Articles
IssueM Articles
Porter Church—“If you can’t use a roll on it, it doesn’t sound right to me.”
Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine January 1986, Volume 20, Number 7 He’s rarely played in public over the past two decades, and he’s not on many records, but Porter Church remains among the most eloquent of five-string banjo players. I may as well say it: in my opinion, when it comes to “golden era” bluegrass…
Red and Murphy & Co.
Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine January 1980, Volume 14, Number 7 The family band is a noble, long-standing tradition in bluegrass and traditional country music, extending back even further than the Carter Family, quite possibly as far back as the beginning of the string band itself. Today, the family unit is as strong as ever…
A Tribute To Flatt & Scruggs
Not much time passes before there’s a fresh musical salute to one or another of bluegrass’s founding figures. These tributes not only strengthen and reaffirm bluegrass’s crucial links to its past, they also seem to provide a subtle moral compass in terms of reinforcing the music’s integrity with each new generation of musicians. Along those…
Sagebrush Continuum
Originally from New York, Alex Graf picked up the guitar at the age of twelve and over the following years had immersed himself studying jazz by such greats as John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, and Charlie Parker. Moving to Colorado in 2017, he discovered there was also a home for him in bluegrass music, becoming influenced…
16 Easy Bluegrass & Old-Time Fiddle Songs
Seven-time national fiddle champion, Grammy nominated recording artist, teacher, singer, touring musician, and flatfooter, Megan Lynch Chowning, hasn’t forgotten the challenges facing a newcomer and transitioning fiddle student. This teacher has true talent in recalling the apprehension and desire newer fiddlers have on where to start, how to learn particular songs and practical ideas on…
Pick Your Poison
Kristin Scott Benson, long-time banjo player for The Grascals and five-time winner of the IBMA’s “Banjo Player of the Year” award, and Wayne Benson, long-time mandolin player for Russell Moore and IIIrd Tyme Out, have been married 22 years. Yet this is their very first album-length collaboration. To the Bensons’ credit, this is not a…