Articles

Eddie Lightner is a Baltimore, Maryland, native who became enamored with the mandolin after hearing and watching players like Ronnie McCoury and Chris Thile. He became good enough to spend time playing with the Baltimore Mandolin Orchestra. He also performed around the East Coast with the FolkenPhunk band. On this project, Lightner (mandolin, vocal) is…

Armed with a clear, invigorating tenor voice and a boatload of talent, Larry Stephenson shoots for the stars with Cast a Lonesome Shadow. Modeled in the form of traditional bluegrass, this record is packed with twists and turns. Stephenson isn’t afraid to incorporate  blues, folk and ragtime, thus making his own stamp on the genre…

The past academic year has been marked by top-shelf performance experiences for members of Belmont University Bluegrass Ensemble. On April 9, the group made their debut on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, an ultimate musician’s bucket list item. Ryan Joseph, director of the ensemble and coordinator of strings at the university, has played…

Jerry Salley can best be described as a songwriter’s songwriter. Since 1982, Salley has written over 540 songs and has had them recorded by country artists such as Loretta Lynn, The Oak Ridge Boys, Chris Stapleton and Reba McEntire, and bluegrass artists like the Osborne Brothers, Joe Mullins, IIIrd Tyme Out, Rhonda Vincent, Seldom Scene,…

Bluegrass’s Annual Ritual of Spring Photos By David McCarty Every year on the last weekend of the first month, the bluegrass faithful emerge from their winter burrows like cicadas after hibernation with no outdoor festivals and few indoor events, itching to pick. It may still be late January, but don’t try telling bluegrass that spring…

Bob Seger cut a wide swath across the rock ’n’ roll landscape for decades, giving us classic hits like “Night Moves,” “Turn the Page,” “Main Street,” “Like a Rock” and “Old Time Rock ’n’ Roll,” among others. These songs have endured because they often captured the uneasy spirit of their times. This fine collection reminds…