Articles
IssueM Articles
Joe Val and the New England Bluegrass Boys — One of the Best Kept Secrets in Bluegrass
By Nancy and Dick Kimmel Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine May 1983, Volume 17, Number 11 1982 was a pivotal year for Joe Val and the New England Bluegrass Boys. It was the first year this band was able to do extensive touring outside of their immediate home area. Personal contact through touring has always…
Vern Williams—“You’ve Got To Let It All Pour Out”
Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine June 1986, Volume 20, Number 12 When you’re talking about traditional bluegrass music on the West Coast these days, chances are that you’re talking about the Vern Williams Band. Although there are other, solid, bluegrass bands to be found throughout the western states, it is Vern Williams that has managed…
Red Rector: Mandolin Virtuoso
Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine September 1975, Volume 10, Number 3 The mandolin became a part of bluegrass at basically the same moment as Bill Monroe which is to say, in the beginning. Other bands which took on elements of bluegrass also began to include innovative mandolin pickers. Among them was a young North Carolinian…
25 Years with Larry Sparks
Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine April, 1988, Volume 22, Number 10 1988 marks an important milestone in the career of Larry Sparks. This year, Larry celebrates his 25th anniversary as a professional musician. For someone who is barely 40 years old (he just turned so on September 25), this seems to be an impressive accomplishment….
Blue Ox Music Festival
Finds Success and Fills a Niche By all measures, the Blue Ox Music Festival is a young musical gathering. Now going into its 12th year, the festival will return once again on June 25-27, at the Pines Music Park in beautiful Eau Claire, Wisconsin, located between Chippewa Falls and Osseo. The gathering is more proof…
Colorado’s Midwinter Bluegrass Festival Celebrates 40 Years
In most of the Bluegrass world, the beginning of festival season generally happens sometime around Memorial Day. In northern Colorado, however, everyone knows that it begins over President’s Day weekend. That’s when the Midwinter Bluegrass Festival takes place. Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, once again the Midwinter Bluegrass Festival takes over a hotel in…