Articles

DobroSinger Photo by Neale Eckstein You may think that DobroSinger must be a typo, however rest assured it is not.  Not only is it the title of Abbie Gardner’s new release, but it also serves as an excellent description of the style she has carved out for herself.  Dobro is an instrument that is largely…

If you’ve ever searched “Dobro Lessons” on YouTube, you’ve probably come across the lessons posted by “Dobro Joe” Wilson.  You can also find a couple of lessons from Joe on the lessons page of the Bluegrass Unlimited website.  While it is generally harder to find Dobro lessons than lessons for guitar, mandolin, banjo, or fiddle,…

Hatfield Delivers the Real McCoy It’s an age-old conundrum for anyone trying to learn a new instrument.  You first buy a cheap banjo, guitar or mandolin to see if you even enjoy playing it. The further you progress, and the more time you put in, the more your instrument’s shortcomings become apparent. Pretty soon you’re ready…

This young, award-winning fiddler and long-time bandmate of Darin and Brooke Aldridge makes a confident and impressive solo debut with this fine outing.  Arrowhead, who was once a featured musician in the IBMA’s annual Kids on Bluegrass program, also proves to be an accomplished singer and songwriter with wisdom and artistry beyond her years. You…

Best known for his songwriting of jam band style music for his St. Paul, Minnesota-based group Big Wu, Chris Castino took advantage of the COVID isolation over the past two years to rework and rearrange some of his catalog into bluegrass tunes. For this new project he has gathered together his friends in the Chicken…

“This album is for me an extension of my grandfather’s front porch,” writes Matthew Stallard, a retired English professor, gifted musician and formidable researcher of both traditional music and his own family’s storied history. “It’s a piece of him that I can carry with me that no one can take away from me.” Stallard calls…