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Bluegrass Ambassador’s 

Sessions, Volume 1 Formed over 16 years ago, this Chicago-based foursome have become true Bluegrass Ambassadors, having toured 25 countries, both on their own efforts and also as cultural representatives working with the US State Department. Tours include the US, Europe, Asia, Africa, Middle East, and others, where the band offers concerts, workshops, and teachings…

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Larry Rice with J.D. Crowe and the Kentucky Mountain Boys—Left to right) Bobby Sloane, J.D. Crowe, Larry Rice, Doyle Lawson. photo by Jack A. Cobb

Larry Rice and His 1959 F-5 Gibson Mandolin

This article provides an insight into Larry Prentis Rice and his mandolin, and contains anecdotal recollections about him from friends, family, and bandmates. As the oldest of the four Rice Brothers, and born into a musical family, Larry Rice wrote, played, recorded and produced memorable music. Born on April, 24, 1949 in Danville, Virginia, he…

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Photo by Lance Velarde Photography

David Parmley 

“Wha’d I Miss?” Photo by Lance Velarde Photography David Parmley gained a reputation as one of the strongest lead vocalists in bluegrass music while working with his father, Don Parmley, for many years in The Bluegrass Cardinals—and then later continuing with his own bands Continental Divide, followed by Cardinal Tradition.  Due to a health issue…

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photos by David McCarty

Picker’s Paradise Celebrates

A Half Century of Great Music For fifty iterations since 1972, the legendary Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas, has crowned national and international champions in instruments as diverse as hammered dulcimer and fingerstyle guitar, banjo and autoharp, and of course the event’s crown jewel, the National Flatpicking Guitar Championships. But the real champion is…

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Into The Wild Mystic Mountain

This is Charlie Treat’s first foray into bluegrass, and with its austere, hard-charging guitar-banjo-bass-fiddle arrangements, it’s definitely very on-the-edge, and very compelling. As he explains in the accompanying press material, Treat has been steeped in traditional sounds since he was a kid growing up on a farm in New England, though along the way he’s…

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Photo by Joyce Sizemore

Remembrances of Herschel Sizemore

On Sept 9, 2022 the bluegrass and mandolin worlds lost a true icon. I would dare say most modern mandolin players have been influenced by Herschel even if it was unknowingly so. He made a name for himself in his early years with the The Boys From Shiloh and The Dixie Gentlemen, along with three…

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