Articles
IssueM Articles
High Lonesome Strings Bluegrass Association
High Lonesome Strings (HLS), the central North Carolina-based bluegrass club, has been in existence for almost 27 years. Pammy Davis Lassiter founded the musical organization in July 1997. It has been going strong and growing ever since with a current enrollment of 202 members. Board member Lassiter, who still handles membership, the G Run Newsletter,…
Hold To A Dream, A Newgrass Odyssey
Even early in his life, John Cowan’s vocal talents surprised and impressed those who heard him. As Cowan, now 70, recalls in his memoir Hold To A Dream, it was the cute sister of one of his friends telling him—“You sing really good!”—that scotched his interest in playing football and motivated him to give his…
A Broadcast Legend
Bluegrass Radio Show Hits the 50 Year Mark While various areas of the Appalachian region are considered the main hotbed for bluegrass music, there are other faraway parts of the U.S. where the music is appreciated and thrives. One excellent example of this is Orin Friesen’s bluegrass radio show, which has been broadcast from Kansas…
Rise Early
Annick Odom, lead singer and principal songwriter of this trio—named after a wild flower that proliferates in Appalachian West Virginia—grew up in two cultures and spend her formative years in both West Virginia and the Netherlands, where she formed this band. Sweet Joe Pye currently divides its time between Europe and the Morgantown, West Virginia,…
Kentucky Borderline
By Rhonda Vincent and Terry Herd “Kentucky Borderline,” written by Rhonda Vincent and Terry Herd, was first released in 2003 on Vincent’s One Step Ahead (Rounder). In January 2004, it hit #1 on Bluegrass Unlimited National Bluegrass Survey and later that year was named “Song of the Year” by the International Bluegrass Music Association. The…
Live in Europe
Although Sally Jones is fairly ubiquitous in the world of bluegrass music, this album travels a little off the beaten path. These recordings start in the earlier years of Sally Jones’s transatlantic tour with the Sidewinders, featuring Kristin Scott Benson on banjo, Mickey Harris on bass, and Brad Meinerding on mandolin. The rest of the…