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Richelle Putnam holds a BS in Marketing Management and an MA in Creative Writing. She is a Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC) Teaching Artist, two-time MAC Literary Arts Fellow, and Mississippi Humanities Speaker. Her fiction, poetry, essays, and articles have been published in many print and online literary journals and magazines. Among her six published books are a 2014 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards Silver Medalist and a 2017 Foreword Indies Book Awards Bronze Medal winner. Visit her website at www.richelleputnam.com.
Rebekah Speer has nearly twenty years in the music industry in Nashville, TN. She creates a unique “look” for every issue of The Bluegrass Standard, and enjoys learning about each artist. In addition to her creative work with The Bluegrass Standard, Rebekah also provides graphic design and technical support to a variety of clients. www.rebekahspeer.com
Susan traveled with a mixed ensemble at Trevecca Nazarene college as PR for the college. From there she moved on to working at Sony Music Nashville for 17 years in several compacities then transitioning on to the Nashville Songwritrers Association International (NSAI) where she was Sponsorship Director. The next step of her musical journey was to open her own business where she secured sponsorships for various events or companies in which the IBMA/World of Bluegrass was one of her clients.
Susan Marquez is a freelance writer based in Madison, Mississippi and a Mississippi Arts Commission Roster Artist. After a 20+ year career in advertising and marketing, she began a professional writing career in 2001. Since that time she has written over 2000 articles which have been published in magazines, newspapers, business journals, trade publications.
Singer/Songwriter/Blogger and SilverWolf recording artist, Mississippi Chris Sharp hails from remote Kemper County, near his hometown of Meridian. An original/founding cast member of the award-winning, long running radio show, The Sucarnochee Revue, as featured on Alabama and Mississippi Public Broadcasting, Chris performs with his daughter, Piper. Chris’s songs have been covered by The Del McCoury Band, The Henhouse Prowlers, and others. mississippichrissharp.blog
Brent Davis produced documentaries, interview shows, and many other projects during a 40 year career in public media. He’s also the author of the bluegrass novel Raising Kane. Davis lives in Columbus, Ohio.
Kara Martinez Bachman is a nonfiction author, book and magazine editor, and freelance writer. A former staff entertainment reporter, columnist and community news editor for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, her music and culture reporting has also appeared on a freelance basis in dozens of regional, national and international publications.
Candace Nelson is a marketing professional living in Charleston, West Virginia. She is the author of the book “The West Virginia Pepperoni Roll.” In her free time, Nelson travels and blogs about Appalachian food culture at CandaceLately.com. Find her on Twitter at @Candace07 or email CandaceRNelson@gmail.com.
A Philadelphia native and seasoned musician, has dedicated over forty years to music. Starting as a guitar prodigy at eight, he expanded his talents to audio engineering and mastering various instruments, including drums, piano, mandolin, banjo, dobro, and bass. Alongside his brother, he formed The Young Brothers band, and his career highlights include co-writing a song with Kid Rock for Rebel Soul.
by Susan Marquez
Imagine playing over 2200 concerts on four continents in 22 years and releasing twelve albums to critical acclaim. Le Vent du Nord, a leading force in Quebec’s progressive “Francophone” folk movement, has done just that. Along the way, they have racked up a trunk full of prestigious awards, including two Junos (Canada’s equivalent to the Grammys), three Felix awards, an OPUS award, a Canadian Folk Music Award, and they were named “Artist of the Year” at the Folk Alliance Annual Gala. The list goes on, and it’s easy to understand why the band is so highly acclaimed.
With a broad range of global influences, Le Vent du Nord’s repertoire is soulful and rhythmic, drawing from traditional sources, including Celtic and folk music. The band was formed in 2002, and the name translates to “The North Wind.”
Oliver Demers started the band in 2002 while studying music in college. He was formally trained as a violinist and guitarist, starting in chamber music and gravitating towards jazz. As it often happens with bands, members came in and out of the band until a lineup clicks. The current lineup of Le Vent du Nord is made up of a cohesive group of seasoned musicians. Demers is joined in the band by his college classmate, Nicolas Boulerice, who grew up in a musical family in Quebec. His dad collected songs, which helped form Boulerice’s repertoire. He learned to play the hurdy-gurdy when his passion for traditional music took him to Ireland and France. Deciding to explore traditional folk music further, Boulerice played with Demers on the album Le vent du nord est
toujours fret, which was the beginning of Le Vent du Nord as a true band.
Andre Brunet, who started playing traditional Quebec music as a young boy in his village of Lacolle, joined the band in 2016. He played with La Bottine Souriante, touring more than 15 countries in ten years. He has a passion for traditional Quebec music.
Andre’s brother, Rejean Brunet, toured for eight years with La Volee d/Castors before joining Le Vent du Nord in 2016. Growing up, Brunet’s parents recognized his musical talent and encouraged him to follow his passion. He first fell in love with the violin and began taking lessons at age nine. He recorded many albums with his brother, Andre’ Brunet, and together they performed around the world. He plays the accordion, bass guitar, and mouth harp with Le Vent du Nord.
Until recently, Simon Beaudry was a member of the band. He joined in 2004 and left in February 2024 to pursue personal projects. He was replaced with Andre’ Gagne,’ from the same village as Beaudry. Gagne is a singer and musician who was introduced to folk music and traditional arts in his hometown of St-Come, Lanaudiere. He studied guitar in college, and in 2005, he formed a band called La Giroflee with some of his childhood friends. His warm voice adds to the Le Vent du Nord sound, making him a welcome addition to the band.
The band performs around 120 shows annually, mainly in Canada and the United States, with a few side trips to Europe.
Their music is somewhat niche folk music that is very Quebec-centric yet melds well with traditional folk music. But listen to a few of their songs, and you’ll hear a little pop, funk, rap, and other contemporary genres that surprisingly blend in perfectly with their repertoire. A traditional fiddle reel might be interrupted by a trumpet blast, stomping feet, and chanting – yet the songs work. They are both entertaining and fun.
