Articles

Marsh Lights is a project created by singer-songwriter Colby Crehan of Vermont. After spending time living in both Europe and the West Coast, Crehan settled in Vermont and played for a time with the Bluegrass Gospel Project and PossumHaw. After leaving PossumHaw, Crehan took her singing and songwriting talents a step further and formed Marsh…

Brings The Culture of the Mountains of Western North Carolina to the World Photos By Bryce Lafoon Before Woody Platt officially left the Steep Canyon Rangers in 2022, some hard inter-band conversations had to happen.  The Steep Canyon Rangers formed down in the Piedmont of North Carolina where everyone in the original lineup was in…

Originally from Massachusetts, Amy Clay studied to become a classically-trained violinist. However, after moving to the San Francisco Bay area, she began getting into other styles of playing, like country and bluegrass music. She played with area musicians and attended local jams, and a few years ago she started writing her own material about subjects…

Fiddling Gopher Addis (or, More on Don Reno Sidemen) In last month’s column, we fielded a query concerning two musicians who worked with Don Reno and Red Smiley in the early 1950s: Chuck and Jay Haney. The Haneys had the distinction of appearing on Reno & Smiley’s first recording session together, on January 15, 1952…

Max Wareham, who’s spent the last several years in Peter Rowan’s band, really knows his way around the banjo, as his debut album attests.  Rowan produced Daggomit, and contributes generously, with several cowrites with Wareham and two lead vocals. Though Wareham only sings on a couple of tracks, including “Hard Times Are Far Behind” (cowritten with…

North Carolina born and raised fiddler Amy Kassir has a deep affection and powerful affinity for old-time fiddle music. Recently, she’s been a member of several California-based bands, which is where she now resides. On these nine-cut all-instrumental collection of old-timey music, she is joined by Carter Eddy (bass), Fred Levine (fiddle), Jake Eddy (guitar,…