Articles

Picks and their various materials and shapes are debated endlessly in online instrument forums. One new entrant to that conversation is the Chris Thile Signature Mandolin Pick from D’Addario (#2CA7-01CT), which the bluegrass mandolin world has been giving a lot of positive chatter to lately. The standard triangle pick with rounded points is made from…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited MagazineSeptember 2006, Volume 41, Number 3 Bluegrass music legend Bobby Osborne could care less if he ever boards another plane, but he is willing to fly solo with his career. One of the industry’s most talented vocalists had the choice of staying grounded when his partner of more than half a…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited MagazineDecember, 1968. Volume 3, Number 6 Kenny Baker plays fiddle with Bill Monroe. He was a coal miner, a Country & Western fiddle man, and is a very articulate’ person with a lot to say. From Jenkins, Kentucky, he was born June 26, 1926. His family originally came from England and…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine Part I June 1970, Volume 4, Number 12 Truly one of the pioneers of country music is Johnny Whisnant, who plays five-string banjo. His career as a professional musician spans a period of more than 35 years. Unfortunately, he is perhaps the most misunderstood and certainly the most underrated musician…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine February 1969, Volume 3, Number 8 In the past there have been many different outlets for bluegrass music — radio, TV, school-house shows, tent shows, bars and parks, to name a few. The list has, in recent years, shrunk appreciably to the point where, in many areas, the only source…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine October 1970, Volume 5, Number 4 Having never seen J. D. Crowe and the Kentucky Mountain Boys in person, I was looking forward to their appearance at Carlton Haney’s Labor Day Weekend Festival. When they mounted the stage, I was not disappointed. In addition to their considerable instrumental and vocal…