Not a bar band by any means, Le Vent du Nord typically plays concert halls in winter and festivals in summer. In an interview with Rejean Brunet by Jack MacLean in the McKendree Review, the student newspaper for McKendree University, Brunet says, “You start with something, you cross your fingers, you hope it will work, and people will follow. Of course, there is a little bit of magic, but being active is a big, big thing. If you are available to tour and give concerts, people will follow you. It’s funny because there are people we know who met the band 10 to 15 years ago, and they are still following us.”
Brunet explained that they respect traditional music but add their twist and style. Everyone in the band listens to all kinds of music, and for the most part, it is mainly acoustic music. But adding harmonies and non-traditional instrumentation shakes things up enough to get the audience’s attention. “We all listen to bluegrass and bands from everywhere, so it’s quite lively,” said Brunet. “There’s a lot of bands that are composing new stuff. Scotland has a lot of bands, but with a lot of drums and electric instruments, and of course the bagpipes. We are closer to tradition when it comes to instrumentation.”
by Brent Davis
Nearly 25 years since his death, songwriter/performer/banjoist/steamboat pilot John Hartford is thoughtfully and candidly remembered in a new book by his friend and bandmate Bob Carlin.
My Memories of John Hartford is a revealing portrait of a multi-dimensional man who wrote “Gentle on My Mind,” one of the most recorded songs of all time.
“When I began working alongside John Hartford, I thought I knew something about music and performing,” writes Carlin, who’s well known for his clawhammer banjo playing and vast knowledge of the instrument’s complex history. “It turned out that I only knew a fraction of what I was about to learn in his music workshop. I came out the other end a much better entertainer and performer than before my experience with John.”
Their first meeting came in 1985 when Carlin interviewed Hartford for NPR’s Fresh Air. By then, Hartford, who was raised in St. Louis and had become enthralled with Earl Scruggs’s banjo and Benny Martin’s fiddle, was a star, thanks to “Gentle on My Mind” and his appearances on television shows such as The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. As Carlin writes in the book, though, Hartford had relocated from Hollywood to Nashville and had re-imagined himself.
“He had successfully transitioned from sensitive singer-songwriter in the mid-1960s to late 1960s folk-rocker to newgrass band leader in the early 1970s and, for the remainder of the 1970s, an electrified wide-eyed hippie prankster. Finally, for his middle age during the 1980s, John distanced himself from these prior images to become a Victorian riverboat pilot.”
Though Carlin was not a bluegrass banjo player--his clawhammer style predates the genre and has roots in string band music and minstrel shows--Hartford hired him to play in his band. A friendship grew out of their working relationship. Though he didn’t know Hartford in his Hollywood days, Carlin has insight into those years.
“He had a lot of these sayings that he would use a lot,” Carlin remembers “And one of them was, ‘I’m really glad you didn’t know me back then. I was a real son of a bitch.’ And the other was, ‘You spend the second half of your life apologizing for the first half.’
Carlin writes that a diagnosis of and recovery from cancer during that time contributed to Hartford’s transformation, professionally and personally. And, despite the success, Hollywood came with frustrations.
“I think he was getting a little fed up with people in Hollywood. His managers were trying to make him into something he wasn’t. They saw him more as an actor, as a character in, like a detective series. Like a Columbo. He didn’t see himself that way.”
My Memories of John Hartford explores the many facets of Hartford’s life: piloting steamboats; a rigorous and disciplined approach to songwriting; countless appearances at clubs, festivals, and on TV; jams that had his Cumberland River house nearly bursting at the seams; road life in a bus with intractable mechanical issues; and his obsession with the fiddle that consumed his later years. Carlin witnessed much of it, including Hartford’s decline, when the cancer returned. Savage as it was, it couldn’t keep Hartford from playing his unique music on stages across the country to adoring fans. And working with
Hartford, Carlin saw an artist who always followed his passions.
“Don’t get famous doing something you don’t want to do,” Hartford is quoted as saying in the very first words of the book. “I do what’s in my heart, and if that works, that’s great. If it doesn’t work, I haven’t wasted my time. If I didn’t do what was in my heart, the worst thing that would happen is that I’d be successful, and I’d have to do it again. It would be awful to be successful at something that I didn’t enjoy doing.”
In the final years of his life, Hartford’s heart led him to the fiddle music of Ed Haley.
“And he didn’t care if it was commercially viable or not,” Carlin explains. “That’s what he wanted to be doing. I think at that point in time, he was aware that his days were numbered. The cancer was starting to catch up with him. He loved this particular fiddle music, and he wanted to figure out a way to make it sellable to the American public. And in many ways, he succeeded through the strength of his celebrity, convincing people they should hear it. And, if I may be egotistical and self-centered, I think he put a damn good band together to do it.”
As a member of that band who, over time, practically assumed the role of road manager, Carlin’s unique perspective enables him to write an illuminating account of one of bluegrass music’s most creative, enigmatic, and beloved artists.
“The main thing I started out to do was create an appreciation of John Hartford. And I show he’s human because I talk about some of his flaws as well. But I just want to give the fans an inside view of what it was like and what was going on, at least in that latter part of his life.”
by Jason Young
Reaching thousands daily with her morning radio show, Mornings with Annette, The Bluegrass Jamboree DJ and CEO Annette Grady is using live stream to help those affected by Hurricane Helene.
“There are a lot of people inside the state and outside the state who don’t understand the severity of what happened with Helene,” Annette says, wanting to raise awareness. “If it means that I’m bringing it to somebody’s attention where they can start to do some research and they see it for themselves, it’s gonna get [them] some help that they didn’t have previously.”
Born with radio talent, Annette’s grandfather was the late North Carolina DJ Chester Thompson. She remembers how strange it was for her and her brother growing up.
“To us, radio was just part of our life. Everyone we went to school with thought it was a big deal to know someone in radio,” explains Annette.
The Bluegrass Jamboree CEO got her start helping her grandfather with his weekend show, The Chester Thompson Old Time Jamboree.
