Articles

Old Music Gets A New Life Discovering music that you have never heard before can be exciting if it is music that lifts your spirit, resonates with your heart and sinks deep into your bones.  For fans of traditional bluegrass and early country music, finding this kind of music today can sometimes be difficult.  Sure, there…

Will Clark grew up in the mountain foothills of South Carolina, where he was introduced to bluegrass by attending local jams. He soon became fond of the sound of the mandolin and took it to be his favorite instrument. His professional career began in 2012 when he joined the James King Band, and in 2019…

Dr. Ted Olson, professor of Appalachian studies at East Tennessee State University, has compiled an album of previously unreleased tracks from banjo master Carroll Best, who played an essential role in the evolution of the melodic banjo style in the 1950s.  Best referred to his technique as “fiddle style,” which certainly fits, as it was…

Who I Am Photos by Sierra Cochran Finding ourselves is a journey that can be hard with a lot of ups and downs along the road. For rising bluegrass star Olivia Jo, she has traversed two different paths in her thirty years. The singer of “Down Life’s Road” drove the country music freeway before doing…

The Briar Finch name comes from the last names of two songwriters from the Olympia, Washington area. Cory Briar sings and plays mandolin and octave mandolin. Erin Finch sings and plays guitar. On this project of original compositions, the pair is joined by Tom Roalkvam on electric bass and Josh Grice on 5-string fiddle. Together,…

David Chichester is a bluegrass sound engineer whose profession began as a hobby that evolved into a career. He and his wife, Traci, own and operate GBS Productions (Great Big Sound) out of Ohio. He explained his audio company’s name. “Great big was a catch phrase before social media: “great big hair” or “great big”…