The Tradition
Notes & Queries – October 2021
Notes In response to a query in the August 2021 “Notes & Queries” concerning bluegrass artists who have received honorary doctorate degrees, Larry Stidom wrote that “I seem to remember Ricky Skaggs and Larry Cordle getting some kind of honorary degrees from Morehead State University. Maybe just recognition.” It turns out that Ricky Skaggs did,… Read the full article
The Bluegrass Video Oral History Project
Photo by Jamie Alexander When Terry Woodward was inducted into the IBMA’s Bluegrass Hall of Fame in 2018 his primary involvement in the world of bluegrass was listed as “Volunteer Leader.” That is an understatement. If you know anything about Terry’s involvement in bluegrass music over the past forty years, you know that bluegrass music… Read the full article
IBMA Hall of Fame inductees Stoneman Family, Lynn Morris and Alison Krauss
At the 2021 IBMA Awards Show in Raleigh, NC, the Stoneman Family, Lynn Morris and Alison Krauss will be inducted into the IBMA Hall of Fame with their plaques and memorabilia soon to grace the walls of the Bluegrass Hall of fame and Museum in Owensboro, KY. The addition of the Stoneman Family marks… Read the full article
Eli Miller and Bob Landry Bluegrass Autograph Collectors
Eli Miller’s Fender Banjo Eli Miller was born in Ohio to an Amish family of thirteen children. In 1951, when Eli was ten, the family moved to the town of Catlett, Virginia. Catlett is a small town not too far from Warrenton. Eli didn’t listen to bluegrass music as a child because, being Amish, he… Read the full article
The Artists
It’s All About The Energy
Photo by Amy Richmond, Courtesy of Rebel Records At age 33, bluegrass singer Kody Norris hardly seems to fit into the category of “seasoned veteran.” But sit down with him for a conversation about the music business and you’ll find that he is wise beyond his years. His formula for success: start with passion and drive,… Read the full article
Mark “Brink” Brinkman
Prolific songwriter paints pictures in listeners’ minds while telling stories with lyrics and melodies. One of bluegrass music’s most prolific songwriters draws from a deep well of influences. Mark “Brink” Brinkman, 68, grew up listening to his grandfather play Big Band music, including a stint with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. His mom was a concert… Read the full article
The Sound
Hot Rodding The Baddest Instrument In Bluegrass
Bluegrass has always tenbrooks’ed the fast and the powerful. Racehorses, big rigs, steam drills, sleek trains and burly freights cannonball through bluegrass standards. I’m sure there must be bluegrass from the ‘50s and ‘60s that mirrored the California car culture pop of Jan and Dean and the Beach Boys, but I can’t think of any… Read the full article
Rob’s Reso Room and Reso Summit
If you are learning to play the Dobro and are having trouble finding quality instruction, you need look no farther than Rob’s Reso Room. Rob’s Reso Room is an internet-based teaching platform developed by fifteen-time IBMA “Dobro Player of the Year” Rob Ickes and his business partner Craig Spinney. Launched two years ago, Rob’s… Read the full article
The Venu
1971 and 2021, Then & Now
One Filmmaker’s Perspective I first heard live bluegrass music when I was 26 years old. Growing up in New Jersey, and going to college in Washington, DC, meant that my experience with bluegrass was limited to seeing Bonnie and Clyde in 1967, and hearing parts of Hee Haw, or The Beverly Hillbillies on TV. That level of personal exposure was… Read the full article
Bluegrass Wednesday Nights at the Legion
Despite being home to some of the best bluegrass musicians in the country and the site of some of the most important historical events, there aren’t many places to regularly see live bluegrass in Nashville. The Station Inn continues to be a bluegrass beacon and you can still hear bluegrass most weeks on the Opry… Read the full article
