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Living In The South
Rebel Records Now based in Danville, Virginia, Starlett Boswell Austin and “Big” John Talley have become quite an impressive new pair of faces on the bluegrass scene. Having met in 2019, they soon found common ground and formed a band. On this new project for Rebel, Starlett (bass, vocals) and Big John (guitar, vocals) are…
Livin’ In A Song
This celebrated duo is amazingly tight, seamless, self-contained and has just about everything going for it. Ickes, of course, is one of the all-time masters of the Dobro and has spent decades as one of Nashville’s most in-demand session players. The co-founder and long-time member of Blue Highway garnered enough awards over the years—including a…
Mandolin Picking Tunes—Old-Time Gems
Mel Bay Publications Mel Bay Publications has excelled at providing quality instructional material for stringed instruments for 0ver 75 years. One of their newest offerings for mandolin players displays the quality of material and presentation that students of acoustic music have come to love from this music publisher. Mandolin Picking Tunes—Old-Time Gems provides mandolin…
Me / And / Dad
Obviously, bluegrass isn’t just Bela Fleck’s My Bluegrass Heart at the Ryman or Sam Bush lording over his domain at Telluride. It’s also—and just as much—the elongated jams around a legendary family campsite at Bean Blossom, the impromptu pick-with-a-star jams in the SPGMA lobby, or your local bluegrass pals getting together for a jam. …
Close Enough To Hear
As the press material accompanying Mile Twelve’s third album explains, and as most listeners will agree, their music on their third album explodes and smolders with the urgency of trying to make up for lost time. The songs of this Boston-based “acoustic string band” (to use the band’s own description) makes no direct reference to…
Shiny Side Up
“Shiny Side Up,” the first song on the Dirty Grass Players new album of the same name, is less an opening track than it is a grand statement of purpose. With its David Grisman-esque feel, the 10-minute exploration boldly announces the arrival of the Dirty Grass Players latest album, Shiny Side Up, with an energetic-explosion…