Small World Archives - The Bluegrass Situation

Reissued Recordings Highlight the Final Years of the Original Kentucky ColonelsBob Warford remembers a lot about the vibrant Southern California bluegrass and old-timey scene of the 1960s. But he doesn’t remember exactly how he came to be a member of what proved to be the final lineup of the Kentucky Colonels, the near-mythic group anchored by brothers Roland White on…

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Gaby Moreno and Van Dyke Parks Take a Vibrant Trip Across the Americas“Oh man, I’m forgetting.” Gaby Moreno is trying to remember the joke Van Dyke Parks told her earlier this day. “It was the one about…. shoot! It will come to me.” And it does. “It was this one: ‘There are three kinds of people in the world. Those who can…

Small World

Ranky Tanky Takes Gullah Culture Around the GlobeYou don’t need to know the first thing about Gullah culture to appreciate Good Time, the second album by the South Carolina quintet Ranky Tanky. But each song provides a short lesson on this little-known corner of American music. Take “Sometime,” an absolute jam that’s so fast, so breakneck that…

Small World

Inspired by Dylan, J.S. Ondara Spreads His Own ‘Tales of America’Six years ago just about now, J.S. Ondara landed in Minneapolis on a pilgrimage, lured by his love of Minnesota native son Bob Dylan’s music. He made his way north to Duluth, where Dylan was born, and Hibbing, where the singer-songwriter was raised. It was not quite what he expected.…