Articles

Editor’s Note:  This article is a continuation of the excerpt from the Jerry Douglas chapter of Bill Amatneek’s new book Discovering Tony Rice.  The first half ran in the December 2023 issue.  Regarding his interview with Jerry, Bill said, “Jerry Douglas was one of the most insightful people whom I interviewed for Discovering Tony Rice,…

Jody Stecher has been around forever—or at least since the 1960s when he emerged from the remnants of the folk music revival.  On his latest album, a collaboration with the distinguished Boston-based string band Mile Twelve, he sounds better than ever. His warm, lived-in voice and his intriguing original songs bring to mind a West…

Maryland’s Roger Cline has put together a nice collection of mostly original material on this new project of stories about bravery, courage, tenacity and about those who have it. He is joined here by a host of musicians including: Scott Freeman (mandolin), Debbie Durant & Tom Hensler (bass), Gary Hultman (resonator guitar), John Scott Walker…

New Mexico’s Higher Ground Bluegrass is celebrating 25 years of music with this ninth project. The band was established in 1998 by Duke Weddington, banjo player and primary songwriter, and in the past the band has opened for such artists as Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen, Tim O’Brien, The Infamous Stringdusters, and Peter Rowan, and…

Appalachian Reign was formed in 1975 by Washington, DC area musician Tom Knowles. Between 1976 and 1984 Knowles and the band played many of the DC area venues, clubs and festivals. This project is a retrospect of those years that Knowles had the band and the cuts are culled from cassette tapes of some of…

Originally from Michigan, Jeremy Rilko relocated to Asheville, North Carolina, after serving in the Air Force and graduating from Western Michigan University. It was while in the service and at college that he became enamored with bluegrass music. He has been a banjo player since he was 24, and was influenced by the likes of…