“My granddaddy was on the air at the local radio station on Saturdays and Sundays. So, I said [to him], Hey! Do you mind if I go with you?’ He was thrilled. I was the only granddaughter of four grandchildren to express interest in radio.”
The North Carolina DJ, who still prefers to be heard but not seen, recalled, “One thing about [my grandfather] … he’d put you to work. By work, I don’t mean he gave me little chores to do; he put me on the air! I was a shy kid, and this helped break me out of my shell.”
Annette revealed how her grandfather’s untimely passing launched her into fulltime radio.
“I worked with my granddaddy off and on for about three years until he was involved in an automobile accident.
“My grandmother said, ‘Who’s going on the radio tomorrow to tell them the show is not going to be on anymore?’ I said, ‘The show is not over because I’m going to do it.’ I thought to myself, ‘What are you saying?’ I didn’t know what I was doing and didn’t have an official background or schooling, but [he] had taught me a lot.”
Annette remembered the kindness and support of Kari Delacruz, a station hand who taught her the technical aspects of terrestrial radio. “She was a Godsend. She would sit with me and make sure I understood all the controls on the soundboard. I learned how to slowly go from one thing into another and it would be professional. She took her time with me.”
Wanting more control of her career, Annette started her internet radio show, The Bluegrass Jamboree, in 2013. The show features a mix of bluegrass, gospel and traditional country.
“God has been after me to do this for the last couple of years,” Annette recollects saying to her former station manager before leaving. “It was time for me to stand up and trust in the Lord.”
Seasoned DJ Paul Gunderson joined her to help build the station. “He already had a station out in Oklahoma,” Annette said, “so he already had his stuff together.”
She says today that The Bluegrass Jamboree has eighty-thousand listeners a month.
“It’s been a slow, gradual process. It’s taken us ten years to achieve the 2024 Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America award.
“If we never get it again, I am content that we won it once,” shares Annette. She believes the key to success is simple. “You don’t have to have schooling; you don’t have to be trained. If you know how to talk and keep somebody’s attention, you can become a broadcaster.”
She shares faith with her audience and features an hour of gospel music every morning before playing bluegrass.
“When I give God that first set every weekday, I am giving him praise.” Annette looks for the good in all things. “This [radio station] is my blessing!”
For now, she prioritizes helping those affected by Hurricane Helene. Feeling confident about her message, she says citizens are getting involved.
Among those stepping up are YouTubers Shaun Lloyd and Andy Lee. “They have raised eighty thousand dollars. They’re buying supplies, and they are going in there with ATVs, and they are able to get to areas where cars and trucks can’t go. Anyone interested in helping can call me directly at the radio station,” she explains.
As for the future, Annette wants to continue helping others in need. “I want The Bluegrass Jamboree to be true and always be family friendly.”
by Susan Marquez
Daryl Mosley is like the calm in the storm in a world of conflict and confusion. His reassuring songs, filled with kindness and compassion, are as comforting as they are entertaining. With his honey-tinged voice, thoughtful lyrics, and experienced musicianship, Daryl has created thirteen number-one songs over the past three decades, and he has been presented with three SPBGMA Songwriter of the Year awards (2016, 2017, 2023). He also received three SPBGMA Song of the Year awards (2006, 2018, 2019).
Over the years, Daryl has made numerous appearances on the Grand Ole Opry and the stage at the famed Bluebird Café in Nashville. Many television shows feature his songs. And here’s a fun fact: Daryl has sung the National Anthem at many sporting events, including the 1998 White Sox/Indians baseball game in Chicago.
Throughout the 1990s, Daryl traveled with The New Tradition. He joined the Osborne Brothers in 2001 and played with them until 2010. He left that group when he formed The Farm Hands. He went solo in 2020, signing with Pinecastle Records. His first solo album, The Secret of Life, was released the same year. His sophomore project, Small Town Dreamer, was released a year later, followed by A Life Well Lived in 2023.
Daryl’s newest project is one he is quite proud of. Long Days & Short Stories was released on October 4, 2024. Daryl produced the album with Danny Roberts of The Grascals. With eleven tracks spanning bluegrass, Gospel, Americana, and country genres, Long Days & Short Nights features Daryl’s distinctive voice and showcases his songwriting talents while highlighting the values that have shaped his life and careerfaith, family, honesty, and humility.
He learned those values growing up in Waverly, Tennessee, where he still lives today. “Music was always a focus in my life,” he says. “My mother, along with Don Williams and Elvis, was the biggest musical influence on my life. She had a Gibson guitar she learned to play on as a teen. When I was growing up, she played guitar and piano at church, and I sang with her. That was my musical foundation. My dad listened to a local AM country radio station, so my songs are a hybrid of what I heard while growing up.” At the age of 15, Daryl went to work at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch, which featured a pool, horseback riding, and a campfire show at night. “They hired me as one of the entertainers, and that’s where I learned to talk to an audience, how to pace a show, and how to make a set list.”
He sang in his high school choir, where many of the songs were in Latin. “I learned that you can’t sing in Latin and sound like Willie Nelson.” Daryl never learned to read music, which led him to major in history at Austin Peay State University. “I liked history, but I was miserable because I was so focused on wanting to pursue music.” When he finally began touring as a professional musician, Daryl could see many historic places, thus satisfying two of his passions.
As fate would have it, he has three children, none of which are musical. “They are athletes and focused on other things – and my daughter graduated with a degree in history.”
His love of history came full circle with a song from his new album released as a single. “Me and Mr. Howard” is a lively bluegrass tune that tells the fascinating story of the outlaw Jesse James and his wife, Zee. James settled in Daryl’s hometown of Waverly under the alias of Mr. J.D. Howard. “The James Gang came to Tennessee in 1877, and Jesse James moved to my hometown where he and Zee were treated like local celebrities. They lived life there as law-abiding citizens and went to church each Sunday. After having stillborn twins, they left suddenly one night, never to be heard from again.”
