Articles

The Teenager Who Filled In for Earl Imagine that you are a high school kid who has learned how to play the banjo.  It is the mid-1950s and Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys are one of the hottest, tightest bluegrass bands in the country. You learned how to play the banjo because…

Notes In response to the July “Notes & Queries” piece on West Virginia fiddler Woody Simmons, we received the following note from UK-subscriber Frank Weston: “I have just received your July issue where Gary Reid replies to a question on Woody Simmons. He might like to know that just two weeks ago a short clip…

1971-8-26 Thursday—Day off I woke up at 10 am but went back to sleep.  Everybody else got up around 2 pm but I kept on sleeping.  Darn!  Finally I’m worn out and sick – headache, sore throat and my whole body is aching.  I managed to eat dinner a little.  Dick came over and discussed…

By Gary A. Henderson and Richard K. Spottswood Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine April 1968, Volume 2, Number 10 That Bill Emerson is currently just about the most skilled and respected banjo picker in the country will be disputed by few. Yet it will come as a surprise to many that his origins and background…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine July 1974, Volume 9, Number 1 One of the reasons that old-time and bluegrass music attracted a wide audience among urban college youth of the east was the long presence of the Lilly Brothers and Don Stover in the Boston area. Through their nightly appearances at Hillbilly Ranch and their…

For those interested in seeing more photos that relate to this week’s article and hear the band perform at the Tex Logan party, go to this web page: http://frobbi.org/akira/1971_BG45_Wk10/ 1971-8-19 Thursday—WDON At 9:30 am Dick knocked on the door and woke us up.  Overslept!!  Everybody got ready in 10 minutes and Dick drove us to…