Category: Bluegrass
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39 Years on KSON!
KSON’s Bluegrass Special went on the air for the first time on March 7, 1976 from 6-8 PM. The first few programs were aired on KSON-FM 97.3 which at that time was called “Country 97” and honestly had very few listeners. Most country music fans listened to KSON-AM 1240. AM radio was still king 39…
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Robert Earl Keen Records Bluegrassy “Happy Prisoner”
You may or not be familiar with Texan Robert Earl Keen as he has never been a mainstream country or pop artist, preferring instead to stay on the fringes and record his own brand of folk, roots, blues, protest, outlaw, alt-country (Americana) music. And like bluegrass, Americana generally gets marginalized by the major record labels…
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Another Banner Year for Bluegrass Music
Once again I had a tough time choosing the top bluegrass albums of the year. There were simply too many good ones to choose from. But I made my choices, based primarily on what gets played the most on my radio show. So here’s my list of the top 40 albums of 2014. My apologies…
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Christmas Time’s a Comin!
Hey everybody, I’ll be leading bluegrass-style Christmas carols for the San Diego Bluegrass Society at their regular 4th Tuesday of the month event (November 25) which is held at the Boll Weevil Restaurant, 9330 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. in San Diego. I’ll be opening for the Next Generation Bluegrass, the featured band who will perform at…
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Jerry Douglas Talks About the Earls of Leicester
I was in Raleigh, North Carolina a couple weeks ago and heard more bluegrass music in five days than some people hear in a lifetime. I listened to new artist showcases, went to the IBMA Awards Show and caught most of the Wide Open Bluegrass Festival which boasted more than 70 bands on a dozen…
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Gettin’ Ready for Raleigh!
For the past twenty-five years or so I’ve made my annual pilgrimage to the International Bluegrass Music Association’s “World of Bluegrass” trade show which started out in 1988 in Owensboro, Kentucky, then moved to Louisville, then to Nashville, and then last year moved to Raleigh, North Carolina where the whole city became the venue. Attendance…
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Countdown to 2000 Radio Shows
A couple of weeks ago, somebody asked me how long I had been doing my radio show on KSON and I told them 38 years and counting. That was followed by the comment, “Wow, that’s a lot of radio shows! Do you know how many?” And I was stumped. So I got out the calculator…
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Does This Banjo Player Look Familiar to You?
Jeff Palmberg is a pastor in Washington who also likes to draw caricatures. Occasionally he randomly caricature-bombs people just to make them smile. I certainly got a kick out of the one he sent to me. If you would like Jeff to do a custom caricature for you (or someone you know), he has a…
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Johnny Cash: The Life
I just finished reading Johnny Cash: The Life by Robert Hilbum and I must say I hated reaching the book’s end, not just because it ends with Cash’s death but because it was such a terrific read. Hilburn is a wonderful writer (music critic and editor for the Los Angeles Times for over 30 years)…
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Trinity River – Another Great Family Band
I have a special fondness for family bluegrass bands, I suppose because it combines two of my passions — family ministry and bluegrass music. I work with families at my church and do my best to help parents stay connected to their kids so that they can pass on their faith and values, which is…