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IssueM Articles
Eastern Kentucky University Bluegrass Ensemble
Students attending Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) in Richmond, Kentucky can consider themselves extremely fortunate if they have any interest in learning to play bluegrass music. Although the university does not have a bluegrass music degree program, they do offer a Bluegrass Ensemble course and the person who teaches that course is multi-instrumentalist and singer Pam…
Lizzy Long:Fiddle Maker
Most people know Lizzy Long as the multi-instrumentalist, multi-talented singer, songwriter and sidekick of Little Roy Lewis. Like her “Pap,” as she calls him, she is a ball of creative energy and spends part of her limited free time making fiddles. In her woodworking shop, the Lincolnton, Georgia native labors to take pieces of solid…
Bluegrass Music at Owensboro Community and Technical College
Just a stone’s throw from Rosine, Kentucky — the birthplace of Bill Monroe — Owensboro has long been known as an important landmark on the road map of bluegrass music. The International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) was born in Owensboro and the spectacular Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum and ROMP music festival both…
The Belmont University Bluegrass Ensemble
The past academic year has been marked by top-shelf performance experiences for members of Belmont University Bluegrass Ensemble. On April 9, the group made their debut on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, an ultimate musician’s bucket list item. Ryan Joseph, director of the ensemble and coordinator of strings at the university, has played…
If There’s a Will There’s A Way
Harry Carpenter “Junior” Sisk, who has been penning, playing and singing songs modeled in the truest fashion of traditional bluegrass music for many years, has brought us another great record. Known for his tremendous vocals and locomotive sound, Sisk is sure to please the diehard purist. His 2020 album Load the Wagon, won the IBMA…
SPBGMA
Bluegrass’s Annual Ritual of Spring Photos By David McCarty Every year on the last weekend of the first month, the bluegrass faithful emerge from their winter burrows like cicadas after hibernation with no outdoor festivals and few indoor events, itching to pick. It may still be late January, but don’t try telling bluegrass that spring…