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Kentucky Troubadour: The Rebel Collection

Don Rigsby has had a distinguished, if rather nomadic career over the four decades covered by this retrospective. He’s released a half dozen or so solo albums and been in and out of as many bands – J.D. Crowe, the Bluegrass Cardinals, the Lonesome River Band, Rock County, and Longview among them. This rock-solid song…

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The Infamous Stringdusters. // Photo by Alex Culbreth

Way Down Upon the Suwannee River

Beth and Randy Judy’s nationally recognized music festivals have changed the lives of many and changed names from MagnoliaFest (held in October) and Suwannee SpringFest (held in March) to Suwannee Roots Revival and Suwannee Spring Reunion respectively. While I’ve always considered all four of these festivals to be one and the same, I used to…

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Faculty Share Original Songs and Insights L to R: Jeanette Williams, Louisa Branscomb, Johnny Williams // Photo by nancy posey

Songs Move Mountains

Louisa Branscomb Marks 36 Years of Songwriting retreats March 2025 marked the 36th consecutive year of songwriting workshops, usually twice a year, hosted by veteran songwriter Louisa Branscomb. Louisa founded Woodsong Farm Songwriting Retreats in 1989, at her farm in Georgia, and continued to hold 2 to 4 retreats a year for the next 30…

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Bob & Sarah Amos

Father Daughter Duo Written by Dale and Darcy Cahill Bob Amos made his name in Bluegrass beginning in the late 80s as vocalist, guitarist, frontman, and songwriter for the band Front Range. For over 15 (1988-2004) years Front Range, based in Colorado, played all over the country and Europe and recorded seven albums. These days, Bob lives…

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High Lonesome

Colorado and the Midwest have always been locations where bluegrass music has flourished. The bands from that area have based their sound on bluegrass but have also been known for pushing the edges of the music. High Lonesome is one of these newer groups that do just that. Founded in 2018 by guitarist Chuck Sitero,…

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Price of Admission

The Turnpike Troubadours are possibly the most famous band that many people have never heard of. That’s a shame.\ They’re not exactly bluegrass, although they’ve covered John Hartford. They’re not exactly country, but they’ve covered Alabama. They’re not really folk, but they have covered John Prine. And while all those covers are strong fresh takes,…

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