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Les Butler. Photo Courtesy of Les Butler

REAL Traditional Southern Gospel Music 

At the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum New Years Eve 2021, I was walking down the hallway at the Jekyll Island Bluegrass Festival when I heard someone say, “Hey REAL Southern Gospel Music man!”  I turned around and saw an elderly couple seated on a bench in the hallway waving for my wife…

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The Dupree School House. Photo By Meg Johnson

Dupree School House

How One Girl Ended up Down at the Bluegrass Crossroads (and got her soul back….) On the morning of Saturday, May 25 I had a rude awakening. My weather obsessed daughter made a 6 a.m. appearance at my bedroom door. I knew as soon as I saw her face that we would be having tornados for breakfast…

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Bluegrass Harmonica

White Oak Records  WO 106 Wisconsin’s Art Stevenson is not only an excellent harmonica player, but is also a good singer and guitarist. He is also the founding member of his band Art Stevenson and High Water, and he is the promoter of the Bluegrass in the Pines bluegrass festival and is busy as host…

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Morning Shift

The Steep Canyon Rangers have championed what has become known as the Carolina sound for well over 20 years. On Morning Shift, the group’s 14th studio album, they continue doing what they do best…crafting songs around stories.  This is the first album since founding member guitarist/vocalist Woody Platt decided to step away to spend more…

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Remembering The Past

The Kentucky Colonels were as progressive and innovative as Billy Strings is today and Osborne Brothers were before them. The guitar magic—there’s no other word—conjured by Clarence White, melding with his older brother Roland’s dry, almost plaintive vocals and spot-on Monroe style mandolin, created a thrilling new sound. The highlight, to many fans was their…

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Bluegrass Voice

Bluelight Records  BLR 332332 Led by Jussi Syren (mandolin, lead vocals), the Groundbreakers members hail from both Finland and Europe. Formed in 1995 the others in the group include Tauri Oksala (banjo, resonator guitar, vocals), J.P. Putkonen (guitar), and Tero Maenpaa (bass, vocals).  The group has toured around six European countries, and in the States,…

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