Search:

No two mandolins sound the same. Every mandolin is going to sound different from every other mandolin. The thing to try and sort out is not whether you hear a difference between an A body and an F...

One each is not a big enough sampling to draw defiant conclusions. Two F's or two A's from same maker is not going to sound the same. If you could listen to 100 of each and tell a difference I might...

Or the bridges were not seated identically. Or the string had been played for a different number of hours. Or [insert other hardware, ergonomics, preference related differences]....

Interesting when you consider what Martin might have been. I have early recordings that he made with the Osborne Brothers, and that was an amazing combination that could have made a real mark in...

Well said Tim, and may I add, in the spirit of the holiday season as well.

Since he’s not around to defend his actions (or deny them) I don’t see any point in speaking ill of the dead. His old band members and those who knew him cansay what they please, I agree with Allen,...

Hey Olaf, this will be hard to explain, but in essence I was agreeing with your statement, and saying the general effect of the purists dissing dabblers was troubling. We're thrilled that Berklee,...

I don´t think that the statement itself is troublesome. I stated what I have found out is true (where I live). Let me exemplify.

There was a jazz jamsession where I lived. It was shortlived for...

Some good points Allen,

Last summer my band played for a Seniors Home and about 20 of the people that lived there came up to me after we took a break and said we love your music, we haven`t...

Good points in the posts above, though I have a hard time understanding just what "contemporary American string band music" might be. Most of the old-timey performers I know don't necessarily reject...

That would be almost three months after their recording debut for Columbia. The Opry debut was in late 1945.

The exact birth date of BG is open to argument, if at all meaningful. Earl Scruggs and...

I belive we are about the same generation (I was born in 1944); this is almost exactly the way I experienced the whole matter, although in another country. A couple of years ago I wrote an article...

Charlie - I tend to agree with you - but if that really is the case,simply stop calling them 'Bluegrass'' awards. You could call them ''Acoustic Musician of The Year'' awards with various sections ie...

Take a look at the SPGMA organization and awards to see what it would look like if you tightened the boundaries to keep it strictly to the "That Not Bluegrass!!" players. Not exactly a living...

I hear what you're saying, it's just that IBMA awards would become a dead end. If you kept it only to hard-core trad bluegrass mandolin players (or any other instrument), you'd simply be rotating it...

There's so much in this interesting thread to unpack, I'm not quite sure to know where to start. Much of my response will seem like a repeat of material I've long been writing on my blog and in No...

I don't think that the main reason for the questions is Sierra's talent - that's obvious. It's whether she should have been nominated as a 'Bluegrass' musician when she's stepped outside the...

That's what I was going to say. But since I have no business speaking on the subject, I'm glad you said it.

As a Pastor and musician, the message spoken and musically presented is the reason for worship services. A tasteful interlude enhances the message being presented. A long intricate solo can obscure...

Not a problem. Solo away. If Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver can play solos in their gospel numbers, so can you. And if you think the only time you're sending a message is when you're singing, you are...

That's a valid question. My thought is that if I had taken legal acts to protect it, and you bought those rights, then you own the rights regardless of what happens to me. I, as the legally...

In my humble opinion, it mattes nil that the original designer is no longer living, nor does it matter that the company has changed hands multiple times. If I buy your design for a better widget,...

I don't mean to imply that their current line isn't good quality. But their production numbers are pretty much nil. As I understand it, they only build mandolins based on actual orders (someone...

I think it is a bit of an overstatement to suggest that Gibson has expressed zero interest in rebuilding their mandolin line. Quite the opposite, I would say. Many think the current production of...

I'm a resident of Mayberry.
Doing some part-time fill-in work with Freddy Fleet on the weekends.;)