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Minister with Music
The King James Boys’ latest music has been heating up a lot of excitement like an old-time gospel tent revival. Their 13th studio album, Get a Transfer, on Pinecastle Records has only eight songs on the entire CD, but the six singles that have been released so far have earned solid radio play and chart…
The Return of the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival
Twenty years after the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival won the award for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IBMA) Event of the Year in 2006, the festival is returning to the Boston area in 2026 after having been on hiatus since the COVID pandemic. This year, the Boston Bluegrass Union’s (BBU) flagship event is not only…
Notes & Queries – January 2026
In the Mail: Bill Monroe Photo Revisited The 1944 photo of Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys, George D. Hay, and Uncle Dave Macon (as featured in the November 2025 “Notes & Queries”) elicited several responses. Eddie Page from Florida State University wrote that he had “just received my current issue of Bluegrass Unlimited…
Colorado’s Midwinter Bluegrass Festival Celebrates 40 Years
In most of the Bluegrass world, the beginning of festival season generally happens sometime around Memorial Day. In northern Colorado, however, everyone knows that it begins over President’s Day weekend. That’s when the Midwinter Bluegrass Festival takes place. Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, once again the Midwinter Bluegrass Festival takes over a hotel in…
Festival Innovation & Evolution
Written by Dale and Darcy Cahill Over the past thirty years of attending bluegrass festivals, Dale and I have witnessed festivals evolving beyond rough camping and one-stage events. Some of the innovations grew out of attendees’ suggestions and others from promoters trying new ways to attract larger audiences and add even a small amount of…
Blue Ox Music Festival
Finds Success and Fills a Niche By all measures, the Blue Ox Music Festival is a young musical gathering. Now going into its 12th year, the festival will return once again on June 25-27, at the Pines Music Park in beautiful Eau Claire, Wisconsin, located between Chippewa Falls and Osseo. The gathering is more proof…





