Originally conceived as a passion project" by producer Mike Raspatello, the Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival would prove to be the next great landmark in Chicago music culture. Drawing a crowd of ...

Live music has been gone for what seems like forever, and it may stay gone until who knows when. But the pandemic hasn’t stopped the flow of the recorded variety, and there’s been plenty of new music ...

I used to spend lots of my time at bluegrass festivals in the 1970s. These events were usually held on meadows in the forests of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Western Maryland. A few were ...

Bill Monroe didn’t invent bluegrass music, but he refined it and is the person most often referred to as the “Father of Bluegrass.” The classic instrumentation includes upright bass, banjo, fiddle, ...

Bluegrass music has roots in American and European folk songs. Like folk music, the genre has certain pieces considered bluegrass standards, which have been adapted more times than anyone could ...

Mike Post has written the music for more classic TV series than anyone else: “The Rockford Files,” “Hill Street Blues,” “The Greatest American Hero,” “Magnum, P.I.,” “The A-Team,” “L.A. Law,” “NYPD ...

The Don Gibson Theatre’s kicking off its 11th year with new shows announced through March. It’s an eclectic mix of music genres, from bluegrass star Rhonda Vincent to blues and Americana artist Paul ...

Most of the songs on Gail Ceasar’s debut album fit its title, “Guitar Woman Blues.” But alongside such blues standards as “Sweet Home Chicago” is a version of “Rocky Top,” a tune usually performed by ...

Monroe Crossing, the busy, well-traveled Minnesota-based bluegrass band, is celebrating its 10th anniversary year and its 10th CD release, "Heart Ache & Stone," with ...

Reno and Lake Tahoe have been a magnet for country music acts for decades, and the lineup of big-name performers and up-and-coming artists continues in that tradition to kick off the New Year. From ...

We need to be upfront with you. The Reader is free. Producing it isn’t. And without your support, we can't continue. So we need you to chip in, even if it’s just a few bucks. The average donation is ...

We need to be upfront with you. The Reader is free. Producing it isn’t. And without your support, we can't continue. So we need you to chip in, even if it’s just a few bucks. The average donation is ...