Articles

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine February 1982, Volume 16, Number 8 and March 1982, Volume 16, Number 9  On March 9, 1919, a doctor rode his horse-drawn buggy through the hills of northwest Georgia to the home of Ben and Effie Davis. He was summoned because Effie was about to have a baby. By the…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine September 1983, Volume 18, Number 3 The Sally Mountain Show’s stage presentation carries a great deal of visual appeal but its real story concerns the group’s refreshingly different sound, loaded with “punch” and vocal force that has to be heard to be appreciated. The raw power is supplied by 20-year-old…

Calling My Children Home At recording sessions in August 1977, the Country Gentlemen recorded their last album for the Rebel label before showing up at Sugar Hill Records. The album was a gospel collection, their second, and it featured Charlie Waller, Bill Yates, Doyle Lawson and James Bailey. The title of the album was Calling…

For those unfamiliar with this Santa Cruz, California-based band, it is an off-shoot of what was once the Tuttle Family Band, which included Molly Tuttle, her father Jack Tuttle, her brother Sullivan and AJ Lee. Now, with Lee at the helm and guitarist Sullivan Tuttle on board, along with Scott Gates (also an excellent guitarist)…

Mohavisoul is based in the San Diego area and takes its name from California’s Mojave Desert. While the band’s musical approach is contemporary, it recognizes its bluegrass roots in both the song writing and arrangements of covers.  The band consists of Randy Hanson (mandolin), Mark Miller (guitar), Orion Boucher (bass), and Jason Weiss (banjo). They…

Jason Keiser is a wizard in the bluegrass-jazz (or “space grass”) guitar tradition of Tony Rice and John Carlini, both formerly of the David Grisman Quintet. Keiser has, in fact, studied under many of the masters, including Carlini, Wyatt Rice and mandolin maestro Adam Steffey. On this dazzling, all-acoustic, instrumental collection, Keiser pays tribute to…