Current Issue
March 2024

The Tradition

Reno & Smiley’s 1961 album, Folk Songs of the Civil War, featured 12 songs by Salem, Virginia, physician Albert J. Russo.

Notes & Queries – March 2024

By Gary Reid

Q: What ever happened to the person who wrote all of the songs on Reno & Smiley’s Civil War album? – Jerry Steinberg, Salem, Virginia A: The songwriter in question…

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Old and In the Way June 1973 (left to right) Vassar Clements, John Kahn, David Grisman, Jerry Garcia and Peter Rowan. // Photo Courtesy of Grisman Archives.

Fifty Years of Old & In the Way

By Jon Hartley Fox

The Long Strange Trip of Spud, Dawg, Red, Mule and Vassar Jerry Garcia’s burning ambition as a young musician was to play banjo in Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys. He…

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David Allen “Dave” Freeman

By Gary Reid

(May 22, 1939 – December 25, 2023) “Dave (Freeman) single-handedly built a company that encompasses record labels, wholesale distribution and mail order to the public. He has made a fair amount…

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Some of the performers helping celebrate Earl’s 100th Birthday: (left to right) Stuart Duncan, Abigail Washburn (seated), Gena Britt, Bryan Sutton (seated), Sierra Hull (seated), Jim Mills, Sam Bush and Del McCoury. Photo by Gary Hatley

Earl Scruggs’s 100th Birthday Celebration at the Ryman

By Sandy Hatley

On January 6, 2024, Earl Eugene Scruggs, the most influential and imitated banjo picker on the planet, would have turned 100 years old. To celebrate the occasion, Jerry Douglas served…

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The Artists

Photo by owens photography

Shelby Means

By Dan Miller

The Heartbeat of Golden Highway There is no doubt that Molly Tuttle is extremely talented.  This Grammy-winning artist has continually displayed the ability to write songs, sing and play lead…

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The Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band with Kenny Kosek, Sandy Rothman, John Kahn, David Nelson, and Jerry Garcia on October 31, 1987. Photo by Jay Blakesberg.

The High Lonesome Song of Jerry Garcia

By Craig Havighurst

Demigods don’t play the banjo. Scholars can point to a few lyre-playing immortals here and there in the pantheon, but that’s not picking the five-string, is it? And Earl Scruggs…

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Broke Mountain (left to right) Robin Davis, Anders Beck, Travis Book, Andy Thorn (kneeling), Jon Stickley. Photo by Dylan Langille.

On The Fringe

By Tim Newby

Bands Blurring the Lines of Bluegrass “The cool thing about Broke Mountain Bluegrass Band is we thought we were something special,” says Anders Beck with a laugh, “but we were…

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The Sound

Jeremy Fritts // Photo by Chris Rector

Jeremy Fritts

By Dan Miller

The Doctor Is In To say that there are a lot of people providing guitar instruction on YouTube is an understatement…there are thousands…maybe tens of thousands.  Refine your search to…

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End of the End of the World

By Casey L. Penn

We all have days when we could use a good-humored song with a classic feel. If that’s you today, I recommend “End of the End of the World,” written by…

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Grateful Dead

By Clayton Hutchison

And the Culture of Roots Music Throughout their career the Grateful Dead loaded their song repertoire with American roots music traditions from top to bottom. The Dead were interested in…

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The Venue

David Grisman and Jerry Garcia.  Photo by Susana Millman Courtesy of Acoustic Disc.

Jerry Garcia

By Carly Smith

A Bluegrass Journey On March 28, 2024, the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum opens its largest and most interactive temporary exhibition to date—Jerry Garcia:  A Bluegrass Journey.  The…

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