Articles

ToneSlabs is the biggest advance in flatpack technology since the launch of BlueChip picks 14 years ago. That’s a bold statement, to be sure, and we don’t make it lightly.      For months, Bluegrass Unlimited has been testing a variety of ToneSlabs picks in various shapes and thicknesses in the field at Winfield and…

Begins in the Heart of Appalachia Wherever you put your chair at Blue Highway Fest, you can see the mountains surrounding the small town of Big Stone Gap, Virginia, where their first-ever bluegrass festival took place in early October of 2022. The view is not only scenic, it reminds you at all times of the…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine September 1984, Volume 19, Number 3 You’re as important in country music today as Roy Acuff was ten years ago.” Hank Williams was summing up his appreciation for Rose Maddox after a two hour conversation with her in a deserted Los Angeles night club. A few weeks later they were…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine June 2012, Volume 46, Number 12 We knew Earl Scruggs couldn’t live forever, even though we hoped he would. When the end inevitably came, we all felt a shift in our center of gravity, a hole in our hearts where Earl and his music have always dwelled. We remember where…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine February 1971, Volume 5, Number 8 This week we provide two perspectives on the documentary film about Earl Scruggs, with his family and friends, that aired on PBS in 1971.  One review was printed in our February 1971 issue and the other (as a response to the first) was printed…

Three Articles by Jim Mills that appeared in Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine in March 2002, August 2003, and November 2004 Article #1—Something Special Written by Jim Mills Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine March 2002, Volume 36, Number 9  The history on this banjo is pretty well recorded. As far back as I can trace, Mr. Mack…