Super groups are inevitable in every genre’ I suppose, but it seems most exciting when a group of bluegrass guys and/gals, who all have regular gigs in some other fashion, find themselves together forming a new band. Sometimes it is on the side, and sometimes it becomes the main thing. When Jerry Salley began putting together a new bluegrass/Americana label, ...

Alan Bibey has been entertaining audiences professionally with his mandolin chops since the early 1980’s. He picked up the instrument at the of age of five, and since then, has become one of the most creative and technically gifted mandolinists in bluegrass and acoustic music today. Alan was an original member of three of bluegrass music’s more contemporary pioneering acts; ...

An impromptu performance about six years ago at the Station Inn in Nashville, TN, led to another of bluegrass music’s exciting mash-up of musicians. The part-time super group consists of five-time IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year and Grammy Nominated, Dale Ann Bradley, along with veteran Nashville powerhouse singer, Tina Adair, fiddle player; Deanie Richardson ((who’s worked with all kinds ...

Billy Droze was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, the 10th of 12 children, in 1986, but he grew up in Alabama, knowing the whole time that music was going to be his life, “as far back as I can remember,” he said. Billy said he got his start in gospel music before finding his way into a traveling bluegrass band with ...

Beaver Creek, CO resident Jim Stanard grew up listening to, loving, and absorbing the music of all the greats. He grew up in an era when he could watch first hand entertainers like Tom Rush, Doc Watson, Bruce Springsteen, hanging out at the legendary Main Point Coffeehouse in Bryn Mawr, PA. He even attended Woodstock in 1969 although his perspective is less than ...

It’s always good to get the chance to revisit with artists that we’ve featured here in previous issues. Rob and Kristen Smith are excellent examples of an act that just stays with it, stays at it, and keeps the musical fires burning as they pursue their passion for sharing their gift with whomever will listen. Rob is a graduate from Virginia ...

Musician/songwriter Rick Monroe is no stranger to moving around, but he feels like it’s part of what makes his musical style unique. “I definitely come by a gypsy soul legitimately,” he told me recently. He was born in Clearwater, FL, moved to England, moved back to Kansas, then Connecticut, North Carolina, and back to Florida, then L.A., and now he ...

What originally started out as simply a way for the Harris family to enjoy music together, has now become one of the top touring family bands on the bluegrass scene today. Originally known as the Harris Family Band, the now well known Trinity River Band has landed several top songs and several industry awards. Sarah Harris, the oldest of the ...

Central Florida is home to the guys from Spayed Koolie, and Americana/country/southern rock band who borrows its name from famed 1940’s swing fiddler Spade Cooley. Fiddler Neal Phillips spent some time with us recently, talking about the heritage of his hip band who’s opened for Montgomery-Gentry, Kellie Pickler, 38 Special, and Charlie Daniels, just to name a few. “We like ...

The northern most reaches of Appalachia; the hills of southwestern Pennsylvania, were the music launching pad for Cindy “Cindy G” Giejda. She started playing folk and bluegrass as a teenager. Her father, a bluegrass fiddle player himself, encouraged her to play guitar. Cindy recalls her dad helping her decide on an instrument for the school band when she was in ...