Current Issue
June 2023

The Tradition

Muleskinner & Clarence White

By Jon Hartley Fox

Fifty Years Ago a Landmark Band was Formed and a Guitar Legend Passed Muleskinner The story of the legendary, extremely-short-lived band Muleskinner began fifty years ago when fiddler Richard Greene received…

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Memories of Paul’s Saloon

By Jon Hartley Fox

San Francisco’s Bluegrass Home In 1969, a man bought a bar in San Francisco. The man was Paul Lampert and the bar was a run-down joint called the Paragon, located…

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The Doc at 100 Group (left to right): Dr. Ted Olson, T. Michael Coleman, Jack Lawrence, Jack Hinshelwood, Wayne Henderson. // Photo by Dan Mirolli

Classics Never Go Out of Style

By Mike England

March 3rd, 2023 would have been Doc Watson’s 100th birthday.  His influence on bluegrass and old-time music is undeniable. For guitar players, learning to flatpick Doc’s version of “Blackberry Blossom”…

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The Tate Brothers/Gospel Trio. Left to right: Bob Tate, Jim Tate, and Dan Hatfield. Photo courtesy of Shari Ann Tate Holmberg/Tate Family

Notes & Queries – June 2023

By Gary Reid

Queries  I just borrowed a copy of a release on John’s Gospel Records, RI-1635, 12” vinyl 33 1/3 RPM.  Side A appears to be the Stanley Brothers with the same…

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The Artists

The Petersens (left to right): Matt Petersen, Ellen Petersen Haygood, Julianne Petersen, Katie Petersen, Karen Petersenm and Emmet Franz

Petersens

By Nancy Posey

Photo by Aaron Clark Photography Some family musical partnerships are marked as much by personal conflict as by blood harmony. This is not the case with The Petersens, a family…

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Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers (left to right): Adam McIntosh, Chris Davis, Joe Mullins, Randy Barnes, and Jason Barie. // Photo by Stacie Huckabae

Joe Mullins

By Kara Kundert

Let Time Ride “I’m very, very thankful to be a jack of all trades and a master of none,” says Joe Mullins, smiling. “I’ve had to do everything to get…

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The Sound

Annie Savage. // Photo by Josh Elioseff

Annie Savage

By Dan Miller

And the Free-Strings Curriculum Several weeks ago I received a press release from Turnberry Records announcing their launch of a new “Education Division.”  The release explained that the first launch of…

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Molly Tuttle and Melody Walker. Photo Courtesy of Melody Walker

Crooked Tree

By Casey L. Penn

by Molly Tuttle and Melody Walker “It’s about embracing what makes us unique,” said Molly Tuttle of her hit song, “Crooked Tree,” which, among other accolades, is this year’s winner by…

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The Venue

Bass Violin Staff (left to right): Tony Morton, Bob Beerman, Teresa Rasco, Cody Rex, and Rachel York // Photo by Gary Hatley

Greensboro’s Bass Violin Shop

By Sandy Hatley

If you take an ailing bass fiddle into Bob Beerman’s shop for repairs, you feel as if you are entering an operating room. The instrument is gently laid upon a…

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Photo by Jamie Plain

John Hartford

By Carly Smith

Headwaters of a Legend Born December 30, 1937, in New York City, John Cowan Hartford grew up in St. Louis, Missouri where he cultivated a passion for the Mississippi River…

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Lonesome Pine Fiddlers, (left to right) Melvin Goins, Curly Ray Cline, Ezra Cline, and Ray Goins.

The 2023 West Virginia Music Hall of Fame Inductees

By Tim O'Brien

As John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers were to British rock guitar, Muddy Waters was to electric blues, and Miles Davis was to modern Jazz, West Virginia’s Lonesome Pine Fiddlers (LPF) were to…

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