Greg Blake grew up near the mountains in West Virginia. His young life was filled with the sounds of old country, mountain bluegrass, and gospel harmonies so prevalent in that part of the country. Some of his earliest memories are of himself sitting on the front porch of his grandparents’ southern West Virginia home, playing with his Matchbox and Hot ...

Imagine that your life had a personal soundtrack. What would it sound like? Jon Stickley, a native North Carolinian and longtime national touring artist, has been interpreting his surroundings for so long that it’s natural that his music would evolve into a personal soundscape, lush with many miles of experience with his own Jon Stickley Trio. “I think the music ...

This time of Covid, which is how I will always think of these days, has slowed everything down to the old days. The old days meaning a past I never lived until now. Part of me is very thankful for this time. I’ve been cooking every night, no going out to a restaurant or grabbing some fast food. To keep ...

The year 2020 has not been kind to small business. The pandemic has imposed true hardships on the small business community. From our prospective here at AR, none seem to have been hit harder that the music business. Local music stores seem especially vulnerable. Some weeks ago, several of us from AR were spending a few days on North Carolina’s ...

While the effects of the pandemic have crippled the music industry, still, for some, there is the occasional opportunity to get out and perform under the right circumstances. Long time friend and musician, Scott Murray, had one such opportunity recently, and it seemed too good of a story not to share. This is Scott’s story. I was living close to ...

Robert Wagner’s music roots run back a few years. He says he was part of what would be considered the first wave of punk rock in Pittsburg, PA. “I’ve lived in the Philly area since 2009, but I still bleed black and gold,” he laughed. “The first wave of punk music didn’t really hit Pittsburgh until 1978 or 1979 – ...

Jim Grubbs grew up on a small family farm in Alabama where he loved to listen to his dad and brother play guitar. Jim says he actually has a treasured photograph of his dad from taken in 1946, holding a guitar when he was just a young man. “He played that guitar all my life, and all of his life. ...

Buffalo New York is “a good ol’ rust belt city,” as Fuzzy tells it, and thus the name of his band, Fuzzy & The Rustbelts. Fuzzy was 15 when he picked up the guitar. “The only reason I wanted to do that was to write a song for my girlfriend at the time,” he laughed. But it was pure passion ...

Banjo Bones is a native of Puerto Rico, but has spent nearly half of his life in the US; with the last 10 years or so in Sacramento, CA where he now calls home. His career in music spans nearly 40 years with five albums to his credit, and a sixth one just released on October 31st called, Lucifer’s Hand. ...

Columbus, Ohio musician, Ryan Warner, taught himself how to play guitar in 1996 as a freshman in college. “It took me a while to get through college though,” Ryan recalled. “Every time I started making headway in school it seemed like my music took off. I would be playing music three or four nights a week, and then not go ...