Did you ever enjoy something so much that you wanted it to never end? That is the way an Americana string music festival affects me. The season is just getting started for us here at Americana Rhythm and as I return to earth from my trip to Merlefest a month or so ago, I am already itching in anticipation for ...

Unless Daryl Mosley is on the road touring, he spends the majority of time hanging out in Waverly, Tennessee. It’s a quaint, Mayberryesque community just west of Nashville where he grew up. As a songwriter, it’s the perfect nest for inspiring ideas – real, salt-of-the-earth people living day to day life with all the joys and sorrow that come with ...

If you met Allen Shadd at a bluegrass jam or backstage at a festival, you might never guess that he’s breathing rarified air in an elite club of only four people in the world—he has won, three times, the National Flatpicking Guitar Championship in Winfield, Kansas. Shadd carries himself in a casual manner, often pointing out his own perceived weaknesses. ...

Growing up in the mountains of Western North Carolina, Darren Nicholson grew up with music as a staple of life. “They taught music in the schools as a regular part of the curriculum,” he recalled. “Music and dance was just part of the culture here. Just about everybody in my family played bluegrass and country music; and this was long ...

When a group of musicians get together and says to each other; let form a band, typically, there is lot that goes into making that decision into a reality. As well as months of rehearsals to hone in on the chemistry of the band mates, cohesiveness of their repertoire, and the general business of being a band all take time. ...

“Dance is the hidden language of the soul.” Martha Graham “Dancing is surely the most basic and relevant of all forms of expression. Nothing else can so effectively give outward form to an inner experience.” Lyall Watson “It doesn’t matter if I’m off the beat. It doesn’t matter if I’m snapping to the rhythm. It doesn’t matter if I look ...

Born and raised in Lebanon OH, Larry Sparks is one of the few early generation bluegrass pioneers still performing today. Although Larry played in country and rock music bands in high school, in 1964 his bluegrass career began when he joined the Stanley Brothers on the recommendation of aquaintence Moon Mullins. “Carter Stanley is the one that got me with ...

Dewey and Leslie Brown are truly living the life of music. Dewey, a fiddler, played in Dr. Ralph Stanley’s band as a Clinch Mountain Boy for 12 years, until Ralph’s death in 2016. Dewey started playing in high school with the band Blue Ridge. In 1999 Dewey won first place at the Old Time Fiddler’s Convention in Galax, VA. He ...

Irene Kelley started playing music at 15, and joined her first full time bluegrass band, Redwing, in 1981. By 1984, she was headed to Nashville with her guitar, a handful of original material, and a love for traditional and bluegrass music. Although it was MCA Nashville’s country division that signed her to a record deal, she was adamant about having Carl ...

The International Bluegrass Music Association will celebrate the 30th anniversary of it’s annual awards this September (24th – 28th) in Raleigh, NC, at it’s annual conference and music festival. Del McCoury, who is celebrating his 80th birthday will co-host the event with famed music songwriter, Jim Lauderdale. “What could be better than Del co-hosting the Awards Show with the legendary ...