Rebel Records has announced a special, one-off single and music video from Seth Mulder & Midnight Run. Seth and the boys have applied their powerful, old time bluegrass sound to Chuck Berry’s mega-hit, Johnny B. Goode, originally recorded at the birth of rock ‘n’ roll music in 1958. It won’t be included on the new album they are finishing up with Ken Irwin and Dudley Connell producing, but Seth said that it has been going over so big on stage since they worked it up that they had to get into the studio to get it recorded. They cut it pretty much the way Chuck did nearly 60 years ago, with ..read more

The annual Headin’ Home Fest in Swainsboro, GA has announced an extra day of music this October when festival time comes around. Stage shows will now begin on Thursday and run through Sunday, with a pot luck dinner and open stage on Wednesday evening. 2024 will be the third running of the festival, named for the host band who operates the event, Headin’ Home, consisting of Jon and Marina Lindblom of Bloomingdale, GA, and their four oldest children. But this isn’t a cut kids band; the youngest of the “children” in 20 years of age, and all are serious pickers and singers. Mom and dad are conser ..read more

Mason Via – photo © Michael Weintrob Young bluegrass singer and songwriter Mason Via has announced his departure from Old Crow Medicine Show, after spending the past three years touring and recording with the band. At the same time, he has revealed plans for a new album with Mountain Fever Records, along with a debut single, Hey Don’t Go. Regarding all this news, Mason shared this message with all his friends and fans… “Y’all, I’ve got some big news. I’m leaving Old Crow Medicine Show to pursue my own solo music full time. After over three years of touring, recording, and living on the bus to ..read more

WIth Gen Z soaking up a lot of press right now (while not knowing what the antiquated term “press” even refers to), it’s easy to forget that millennial jokes still resonate with people, which I think is even a pretty millennial way to put it. This is a look back at my millennial bluegrass column of some years back with a couple of bonus additions, including the all-important avocado reference that was missing in the original edition: We love to make fun of millennials; you know, with their selfies of their own wedding proposals, their own baptisms, and their own gas station fill-ups; their in ..read more

Gary Hultman, reso-guitarist with Blue Highway, and his wife, Ashley Nale Hultman, banjo player with Loose Strings, are celebrating the birth of their first child. Brody William Hultman was born on April 15 at 9:53 p.m. at Twin County Regional Healthcare in Galax, VA. He weighed in at 8 lbs, 6 oz, stretching out to 21”. Mom and son are doing well, and Ashley tells us that, “We are over the moon in love!” with their baby boy. Many congratulations to Ashley and Gary, and a huge Bluegrass Today welcome to little Brody! The post Welcome Brody Hultman appeared first on Bluegrass Today ..read more

J.D. Crowe & The New South, often best known to bluegrass lovers by its catalog number, Rounder 0044, has been chosen for by the Library of Congress to be among the 25 commercial audio recordings to go into their National Recording Registry in 2024. This listing ensures that these recordings are to be preserved in perpetuity, having been chosen from among suggestions by the public based on their being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant,” and at least 10 years old. ROU 0044 was first released in 1975, and served as the bluegrass public’s first experience of Crowe’s new ..read more

If you don’t recognize the name Trevor Watson, you surely know his banjo playing. The southwest Virginia picker has appeared on multiple projects from Shannon Slaughter, and worked with Lou Reid & Carolina for several years. Trevor was called upon to fill in for the late Ben Eldridge in The Seldom Scene in 2015 after Ben suffered a fall not long before he retired. Watson released a solo project late last year, and has a new single on offer this month, a a banjo tune dedicated to his banjo called Reable’s Bender. As we all know, pickers love stories about their instruments, especially if t ..read more

Lydia Rogers, Dominic Bloomfield, Henson Preace, and Belinda Henry at Woldumar – photo © Bill Warren The Woldumar Nature Center in Lansing, Michigan presents a bluegrass and folk jam once a month from September through May. They also host band performances. Leroy Harvey coordinates these activities. This past Sunday featured special shows by the scholarship students of the Southeast Bluegrass Music Association, along with two bands. Marcia Bailey brought the Association’s instrument petting zoo to the Center. A lot of younger kids (20 or so) had the chance to “pet” all of the instruments unde ..read more

For the past 35 years, MerleFest has become known as one of the foremost music festivals in the southeast, and, one would daresay, in the entire world. Sponsored by Window World and founded in 1988 as a fundraiser for the Garden of the Senses at Wilkes Community College, it honors world-renowned flatpicker Doc Watson’s late son, Eddy Merle Watson. Billed as a celebration of “traditional plus” music, its twelve stages offer a specific mix of traditional, roots-oriented sounds birthed in Appalachia, a timeless template that encompasses old-time, classic country, bluegrass, folk, gospel, and blu ..read more

From northern Illinois comes Bluegrass Express, and another single from their upcoming album, A Tribute to Jim & Jesse. The Express is a family band with a unique story. The group includes three generations of Underwoods – Gary Underwood on guitar; his son, Greg Underwood, on bass; and Greg’s son, Jacob Underwood, on mandolin – along with two brothers from Oklahoma, Andrew and Jonathan Hunt on fiddle and banjo, respectively. Their sound is very much a throwback to an earlier time in bluegrass music, in particular on this next project, the music of Jim and Jesse McReynolds, a hugely succes ..read more