Articles

Photo by Laura Ridge On the cover of the May 1976 issue of Bluegrass Unlimited there appears a group of unknown bluegrass musicians along with the words “Bluegrass Cardinals.”  The title of that cover story, written by Frank Godbey, was “Who in the World are the Bluegrass Cardinals?”  The world would soon find out. The…

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…

Bob Minner Pays Tribute to Norman and Nancy Blake Although Bob Minner has spent the majority of his musical life over the past thirty years performing as a member of country star Tim McGraw’s band, he is still a bluegrass flatpicker at heart.  By the time he was twelve, Bob was studying the guitar playing…

Photo by Elliot Carter, Courtesy of ROMP Festival Anyone that has spent a long weekend at an outdoor bluegrass festival knows the importance of being well-equipped and well prepared. Whether you are baking under the hot sun, getting drenched from a torrential downpour, or finding yourself ankle deep in mud, it is essential to have…

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…