News

Renowned musicians and folk historians Mike Compton and Norman Blake join forces to introduce listeners to the repertoire of the Mississippi duo Narmour & Smith with Gallop To Georgia. This special project features the sounds of blues, rags, shuffles and country waltzes, and even a hint of Tex-Mex flavor.

"Lyrical and melodic, filled with buoyant rhythms and clever rhythmic patterns, Gallop To Georgia captures a bygone era in American string music, now reintroduced ...

Fairfax, Calif. — Peghead Nation is offering Mandolin Cafe visitors a first month free, or $20 discount off an annual subscription, when they sign up for any of the 38 instructional courses in mandolin, guitar, fiddle, banjo, dobro, bass or ukulele on ...

Long-time friends Gregg Daigle and Don Grieser announce the release of Palatable to a Goat, a recording of guitar and mandolin instrumentals. The CD features six original tunes and six tunes and melodies they have enjoyed and played together for years.

Gregg and Don first met at RockyGrass in 2000 and immediately ...

Kanaalstraat, Utrecht, Netherlands — Brilliant Classics has announced a December 19 release for Raffaele La Ragione's new recording Margola: Music for Mandolin and other Chamber Music.

Composer Franco Margola was a Brescian ...

Annual Black Friday Sale concludes with giveaway of an Eastman MD515CC Mandolin.

Surprise, Ariz. — The Mandolin Store has announced plans for their 14th Annual Black Friday sale, November 29 culminating in the giveaway of an Eastman MD515CC Contoured Comfort Edge ...

Brazilian mandolin force Danilo Brito has announced the release of his newest project entitled Da Natureza das Coisas, (About the nature of things) which includes six original compositions.

On Da Natureza das Coisas Brito ...

Bologna, Italy — Tactus, the Italian classical music recording label has announced the release and availability of Gervasio: Mandolin Sonatas, by Marco Giacintucci (mandolin) and Walter D’Arcangelo (harpsichord).

Giovanni ...

Grand Rapids, Mich. — The newly formed Michigan Mandolin Orchestra has announced their debut concert to be held in Rockford. Mich. at 7:00 p.m., November 23 at the Rockford United Methodist Church, 159 Maple St. NE.

The newly formed orchestra is dedicated to ...

Transcriptions from last year's solo mandolin recording The Golden Angle now available.

Boston, Mass. — David Benedict has announced the release of a book of transcriptions from last year's blockbuster solo mandolin recording ...

Win $100 gift certificate to Acoustic Disc by identify what mandolins David Grisman plays on his new recording.

Starting Tuesday, Nov. 5, 7:30 a.m. Central visitors to the Mandolin Cafe will have the opportunity to stream all of David Grisman's mandolin solos from the new recording David Grisman's Dawg ...

Around the time of Mandolin Mondays Episode #150 we asked host David Benedict if he'd be the musical subject of Episode #200 to be paired with a feature interview to update us on his career.

And here we are!

Our thanks to David for creating and caring for this series that exposes us to so many talented mandolin players we all enjoy, and allowing us the honor of hosting and helping promote the wide variety of musicians from all over the planet that have appeared as guests.

Want to join us in extending a thanks to David for his efforts? There's a great way and it benefits you as well, but you'll need to hurry! When we publish this there will be two days left on his Kickstarter project where he's raising funds to support a transcription book for his marvelous solo ...

Serenade for Ali, by Chris Acquavella honoring the late Alison Stephens has been released in print.

Cheshire, UK — Astute Music has announced the publication and availability of Serenade for Ali in print by Chris Acquavella, a solo mandolin version of the 3rd movement for mandolin orchestra entitled Remembrance of a Beautiful Soul.

About the video that appears below, Acquavella said, "This particular version was abbreviated for David Benedict's ...

Available for Kindle and print version.

Progressive Melodies for Mandocello by August Watters is a new collection of original, unaccompanied solos for the baritone member of the mandolin family. It is designed to cultivate musical reading skills, as well as technical facility, and to build skills ...

Celebrating 20 years in business, organizers have announced Wednesday, October 30 as opening date for the 2020 Mandolin Camp North.

