Articles
IssueM Articles
We’re All Gonna Live
Tony Kamel, former frontman and principal songwriter with the band Wood & Wire, is a talented present-day practitioner in the Guy Clark-Townes Van Zandt Texas singer-songwriter tradition. Many of Kamel’s songs are topical – vivid character sketches, reflections on fatherhood, etc. – and are shot through with homespun philosophy. He’s a gifted lyricist, has an…
Unravel
The Henhouse Prowlers are international bluegrass troubadours in the truest sense of the word. Over the past two decades, they’ve performed and held workshops in nearly 30 countries (from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to Uganda and Kyrgyzstan) on five continents, often under the auspices of the U.S. State Department. Yet there are no signs of…
Bluegrass Gospel
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…
Kenny & Amanda Smith
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…
They’re Back!
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….
Richard Hefner of the Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys
A West Virginia Bluegrass Legend’s Signature Song Revived for Modern Times by Kenny and Amanda Smith Pocahontas County is not only one of the most beautiful counties in West Virginia, it is one of the most nature-filled regions in all of the 400-year-old Appalachian Mountain chain. The county, which contains the headwaters of eight rivers,…