Articles

Marsh Lights is a project created by singer-songwriter Colby Crehan of Vermont. After spending time living in both Europe and the West Coast, Crehan settled in Vermont and played for a time with the Bluegrass Gospel Project and PossumHaw. After leaving PossumHaw, Crehan took her singing and songwriting talents a step further and formed Marsh…

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…

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…

The Secret Behind 444 Photos by Eric Ahlgrim Individually, the four musicians of Wood Box Heroes are the super powers of their instruments, a veritable acoustical Justice League with their masterful musical skills. As a combined force, Josh Martin, Matt Menefee, Barry Bales, and Jenee Fleenorbring a wealth of knowledge and experience with their newly…

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…

Max Wareham, who’s spent the last several years in Peter Rowan’s band, really knows his way around the banjo, as his debut album attests.  Rowan produced Daggomit, and contributes generously, with several cowrites with Wareham and two lead vocals. Though Wareham only sings on a couple of tracks, including “Hard Times Are Far Behind” (cowritten with…