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

Rob Smith and Kristin Kay Smith make up the duo of Carrington Kay. We recently visited with Rob and Kristin, and we’re excited to help them share their brand new CD, Shine Through. Rob, is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s College of Music and has shared the stage with some of the biggest names in music, including Sugar Ray, ...

New Orleans, Louisiana is once again home for folk/blues/jazz artist Ted Hefko. After a stint in Brooklyn, Ted and his group, The Thousandaires, are bringing his originally penned stories to life with the “spontaneity of jazz, the bare-bones sensibility of early folk and the vibrancy of New Orleans.” The guitarist/tenor sax/clarinet is also excited about his new CD, Distillation Of ...

A few years ago I encountered a lady in Paint Bank, WVA who crafted string music instruments from the most unusual of found household objects. Her creations were realistic banjo and guitar type instruments, and when amplified and played by a good picker, were surprisingly easy on the ears. I considered her creations unique until someone recently asked me if ...

If you have a strong interest in the roots of bluegrass music, you might consider a trip this summer to Owensboro, Kentucky. It is not only home to the International Bluegrass Music Museum (IBMM), but also plays host to the River Of Music Party (ROMP), sponsored by the IBMM. Originally held on the banks of the Ohio River,  ROMP is ...

Broken Arrow, OK is home for Mark and Shelly, a.k.a., The Dusty Pearls. Their debut, self titled, full-length album, is out and the critics are pleased. Michael D. Smith of Wordkrapht.com says, “Doubtless they will be compared to The Civil Wars if their following continues to grow but unlike other male-female duos The Dusty Pearls deserve that compliment,” Happenings at ...

For many folks along the East coast, summertime means a trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, commonly referred to as OBX. It’s a strip of land sandwiched between the Atlantic Ocean on one side, and the Currituck Sound on the other. The area is historically noted for many things including the Birthplace of Flight (Kitty Hawk), the Lost ...

In the beginning, there was the dream, and in the dream there was a theatre, and that dream was good. Yes, that is my pitiful attempt to set the tone for a story that has a Genesis and a Revelation; however, this is not a story with a beginning and an end but rather a story about an end that ...

The beautiful thing about Americana music is that it’s this huge umbrella where a tremendous amount of sounds can hang out. Everything from traditional string, old-time, and bluegrass, to the more progressive sounds of new-grass, folk-rock, jam band, and mountain soul; and really everything in between. There is so much room for creative interpretation with stringed instruments in the Americana ...

Wisconsin singer/songwriter, Mary Beth Cross, is no stranger to Americana music. Her most current CD, Beyond Good And Evil, is a folk Americana collection of original and cover tunes, and earned her the Rural Roots Music Commission Folk-country CD of the Year in 2014. Mary Beth’s rural Wisconsin upbringing and the Rocky Mountains where she currently lives make for a ...

Founded in 1988 in memory of Eddy Merle Watson, son of the legendary Doc Watson, MerleFest has been a major fundraiser for Wilkes Community College, and a tremendous celebration of traditional plus music, as Doc always called it. “When Merle and I started out we called our music traditional plus, meaning the traditional music of the Appalachian region plus whatever ...