Articles

Danny Burns is originally from Donegal, Ireland, where he grew to enjoy playing Celtic and folk music. He now lives in Charleston, North Carolina, and has fully embraced the deep connections that Irish and Appalachian music has given him, including the melding of bluegrass and Americana. On this new release, Burns is accompanied by his…

It might seem odd that for as long as he’s been around, banjo player Cory Walker has just released his first solo album, School Project. Maybe he was just waiting to see how close to a perfect debut he could get for Mountain Fever Records. Walker, currently playing with the IBMA Momentum Award winning band…

When three politically and socially active college students founded an “anti-profit” record company because no one else would record and release the American folk, bluegrass and old-time music they loved, they had no idea their brainchild would become a dominant force introducing millions to artists like Alison Krauss, Tony Rice, Hazel Dickens, J.D. Crowe, Norman…

Q: I was just listening to Bill Monroe’s recording of “Christmas Time’s a-Comin’” and I would swear I could hear the unmistakable voice of Del McCoury in the harmony. The song was recorded in 1951, can you shed some light on this? Dallas Hudson, Charlotte NC A: You are correct that Bill Monroe recorded the…

In June, the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum unveiled a new exhibition highlighting the history of the bluegrass festival. The culmination of a collaborative effort with the Appalachian Fiddle & Bluegrass Association (AFBA), the exhibition explores the roots and evolution of bluegrass festivals. The idea for this project stems from an offer to…

Deeply Traditional, Highly Original The saga of the musical careers of Jody Stecher and Kate Brislin—both individually and as a duo—spans seven decades, 20 albums, thousands of performances and more than a few twists and turns. The two started working as a duo in the 1980s, earning a legion of devoted fans, a comfortable measure…