Articles

The ‘collective’ was formed by John Gray (banjo, guitar, mandolin) and Bailey Warren (fiddle), who are both alumni of Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. After performing by themselves for a while, they decided to expand the band and were joined by some other alumni of Belmont, including Ali Vance (vocal), Jonny Therrien (guitar, resonator guitar),…

If you’re looking for opportunities to develop, hone and expand your music making skills in a group setting on a lovely 10-acre farmstead, Dan Miller, editor of Bluegrass Unlimited, is offering jam sessions, concerts, and multi-day workshops at Jade Green Farm, a newish venue in Harrisburg, Missouri, that he has been working on creating since…

Teaches Bluegrass and Old Time Music in the Heart of the Mountains Last year I had the chance to visit the long-running Allegheny Echoes Week, an acclaimed instructional camp that has featured bluegrass and old-time music workshops every June for 27 years. The gathering takes place at the Marlinton Motor Inn, outside the small town of…

A great song can be deeply personal yet decidedly universal in its ability to touch listeners. “Patch of Blue,” written by Claire Lynch and released on her award-winning Dear Sister album (2013, Compass Records), is a case in point. It wasn’t a hit single. It isn’t the fastest, grassiest number on the album. Instead, it’s…

Teaching Millions to Play the Banjo You might look at the title of this article and think, “Are there really millions of people learning how to play the banjo?”  If you look at Jim Pankey’s YouTube channel and check out his “Learn To Play Bluegrass Banjo – Lesson 1,” you will see that this one…

The ToneSlabs Story At some point in their musical life—after acquiring a basic chord vocabulary and conquering the down-up picking pattern—most mandolinists or guitarists who play with a pick begin to think about how a pick’s shape, thickness and composition contribute to the sound they want to create. It’s just another worrisome concern if you…