Articles

Beth and Randy Judy’s nationally recognized music festivals have changed the lives of many and changed names from MagnoliaFest (held in October) and Suwannee SpringFest (held in March) to Suwannee Roots Revival and Suwannee Spring Reunion respectively. While I’ve always considered all four of these festivals to be one and the same, I used to…

Woody Guthrie’s Grandson and his NYC-based Bluegrass Band  Woody Guthrie has a strong legacy in American music.  Part of the reason is obvious—the music and the lyrics speak for themselves.  Additionally, musicians such as Bob Dylan, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Pete Seeger, Woody’s son Arlo, and others, have praised Guthrie as an influence and mentor and…

Sound Guy And So Much More Elijah Doty is a 23-year-old Illinois boy who is “living the dream” according to his Facebook intro. He loves God, country and bluegrass music, horses, and emergency management. In the bluegrass community, he is primarily known as a sound technician and multi-instrumentalist. However, Doty also serves his community as a…

Fred Carpenter is a well-known and well-respected fiddle player. While starting out on the classical violin, he spent time studying the styles of folks like Kenny Baker, Vassar Clement, Byron Berline, and others. He has played with bluegrass artists like Tony Rice and The Dillards, and others like Emmylou Harris, Kathy Mattea and George Strait….

Graham Sharp is no stranger to bluegrass fans. For nearly a quarter century, he shared vocal duties with co-founder Woody Platt in one of the most successful groups of this century, the Steep Canyon Rangers. When Platt announced his departure, the band regrouped, added another distinctive voice in Aaron Burdett, and kept going. Sharp’s distinctive…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine September 2015, Volume 50, Number 3 Four decades ago, J.D. Crowe & the New South went into the studio to record one of bluegrass music’s most influential albums. The band consisted of J.D. Crowe, Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Douglas, Tony Rice, and Bobby Slone, and their 1975 eponymous album is commonly…