Current Issue February 2026
The Tradition
Q: I love seeing the old black & white archival photos of bluegrass from the days of old. In the early 1980s, while living in Los Angeles, I met and…
The name T Bone Burnett may not be familiar to the general public, nor even to a sizable number of music fans, but he has had a remarkably influential presence…
Twenty-five years passed between the first time I saw Bill Monroe play and the day I covered his funeral. In the interim, I had many chances to hear him perform,…
The Artists
Finding a new favorite band through a performance or recording is one of the ultimate joys of being a music fan. Last June, at the California Bluegrass Association’s Father’s Day…
Two Decades of Life, Music, and Personal Growth for the Infamous Stringdusters “Life is a constant journey, always changing, always presenting challenges and always forcing you to evolve,” says Infamous…
In the early days of the IBMA conference, kids’ involvement was nearly non-existent. Former IBMA president, Pete Wernick—who put together a kids band to perform at the 1993 IBMA awards…
Dr. Banjo Turns 80 As a kid growing up in the Bronx in the 1950s, Pete Wernick lived within a subway ride of Yankee Stadium. For 75 cents, he could…
Jim Hurst would be the first to tell you his soon-to-be-released Travels & Time isn’t a pure bluegrass recording. The 13-cut disc that comes out in March features a colorful…
written By Derek Halsey This past December, the news of the death of the great Texas singer and songwriter Joe Ely reminded the world once again of the previously little-known…
The Sound
In 1975, John Cowan, the newest member and lead vocalist of New Grass Revival, a band that would come to forever alter people’s perception of an entire genre of American…
At the International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IBMA) Conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee in September of 2025, I ran across a mandolin builder from Kansas City named John Boyd who is building…
The Venue
A Bluegrass Adventure This is a story about how a two groups of young people learning to play bluegrass music connected across 2,003 miles to share 13 banjos, 4 mandolins,…
