Articles

A Banjo Master Gone Too Soon James Robert “Jim” Mills (December 18, 1966 – May 3, 2024) was one of the most celebrated bluegrass banjo pickers from the last forty years. His early resume included stints with several regional bands such as Summer Wages and the Bass Mountain Boys while later entries observed high-profile jobs…

Q: I was a big fan of the Greenbriar Boys and was good friends with all of them, especially John Herald. Listening again to some cuts recently I came across “Way Down in the Country.” I assumed it was a Grandpa Jones tune because it sounds exactly like something he’d do. But I can’t find…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine January 1987, Volume 21, Number 7 His shoulders are braced back, at the ready, and his sharp eyes peer keenly forward, like a dedicated lifelong explorer who knows with certainty that his greatest discoveries lie just ahead. The muse that adrenalizes his creative genius is a restless one (“I don’t…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine November 1990, Volume 25, Number 5 One of the members of the Osborne Brothers Band is Terry Eldredge, who joined in February of 1988. When he first appeared you had to look more than once to find him on stage, as he was the slender, handsome young man behind the…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine November 2001, Volume 36, Number 5 At any bluegrass festival or indoor shindig, you can always tell when a popular or favorite band is about to appear, by the filling of the seats and the gathering of the crowd. This past February, the seats were all filled and they were…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine July, 1992, Volume 27, Number 1 The Nashville Bluegrass Band is among the most exciting and highly acclaimed bands in bluegrass today. They have been the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Vocal Group Of The Year for two years straight (1990-91) and were 1991 finalists for Instrumental Group Of The Year…