Barry Abernathy cannot remember ever not loving music. As a really young child, he loved Buck Owens. “My mom bought me a little red guitar just like the one Buck had,” Barry recalled recently. “I couldn’t play it of course, but she says when I was two or three years old, I would sit out on the porch and play ...

Often we here at Americana Rhythm wax poetic about the romantic mystery of the Appalachian Mountain region; the music; and the people who reside there. Nevertheless, just like other places in the world have their sad parts, our beloved mountain region does as well. Anyone who pays attention to the news is aware of the pockets of poverty that exist ...

The history of Americana old-time string music and its people only appears in elusive glimpses as it becomes visible to us today—much as when the foggy mists that float in the hollows of the Appalachian Mountains clears in patches to reveal a beautiful view only to quickly hide it once more as it swirls on its way. Such is the ...