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For many years, John D’Agostino has been a prominent force in the music scene of Columbia, Missouri—a town smack dab between St. Louis and Kansas City. Columbia was home to the Roots and Blues Music festival, which hosted an array of blues, folk, country, and soul artists.  Being a college town, Columbia is also home…

At the end of the title track that opens her debut solo album Travel On, Vickie Vaughn calls, “My turn!” She may simply be taking the last break, but she effectively announces her time has come for bigger adventures too. Vaughn, named IBMA Bass Player of the Year for three consecutive years, still holds down…

Jim Hurst would be the first to tell you his soon-to-be-released Travels & Time isn’t a pure bluegrass recording. The 13-cut disc that comes out in March features a colorful palette of country, jazz, blues, and bluegrass, taking listeners on a captivating emotional journey. That, of course, is reflective of Hurst’s musical travels. His resume…

In 1975, John Cowan, the newest member and lead vocalist of New Grass Revival, a band that would come to forever alter people’s perception of an entire genre of American music, walked into the Doo Wop Shop in Louisville, Kentucky, picked up a 1962 Olympic White Fender Jazz bass and immediately fell in love with…

One could say that Sourwood is truly an international band. While based in Ontario, Canada, other members are from Chicago and Los Angeles in the US. From Ontario are Lucas Last (vocals, guitar), Larry Johnson (banjo), and Last’s wife, Aubrey (guest vocals). Liam Lewis (mandolin) and Olivia Briedenthal (fiddle) come up from Los Angeles, and…

At the International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IBMA) Conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee in September of 2025, I ran across a mandolin builder from Kansas City named John Boyd who is building mandolins under his name. I tried out the Boyd F-style mandolin and was impressed with its playability and tone. I later asked Lauren Price Napier,…