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From the "News" page on Peter's website:
"I have been asked if some of the music was merely harvested from some of my earlier CDs and the answer is NO. All of these are new recordings that have...

My own favorite musician -- on mandolin or otherwise -- is Peter Ostroushko. His original tunes are gorgeous, combining many musical influences (bluegrass, Celtic, swing, classical, gypsy, you name...

Arlo Guthrie onstage, responding to numerous shouts from the audience for "Alice's Restaurant," said, "Hey, if you knew what to do, you'd be up here."

It's certainly true that it wouldn't have been called bluegrass. In fact, Monroe didn't initially call it that himself -- rather than create a whole genre of music for other people, he was mainly...

This is all good advice. As everyone has noted, there are lots of variables and sometimes you can get a major act for much less than you'd expect, if you're lucky enough to be between (in both date...

Second the nomination of Peter Ostroushko.......playing and tune-writing of (here come the requested two words) grace & beauty.

Grist for the mill:
Check out Brian Hebert's CD of Beatle songs played as Celtic-style instrumentals on octave mandolin, "Any Time At All" (which also has John McGann as one of the sidemen). ...

I once read an interview with Chet Atkins where he was asked his #1 suggestion for practicing, and have never forgotten his excellent reply: If you make a mistake, keep going and work around it,...

Spurred by a conversation with a fan of my folk music radio show who also plays (classical) cello, I recently spent a weekend searching for folk, stringband, and Celtic albums that include cello, and...

Though the Carter Family didn't use a mandolin, their songs are often easy to harmonize and perfect for all sorts of folk/old-time/bluegrass treatments. There are several songbooks available (though...

Here's a plug for one other cool Michigan event, for anyone passing through on the weekend of August 7-9, and one particular guest will be of special interest here. The Great Lakes Folk Festival is...

If you happen to be up there this weekend (July 10-12), the annual Blissfest music festival is taking place in (relatively) nearby Harbor Springs, MI. Lineup ranges from John Jorgenson Quintet to...

I always recommend Peter Ostroushko and Dean Magraw's album "Duo" on Red House Records. Dean was Peter's accompanist for many years and they developed an extraordinary level of communication on a...

Ry Cooder fingerpicks mandolin on "Billy the Kid," which is included on his new career-spanning compilation "The UFO Has Landed," as well as (originally) on "Into the Purple Valley." Seems like the...

Peter is my favorite musician, period. He plays and composes with tremendous feeling and grace. During his years as A Prairie Home Companion's music director, he performed with a huge range of...

You should get ahold of Peter Ostroushko's terrific CD of live recordings by his quartet the Mando Boys, "Holstein Lust" (available from Peter's own site, plus Elderly and CDBaby, etc.). John Niemann...

Great story! You're two exemplary gentlemen.

"Fourth of July at a County Fair," on the (original) Red Clay Ramblers' live album "Chuckin' the Frizz" on Flying Fish. They learned the song from the Georgia Yellow Hammers. It's a lively number,...

It's not classical, but some of the most amazing mandolin/guitar duets I've ever heard are on the CD "Duo," with Peter Ostroushko (on mando & fiddle) and Dean Magraw (guitar). The two played together...

Just as a point of interest, Utah Phillips hated this song, despite having written it. He wrote it in a moment of bitter rage, sang it once (while drunk) for his friend Rosalie Sorrels, and vowed to...

Disclaimer: I work at Elderly (although not in sales and not with the used instruments). I'm posting this not out of self-interest, but because there was some question about why we would rate certain...

Michigan singer-songwriter Kitty Donohoe accompanies some of her songs on cittern, though she usually plays guitar. I don't recall which songs use cittern, but you can hear samples from her CDs (the...

I once read an interview with Chet Atkins, who was asked for his advice re practicing. He said the most important thing was that if you screw up in some way, keep playing and figure out a way to get...

....or "Two words: Better Manners."

Harvey Reid and Joyce Andersen recently released a songbook of 2-chord songs (many of them familiar) with 4 CDs of the 56 songs in the book. It's intended for beginning guitarists, but it would work...