Articles

As the title suggests, this is the 4th album release from Kane and Gellert, two artists with long careers in Americana-Roots music. The music is spontaneous and often sparse, guitar and fiddle or two guitars with light percussion supporting the vocals. Originals flow easily into traditional tunes, due perhaps, to their ability to write such…

Over 50 Years of Broadening Bluegrass Boundaries Although bluegrass traditionalists may disagree, I feel that bluegrass music would not be as vibrant as it is today had the roots of the music not branched out in so many different directions.  Had the music remained bound to the repertoire, presentation, and style of the founding fathers,…

On the Road with The Travelin’ McCourys It’s 3:45 p.m. on Friday, April 11, and banjoist Rob McCoury of the Travelin’ McCourys is chilling behind the historic Park Theatre in McMinnville, Tennessee. Almost four hours remain before the band takes the stage, but much work needs to be done before the first note of the…

In many places in the U.S., at most small universities, depending on the location, a full-fledged bluegrass program can be hard to sustain. But, that is exactly what has happened at Colorado College, located near Colorado Springs, Colorado.  A private university founded in 1874; Colorado College was created when the so-called “Wild West” period was…

 Tim O’Brien has been a fixture in contemporary bluegrass ever since fronting the band Hot Rize starting back in the late 1970s. Along the way, he’s collaborated with everyone from fellow West Virginian Kath Mattea to Steve Martin and Alison Brown. He’s also penned songs for a number of Nashville’s leading lights. For the last…

Part Two: Early Bluegrass Fiddling, Music Row Songwriting, and a Creative Family Band Fiddler Jim Lunsford’s musical pursuit of excellence and innovation in music took him all over the map, from his native Southeast to Nashville’s music industry, from California’s dancehalls to Vietnam’s U.S. military bases. By the early 1950s, some of the musicians Lunsford…