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Kenny Baker, Bobby Hicks, and Bryon Berline at the 1975 Dick Tyner’s Golden West Bluegrass Festival. Photo by Sue & John Averill, courtesy of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum.

Bobby Hicks Reflects On His Career

Famed fiddler and king of the double stops, Bobby Hicks, celebrated his 90th birthday in July. Due to problems with his balance and a torn rotator cuff, the fiddle icon can no longer drag the bow, but he has quite the story to tell of his lifetime in the music industry.  Growing up in central…

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Promised Land

Danny Burns is originally from Donegal, Ireland, where he grew to enjoy playing Celtic and folk music. He now lives in Charleston, North Carolina, and has fully embraced the deep connections that Irish and Appalachian music has given him, including the melding of bluegrass and Americana. On this new release, Burns is accompanied by his…

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Kinetic Tone

This collection marks this multi-IBMA Award-winning, western North Carolina-based ensemble’s tenth album for Mountain Home Music, and it’s safe to say they sound better than ever.  The addition of mandolin master Alan Bibey seems to have provided a fresh injection of energy and inspiration. These tracks sizzle with drama and pathos in the form of…

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School Project

It might seem odd that for as long as he’s been around, banjo player Cory Walker has just released his first solo album, School Project. Maybe he was just waiting to see how close to a perfect debut he could get for Mountain Fever Records. Walker, currently playing with the IBMA Momentum Award winning band…

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Oh, Didn’t They Ramble: Rounder Records and the Transformation of American Roots Music

When three politically and socially active college students founded an “anti-profit” record company because no one else would record and release the American folk, bluegrass and old-time music they loved, they had no idea their brainchild would become a dominant force introducing millions to artists like Alison Krauss, Tony Rice, Hazel Dickens, J.D. Crowe, Norman…

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Ray Davis about the time of his record releases for the DC and Marshall labels.

Notes & Queries – February 2024

Q: I was just listening to Bill Monroe’s recording of “Christmas Time’s a-Comin’” and I would swear I could hear the unmistakable voice of Del McCoury in the harmony. The song was recorded in 1951, can you shed some light on this? Dallas Hudson, Charlotte NC A: You are correct that Bill Monroe recorded the…

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