Articles

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine February 1967, Volume 1, Number 8 “You know, the best music that bluegrass musicians ever played or recorded seems to have been when they were starvin’ to death.” This comment was made to me by my good friend the late Don Owens of WAKL/WAVA, in Arlington, Virginia once while we…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine November 1986, Volume 21, Number 5 In bluegrass, those who have given their lives to the music often become casualties of the music, forgotten and buried when they fall from the top, while the crowds turn to some sharp, hot new group. Often the casualties of the music are those…

William Hundley “Bill” Emerson, Jr. was born in Washington, D.C. on January 22nd, 1938.  He was raised in Bethesda, Maryland.  His father, William Hundley Emerson, Sr. (1898-1963) was married to the former Texas native Netty Louise Price (1911-1997) and owned a Buick dealership on 17th and M Street in Washington, D.C. called Emerson & Orme. …

As most bluegrass music fans will know by now, legendary bluegrass banjo player—and Bluegrass Hall of Fame member—Bill Emerson passed away in August of 2021.  In order to honor Bill’s tremendous contribution to bluegrass music—starting in the mid-1950s and continuing through the date of his passing—we will be featuring a series of special web-based articles…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine September 1971, Volume 6, Number 3 This history of the musical careers of the Osborne Brothers is based primarily upon interviews with Bob Osborne (Bean Blossom, Indiana, September 26, 1965) and with Bob and Sonny Osborne and Benny Birchfield (Columbus, Ohio, March 18, 1967). Most of the discographical data was…

Queries: Q: There is a gospel tune the Gillis Brothers recorded which, as far as I can tell, has not been recorded elsewhere: “I Always Call Your Name.” I and my bluegrass friends LOVE the tune, but we are seriously struggling with understanding the lyrics in the second verse. We are missing the second and…