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Orchard Creek Band poses in front of the majestic Sangre de Cristo mountain range at High Mountain Hay Fever. // Photo by Vicki Quarles

A Good Time for a Good Cause

When a few families in the Wet Mountain Valley of southern Colorado took note of the lack of children’s health services in the early 2000s they did what most people with the means to help might do, they donated money to the local clinic to be used by anyone who needed financial assistance. A year…

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Introducing The Southwest Bluegrass All-Stars

Members of the Southwest Bluegrass All-Stars are: banjo master Bill Evans, a recipient of the Steve Martin Banjo Prize; New Mexico-based  bass player Anne Luna; Austin songwriter Elliott Rogers, who’s worked with the likes of Lyle Lovett and Nanci Griffith and the Alan Munde Gazette; and Steve Smith, a New Mexico-based mandolinist extraordinaire, who has…

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From China To Appalachia

This intriguing, East-meets-West collaboration started at the Strathmore Music Center, near Washington, D.C., where Chao Tian, a visual artist and master of the Chinese hammered dulcimer, was artist in residence. Tian’s music caught the attention of Maryland-based folk veterans Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer, and the result is this imaginative collaboration, which they’ve since taken…

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Flicker Of Love

Cast Iron was formed in 2019 and calls the Ashville, North Carolina area home. The members include Nick Dauphinais (mandolin), Andrew Blythe (banjo), Rob Sine (guitar), and Celia Millington-Wyckoff (bass), and for this project they have included fiddler James Schlender.  The band’s pedigrees include stints with Mountain Faith, Larry Stephenson Band, Blue Wheel Drive, Whetstone…

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The Wayne Henderson Festival Ends After 30 Years

Henderson Reflects on Its Long Run Photos by Derek Halsey Southwest Virginia’s Wayne Henderson happens to be one of the most famous guitar builders in the world. He has also been one of the best fingerpick guitarists in the country for many years. And yet, for the majority of his amazing career, Henderson has lived…

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A New Era for Gallagher Guitars

Photos Courtesy of Gallagher Guitar Company Gallagher is a name that for nearly sixty years has been associated with finely crafted acoustic guitars.  For nearly that same length of time, Gallagher Guitars has also been tied to one of the finest flatpicking guitar players to ever put a pick to strings—the legendary Doc Watson. The…

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