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High Lonesome

Colorado and the Midwest have always been locations where bluegrass music has flourished. The bands from that area have based their sound on bluegrass but have also been known for pushing the edges of the music. High Lonesome is one of these newer groups that do just that. Founded in 2018 by guitarist Chuck Sitero,…

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Kris Howland displays two of the albums he helped bring to vinyl

Kris Howland Brings Classic Bluegrass LPs Back to the Future

Photos by Chelsea LaFond It’s an excellent time for bluegrass LP seekers and collectors. And the folks at Heady Wax Fiends, with help from Real Gone Music, have certainly sweetened the pot by bringing classic bluegrass LPs back on premium vinyl.       Their rerelease of Manzanita by the Tony Rice Unit sparked our initial…

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One More Thing

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….

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Eleven year old Oliver Mosely

From Stages to Campgrounds

Old Settler’s Music Festival Sustains a Robust Community Photos by Steve Levine/stl.images      The 38th Annual Old Settler’s Music Festival, happening this year over the final weekend in April,  was not just the latest installment of the longest-running festival anywhere near Austin, Texas. It was not just an eclectic mix of beloved and outstanding “roots”…

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Kentucky Troubadour: The Rebel Collection

Don Rigsby has had a distinguished, if rather nomadic career over the four decades covered by this retrospective. He’s released a half dozen or so solo albums and been in and out of as many bands – J.D. Crowe, the Bluegrass Cardinals, the Lonesome River Band, Rock County, and Longview among them. This rock-solid song…

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Highfalutin Hillbilly

With their ten-gallon hats, rhinestone suits and boots, and high-energy, Jimmy Martin-style sass, there’s little understated about the Kody Norris Show.  The band’s new album, and third for Rebel Records, really captures the band’s high-energy, good-timey live vibe, which is shot through with a bit of tongue-in-cheek. This is exemplified by a delightful, rapid-fire cover…

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