Articles

In the Mail: Bill Monroe Photo Revisited The 1944 photo of Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys, George D. Hay, and Uncle Dave Macon (as featured in the November 2025 “Notes & Queries”) elicited several responses. Eddie Page from Florida State University wrote that he had “just received my current issue of Bluegrass Unlimited…

In the twenty tracks that make up Bloom Again, Allie Jean Burbrink plays guitar, banjo, mandolin, bass, fiddle, and sings her way through a wonderful array of traditional and original music with a beautiful intimacy and honesty. This is all natural, honest-to-goodness back porch music.  For an album where one artist is doing all the…

Gena Britt, who brings a long, impressive resume to the recording studio — she’s a multi-IBMA winner with top-of-the-game Sister Sadie—steps out for highly regarded personal projects and is in demand for fill-ins and studio work. Her new project, Streets, Rivers, Dreams & Heartaches, adds yet another checkmark to that career that’s solid and fun…

Let’s face it—Larry Sparks could cut an album where he sings the ingredient labels for Oreos, peanut butter, and his favorite barbecue rub, and bluegrass fans would set it on repeat and let it ride for an afternoon. And it would be good. And so Sparks, who doesn’t seem to desire to slow down, has…

From the vibrant bluegrass scene of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, comes Trish Imbrogno with five stellar tracks on a new EP. Imbrogno, trained as a classical bassist, expanded her musical world to include bluegrass and roots music and has become an in-demand, well-respected, in-the-pocket bassist playing with an array of top pickers.  Joining Trish, who plays bass…

Way Back When  Pure as summer sunshine, Larry Sparks makes bluegrass like Mother Nature provides warmth. Sparks, in rarefied air among living bluegrass masters, offers blankets of comfort whenever he sings a song. So, make room for Way Back When Sparks’ latest album, released by Rebel Records on October 24, embraces nostalgia and bluegrass purity….