The album was recorded at Gorilla’s Nest in Royse City, Texas. “Chris Latham, a GRAMMY award-winning engineer, worked on the album with us. He made it all very comfortable.” Jeff and Sheri Easter joined Daryl on the inspirational Gospel tune “When I Can’t Reach Up,” co-written with Rick Lang. “We write quite a bit together.” Daryl wrote all the other songs on the album. The high-energy Gospel song “Still the Solid Rock” features The New Tradition. “It was our first time together in 25 years.”
Daryl says his writing process usually involves driving. “I write a lot on the road. I try to remember the songs I used to know. I’ll do a guitar and vocal demo and put it in a file for later.” He has plenty of time to write, as he averages about 150 shows a year. “I usually travel about 5,000 miles a month.” He says that the subject matter of his songs is primarily rooted in his small-town experiences.
“I wrote the song ‘Forever After All’ after seeing that on a sign. “I’ve learned to be aware of low-hanging fruit – that’s a gift in itself.”
by Susan Marquez
It was an exciting night for Alan Munde when he stood in front of a packed crowd in the Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh, North Carolina. He was being celebrated for his induction into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame, along with fellow inductees Katy Daley and Jerry Douglass, during the 35th annual music awards at the 2024 IBMA World of Bluegrass.
Friends and fans surrounded Munde as he thanked “my people, my people” during his acceptance speech. “It’s an honor to be a part of such a distinguished group of all my heroes.”
Munde was born in 1946 in Norman, Oklahoma, not exactly a hotbed of bluegrass music. “Our family had a record player, and my parents had some 78 records, probably my mother’s doing,” said Munde. “My dad was a fan of the accordion and encouraged my oldest brother, Mike, and my younger sister, Gail, to play. They both took lessons, and afterward, she’d show me what she learned, and I’d try my hand at it. I’m not sure my parents ever noticed she took the lessons, but I also learned to play. So, the accordion was actually my first instrument. Sorry.”
Munde’s brother Mike came home from the navy and brought Munde a guitar and a record on how to play it. “It was Pete Seeger’s Folk Singers Guitar Guide. Mike went off to college, and I took up the guitar.”
Munde sought out a music store near his home within walking distance of his house. Mike Richie’s Guitar Center became the center of Munde’s life for the rest of his teen years and throughout college. “I wanted to play the banjo, and my neighborhood playmate, Gary McNabb, gave me for Christmas the Flatt and Scruggs Foggy Mountain banjo record. That was it for me, as I’m sure it was for a lot of folks.”
Munde met Byron Burline at the record store, who had already recorded with the Dillards. “His dad, Lou Berline, had been to the Newport Folk Festival, where he met and played with Bill Monroe, Bill Keith, Tex Logan, and others. The Berlines became a big part of my life in many ways musical.” Byron Berline and Munde played together while they both attended the University of Oklahoma. “We went to fiddle contests together, listened to the Kentucky Colonels tapes, the Bill Monroe tapes with Bill Keith on banjo, and eventually, we played together in Country Gazette and the Burrito Brothers. He introduced me to my banjo mentor, Eddie Shelton.”
Munde also met Ralph Thomas at the record store. “I went to my first and second Bill Monroe bluegrass festivals in Beanblossom, Indiana, with Ralph and his family.” It was at those festivals that Munde met banjo pickers Butch Robbins, Dick Smith, Larr Marshall, Rick Ryman, Al Osteen, and others. While still in college, Munde attended the Arkansas Folk Festival in Mountain View, Arkansas, where he met Courtney Johnson and a group of bluegrass pickers from Kentucky. Courtney returned to Bowling Green and told his picking buddies Wayne Stuart and Sam Bush that he had run into a banjo player from Oklahoma who played in a newfangled melodic style. “I was probably trying to play “Durang’s Hornpipe” or was inspired by Byron’s playing in all the fiddle contests.”
Stuart drove to Oklahoma from Kentucky to visit with Munde, who was in his last year of college. “He had big plans and a passion about a group with himself, me, and Sam Bush to be called Poor Richard’s Almanac. That excited me, and we eventually made plans to
meet up at a fiddle contest in Salisbury, Missouri, near Kansas City. I rode to the fiddle contest with Byron’s dad.” Munde spent the weekend with Wayne and Sam. As soon as I graduated in 1969, I headed to Hopkinsville, Kentucky, to connect with Wayne and Sam, who were still in high school.”
Munde recalled visiting Lexington with Wayne Stewart to see JD Crowe and the Kentucky Mountain Boys. “The band was JD, Doyle Lawson, Red Allen, and Bobby Sloan. What an evening. I even got up and picked a couple of tunes with the band. Munde jokes, “I sometimes wonder whatever happened to those guys.”
He wasn’t in Kentucky long before he got a draft notice and had to return home. Before leaving, Munde recorded “a bunch of tunes” with Stewart and Bush, officially released on the American Heritage label as Poor Richard’s Almanac. The Army turned Munde down, and he spent the summer in Norman working and saving his money. While there, he recorded with a local guitar artist, Harley Wilcox, and his group, The Oakies, which included Carl and Bob Warren, who owned the other local music store. “Harley had a hit record with a tune called ‘Groovy Gloworm,’” said Munde. “You can find it on YouTube. It won a BMI award for the best instrumental in 1969. When it came out as a single, I was on the B side with a song called ‘Moose Trot.’”
Munde joined the Warrens and Wilcox on a trip to the DJ convention in Nashville. “I contacted Wayne and Sam, and we planned to meet at the Noel Hotel, where there was a weekend-long jam on the third floor arranged by Tut Taylor. We picked all weekend with Vassar Clements, which was pretty cool for a kid.” While there, Munde ran into Al Osteen, who was playing banjo with Jim and Jesse. “He told me that Chris Warner was leaving Jim and Jesse and said if I would be interested in the job, he would introduce me to Jim, who was coming the next night.” Doyle Lawson was in the band at the time, and he remembered Munde sitting with JD’s band in Lexington. “He put in a good word for me, and I got the job.”
