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Hawthorn Banjos
It just makes sense that the finest musical instruments would be comprised of premier quality parts assembled and crafted by experienced luthiers, and that’s the foundation of Bradford and Company’s Hawthorn™ brand of instruments. If retired lawyer Glenn Bradford can’t find a particular part that meets his quality standards he will make it himself or…
The Earl Scruggs Center
Photos Courtesy of The Earl Scruggs Center It’s no exaggeration to say Earl Scruggs changed the course of music globally with his innovative 3-finger style of banjo playing. “Scruggs Style,” as it is universally known, is a cornerstone of bluegrass music, and has served as inspiration for latter-day banjo innovators, including Bela Fleck, Tony Trischka,…
Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina
Website Opens Up Doors to Heart of Bluegrass Bluegrass music was basically created in Nashville in 1945 when Kentucky native Bill Monroe asked North Carolina fiddler Jim Shumate if he knew of any powerful banjo players who could keep up with his up-tempo music. That is when Shumate introduced Monroe to the innovative three-finger banjo…
Just Off the Wilderness Road, Songs of the Cumberland Gap Region
A concept album of 16 songs focusing on stories and characters from the Cumberland Gap area of Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia takes the listener back in time. Twenty-seven artists whose familes are originally from the region are featured, with lead vocals from Teddy Cosby, Bryan Turner, Phillip Powers, James Clark, Joseph Wilson, Randall Massengill, Jason…
Bobby Thompson: The Calm At The Eye Of The Storm
Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine July 1974, Volume 9, Number 1 In some far-flung corners of the world a controversy rages over who was the world’s first chromatic banjo player, but in Nashville, Bobby Thompson—one of those in the dead center of the controversy—pays little heed to it. He’s too busy as Nashville’s top studio…
Bill Emerson’s Bluegrass Life After the Navy
When Bill Emerson retired from the Navy in 1993, at the age of 55, he was far from retiring from his life in bluegrass music. He continued to record and perform with various artists and then he later started his band, Bill Emerson and Sweet Dixie. In an interview conducted by John Lawless and…