(Editor's Notes: Headline image of BĂ©la Fleck & the Flecktones. Scroll to see a photo gallery. To mark Planet Bluegrass's 50th annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival, we asked author and music journalist David Menconi to reflect on its impact â and the vibrant community that's grown up around this iconic roots music event.) The circuit of…
Highlighting the confluence of roots music and the mainstream, Railbird Festival welcomed 32 acts from across the rock, folk, and bluegrass spectrum to Lexington, Kentucky on June 3-4. Boasting headliners Tyler Childers and Zach Bryan, plus Charley Crockett, Whiskey Myers, Nickel Creek and more, a sold-out crowd of 40,000-plus helped kick off festival season with…
A small, enthusiastic audience of first arrivals chat in excited, hushed tones as they listen to Hubby Jenkins soundcheck into a pair of Ear Trumpet Labs microphones in the ballroom at Fort Worth, Texasâs Southside Preservation Hall. Itâs an unseasonably cool Saturday afternoon in March, with crystal blue skies and wispy clouds backgrounding the historic…
Two weeks ago, BGS once again teamed up as media partner of the Brooklyn Country Cantina as it celebrated its 10th year at SXSW, expanding into the Eastside Doublewide double showcase. In conjunction with Hank & Ed Management, the day featured more than 25 Americana, bluegrass, and rock 'n' roll bands on three alternating stages in two adjacent venues…
River Whyless stepped onto the stage at That Tent while the temperature was still bearable, the dust was still minimal, and the sky was bright blue -- that signature Tennessee summer haze would come later. Their fiddle and harmonium wafted out over Centeroo like a roots music call to prayer. The BGS stage had begun!Aaron…