That was the start of Munde’s long and illustrious career, one he credits to the people he has met. “The bluegrass community is a village of connections. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this wonderful village.”
by Kara Martinez Bachman
When an event has been around for a long time, it becomes so entrenched in local culture that people couldn’t imagine it not being a part of life. After 78 years, no doubt that is what happened with the Ozark Folk Festival. For the people of Eureka Springs, it’s a yearly music event they plan for, count on, and consider a vital part of local culture.
“It’s the largest continuously running folk fest in the U.S.,” explained festival coordinator Nancy Paddock. “The whole town is always involved with it. It’s a tradition in Eureka Springs.”
This quaint city in northern Arkansas, known for its unique architecture and colorful history, becomes an even more attractive destination when folk performers descend upon it for one weekend each fall. For 2025, the Ozark Folk Festival is set to happen September 5, 6 and 7; now is a good time to mark calendars and make lodging reservations in advance.
While the lineup for the upcoming year isn’t usually announced until late winter/early spring at the earliest, Paddock says, “We’re looking at acts already for 2025, and we’ve got an idea.” Those marking their calendars might want to look at the 2024 festival lineup to get an idea of the types of performers the fest generally books. The website is available at Ozarkfolk.com, which is also the source of tickets for any ticketed concert. Paddock said it’s also a good idea to follow the Facebook page to get updates as things evolve.
When Paddock speaks of all this, it’s easy to sense her love for this event. She explained that it was created to bring tourists to town and still serves that purpose today. While the essence of the festival’s purpose remains the same, the offerings have evolved over the years. A most recent addition just happened in 2024.
“We had workshops last year that we’re bringing back for 2025,” Paddock said. The workshops focused on musicianship in areas such as guitar or folk percussion.
Paddock explained that the fest is a nonprofit organization financed and managed by the City of Eureka Springs’s City Advertising and Promotion Commission (CAPC).
The lineup’s goal is to present the music of the mountains and to celebrate the music rising from the people and landscapes of what is often considered one of the country’s most unique and nature-inspired places.
“We try to focus on local Ozark musicians,” Paddock said. Examples might be the Springfield, Missouri-based Ozark Mountain Daredevils or upright bassist, singer and songwriter Melissa Carper. She added that while the scene includes all types of folk music, bluegrass is certainly a part of that, and there’s a burgeoning group of youngsters
making bluegrass music now in Eureka Springs.
Toe-tapping, dancing, and active listening take place in two spaces: Basin Spring Park, where music is presented for free, and the Historic Auditorium, where music lovers can take in additional ticketed performances.
In addition to the basic features you’d expect to find at most folk fests—including a songwriting competition and arts and crafts “Ozark Folk Fair”—attendees are also treated to a unique, longstanding tradition.
“The Barefoot Ball has been going on since the 1950s,” Paddock explained, of the yearly concert encouraging barefoot dancing on the original wooden floor in the Historic Auditorium basement. Paddock said she loves that event, but for her, affection for the fest is non-specific.
“It’s always just …the music. I love the music,” Paddock said, summarizing why she devoted herself to such a worthy cause for Eureka Springs. “There’s lots of pickin’ and grinnin’ going on.”
by Brent Davis
Pisgah Banjo Company not only takes its name from a national forest in Appalachia growing in and around its base near Asheville, N.C. Unlike other banjo makers, instead of exotic hardwoods such as ebony. In nearly 12 years, it has become
“I pretty much found very early on that people didn’t necessarily care about of Pisgah Banjos. “They cared about the sustainability aspect. And so that’s local can we source parts? How local can we source hardwoods?
If Sawyer’s approach to banjo building is unorthodox, so has been his journey. major at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., which is close to where
“I took an intro to Appalachian Studies class as an elective, and we focused recalls. “I was like, ‘What am I doing with myself? You know, there’s this time had a banjo, and I started picking around on it just a little bit. I was like,
Appalachia but also sources the wood for its instruments from the trees makers, it uses native woods, including persimmon, cherry, and maple, become the largest supplier of boutique open-back banjos in the nation.
about an ebony fingerboard,” says luthier Patrick David Sawyer, the owner that’s what I went with. That’s what my schooling was focusing on. How
journey. He began college as a classical and jazz trombone performance where he grew up.
focused on music for a couple of weeks, and I was just blown away,” Sawyer whole other world of music.’ Interestingly enough, my roommate at the like, ‘This is fascinating. This is amazing.’”
Sawyer built his first banjo in 2005 during his sophomore year in college. He’d had some experience in a wood shop with his dad, who was an amateur woodworker.
“And I was probably more interested in building banjos at the time than my studies. I took independent study classes in the woodworking department just so I could have access to the shop. And so that’s kind of how it started. I ended up being a geography major and having a minor in renewable energy. My idea was I could be a planner for a sustainable community. I always had sustainability in mind. It was just a marriage of my interest in sustainability and my interest in working with my hands and woodworking.”
After graduating in 2008, Sawyer spent six months as a student host at the John C. Campbell Folk School and then hiked the Appalachian Trail. After working as a solar technician for several years, he started Pisgah Banjo in 2012. The company has nine employees and makes a little over 500 instruments a year.
“We’re focusing on the mid-to-high-end range instruments in terms of what we offer,” Sawyer explains. “We have 11 or 12 models, but we can customize them pretty much any way you want to. And we also have a design tool on our website. You can click and basically build a banjo from scratch, and it automatically shoots out a quote. You can build it as fancy or as inexpensively, barebones as possible. So our prices range from about $1,500 all the way up to--if you get the custom features and pull out all the stops-currently, it’s like $3,000.”
Every small business owner faces setbacks, but like many people in the path of Hurricane Helene, Sawyer has had to deal with unanticipated and unprecedented challenges.
