News/Thoughts

Monthly Archives: June 2019

Elizabeth Cook Rocks Merlefest Stage

I first got dialed into Elizabeth Cook – literally – as a regular listener to the Outlaw Country radio station on Sirius XM radio (channel 62). Cook has been a daytime host of her own radio show, Apron Strings, for over 10 years. Her freeform approach and her candid commentary is a hit with many listeners. She often talks about ...

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The Vine Brothers

The Fayetteville, Arkansas trio of Greg Bucking – Guitar, Joe Credit III – Mandolin, and Garrett Jones – Bass, better known as The Vine Brothers have been trekking the country for the past six years from the East Coast to the Rockies, bringing their brand of Americana, Folk, and Bluegrass to captivated audiences everywhere. They were named Americana Group of ...

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6 String Travel Companion

Guitars As Traveling Companions This piece brings me to thinking about my life and its relationship with guitars. I am getting ready to sail a 53’ sailboat to Bermuda and am trying to decide which of my guitars to take with me. To go weeks without playing is unthinkable and makes me twitch. A guitar has got to be on ...

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Merlefest Names 2019 Song Contest Winner

Every year, at the famed Merlefest, songwriters enthusiastically via for a chance to compete for the crown as the best songwriter at the Chris Austin Songwriting contest. Now in its 27th year, the contest allows up-and-coming songwriters to perform for a panel of music industry professionals and serves to give talented songwriters exposure. In the Bluegrass category this year, Tellico’s Anya Hinkle took ...

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Bluegrass Love Story

On Friday, May 24th, 2019 a special wedding took place – which was the kickoff to the Chantilly Farm Bluegrass & BBQ Festival held on Memorial Day weekend. It’s truly a “bluegrass love story.” In 2018, two long-time supporters of the festival, Grace Butler and Jamie Hart, shared one of the most special moments of their lives with festival fans ...

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Unspoken Tradition

“An unspoken tradition is not a written law. It’s a deep understanding shared between people, rooted in the past, and grown by human connection and emotion. One forms through experience and creates a way to pay homage to what’s come before, while allowing for forward motion,” reads the opening lines to a press release from Western North Carolina’s bluegrass band, ...

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Award Winning Woolseys

Jim and Lynna Woolsey from Southern Indiana have been playing music together for over 30 years, but it took a 2014 project for Jim to finally convince Lynna to record a CD with him. Jim, the songwriter, had been writing music for a long time but it was always a life long dream to actually record a CD of his ...

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Heart Wide Open

Kristi Stanley might have married into “Bluegrass royalty” but that certainly doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a voice and style all her own. Kristi is married to Ralph Stanley II, son of bluegrass pioneer Ralph Stanley. Ralph has recently taken over his father’s band, the Clinch Mountain Boys, and leadership of the annual home town festival, Hills Of Home, which ...

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Channeling Bob Dylan

Reine Johansson started playing guitar when he was 11 years old. As he grew, up he became involved in various bands playing various genres of music including hard rock and blues through his mid-20s. He quit the music business for a while to become an actor and do musical theater. A few years ago he picked up his guitar again ...

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Shimmering Lights

Violinist Yale Strom is Professor and Artist-in-Residence in the Jewish Studies Program at San Diego State University, and is considered one of the world’s leading ethnographer-artists of Klezmer and Romani music and history. His research and findings were instrumental in forming the repertoire in 1981 for his klezmer band, Hot Pstromi. Strom has composed original music for theater, film and ...

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