Sparta, TN -- Former members of Lester Flatt & the Nashville Grass, Roland White and Blake Williams, are set to honor the legendary singer and songwriter on Saturday, May 26th at MerleFest in Wilkesboro, NC with their special presentation of "100 Years Of Lester Flatt."
Kalamazoo, MI -- Since their founding at the turn of the millenium, the five members of Greensky Bluegrass have fashioned a dynamic, intoxicating sound rooted in classic stringband Americana while branching outward to effortlessly encompass an array of styles and techniques. Their fifth studio album, If Sorrows Swim, is to be released on September 9, 2014 and distributed nationally by Thirty Tigers.
Tickets for the Yonder Mountain String Band’s Harvest Music Festival are now available for sale. 3-day passes and VIP tickets as well as lineup information will be released this Spring. For all information regarding Yonder Mountain String Band’s Harvest Music Festival please visit the official website at www.yonderharvestfestival.com. The lineup will be announced soon.
Nashville, TN -- The International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) has announced the artists selected for the Bluegrass Ramble, an innovative series of showcases that will take place at select venues throughout downtown Raleigh, North Carolina during IBMA’s World of Bluegrass 2014 event, September 30 – Oct 4.
An original song by James Reams and the late Tina Aridas, "Dogwood Tree" gives your listeners the bluegrass version of the Easter story. This song is included on the James Reams & The Barnstormers album, Barnstormin', and the song is available as a free download from NoiseTrade. Just click HERE or on the album graphic above and follow the easy steps. We hope you enjoy this Easter-related song as well as the many other fine offerings on this album.
Johnny's long-bow fiddling style is modeled after the late and great Kenny Baker, as well as his brother Jimmy Campbell, who played extensively with both Jim & Jesse and Bill Monroe. To Johnny, Bluegrass is not just a genre of music, but a lifestyle. After 35 years as a sideman (starting as a rhythm guitar player at age 6), Johnny is now in front, singing his favorite tunes.
Los Angeles, CA -- Omnivore Recordings will soon release the full-length version of The Garden Spot Programs, 1950, featuring 24 performances, unheard for 64 years, from country music legend Hank Williams. Rescued from obscurity, these shows originally aired more than six decades ago; The Garden Spot Programs, 1950 collects material from the four episodes now known to exist. Due out May 20, 2014, the set follows the release of Omnivore’s collectible 10” vinyl Record Store Day EP sampler.
"Living With the Shades Pulled Down," is the latest music video released by Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road. The Merle Haggard song was originally written by Boudleaux Bryant and Felice Bryant, and can be found on their latest self-titled album, released on Pinecastle Records.
Out in the Pacific Northwest they brew their bluegrass a little differently! Sure, the mandolin, fiddle, and banjo are all there, but they’re not afraid to toss in influences from raggedy pop songwriting to punk instrumental aggression. High-energy Seattle stringband The Warren G. Hardings pour a long tall pint of this Cascadian brewgrass on their new album, Get A Life. Inspired by the greats of American roots music, they’re all hardcore pickers on their instruments, casually tossing solos back and forth on stage. Though the music they create has obvious nods to a rural American past, the songwriting here owes more to the fierce politics of the Northwest than any kind of old-timey nostalgia. Or maybe more to the helter-skelter lifestyle of young men trying to make their names in an overloaded city, for many of the songs here speak to the stresses of building a life and a job on your own.
Bristol, VA/TN -- At Wednesday’s press conference, Believe in Bristol, alongside community partners Birthplace of Country Music®, revealed plans for a summer packed with free live music and family fun on State Street and beyond. Border Bash, the twice-monthly free concert series held annually May through August, celebrates its 15th anniversary as a roving mini-fest that has grown to include children’s activities and vendors in addition to live music and much more. Border Bash will take place on the first and third Fridays, May through August.
Boston, MA, April 16, 2014. Berklee College of Music hosts its first American Roots Weekend, June 20-22, for acoustic musicians who perform bluegrass, blues, folk, country, acoustic jazz, and swing on instruments such as violin, viola, cello, bass, mandolin, guitar, and harp. Berklee string instructor Joe Walsh, a mandolin player who has performed with Ricky Skaggs, Emmylou Harris, Bela Fleck and others, will lead the weekend.
Fiddler Jim VanCleve has announced that he will be leaving Mountain Heart, a group he helpd establish almost 16 years ago. Jim has certainly made his mark with this outstanding group of bluegrass music artists and he and the group are seperating on good terms. Jim will keep his fans posted through his Facebook page. Mountain Heart has not announced any possible replacements and Jim will continue to fulfil his existing committments as best he can.
New York, NY -- Sony Masterworks and internationally-renowned superstar Dolly Parton celebrate Record Store Day on Saturday, April 19, with the release of a limited 7-inch vinyl. The blue vinyl features two tracks from Parton’s upcoming album Blue Smoke - “Blue Smoke” and “Home.” Blue Smoke will be released by Sony Masterworks and Dolly Records on May 13, 2014. It is available for pre-order now. The album includes 12 bluegrass and country songs including covers of Bob Dylan and Bon Jovi classics, and duets with Willie Nelson and Kenny Rogers. Blue Smoke marks the first release of new music from Parton since 2011.
North Adams, MA -- The FreshGrass Award, a highlight of the eponymous three-day bluegrass and roots music festival held each fall at MASS MoCA, crowns up-and-coming musicians who offer a fresh take on the genre. Now in its second year, the Award expands from one category to three - giving unsigned bands, duos, and banjo players a chance to compete for cash prizes totaling $15,000, recording time at Compass Records' studio in Nashville, and a main stage slot at FreshGrass 2015. The competition, judged by a panel of industry professionals, is held concurrently with the festival on September 19-21, 2014, and contest performances are open to the festival audience.
