Articles

There is a sound that belongs to Raleigh each fall. It rises from downtown streets and echoes between brick buildings. It carries the bright ring of mandolins, the warmth of fiddles, and the rhythm of a hundred tapping feet. It is the sound of bluegrass, and it is the sound of Raleigh Wide Open. Every…

Bands Blurring the Lines of Bluegrass “I’m just proud that we got something down on tape that really captures the vibe of the Keel Stickley Duo,”  explains guitarist Jon Stickley about he and fellow guitarist Larry Keel’s recently released self-titled EP.  “It’s a monumental live act, but had we never gotten the recording done, it…

In Dan Miller’s wonderful and thorough retrospective article on Don Reno found elsewhere in this edition of BU, he gets into the music side of this amazing IBMA Hall of Fame artist.  Here, after wonderful interviews with his sons, Ronnie, Don Wayne, and Dale Reno, I try to unveil Don Reno as a man and…

A Bluegrass Pioneer:Ralph Pennington North Carolina’s Vivian Pennington Hopkins made it her mission to share the legacy of her late father, Ralph Pennington. In doing so, she orchestrated the recording of an album and two music videos that pay homage to her dad’s many talents. A gifted songwriter, musician, and luthier, he helped formulate the…

A Life of Music, Stories, and Connections Roscoe VanBuren “Buddy” Hogan, Jr. (August 26, 1935 – October 13, 2025) was a man whose life was deeply intertwined with the world of country and bluegrass music. Although he frequently joked with family and friends that he was a “legend in his own mind,” Buddy lived a…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine April 1996, Volume 30, Number 10 It was a cold and snowy December evening in 1980, when I happened upon, what was then, Partners 2 Restaurant in Centreville, Va. Just recently having relocated from upstate New York to Manassas, Va. I was checking out the local forms of entertainment. The…