“We were able to get back up and running pretty quickly after the storm,” Sawyer said during an interview a little more than a month after Helen ravaged parts of North Carolina and the Southeast. “We were one of the few businesses to actually offer work back to employees. Because we have a well, we’re not reliant on city water. But a lot of our employees still don’t have their basic needs met. And so we’re not back to our capacity because of that. We still have employees that have to go somewhere else, like a FEMA site, to take a shower or wash their clothes because there’s just too much silt in the water.
“It’s kind of hard to go back to work when your neighbors and your friends and other businesses have nothing to go back to. So we’re doing whatever we can to help other folks. So, the whole event was very jarring.”
Sawyer’s love for North Carolina and the Asheville area is evident as he talks about the natural resources and the vibrant sense of community there. So it’s no surprise he named his banjo company after one of the local landmarks.
“We’re adjacent to Pisgah National Forest. So, I wanted to name it after the forest because we use native Appalachian hardwoods and because of my love of hiking. I love hiking in Pisgah. I grew up hiking in Pisgah. I grew up an hour from here. I go to Pisgah National Forest all the time and hike around. So, it just checked a lot of boxes. It made a lot of sense.”
Western Chill not only perfectly describes Robert Earl Keen’s personality, but it’s also the title of the album he wrote, recorded, and produced with his band members in 2023. More than an album, the boxed set includes an illustrated songbook and a DVD. Delaying the digital release helped keep Western Chill at the forefront for most of 2024. It’s the kind of project Keen expected to do when he retired. Instead, it re-energized and reconnected him to his singer/songwriter roots.
“That project was born out of Covid,” Keen says. “We stayed together as a band throughout the pandemic and rehearsed on my ranch, away from everybody. I wrote Western Chill under the stars – five songs in one night, and other band members brought in their songs. We rehearsed them as a band until they felt really good.”
Not long off an ambitious Christmas show tour, Keen is pleased with his most recent holiday-themed production. “We have done fourteen years of Christmas shows, and often we create a theme. One year, it was ‘Out of this World Christmas,’ and we played songs like ‘Space Odyssey’ by David Bowie and ‘Up, Up, and Away” by the 5th Dimension. We did a ‘Country Gold’ themed show one year with songs by Lefty Frizzell and Tammy Wynette.”
The most recent theme was “Lights. Camera, Christmas!” and featured famous movie songs. “They weren’t all from Christmas movies, either. There were plenty of songs from popular movies. The band picked some of the songs, and it got everyone in the spirit of Christmas. People had a good time listening to the kind of songs you can sing along with.”
The show was pure Robert Earl Keen kitschy, quirky, and fun – all the things people have come to experience when they attend one of his shows. “It reminds me of a dysfunctional family Christmas, which is my version of Christmas,” he laughs. “I grew up with crazy Christmases, and now we put a lot into these Christmas shows, from building sets to extra lighting. So when it’s all over, I like to take it easy as much as possible.”
Keen was joined on the Christmas tour by Elizabeth Cook and Wayne Payne. “Elizabeth has been a pal for several years. She is one of the most entertaining people I know. A lot of people can sing well, but it’s rare to find great entertainers. For Elizabeth, it’s something that comes naturally. She was born with it in spades. Waylon Payne is the same way, and he’s been a friend for a long time. He was born into music – his father was Jody Payne, Willie Nelson’s guitarist, and his mama was Sammi Smith, who sang ‘Help Me Make It Through the Night.’ He’s every bit as good a singer as his mama was, and he has written many hits for other artists. Both Elizabeth and Waylon bring a lot of joy to the stage.”
Keen writes much about Texas, his home state because that’s what he knows best. His lyrics often begin with poems, a practice he started during recovery in 2023. A morning gratitude list turned into poems, which lent themselves to song lyrics.
A native of Houston, Keen attended Texas A&M University in College Station, graduating in 1978 with a degree in English. During college, he roomed with Lyle Lovett,
by Susan Marquez
an aspiring musician. Keen began writing songs and playing bluegrass music with friends, including Bryan Duckworth, who became a long-time fiddle player in Keen’s band.
Keen’s 1984 debut album, No Kinda Dancer, was the first of twenty full-length albums. He always knew that he wanted to share his music with the world, starting with songwriting. Many of his songs have been covered by artists, including Lovett, The Highwaymen, Joe Ely, George Straight, and Nanci Griffith.
When Americana was recognized as an official music genre in the late 1990s, Keen was the first artist featured on the Americana Music Chart. Along with producer Clara Rose, Keen launched the Americana Podcast in 2019, with guests including Jim Lauderdale, Billy Bob Thornton, Paul Thorn, Billy Strings, Lori McKenna, I’m With Her, Drew Holcomb, and more - 138 episodes that aired through October 27, 2023.
Despite his announcement to retire a while back, Robert Earl Keen is still going strong with his longtime touring band, including Brian Beken, Kym Warner, Bill Whitbeck, and Tom Van Shaik. Western Chill was a genuine team effort, with everyone contributing to the songwriting and lead vocals of the laid-back album. “It was a great bonding experience for us,” Keen says.
Now, the band is working on a bluegrass record that borrows from other genres. “We’re going to do some well-known bluegrass songs, but there will be a few surprises.” The album is set to be released in the spring.
According to Sociograss, the toe-tapping music of the group’s home region of Scotland might feel somehow familiar to fans of American roots music … and vice versa. While having distinctive backgrounds, histories and stylistic features, both Indigenous music approaches were born in similar environments.
“The bluegrass community and the Scots/Irish trad community have a lot of cultural commonalities,” explained Sociograss fiddler and vocalist Ben Errington. “The pub jam session is a huge part of it, and people here respond really well to music on both sides of that, as there’s a shared energy and a shared theme in the storytelling within the lyrics.”
“The folk music world in the broad is a really inclusive part of the musical landscape, and so I think that accessibility is really valued in both bluegrass and trad,” he explained.
Self-described as a “rough and rowdy Americana collective,” Sociograss originally consisted of members of several other groups who came together as one.
