Articles

“Banjer” Dan Mazer is originally from the Washington, D.C., area and grew up playing banjo in the manner of Earl Scruggs. He was mostly known as a solo artist, performing and busking around the area at local jams and venues. He relocated to California a number of years ago, and continues as a mostly acoustic…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine November 1976, Volume 11, Number 5 I first heard of Larry McNeely, as did many others, via the Glen Campbell television show. Every Sunday evening at eight o’clock, I would rush to our set, with recorder in hand, just to hear the ten minute concert section with Glen, Larry and…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine February 1995, Volume 29, Number 8 Its late; sometime after 2 a.m., and a charismatic guitarist with a gap-toothed grin and a full shock of reddish-brown hair and beard still performs for the cheering crowd clustered around the crude stage wedged among the campsites at the Walnut Valley Festival. Of…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine October 1996, Volume 21, Number 4 Tim O’Brien was just learning the fiddle in 1974 when he got the itch to go to California. He grabbed the instrument, slung a backpack over his shoulder, stuck out his thumb in Jackson Hole, Wyo., and hitchhiked to Berkeley. While checking out the…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine August 2018, Volume 53, Number 2 The new $15 million Bluegrass Music Hall Of Fame & Museum is set to open October 18 this year. After a $100 million riverfront rebuild, Owensboro, Ky., is a new city and destination. To borrow an oft-used phrase, in the minds of bluegrass lovers,…

Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine May 1989, Volume 23, Number 11 Everyone chooses favorites and of all the Gibson banjos termed ‘prewar,’ the wreath pattern RB-3 with flat tone ring stands out as my all-time choice. There is a quality combining the delicate mother-of-pearl inlays, serviceable mahogany wood and nickel-plating, that is significant considering the…