Articles

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine   June, 1971 — Volume 5, Number 12 Red Smiley Red has been in semi-retirement for almost three years now and is working at a few of the major festivals and shows this past year. However, he is working now with Don Reno, his old partner and Bill Harrell, who has…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine March 1978 – Volume 12, Number 9 For a period of more than 15 years, the WBT Briarhoppers constituted one of the most popular regional country music groups in radio. Sponsored by Peruna, this aggregation achieved such a following in the Carolinas and adjacent states that it sometimes became necessary…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine February 1967, Volume 1, Number 8 The following interview was taped by Peter Wernick of WKCR, New York, N.Y. at the first annual Roanoke Bluegrass Festival in September, 1965. We are grateful to Mr. Wernick for allowing us to reprint it here. Peter Wernick: We’re talking with one of the…

Republished from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine February 1982, Volume 16, Number 8 “Could it have been three years since we’ve seen him?” Steve Stephenson thought a moment and replied, “Every day of it. We were playing in Stuart, remember?” Sure, it was all falling back in place. It was Saturday morning, I had gone in search…

Notes In response to a query in the August 2021 “Notes & Queries” concerning bluegrass artists who have received honorary doctorate degrees, Larry Stidom wrote that “I seem to remember Ricky Skaggs and Larry Cordle getting some kind of honorary degrees from Morehead State University. Maybe just recognition.” It turns out that Ricky Skaggs did,…

One Filmmaker’s Perspective I first heard live bluegrass music when I was 26 years old. Growing up in New Jersey, and going to college in Washington, DC, meant that my experience with bluegrass was limited to seeing Bonnie and Clyde in 1967, and hearing parts of Hee Haw, or The Beverly Hillbillies on TV. That level of personal exposure was…