Don Cusic is about to release the first comprehensive biography of country icon Chet Atkins in June 2025. The book itself is twelve years in the making, an effort to fill a major gap in country music history by this professor and music historian from Belmont University in Nashville. Along with his academic qualifications, Don brings a life-long love of ...

In October 2021, officials inducted David Anthony (Tony) Rice as the 2021 member of the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. Tragically, this 2021 induction was a last recognition of Rice’s achievements and came in the form of a posthumous award as Mr. Rice had passed away at the age of 69 the previous December. Of course this last recognition ...

Years ago when Americana Rhythm was just getting its footing, the publisher came in contact with a North Carolina writer and teacher of all things music. Not long after, this writer agreed to supplying a column for publication each issue. This started a relationship with AR that has lasted for years. That respected writer and teacher is Mr. Wayne Erbsen. ...

By Ed Tutwiler There is a sad feeling that sometimes over-takes those of us who reach an old age and suddenly realize a lifetime has unrolled toward a retreating past and cannot be retrieved. That feeling sometimes includes the realization that one has missed an important happening that cannot be recreated. Being a writer for a music magazine has permitted ...

Sierra Hull, now in here early thirties, has already accomplished more as a musician than most artists dream about. Considered by many to be a master musician as a mandolin player, she was the first female to win IBMA’s mandolin player of the year – and has since won it six times, as well as being nominated twice for a ...

The duo, Jessica Skinner and Jeff Pitts, have developed a certain chemistry on stage, which has allowed them to make a name for themselves in the Carolinas. Their newly released album, Better Left Said, blends upbeat originals into a coffee house feel in the flavor profiles of Americana, pop, rock, and more. Both Jeff (guitars and vocals), and Jessica (vocals ...

Some years back we told you the tragic story of Carter Stanley who, along with his brother, Ralph, formed the Stanley Brothers of early bluegrass fame. In the early days of bluegrass music formation, Carter Stanley and his brother Ralph wrote songs and made early recordings that set standards that many others followed to their own path to fame (including ...

Wow! This is Americana Rhythm’s 100th issue. It is going on 13+ years we’ve been writing essays about our favorite genre of music—the music that Virginian Ralph Stanley once described as, “That music they call bluegrass”. Of course, in a different setting it is that music my mother called “string-music” when she and I, as a child, listened to the ...

Lolly Lee’s fans have been eagerly waiting for the release of her self-titled album set for February 23rd, 2024, but you can get a early, sneak peak right here with the World Premiere of her “Great Crusade” Music Video. Lolly Lee’s “Great Crusade” is a powerful and soulful track that captures the essence of love, loss, and the struggles of ...

We here at Americana Rhythm aren’t shy about our affection for Merlefest. The festival that was created 35 years ago (1988), to celebrate the life of Doc Watson’s son, Merle, after his life was tragically cut short in a farm tractor accident – It’s the festival that inspired us to create this magazine almost 20 years ago. It was the ...