Willis, VA -- Mountain Fever Records is proud to announce today's release of Down on the Farm by West Virginia traditional bluegrass group The Stevens Family. The first single also titled “Down on the Farm,” was released earlier this year.
Sparta, TN -- Former members of Lester Flatt & the Nashville Grass, Roland White and Blake Williams, are set to honor the legendary singer and songwriter on Saturday, May 26th at MerleFest in Wilkesboro, NC with their special presentation of "100 Years Of Lester Flatt."
Kalamazoo, MI -- Since their founding at the turn of the millenium, the five members of Greensky Bluegrass have fashioned a dynamic, intoxicating sound rooted in classic stringband Americana while branching outward to effortlessly encompass an array of styles and techniques. Their fifth studio album, If Sorrows Swim, is to be released on September 9, 2014 and distributed nationally by Thirty Tigers.
Tickets for the Yonder Mountain String Band’s Harvest Music Festival are now available for sale. 3-day passes and VIP tickets as well as lineup information will be released this Spring. For all information regarding Yonder Mountain String Band’s Harvest Music Festival please visit the official website at 
Nashville, TN -- The International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) has announced the artists selected for the Bluegrass Ramble, an innovative series of showcases that will take place at select venues throughout downtown Raleigh, North Carolina during IBMA’s World of Bluegrass 2014 event, September 30 – Oct 4.
Johnny's long-bow fiddling style is modeled after the late and great Kenny Baker, as well as his brother Jimmy Campbell, who played extensively with both Jim & Jesse and Bill Monroe. To Johnny, Bluegrass is not just a genre of music, but a lifestyle. After 35 years as a sideman (starting as a rhythm guitar player at age 6), Johnny is now in front, singing his favorite tunes.
Los Angeles, CA -- Omnivore Recordings will soon release the full-length version of The Garden Spot Programs, 1950, featuring 24 performances, unheard for 64 years, from country music legend Hank Williams. Rescued from obscurity, these shows originally aired more than six decades ago; The Garden Spot Programs, 1950 collects material from the four episodes now known to exist. Due out May 20, 2014, the set follows the release of Omnivore’s collectible 10” vinyl Record Store Day EP sampler.
"Living With the Shades Pulled Down," is the latest music video released by Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road. The Merle Haggard song was originally written by Boudleaux Bryant and Felice Bryant, and can be found on their latest self-titled album, released on Pinecastle Records.
Out in the Pacific Northwest they brew their bluegrass a little differently! Sure, the mandolin, fiddle, and banjo are all there, but they’re not afraid to toss in influences from raggedy pop songwriting to punk instrumental aggression. High-energy Seattle stringband The Warren G. Hardings pour a long tall pint of this Cascadian brewgrass on their new album, Get A Life. Inspired by the greats of American roots music, they’re all hardcore pickers on their instruments, casually tossing solos back and forth on stage. Though the music they create has obvious nods to a rural American past, the songwriting here owes more to the fierce politics of the Northwest than any kind of old-timey nostalgia. Or maybe more to the helter-skelter lifestyle of young men trying to make their names in an overloaded city, for many of the songs here speak to the stresses of building a life and a job on your own.
Bristol, VA/TN -- At Wednesday’s press conference, Believe in Bristol, alongside community partners Birthplace of Country Music®, revealed plans for a summer packed with free live music and family fun on State Street and beyond. Border Bash, the twice-monthly free concert series held annually May through August, celebrates its 15th anniversary as a roving mini-fest that has grown to include children’s activities and vendors in addition to live music and much more. Border Bash will take place on the first and third Fridays, May through August.
Boston, MA, April 16, 2014. Berklee College of Music hosts its first American Roots Weekend, June 20-22, for acoustic musicians who perform bluegrass, blues, folk, country, acoustic jazz, and swing on instruments such as violin, viola, cello, bass, mandolin, guitar, and harp. Berklee string instructor Joe Walsh, a mandolin player who has performed with Ricky Skaggs, Emmylou Harris, Bela Fleck and others, will lead the weekend.
Fiddler Jim VanCleve has announced that he will be leaving Mountain Heart, a group he helpd establish almost 16 years ago. Jim has certainly made his mark with this outstanding group of bluegrass music artists and he and the group are seperating on good terms. Jim will keep his fans posted through his 
New York, NY -- Sony Masterworks and internationally-renowned superstar Dolly Parton celebrate Record Store Day on Saturday, April 19, with the release of a limited 7-inch vinyl. The blue vinyl features two tracks from Parton’s upcoming album Blue Smoke - “Blue Smoke” and “Home.” Blue Smoke will be released by Sony Masterworks and Dolly Records on May 13, 2014. It is available for pre-order now. The album includes 12 bluegrass and country songs including covers of Bob Dylan and Bon Jovi classics, and duets with Willie Nelson and Kenny Rogers. Blue Smoke marks the first release of new music from Parton since 2011.
North Adams, MA -- The FreshGrass Award, a highlight of the eponymous three-day bluegrass and roots music festival held each fall at MASS MoCA, crowns up-and-coming musicians who offer a fresh take on the genre. Now in its second year, the Award expands from one category to three - giving unsigned bands, duos, and banjo players a chance to compete for cash prizes totaling $15,000, recording time at Compass Records' studio in Nashville, and a main stage slot at FreshGrass 2015. The competition, judged by a panel of industry professionals, is held concurrently with the festival on September 19-21, 2014, and contest performances are open to the festival audience.
Willis, VA -- Mountain Fever Records is proud to announce today's release of Down on the Farm by West Virginia traditional bluegrass group The Stevens Family. The first single also titled “Down on the Farm,” was released earlier this year.