuit Studio in Sevierville just off Tennessee Route 66….

Read More »

Warren Blair

A 50-year career of the “Hired Gun” of Bluegrass and Country music Photo by Brian Auburn It has been an amazing ride for Warren Blair in the bluegrass world. Hailing from the Baltimore area, Blair’s career with a fiddle in his hand has seen him play with many bluegrass legends since his prowess on the…

Read More »

A Little Bit of Bluegrass

Photo by Jackie Stewart “A little bit of bluegrass will chase your blues away.” Derived from that simple sentiment and written by David Stewart, “A Little Bit of Bluegrass” was released late last year by Lorraine Jordan and Carolina Road. Currently, it sits at #1 on the Bluegrass Unlimited Survey chart (June and July 2023). …

Read More »

The Bluegrass Jamboree

This month’s cover story artist, Lorraine Jordan, loves to shine the spotlight on other people in her life including the radio announcers who play her music. Two of those broadcast professionals are David Pugh and Doug Whitley from The Bluegrass Jamboree internet radio. David hosts Mountain Bluegrass Sundays 9:00 p.m.-1:00 a.m. ET, and Doug is…

Read More »

Uncommon Sky

It would be hard to over-state what an impressive outing Rick Faris’s sophomore album is. Faris, IBMA’s 2022 “New Artist of the Year,” who spent 11 years as the guitarist/mandolin player/singer with the band Special Consensus, has all the right tools in his tool kit. The Wichita, Kansas-based artist, who grew up in a family…

Read More »