From performers, to songwriters, to executives and producers, to the strong scene of bluegrass entertainers from New York that have gone on to define the very highest reaches of the discipline, these Jewish contributors deserve our recognition and appreciation.
One of America’s premier cowboy poets, Western singers, preservationists, and musicologists in the field of Western recordings has passed away. Don Edwards, who was active for nearly 60 years in keeping alive the words and ways of the American West died on Sunday, October 23rd at the age of 86.
From the hills and hollers of Kentucky as a strict traditionalist, to some of the most enterprising and innovative interpretations of the bluegrass form, from beside artists as far ranging as Ricky Skaggs and Jerry Garcia, Tony Rice was American string music incarnate.
Ray Wylie has parleyed his many years of peddling mad influence in country and roots music into a collaborative album hosting a heavy dose of cool names. Called “Co-Starring,” it is preceded by the new song “Bad Trick” that itself sees Ringo Starr, Don Was, Joe Walsh, and Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes all show up to support Hubbard.
The 2016 MerleFest lineup just keeps getting beefier. On Tuesday (12-8), the fest announced it was adding Old Crow Medicine Show, Alison Brown, Peter Rowan, and Doug Seegers to the 97 other names already announced for the 2016 installement, scheduled to transpire April 28th through May 1st at Wilkes Community College in North Carolina.
Bill Keith many be known by just as many people by the name “Brad” Keith because of the nine months he spent as a member of Bill Monroe’s illustrious Bluegrass Boys in 1963. Though it was a very short stint in Bill Monroe history, the result was some of the most iconic, groundbreaking, and beloved bluegrass banjo recordings ever captured, regularly prefaced by Bill Monroe introducing “Mr. Brad Keith” on the banjo.
The Muddy Roots Festival is gearing up for its 5th annual event in the rolling hills just outside of Cookeville, TN, about an hour or so from Nashville to the east for the upcoming Labor Day weekend, and boasts an impressive lineup of many country and bluegrass legends, including Del McCoury, Bobby Bare, Ricky Skaggs, Ralph Stanley, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Peter Rowan, and an impressive under card of insurgent roots artists…
The Muddy Roots Music Festival has just announced their 2015 lineup, and it is chock full of legendary roots artist who helped forge what we consider roots music today, and the new generation of artists who are doing their best to carry on those traditions into the future. the Muddy Roots Music Festival has forged one of the most loyal followings on the festival circuit, and hosted many legendary names over its now five year run.
Robert Earl Keen may be best known for his storytelling songs and laid back Texas country style, but for Keen’s next project his grass is going blue. The Houston, TX native has been working on a bluegrass album over the last couple of years, and Happy Prisoner: The Bluegrass Sessions is scheduled to come out in February 2015 through Dualtone Records.