Putney Vt. — Music Camps North, celebrating their 20th year in business have announced Wednesday, October 30 as opening registration for their April 17-19, ...

Los Angeles — Alex Heflin has announced the release of Retro, a 20-track recording on which he plays most instruments.

About the project, Heflin said, "This record is simply a compilation of instrumental covers put together over the past couple of years; songs from TV, pop culture, ...

10 winning entries selected in this special giveaway of D'Addario's new X Mandolin Strings.

Lawrence, Kans. — Registration for a chance to win free sets of D'Addario's new X Phosphor Bronze mandolin strings commences 7:30 a.m., October 15 from a link on the Mandolin ...

An interview with legendary builder Bob Givens published over 40 years once again comes to light.


In order to understand the origins on this interview with R.L. "Bob" Givens it's necessary to take a step back into another time.

A long defunct and now relatively obscure music catalog of the time, The Guitars Friend (no apostrophe), in publication between 1973 - 1983, was created by Laurence "Laury" Ostrow, an acquaintance of and seller of Givens' instruments. As part of the content of The Guitars Friend series Ostrow produced and published a short but meaningful interview with Givens, whose work is still highly respected. He preceded most of today's modern mandolin builders in turning out true world class A and ...

David Grisman, Danny Barnes and Samson Grisman launch first recording of Dawg Trio.

San Rafael, Calif. — Acoustic Disc has announced an October 11 release of Dawg Trio Plays Tunes & Sings Songs, a collaboration between David Grisman, multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter Danny Barnes and Samson Grisman on bass.

Their debut recording features nine brand new Dawg compositions and three original songs by Barnes, recorded live in Grisman's Dawg Studios. This unique ensemble displays an incredibly wide range of styles, from swing to bluegrass and old time to Dawg.
...

Dennis Vance is seated at his desk amid a sea of mandolins on a brutally hot, 110 degree summer day at The Mandolin Store in Surprise, Ariz. assisting a customer by phone.

The store is small enough that a private conversation is out of the question so it's easy to listen and sense most end with the caller feeling like they made a friend, comments I've seen mirrored online more than a few times. Many of Vance's customers not only bought their first mandolin here, but their second, third and more, and few calls end without Vance tilting his head back for a proper belly laugh.

If you get the idea he enjoys running The Mandolin Store, you'd be correct.
...

27 Easy to Intermediate Pieces Selected from the Works of 13 Baroque Composers

Fenton, Mo. — Mel Bay Publications, Inc. has announced the initial release of A Baroque Sampler for Octave Mandolin, by John Goodin as an eBook with print version released ...

Fenton, Mo. — Mel Bay Publications, Inc. has announced the initial release of Telemann for Two Mandolins by John Goodin as an eBook with print version released in the very near future.

As one of the most productive composers in history, ...

India — The duo Two Macha, a creative collaboration between India's Bluegrass mandolin exponent "Dolinman" (Diptanshu Roy) and singer-songwriter and guitarist Suren Vikhash have announced a September 21 release for their first self-titled EP.

The duo's web site notes their influence is rooted to India, with a fresh contemporary twist. They believe that music is a powerful medium to bring about a positive change in a society riddled with negativity and their ...

Goodlettsville, Tenn. — Organizers of the Nashville Mandolin Camp have announced February 7-9, 2020 as the dates for their next gathering set to feature guest instructors Sharon Gilchrist, Nate Lee and Joe K. Walsh.

Registration opens 9:00 a.m. Central Time, October 1. Previous camp attendees may pre-register September 25 starting at 9:00 a.m.

A total of 15 campers are accepted and as every previous Nashville Mandolin Camp has sold out, early registration is strongly ...

Mike Marshall and Caterina Lichtenberg's World Mandolin Retreats in conjunction with Music Safari Workshops in Africa (MSWIA) have announced a full South African cultural tour February 5-11, 2020 where attendees will experience South African wildlife, culture, music, dance and arts and crafts all while dining on fine South African cuisine and playing mandolins with Caterina and Mike.

The highlight would be the 2 x daily safari drives and 4 full days of being immersed in Mandolin music, jamming and the African bush.

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