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Like A Flowing River is a 2-Disc project from James Reams, guitarist, songwriter and long-time leader of his band, the Barnstormers. This outing includes songs from his many albums along with many of the songs included in his DVD, Like A Flowing River: A Bluegrass Passage, in which Reams relates his musical odyssey from his…

In recent years there have been a number of books written that cover the history of regional bluegrass.  Kip Lornell’s Capital Bluegrass focused on bluegrass music in the Washington, D.C. area.  Tim Newby’s Bluegrass in Baltimore covered the legacy of bluegrass in that city, and—most recently— Industrial Strength Bluegrass, edited byFred Bartenstein and Cutis Ellison,…

Ranch King Records Tim McDonald is originally from Virginia, an Army Veteran and graduate of the Armed Forces School of Music where he was mentored and befriended by Byron Berline and others.  After the Army, McDonald moved to Nashville where he has become a sought-after studio pianist, recording with artists Blake Shelton, Pam Tillis, Mark…

It’s obvious on Truman’s Ridge’s fifth album, Beyond the Ridge, that this group is having fun and comfortable in presenting their version of bluegrass. The regional band that mainly plays in the Midwest and down into Tennessee and Kentucky wears retro outfits complete with fedoras and gathers around a single mic at shows.  They refer…

The music of the Country Gentlemen, J.D. Crowe and the New South, and the Tony Rice Unit will be familiar to even the most casual bluegrass music fan.  Many would claim one or more of these bands as their all-time favorites.  More hard-core bluegrass enthusiasts will also fondly remember shorter-lived, but equally as innovative, bands…

Queries: Q: One of my favorite albums by Don Reno and Red Smiley is one on King Records called Good Old Country Ballads. The back of the album jacket has a photo credit to someone named Fernandez. No first name. That has always struck me as odd. Do you know who he is or anything…