Articles

There Was A Time The band takes its name from a stretch of the New River which originates in North Carolina. Together since 2004, the current band is Barry Long (banjo, resonator guitar), Michael Johnson (guitar), Dwayne Brown (bass), Chuck Price (fiddle), Michael Mullins (mandolin), and Andy Smith (guitar). This a project of mostly Gospel…

As Times Go By – SONGS OF THE 1930’S – 1950’S Chicago area artist Jacob Underwood is a multi-instrumentalist who plays regularly with the Bluegrass Express Band. On this solo project Underwood steps back in time with tunes from the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s. Underwood sings lead and harmony and plays all the instruments including…

Something Beautiful Like the holiday drink Hot Buttered Rum, the band is a complex recipe that cannot be easily replicated. Described on their website as “a souped-up, Left Coast string band,” the San Francisco group’s seventh CD Something Beautiful is a ten-track odyssey through bluegrass, jazz, folk, and soul. Erik Yates (vocals, banjo, and resonator…

I Have Known Women: Songs by Si Kahn Celebrating Women’s Lives and Struggles On the 100-year anniversary of American women winning the right to vote, Saro Lynch-Thomason and Sam Gleaves have released a collection of 13 songs penned by Si Kahn—most never recorded before. Female subjects are profiled, ranging from the local midwife “granny woman…

Inside the Lines This is the second release for western North Carolina’s Nick Chandler & Delivered. It is also the debut outing for the newest members of the band. With Chandler on mandolin, he is joined by Will Eller on banjo and Hudson Bosworth on guitar. Both are students at East Tennessee State enrolled in…

Skunk in the Alley This is a one man show, and it is impressive. Asti plays all of the instruments and moves between bluegrass and old-time music. He wrote three of the tunes here, including the title-track. He does an impressive job of twin banjos on “Reuben’s Train 45,” and his mandolin, fiddle and guitar…