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IssueM Articles
Banjo Player’s Blue
High Fidelity Rebel Records REB-CD-1874 High Fidelity might be a fresh-faced looking group of young pickers and singers, but make no mistake — their sound is vintage bluegrass. Banjo Player’s Blues, their third album, hits the mark with band’s title track hit, an old tune by Charlie Monroe. A close ear will note one variation:…
The Light We Bring
Trout Steak Revival Since a bunch of hippies first got together in 1974 and started the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Colorado had proved to be a fertile breeding ground for progressive-bluegrass bands. A multitude of forward thinking-groups including Hot Rize, Leftover Salmon, Yonder Mountain String Band, Elephant Revival, and countless others emerged from the Rocky Mountains. …
Tony Rice: East Meets West
Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine October 1977. Volume 12, Number 4 It was a hot September evening in Louisville, Kentucky seven years ago when I first met a skinny teenage guitar player named Tony Rice. He had just landed his first job with a full-time bluegrass band and was obviously totally immersed in music. Tony’s…
Back to Cuttin’ Grass
Although it’s taken him five albums to put out a project with the bluegrass arrangements to match, this is exactly what Sturgill Simpson has done on Cuttin’ Grass – Vol.1 and 2 (The Butcher Shoppe Sessions). Bluegrass music has long been a part of Simpson’s upbringing—something he credits to his paternal grandfather. However, it took…
Notes & Queries – January
Editor’s Note: Our long-time Notes & Queries writer Walt Saunders, who is now 86 years old and has been involved with this magazine since 1967, was under the weather this month. We have asked noted bluegrass musician, scholar, entertainer, and historian Gary Reid to step in this month to write the Notes & Queries column. …
Bill Monroe’s Gouged Headstock Veneer
If you look at any photo of Bill Monroe holding his mandolin taken between 1950 and 1980, you will notice that the company name, which usually graces the instrument’s headstock, is noticeably missing. Most die-hard bluegrass fans will know that very early in the 1950s, Bill Monroe shipped his mandolin to the Gibson company for…