Articles

Don’t be fooled by the overalls and Mississippi River-stained drawl, Mike Compton is actually a hard-boiled, gum-shoed detective on a relentless cold case to uncover as much of Bill Monroe’s music legacy as possible, both his compositions and Monroe’s playing style. His ongoing comprehensive book of Monroe transcriptions, last we heard, was around 500 pages…

Touring with Bill Monroe was notoriously difficult. Still, with Monroe’s foundational place in the history of bluegrass, it was a rite of passage that many musicians were not only willing but eager to endure.  Monroe’s death in 1996 has of course shut the door to any future opportunities to tour with the “Father of Bluegrass.”…

Susan Nikas is a singer-songwriter from the San Dimas area of California. Her career began in 1987 when she joined the band Clay County as their singer. Clay County was founded by banjoist Jim Dawson, and mandolinist Frank Abraham. Bassist Jim Logue joined them in the studio but was soon replaced by Leslie Spitz. It…

Donna Ulisse is a superb, celebrated and oft-covered singer-songwriter whose ears and heart are finely attuned to the bluegrass mainstream.  On her twelfth album her magic touch with lyrics and melody continues to impress.  Ulisse wrote or cowrote eight of these 11 songs, and their power lies in the way she cuts straight to the…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine February 1977, Volume 11, Number 8 Although bluegrass music has produced a number of great fiddlers and old-time fiddle players have influenced the art, the name of Chubby Wise must rank as one of the most significant. If one accepts the idea that bluegrass originated with Bill Monroe’s band of…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine January 1979, Volume 13, Number 7 We were sitting in the nearly deserted back section of Chet’s bar in Columbus, Ohio, on a mild June night in 1965, having come early to get one of the few “good” seats in the place. The musicians had not yet begun to arrive…