Articles

IssueM Articles

Sam Bush, Curtis Burch, John Cowan of New Grass Revival, smile for a photo

But…It’s Never Been Done Before!

Joanne Gardner, John Lowell, and the Virtual 2020 IBMA Bluegrass Awards Show The performance centerpiece of the annual IBMA conference is the IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards show, where – selected by the membership – the IBMA showcases and celebrates the best performers of the year. In a year of social distancing and facemasks, Paul Schiminger…

Read More »

Bill Monroe's headstock on display in a gold frame

Bill Monroe’s Gouged Headstock Veneer

If you look at any photo of Bill Monroe holding his mandolin taken between 1950 and 1980, you will notice that the company name, which usually graces the instrument’s headstock, is noticeably missing.  Most die-hard bluegrass fans will know that very early in the 1950s, Bill Monroe shipped his mandolin to the Gibson company for…

Read More »

Sturgill Simpson - Cuttin’ Grass

Cuttin’ Grass

Sturgill Simpson comes by his bluegrass honestly. Introduced to the style by his paternal grandfather, Simpson emerged a total bluegrass freak by his 20s and was writing bluegrass songs even while making a living playing punk rock. Simpson’s latest CD confirms that passion. In his letter on savingcountrymusic.com explaining his return to his bluegrass roots,…

Read More »

Black and white image of Sally smiling and playing her instrument

Sally Ann Forrester

The Original Bluegrass Girl Pulling Her Own Weight With the Blue Grass Boys Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine June 2000, Volume 34, Number 12 One of the standard beliefs about bluegrass music is that, in its formative years,bluegrass was “almost completely a male domain,” as Bufwack and Oermann describe itin Finding Her Voice: The Saga…

Read More »

Black and white image of Graves playing his guitar.

1967 Reader Poll Results

Photos By Edwin G. Huffman Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine April 1968 (Volume 2, Number 10) My first knowledge of the BU poll, as for most other subscribers, came whenI arrived at the last page of my December issue, I’ve always wanted to know more about the kind of people interested enough in bluegrass to…

Read More »

‘Tis the season

Amy Gallatin ‘Tis the season Happy Appy Records As have many other musicians over the first three-quarters of this year, Amy Gallatin has spent this quarantine time turning her attention to a oft-considered but long-unfinished project: recording 20 of the tunes she performs in her Christmas shows with the Christmas in New England ensemble and…

Read More »