Articles
IssueM Articles
Doc Watson—A Life In Music
University of North Carolina Press Book reviews can be very subjective based on the experience and perspective of the reviewer. Therefore, when I read a book review, I like to know something about the reviewer so I can understand what experience, connection, or knowledge the reviewer might have relating to the topic of the book. …
Southern Mountain Music: The Collected Writings of Wayne Erbsen
Published by McFarland & Company, Inc. Publishers Wayne Erbsen is a familiar name to most bluegrass fans due not only to his musical performances and recordings but also for the many instructional books, historical books, songbooks, articles, and essays that he has written over the years. Many of his articles have appeared in Bluegrass Unlimited…
Where Do We Go From Here
The four members of this powerhouse group joined forces when they were all attending Western Connecticut State University. They are: Charlie Widmer, vocals and guitar; Austin Scelzo, vocals and fiddle (also a member of the esteemed New England band Rock Hearts); Tom Polizzi, vocals and mandolin and Matt Curley on bass. Even though this is…
Carter & Cleveland
A crusty old banjo player once quipped that twin fiddles are like cilantro; a little bit goes a long way. But longtime friends Jason Carter and Michael Cleveland and their roster of all-star players annihilate that snarky, uninformed comment in a single album. You will want to keep their new project, Cleveland & Carter, on…
We’re All Gonna Live
Tony Kamel, former frontman and principal songwriter with the band Wood & Wire, is a talented present-day practitioner in the Guy Clark-Townes Van Zandt Texas singer-songwriter tradition. Many of Kamel’s songs are topical – vivid character sketches, reflections on fatherhood, etc. – and are shot through with homespun philosophy. He’s a gifted lyricist, has an…
Unravel
The Henhouse Prowlers are international bluegrass troubadours in the truest sense of the word. Over the past two decades, they’ve performed and held workshops in nearly 30 countries (from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to Uganda and Kyrgyzstan) on five continents, often under the auspices of the U.S. State Department. Yet there are no signs of…