Errington explained how location might influence the group’s vibe. He said he hopes the band “embodies the spirit and feeling” of the Leith area of Edinburgh, where Sociograss first started playing together.“Leith’s a fantastic area, super diverse, culturally rich, and a lot of fun to be in,” he said, adding that it has an unmistakably strong identity. “I hope that there’s something in that narrative that runs through our band and our story, too,” he added.
Errington said even though the regional music scene feels sonically similar to Appalachian folk styles, the kind of music Sociograss plays isn’t all that common. Interest is growing, but it wasn’t as strong years ago. “In building this band, we’ve not had all that many local bands to look to for guidance on the genre-scape that we occupy,” he explained.
That being said, Errington feels the Americana influence is catching on in his neck of the woods. Sociograss does its part to spread its passion; it runs a weekly open jam session at a local pub in Leith (Bowlers Rest), which he said focuses on “bluegrass, old-time, early country, and American roots music.”
Sociograss strives to be fluid and open, leaving space for things that might not perfectly fit the expected bluegrass formula. “We draw influence from a lot of adjacent genres, and we always strive to achieve a sound that’s a little different,” he said. “We’re not a straight-ahead bluegrass band, but bluegrass is our foundation.”
The band’s debut album—“Made It All Up,” released in September 2024— features eight tracks, with an extra bonus track when the whole album is purchased on Bandcamp. “The songs, for the most part, are attempting to say something about us and about our experience here in Edinburgh and across the
by Kara M. Bachman
water in the states, where our guitarist hails from,” he said. “In a big way, it’s an homage to our musical home in Leith, a place that is very dear to us.” It was recorded over just a few days in 2022. Paul Dennington, whom Errington described as a studio “wizard,” produced the record.
The other current members of Sociograss are Tim Leslie (guitar, vocals), Mark Hand (mandolin, vocals), Jimmy Wright (banjo, vocals), Conal McIntosh (double bass, vocals), and Alex Riach (fiddle, vocals). The band’s name is interesting; it’s an obvious play on the word “sociopath.” When they first started, they’d play at a local bar in Leith, the Mousetrap (the first track on the record, “Mousetrap Rag,” is a tribute to that venue). They had to come up with a name on the spot that would be used to book their budding act. After a “drunken brainstorming session,” someone came up with the play on words.
“After that, it just stuck,” Errington said. “But I promise we’re not a band full of sociopaths!”
He started making music at age three or four. Errington’s mother was a piano teacher; he credits her with helping him grow. He started out on a Suzuki violin, and by age seven or eight, the youngster was already busking on the streets of Edinburgh while his father supervised nearby. As he grew, he immersed himself more and more, playing with local bands and at festivals.
“So many young people give up on their hobbies, be it a musical instrument or dancing or whatever it is, when they get to their teenage years,” he said, adding that this is especially true “with instruments like violin, that maybe aren’t as cool as an electric guitar or a set of DJ decks.” He’s glad he stuck with the fiddle. “It’s now been 25 years that I’ve been playing,” he said, “and it’s such an evocative and versatile instrument that I can’t imagine ever giving it up.”
by Susan Marquez
Rob McCoury and his older-by-four-years brother, Ronnie, grew up in the music world. Their father is Del McCoury, who has big shoes to fill -- Del is the most awarded artist in bluegrass, garnering nine IBMA Entertainer of the Year awards. He is also a National Heritage Fellow and received a lifetime achievement award from the National Endowment for the Arts. He became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 2003 and was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2011.
Under no pressure, Rob and Ronnie grew up on stage, and it was as natural as anything else they might spend time doing with their dad. Ronnie got his start in music in elementary school by playing the violin. He was 13 when he first saw Bill Monroe perform. He decided to try the mandolin, but Del made him practice for six months before joining his band on stage.
Rob’s entry into Del’s band came later. “My dad’s brother Jerry was a great bass player. He left his bass at our house and I had been thumping around on it to records. One day, my dad was leaving to play at a weekend festival in Bath, New York, and his bass player didn’t show. We didn’t have cell phones then, and my dad waited as long as he could before leaving so he could make the gig that night. He had gotten hold of Ernie Sykes, who said he could play the next two nights, but Dad needed someone that night. He told me to go to my closet and grab a suit and the bass. I got on the bus and played my first show that night. I was familiar with my dad’s material enough to fake it. I ended up staying on bass with the band for about a year before switching to banjo.”
Rob says that playing with seasoned professionals helped. “The guys my dad had in the band were so kind, helpful, and supportive. It was a great environment for a kid. They never got mad at us if we messed up. They just took the time to show us how to do it right.”
Ronnie and Rob still play in the Del McCoury Band, but they also have a side project that has gained a lot of notice. Since its founding in 2008, The Travelin’ McCourys has honored its traditional bluegrass upbringing while exploring innovative new sounds. They recorded their first album, Pick, in 2012 with Keller Williams. The band’s self-titled album won a GRAMMY for Best Bluegrass Album in 2018. Ronnie says that if you put your mind, skills, and ability into it, you can make almost anything work on bluegrass instruments. “That’s a really fun part of this – figuring the new stuff out and surprising the audience.”
An example of that is their version of the Adele song, “Someone Like You,” featuring Sierra Ferrell. Rob says the recording happened in a roundabout way. “Sierra is friends with The Davidson Brothers from West Virginia, who we got to know during the pandemic. We were with Lukas Nelson at Delfest, and we were in a rehearsal room at BMI when someone asked why we were in town. We told them we were there for Delfest, and he thought we said “Adele Fest,” which we thought was funny. Then we started
playing around with some Adele songs, and we sang Adele’s “Someone Like You” at Delfest, and Sierra jumped in to sing it. Two weeks later, we were in the studio cutting the song with her.”
The Travelin’ McCourys also pay a bluegrass tribute to the Grateful Dead with their Grateful Ball, which began as a one-off performance in 2016 at a brewery in St. Louis with the Jeff Austin Band. It was so popular that the bands toured together, each playing a set and then joining together to play bluegrass arrangements of Grateful Dead songs. They have since played Grateful Dead music with other artists on more Grateful Ball tours.
