Articles

The histories of old-time country music are pretty clear on the subject: everything important happened in the southeastern part of the U.S. Except it didn’t. The music was everywhere. In fact, one the most popular and celebrated old-time stringbands of the late 1920s and early 1930s came out of California.  This band toured widely on…

Banjo Slayers Today, many small-shop mandolin builders produce what have come to be called “boutique mandolins.” The mandolins of one of those craftsmen, Thomas “Skip” Kelley, have been mentioned on the online blog, MandolinCafe.com in conversations with other high-end names. The website, Mando Mutt, is the exclusive dealer for Skip Kelley mandolins.  Mando Mutt’s owner,…

Fiddling Gopher Addis (or, More on Don Reno Sidemen) In last month’s column, we fielded a query concerning two musicians who worked with Don Reno and Red Smiley in the early 1950s: Chuck and Jay Haney. The Haneys had the distinction of appearing on Reno & Smiley’s first recording session together, on January 15, 1952…

Photos and article by Jim Carrier Long after Jim Rooney is gone, the sounds of bluegrass that he recorded will remind us of the beauty of acoustic stringed instruments played with taste and subtlety.   Not famous as a performer — although he was one, certainly — Rooney’s lasting contribution to bluegrass music is embedded…

Photos By Cassidy Wayant Photography In many parts of the country, the wonderful roots music genre known as bluegrass continues to flourish due to targeted efforts to keep the music alive and flowing into the future. In some states, it is the Junior Appalachians Musicians program that facilitates the teaching of over 1,000 students in…

By Dick Spottswood Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine August 1978, Volume 13, Number 2 Over thirty years ago an astute jazz promoter named Norman Granz had an idea. Big bands had dominated the jazz and pop scenes before World War II, producing much of the significant talent which emerged during the era. But between the…