News/Thoughts

Tag Archives: Americana Music Magazine

More Than Just A Bluegrass Band

For Eric Lindberg and Doni Zasloff, New York based Nefesh Mountain is more than just a bluegrass band. It’s a celebration of the foundational roots of music and traditions from not only the heritage of the folks who settled the mountainous regions of the US but also of the rich Jewish culture they live in. It’s not a gimmick or ...

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They’re Called The Wooks

I first heard The Wooks one afternoon coming out of my in dash XM Radio. Bluegrass Junction was spinning up something new, and I knew right then that I needed to find out more about this band. Turns out, these five guys from Eastern Kentucky haven’t been together that long, but they’re already making an impact on the bluegrass/Americana music ...

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On The Road

It is funny how this musician, singer/songwriter life goes. Much of the time you are running down new roads but sometimes you find you have just circled back to a familiar road, one that you’ve traveled before. That circling back is what brought about this article. About 10 years ago, I wrote for a publication that Greg Tutwiler was involved ...

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A Happy “Songwriting” Camper

We all accept that a written sentence consists of a noun and a verb strung together in sequence. Choose this word sequence so it conveys a thought to a reader; begin that sequence with an uppercase letter; finish it with a period; and congrats; you are a writer—NOT! No, to be a writer, one must be able to modify those ...

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Experience It First Hand

Charly Markwart was born and raised in rural Michigan. However, it was a love and a quest for Appalachian music that led her to pursue an education at Bluefield College near the Appalachian Mountains of Southwestern Virginia. “Growing up I listened to a lot of country music, that was always my favorite,” Charly said. “I was more inclined towards the ...

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MerleFest 30 Comes To Triumphant Close

The 30th installment of Merlefest came to a close Sunday afternoon, April 30th, with a crowd pleasing set from one of Country Music’s more popular artists, the Zac Brown Band. It is estimated that well over 80,000 folks attended the celebration over the four days. This festival is the primary fundraiser for the WCC Foundation which funds scholarships and capital ...

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April 22 Is National Record Store Day

One of AR’s editors was leafing through the pages of the latest AARP Bulletin (Vol 58, No 3, Apr ’17 issue)—yes, he is that old; and on page 38 was a short story about Mr. Michael Kurtz who is recognized as the co-founder of National Record Store Day. After being reminded that the annual National Record Day is coming upon ...

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For two guys who grew up on a dairy farm in New York, just a few miles from the Canadian border, to be called “Bluegrass superstars” by the New York Time is a big deal. Eric Gibson told me recently, “That was a nice feather in our cap to have a publication of that notoriety say something like that. We’ve ...

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The Voice With A Heart

In the May/June 2007 issue of Americana Rhythm, we profiled Mac Wiseman an artist whose musical life transcends time. Born locally in Crimora, VA, but known internationally, Mr. Wiseman, now 91 years old, is still recording and maintains a large following of fans. After our 2007 story, it had been a while since I heard anything new about Mac Wiseman, ...

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This Is Americana

Back in 2004, while attending Merlefest, I had the idea for creating Americana Rhythm Music Magazine. One of the artists performing that weekend was a guy named Jim Lauderdale. He was (and is) an integral part of that fabulous event; and I remember thinking that if there was any one guy that exemplified the definition of an Americana artist, it ...

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