The band has a full lineup of seasoned musicians, including fiddler Jason Carter and bassist Alan Bartram, who also plays with the Del McCoury Band. Cody Kilby rounds out The Travelin’ McCourys on guitar. Every member of the ensemble has been recognized with an IBMA award for their instrument at least once. The band was recognized last fall at the 2024 IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards as the Instrumental Group of the Year, and the Del McCoury Band was named Entertainer of the Year.
By Candace Nelson
Appalachia is known for its rich cultural heritage, including traditional cuisine, farmAppalachian restaurants that have earned James Beard awards represent the region’s vibrant culinary heritage, blending tradition with innovation. These establishments showcase the diversity of Appalachian cuisine, from hearty comfort foods like those at Jim’s Steak & Spaghetti House in West Virginia to refined farm-to-table experiences such as The Barn at Blackberry Farm in Tennessee. Recognized for excellence in categories like hospitality, service, and America’s Classics, these restaurants embody the region’s community-driven ethos and deep culinary roots. Each winner highlights a unique slice of Appalachia’s food story, honoring local ingredients, historic recipes, and a commitment to quality.
Outstanding Restaurant Asheville, North Carolina 2022
Chai Pani is renowned for its “mind-blasting” Indian street food and features chaat, which is “crunchy, spicy, sweet, tangy, brightly flavored Indian street snacks,” according to its website. The restaurant emphasizes bold flavors and affordable pricing, serving as a pioneer in changing perceptions of Indian cuisine in the U.S.
More information:
Website: chaipaniasheville.com
Location: 22 Battery Park Ave, Asheville, NC 28801
Outstanding Hospitality
Asheville, North Carolina 2022
Cúrate specializes in authentic Spanish cuisine, offering a warm dining experience featuring traditional tapas, paellas, and Spanish wines. Katie Button and Felix Meana and family built Cúrate on its Spanish meaning – ‘heal yourself.’ They believe that discovering new flavors can unite people in a delicious moment of wonder and joy that cures the soul,” according to the website.
More information:
Website: curatetapasbar.com
Location: 13 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC 28801
America’s Classics
Huntington, West Virginia 2019
A West Virginia institution since 1938, Jim’s is known for its homestyle spaghetti and steak dishes. Its retro diner ambiance and welcoming atmosphere make it a beloved staple in the community, earning it an “America’s Classics” award, focusing on family-owned restaurants that have been operating for at least a decade.
More information:
Website: jimssteakandspaghetti.comLocation: 920 5th Ave, Huntington, WV 25701
America’s Classics Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 2007
Since it was founded in 1933, Primanti’s has become a cultural icon of Pittsburgh. Famous for its iconic sandwiches stacked with meat, coleslaw, and fries, Primanti Brothers offers a taste of Pittsburgh’s history and casual dining excellence. More information:Website: primantibros.comLocation: 46 18th St, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Outstanding Service (2015)
Outstanding Wine Program (2014) Walland, Tennessee
A luxurious dining destination, The Barn offers elevated farm-to-table cuisine paired with an award-winning wine selection, all set within a picturesque Tennessee estate. “Housed in a turn-of-the-century bank-style barn located in the center of our Farmstead, the James Beard Award-winning restaurant offers multi-course menus rooted in our Appalachian ingredients from around the region as well as farm products harvested just a few feet from the front door,” the website states.
More information:
Website: blackberryfarm.comLocation: 1471 W Millers Cove Rd, Walland, TN 37886
Outstanding Restaurant Birmingham, Alabama 2018
A pioneer of Southern fine dining, Highlands Bar & Grill featured refined seasonal dishes
inspired by regional ingredients, with a focus on warm, attentive service. Their daily-changing menu, rooted in classic French technique, offered the best from each harvest. Cooler weather brought game venison and quail, root vegetables and greens, the first springtime shad roe and the blue-green, live and kickin’ soft shell crabs arriving a few weeks later, followed by summer’s shell beans, tomatoes and okra. Until the COVID pandemic, the restaurant’s regional heritage ingredients and gracious service had endured since its opening in 1982. It is rumored the restaurant will reopen one day. We hope so.
More information:
Website: highlandsbarandgrill.com (still up)
Location: 2011 11th Ave S, Birmingham, AL 35205
America’s Classics
Bessemer, Alabama 2010
Operating since 1907, The Bright Star is the oldest family-owned restaurant in Alabama. It offers a blend of Greek-inspired and Southern comfort cuisine, making it a landmark for both locals and visitors. Signature dishes include seafood gumbo, Greek-style snapper, and mouthwatering steaks. More information:Website: thebrightstar.comLocation: 304 19th St N, Bessemer, AL 35020
America’s Classics
Oneonta, New York 2016
Brooks’ House of Bar-B-Q, located in Oneonta, New York, is a legendary familyrun barbecue restaurant that has been serving customers since 1951. Known for its signature chicken, slow cooked over
charcoal pits, and a tangy, homemade barbecue sauce, Brooks’ has become a regional favorite and a destination for lovers of classic barbecue. The restaurant also features a catering service and a gift shop, enhancing its reputation as a must-visit for hearty, delicious meals steeped in tradition. More information:Website: brooksbbq.comLocation: 5560 NY-7, Oneonta, NY 13820
Ithaca, New York 2000
Moosewood, located in Ithaca, New York, is an iconic vegetarian restaurant that has been delighting diners since 1973. Renowned for its fresh, globally inspired dishes, the restaurant is celebrated for its commitment to sustainability and locally sourced ingredients. Moosewood has also gained fame through its influential cookbooks, which have inspired home cooks around the world to explore creative vegetarian cuisine. With a welcoming atmosphere and a menu that constantly evolves, Moosewood remains a pioneering force in plant-based dining.
More information: Website: moosewoodcooks.comLocation: 215 N Cayuga St, Ithaca, NY 14850
