Current Issue
October 2022

The Tradition

Keith Whitley singing with Ralph Stanley

Ralph Stanley

By Wayne Erbsen

I’ve Just Seen the Rock of Ages Cold chills. That’s what I get when I hear the eerie voice of Ralph Stanley. You can say that I’ve been a true-blue…

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International Bluegrass Music Association Hall of Fame Class of 2022

By Derek Halsey

Peter Rowan, Norman Blake and Paul “Moon” Mullins When the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) announces its list of new Hall of Fame inductees every year ahead of the annual…

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Dwight Whitley

By Scott Napier

Harboring The Legacy Photo by Megan Sweeting Briar Fork was in many ways your typical holler in eastern Kentucky, a rural road off State Route 32, four miles from Sandy…

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Circa 1855 sheet music for “Listen to the Mocking Bird”

Notes & Queries – October 2022

By Gary Reid

Queries Q: I’m producing a new CD album of my band, The Bluegrass Ramble, here in Japan. The new album will be a live 2-CD set with 36 songs and…

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Keith Whitley

By Chris Smith

The Bluegrass Years This year—2022—is going to be a huge year for Keith Whitley fans. We will watch as Keith receives one of the highest honors a country music singer…

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The Artists

photo by Victoria Brake

Morgan Brake  Releases Debut EP

By Nancy Posey

Stuck Loving You How are young actors in Hollywood different from young musicians in bluegrass? While the answers are many, one big difference is that child actors often end up…

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Photo by Chasity Chen

Donna Hughes

By Sandy Hatley

Pushing Piles of Words Together Photo by Chasity Chen In the Present The singer/songwriter shared, “Some of the most impactful moments in my life included having people walk up to…

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The Foreign Landers—Tabitha (Agnew) Benedict and David Benedict. Photo by The Foreign Landers

The  Foreign Landers

By Mike England

A Transatlantic Delight There is something special about some musical partnerships.  Think about Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, Sonny and Bobby Osborne, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Sierra Hull and…

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The Sound

Katie Glassman’s Fiddle School

By Dan Miller

Photos By Erin Nutini Katie Glassman’s Fiddle School (fiddleschool.com) has everything that you’d want in an online music teaching platform.   The site offers instruction from two world-class fiddler players…

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Jack Shannon and Jim Hurst

Same Old Moon

By Casey L. Penn

By Jack Shannon “Same Old Moon,” written by Jack Shannon, stands out from more traditional bluegrass subject matters of trains, murder, and whippoorwills. Sweet, thought-provoking, and a touch whimsical, the…

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Gold Tone  “Bluegrass Heart”

By Ross Nickerson

Béla Fleck Signature Banjo I am excited about the new Béla Fleck Model from Gold Tone that today’s top 5-string banjo player, Béla Fleck and Wayne Rogers from Gold Tone…

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The Venue

One of the many tribute band configurations performing at the Keith Whitley tribute (left to right): Andrew Rigsby, Don Rigsby, Ralph Stanley II, Dwight Whitley, and Randall Hibbit. Photo by Angela Marx

With a Tribute to His Hall of Fame Career

By David Carroll

In May of 2022 it was announced that Keith Whitley was to be inducted as the newest member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, with thousands of his fans…

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