Americana Music Magazine – Bluegrass, Roots, Folk, Blues, and Old-Time

When I was a young kid in the late 1940s, a local radio station, WSVA-AM, aired live country music daily from their Harrisonburg, VA studio. My mother kept that string-music (her words) playing in our home every day. Mac Wiseman was a musical renaissance man at WSVA. He read the news, weather and commercials; was the MC for the live ...

Not long ago, I had the sad mission of attending the graveside service for the husband of a friend. The service was held at a hill top cemetery located above the small village of Singers Glen in western Rockingham County Va. A preacher from the church located at the bottom of the hill soothed our hearts and minds by playing ...

I got the chance to speak with Doyle Lawson nearly 10 years ago. As we settled in again for a quick catch up, we both marveled at how quickly time flies by. My grandparents used to say, “just wait till you get to be my age.” It didn’t make much sense then, but these days, I get it. I asked ...

Brad Hudson began singing and playing music when he was just three years old. The Raleigh, North Carolina native began like many kids, singing and playing music in church, in his case, the little community of Potters Hill, North Carolina. “I always remember being intrigued by the guitar,” he told me. His mom and dad gave him his first guitar ...

Kim Robins brings a unique blend of hardcore traditional and progressive sounds to her brand of bluegrass music. Her recent CD sounds seasoned and polished. You’d never know it was her debut CD. “I started out as a child singing music with my dad then lost touch with music for 30 some years,” she said. Kim was singing in church ...

Brevard, North Carolina is home to bluegrass band, Carolina Blue. The band was formed in 2007 after cofounders Bobby Powell and Tim Jones released the album, Nothing So Blue. They won the South Carolina state bluegrass championship at RenoFest in 2011. Their latest CD, Sounds of Kentucky Grass, features Bobby Powell on guitar and vocals, Tim Jones on mandolin and ...

Where folk, rock and Americana meet, that’s where you’ll find this Chicago based collaborative of musicians, better know as Wild Skies. Perhaps not so out of the ordinary these days; this foursome got together by way of a series of Craig’s List ads posted by Aaron Lechlak. The Ohio transplant and singer/songwriter was searching for band members to help with ...

‘On the Road’ articles can be metaphorical or plain old reality. Let’s talk about the reality of being on the road, getting from gig to gig to gig and home again. Sam Bush said at a concert, “I get paid to travel. I play for free.” True words Sam, very true words. We all got into this business to feed ...

Have you ever wondered how your favorite act magically wound up appearing at the local theater Friday night? Maybe you happened upon your ideal festival featuring nearly all of your favorite bands or you dial in to your favorite local radio or internet station and hear an amazing new song … do you ever wonder how they got hold of ...