Articles
IssueM Articles
Hidden Animals
Though still a relatively young man, Ben Krakauer has put together a remarkable career. He’s been a professor and lecturer at a number of prestigious universities. He’s an ethnomusicologist who has studied and written on topics ranging from experimental bluegrass in New York City in the 1970s to the dotara players of West Bengal. Krakauer…
Fathers & Sons
Mike Mitchell’s first album with Turnberry Records was released just before Mother’s Day and Father’s Day and the timing couldn’t have been an accident. Fathers & Sons is about family relationships and strikes more than one personal note. Mitchell, a native of Canada, lives and runs a music school in Floyd, Virginia, part of the…
Tone Traveler
Over the past 15 years or so, the guitar industry has embraced a controversial, even divisive, new trend: relicing new guitars to make them sound, appear and feel like they’ve been played for decades. Some people love this, and companies like Pre War Guitar Co. have carved a strong niche in this area. Others, however,…
Bluegrass Ensemble
Berea College Every year in July, since 2021, Bluegrass Unlimited has featured a series of articles titled “Bluegrass Goes to College” where we feature a number of college-level bluegrass music programs. If you have been following this series, you may have notice that the name Raymond McLain pops up several times. Raymond was involved with…
Bluegrass in Vermont
Bennington College Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont started as a women’s college in 1932 and transitioned to a co-educational institution in 1969. One of its claims to fame is that the college was “the first to include visual and performing arts as an equal partner to the liberal arts curriculum.” As a performing art, bluegrass slowly…
The 2023 National Association of Music Merchants Show
Photos by Kevin Stevenson The Los Angeles NAMM show is the annual trade show for the National Association of Music Merchants, held this year in April. It’s part business conference, part three-ring-circus, and part live music extravaganza. Manufactures from every continent display their products, often with celebrity endorsers on hand. It’s a large four-day event at the…