Articles

BILLY STRINGS TURMOIL AND TINFOIL No Label No Number It seems like I’ve been following Billy Strings around for some time now. Frequent festival-goers tend to sit around and talk about the good and bad acts they’ve seen recently. Time after time, Billy Strings’ name comes up in a positive way. Folks have been mesmerized…

BARBARA JO KAMMER ONE SONG AT A TIME No Label BJK001 Barbara Jo Kammer is a Colorado Front Range singer and songwriter who performs mostly with her band, the Hippie Buckaroos. The group was named one of the Top Ten Cover Bands in Colorado in 2016 by Westword music magazine in Denver. One Song At…

ROOTS MUSIC IN AMERICA: COLLECTED WRITINGS OF JOE WILSON—EDITED BY FRED BARTENSTEIN—Univ. Of Tenn. Press 9781621903154. Paperback, $29.95. LUCKY JOE’S NAMESAKE: THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE AND OBSERVATIONS OF JOE WILSON—EDITED BY FRED BARTENSTEIN—Univ. Of Tenn. Press 9781621903161. Paperback, $29.95. (Univ. of Tenn. Press, 110 Conference Ctr., 600 Henley St., Knoxville, TN 37996, www.utpress.org.) Who was Joe…

DONNA ULISSE BREAKIN’ EASY Mountain Home MH16932 In May of 2016, I was walking the streets of Asheville, N.C., when I unexpectedly came across Ty Gilpin of the Mountain Home Music label. While catching up on things, I had some fun with the fact that I had multiple IBMA nominations with no wins, calling myself…

JOE MULLINS & THE RADIO RAMBLERS THE STORY WE TELL Rebel Records REB-CD-1869 If you’re looking for sublimely solid, no-frills heartland bluegrass, you need look no further than Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers’ sixth album. The Story We Tell is charged with top-notch yet understated picking and singing. The songs—written or co-written by Alton…

THE MOLLY ROSE BAND WITH ALL DUE RESPECT Patuxent Music CD-285 Patuxent Music continues its welcome promotion of bands that hold to the traditional sound of the first generation of bluegrass bands. This latest find is The Molly Rose Band from the Danville, Va., area and led by banjoist Lynwood Lunsford. Lunsford is the most…