By Greg Tutwiler – Festivals, carnivals, county fairs, and outdoor gatherings have always been one of this country’s ways of relaxing and getting away from the routines of life. In recent years, for various reasons, there has been an increase in music festivals. Used to be, there was a good chance you’d have to travel several hours to find a ...

By Donna Ulisse – My taste buds are gearing up for my favorite time of year! Holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas are guaranteed to tempt my appetite with all of the most delicious, hearty, fattening foods. I will not be able to help myself. I am bound by some code knitted into my DNA to consume the scrumptious holiday fare ...

For several years now, dissatisfaction has been growing over the musical direction the genre’ called country music has been taking. To many of us baby boomers, what is now called country music sounds quite similar to the 70s AM rock music we grew up with. It’s certainly traveled far from George Jones, Johnny Cash, and Merle Haggard. While the younger ...

Americana Music Profile – Husband and wife, Michael and Jennifer McLain, have performed in 27 states from New York to California. They’ve appeared on the Grand Ole Opry, Kentucky Educational Television, Iowa Public Television, The Nashville Network, Country Music Television, RFD Television, National Public Radio, and the PBS show, Song of the Mountains. Michael and Jennifer both grew up in ...

ReverbNation Feature – The Eddy Mann today wasn’t always so secure in who he was. “I was brought up in a faithful home,” he recalls, “but I wandered as young people tend to do, just trying to find my way. It was during that time of searching that I looked in the wrong places for direction, for purpose and for ...

By Edward Tutwiler – All God’s creations have voice. The mountain speaks in silent grander, the flower in radiant beauty, and folks sing and shout. Stringed musical instruments have voice as well. The fiddle cries, the mandolin rings, and the guitar hums with soul. But the banjo, oh the banjo—he is so filled with joy he can’t help but laugh. ...

Bridgewater, VA – For the forth year in a row, Raleigh, NC played host to 2016 installment of the International Bluegrass Music Association’s business conference and Wide Open Bluegrass festival. After a move from Nashville, TN in 2013, musicians and fans alike seem to feel quite at home in the host city. Each year the association takes the opportunity to ...

When Peter Allen released “Everything Old is New Again” in 1974, he had no idea that the title would offer a prescient view of the vinyl on which his song was originally released. Vinyl has long competed with other formats such as cassettes and even the relatively short lived 8-track tape. However, it wasn’t until the 80’s that LP’s nearly ...

Here’s you chance to be featured among the best of the international folk music community at Folk Alliance International’s 29th Conference (February 15-19, 2017). Applications are open to perform for hundreds of festivals, venue bookers, agents, managers, media, and music industry reps that attend the world’s largest gathering of the folk music industry. 200 jury-selected nightly concerts feature emerging artists and ...

As the genre’ of string music continues to morph and evolve, musicians will continue to find new ways to craft sounds that are distinct and original. One such group is the California based band Front Country. A chance encounter with this touring ensemble at the Red Wing Roots Festival (a rich and diverse musical experience held each July in Virginia) ...