Articles

Most folks don’t think of traditional, old time, or bluegrass fiddlers hailing from New York City. Longtime musician, session player, actor, and TV and movie soundtrack contributor Kenny Kosek is out to prove you can’t judge a book by where it was printed. Kosek’s new album, Twisted Sage, a collaboration with banjo maestro Tony Trischka…

Photos by Lily Jack Photography Grammy-nominated songwriter Rick Lang has created not one, but now two staples of bluegrass gospel music with the release of Blue Collar Gospel on the heels of Gonna Sing, Gonna Shout. The New Hampshire native received a Grammy nod for Best Roots Gospel Album for GSGS. The title track was…

Having been the publisher and editor of Flatpicking Guitar Magazine for twenty years, my ears always perk up when I hear about a new talent in the world of flatpicking guitar.  A few months ago, one of my guitar students mentioned a female flatpicker from England, Charlotte Carrivick, and said that I should check out…

Listening to the new duo CD from Mike Compton and Joe Newberry feels like reading the manuscript of a lost Faulkner novella discovered at a flea market in Mike Compton’s native Lauderdale County, Mississippi. The stories are real and raw, but disclosed in measured doses, through voices at times tortured and others reverent. It’s music…

If there’s a complaint to be made about the Steep Canyon Rangers’ 2021 live album North Carolina Songbook, it’s that it was too short. At eight songs, the album covered a range of artists from Thelonious Monk to James Taylor to Ben E. King to Doc Watson. It met rave reviews and was nominated for…

Claw hammer banjo player Brad Kolodner has long been a spark plug on the old-timey-Celtic music scene. He’s toured and recorded extensively with his father, Ken, founder of the ground-breaking band Helicon. Brad is also a founder of the acoustic roots quintet Charm City Junction. For his latest outing, an all-instrumental collection of kick-up-your heels…