Articles

Rhonda Vincent Brings in Zack Arnold as New Guitarist In the world of NASCAR, they call it the “silly season.” It is the time between late fall and early spring after the race season has ended when various race car teams either fire a driver or crew chief, bring in new talent and start a…

Saved by Bluegrass Photos by Scott Simontacchi Forty minutes into conversation, Dan Tyminski drops an unthinkable truth. Without flinching, perhaps the most globally recognized voice in modern bluegrass explains the conflict that’s defined his journey. In spite of a tone so instantly head-turning it defined George Clooney’s character in O Brother, Where Art Thou, he…

Photo by Snap Jackson Photography One constant in Bill Evans’ 40-plus-year banjo career is helping others learn to play and listen to music. He began teaching in his hometown, Norfolk, VA in the 1970s, while still in high school, not long after he picked up the five string. Evans remembers sitting in the living room…

1971-8-26 Thursday—Day off I woke up at 10 am but went back to sleep.  Everybody else got up around 2 pm but I kept on sleeping.  Darn!  Finally I’m worn out and sick – headache, sore throat and my whole body is aching.  I managed to eat dinner a little.  Dick came over and discussed…

By Gary A. Henderson and Richard K. Spottswood Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine April 1968, Volume 2, Number 10 That Bill Emerson is currently just about the most skilled and respected banjo picker in the country will be disputed by few. Yet it will come as a surprise to many that his origins and background…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine July 1974, Volume 9, Number 1 One of the reasons that old-time and bluegrass music attracted a wide audience among urban college youth of the east was the long presence of the Lilly Brothers and Don Stover in the Boston area. Through their nightly appearances at Hillbilly Ranch and their…