Articles

In the well-known song by Grandpa Jones, “Falling Leaves,” we’re told: “To your grave, there’s no use taking any gold. You cannot use it when it’s time for hands to fold. When you leave this earth for a better home someday, the only thing you’ll take is what you gave away.”       Jim…

IBMA World of Bluegrass 2023 Photos by Ricky Davis “I hear banjos.” Even Sir Walter Raleigh was wielding one. But music lovers sought no deliverance. The sound was coming from the streets of downtown Raleigh, North Carolina that were bursting with bluegrass during the last week of September for the IBMA conference and World of…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine May 1987, Volume 21, Number 11 Among the musicians who pioneered in the development of bluegrass music, one of the most gifted and enduring was “Smilin’ ” Jim Eanes from Martinsville, Virginia. His contributions to the music are many, both in terms of fronting a very popular and successful band…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine January 1991, Volume 25, Number 7 The great Dobroist LeRoy (Mack) McNees, best known as a member of the Kentucky Colonels from the late ’50s to the early ’60s, is alive and well in Sun Valley, California, in the L.A. area. He’s a prosperous businessman, owner-manager of Rusmar High Lift…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine September 1977, Volume 12, Number 3 Entrepreneur, musician, festival lover and hater, sign painter, instrument builder, collector, author of pointed letters and want ads to BU, Tut Taylor’s wildly varied career is one of bluegrass music’s most fascinating enigmas. His interests and activities are so scattered [and yet usually simultaneous]…

By Russ Hooper and Randy Slacum Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine May 1967, Volume 1, Number 11 The typical bluegrass band consists of a bass, banjo, fiddle, (or mandolin) and guitar. Not typical, but included in some bands is the autoharp, harmonica, or the dobro guitar. The dobro was first made in San Francisco during…