Articles

Paul Van Vlodrop hails from Amsterdam in the Netherlands and over the years has become one of Europe’s well-known musicians and artists. He learned to play guitar at an early age, influenced by the popular music of the day by such as the Beatles, James Taylor, Jim Croce, Simon and Garfunkel, and others. Later he…

Bands Blurring the Lines of Bluegrass “I tell people we are the tradition of bluegrass, the attitude of punk rock and the culture of hip hop,” explains Kenny Feinstein (singer, multi-instrumentalist) of Water Tower.  That declaration perfectly sums up the unconventional musical personality of Water Tower, a Los Angeles-based string-band that is keeping old-timey, traditional…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine November 1976, Volume 11, Number 5 I first heard of Larry McNeely, as did many others, via the Glen Campbell television show. Every Sunday evening at eight o’clock, I would rush to our set, with recorder in hand, just to hear the ten minute concert section with Glen, Larry and…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine February 1995, Volume 29, Number 8 Its late; sometime after 2 a.m., and a charismatic guitarist with a gap-toothed grin and a full shock of reddish-brown hair and beard still performs for the cheering crowd clustered around the crude stage wedged among the campsites at the Walnut Valley Festival. Of…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine October 1996, Volume 21, Number 4 Tim O’Brien was just learning the fiddle in 1974 when he got the itch to go to California. He grabbed the instrument, slung a backpack over his shoulder, stuck out his thumb in Jackson Hole, Wyo., and hitchhiked to Berkeley. While checking out the…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine August 2018, Volume 53, Number 2 The new $15 million Bluegrass Music Hall Of Fame & Museum is set to open October 18 this year. After a $100 million riverfront rebuild, Owensboro, Ky., is a new city and destination. To borrow an oft-used phrase, in the minds of bluegrass lovers,…