Beer, bluegrass, occasional other stuff
Like a lot of bands, the Jakobs Ferry Stragglers could use some help producing a new CD. Like a lot of bands, they used one of those go-fund-music type sites to raise capital for a previous project. Gary Antol has no idea how a lot of other bands feel about those sorts of fundraising campaigns, but he knows how he feels. “I did one of those two years ago for our second studio album. It[…]
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The press releases for The Bluegrass Congress, which is set to convene in late May in Cumberland, Maryland, suggest the legendary Del McCoury personally summoned the participants by sending out invitations on hand-rolled pieces of parchment. That might conjure up a good image for marketing purposes, but according to Del himself, that is not exactly how the event, which is sure to be a highlight of the 11th Annual DelFest, came to be. Credit for[…]
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Genuine. It’s a word Andy Falco uses a lot when you talk to him about the music he makes with The Infamous Stringdusters. “The most important thing we can do is just stay focused on making the music that’s the most genuine to us,” says Falco, who was on the phone from back home in Long Island, N.Y., where he was getting ready to depart for The Stringdusters’ appearance at the Strings and Sol in[…]
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BEN SOMERS STRING BAND “Live At De Melkbus” It’s a story I’ve told more than a few times, the tale of a couple of American parents on a visit to their daughter, a grad student at Kingston U., who decided to rent a car and take a drive south towards Hastings in search of some bluegrass music. A kind tipster on the British Bluegrass Music Association’s Facebook page had suggested we check out the Ben[…]
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There is no question about Larry Keel’s bluegrass chops. Born into a family of musicians on both sides, he began playing guitar at the age of seven and by the time he was eight he began playing at fiddlers conventions and bluegrass gatherings. Over the years he has on a laundry list of bluegrass competitions, both individually on guitar and with Magraw Gap. one of his early projects, which also included banjo player Will Lee.[…]
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