News/Thoughts

Monthly Archives: April 2019

If You Wanna Get To Heaven

My high school years were in the 70s and 80s. I grew up in a rural, agricultural community and attended school with a bunch of kids that were a product of that setting. It was an exciting era in music, producing what some still call “the best music ever.” Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker, Eagles, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, 38 Special ...

Read More »

Covered In Style

A few years ago my wife and I made our annual trek to MerleFest, where thousands gather every April for this premier music event. As you might imagine, like any outdoor festival, you’re either in a camp chair or spread out on the ground. And as often happens in April, there are rain showers, which leave the ground constantly damp. ...

Read More »

Bill Collings; On Making Guitars

My road to Collings guitars started about 15 years ago when the then product manager at Takamine guitars (Mike Markure) took me to the Collings booth at winter NAMM and introduced me to Collings’ GM, Steve McCreary. Over the years I would see Steve once a year at NAMM and walk away stunned by his soft-spoken passion for the instruments ...

Read More »

Beyond Appalachian Music

Sometimes we lovers of Americana string music and its associated entertaining pleasures do not take the listening, watching, feeling, tasting leap very far beyond our Appalachian roots. However, there are some more great Americana experiences waiting for us out there. Information about two such experiences recently found their way to our desk. Let me tell you about them. The Academy ...

Read More »

Pickin’ With Jenny

A plectrum can be a thin flat piece of slightly flexible material held by or worn on the fingers and used to pluck or strum stringed musical instruments The plectrum is often called a pick or flat pick if used by a player to produce individual notes. Players of string-music know that there are many types of picks that will ...

Read More »

Best Fest In Parson’s

In 2004, John and Joyce Bowers decided to host a little one day Bluegrass festival on the property of their recently developed campground. Little could they imagine that 13 years later they would win the IBMA award for Best Bluegrass Event of the year in 2017. John and Joyce enjoyed attending the Music in the Mountains festival, and on one ...

Read More »

Copper Tones Making Soul Grass

South Florida roots music band, The Copper Tones serve up their own recipe of soul, rock, and Americana, even coining their own moniker; Soulgrass. Stefanie Smerkers; Vox, Guitar, Banjolele, Upright Bass, Dyllan Thieme; Vox, Upright Bass, Mandolin, Guitar, Andy Annoied; Drums, and Danny Gootner; Guitar, Ukulele, Dobro, Harmonica, have gained recognition both nationally and internationally. They have ben named Fort ...

Read More »

Sister’s Birthday Sparks Band

Brothers Michael (guitar and vocals), Charlie (bass and vocals) and Mark (vocals) make up the trio called The Riddle Brothers. They write and perform an eclectic blend of acoustic, Americana, and Folk, laced with stories from the life they’ve lived along the shores of the Mississippi River, including, Baton Rouge, LA; Moline, IL; and Minneapolis / St. Paul, MN. “Music ...

Read More »

Jake Bartley

South Carolina is the home state for the group of guys who call themselves, The Jake Bartley Band. Each member of the band spent years playing and traveling with other musical endeavors prior to seizing this opportunity to play together as a band. Their quest to create a fresh, soulful, yet roots oriented sound is realized with the release of ...

Read More »

Irish Roots and Folk Traditions

Danny Burns began his career as a traveling folksinger nearly 20 years ago, working both in the US and across the pond. His unique Irish roots weigh nicely into the mix of folk traditions from his native Ireland and his American influences. He’s lived in the US for 19 years, beginning in New York City, playing bar gigs before gigging ...

Read More »