Articles

From Brush Arbor To Bean Blossom And Beyond Within the expansive genre of bluegrass, gospel music is arguably more popular today than at any time in its history. Most of today’s bluegrass bands include gospel music on recordings and in stage shows, and some record all-bluegrass gospel albums. While the melding of bluegrass with spiritual…

New Single Resurrects a Lost Classic Bluegrass Song By Richard Hefner  The great 1970s Song “Million Lonely Days” by the Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys Becomes New Again The IBMA Award-winning duo of Kenny and Amanda Smith are no strangers to West Virginia. Amanda is a Mountain State native who was raised near Parkersburg. The husband…

Alison Krauss and Union Station Photos by Randee St. Nicholas When the members of Alison Krauss and Union Station (AKUS) took the stage March 19 at the Grand Ole Opry’s 100th anniversary celebration televised live on NBC, there was joy in the bluegrass nation and in the hearts of all music fans with ears around the world….

In a bluegrass world where bands see regular turnovers, Mark Stoffel is an anomaly.  For the past 16 years, the mandolin ace for Chris Jones and the Night Drivers has been laying down a solid chop on tours across the country and with his creative innovations on sevenof the group’s CDs. After growing up in…

The Newest Punch Brother For many reasons, bluegrass music is a unique genre amongst the various forms of music performed and recorded in the United States.  One reason is that a relatively high percentage of the fans of the music also play the music.  At any given bluegrass festival, the main reason many of the attendees…

Q – I am a big fan of Ernie Thacker and know that he was in Ralph Stanley’s band from 1988-1994. I am trying to find all the albums that feature him singing lead with Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys.  Do you happen to know the titles of the albums that Ernie was…