If there is a single savior of Celtic music, Alan Stivell is probably it. Since the end of the 1960s, he has done more to revive interest in the Celtic (specifically Breton) harp than anyone in the world and, in the process, almost singlehandedly made the world aware of native Breton Celtic music. Since 1971, he has been recording albums of... [+] Read More

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Buddy Spicher broke into country music in the mid-'50s, when he joined the band backing Audrey Williams (widow of Hank) mid-tour, replacing Dale Potter late in 1957 or early in 1958. He started out in Wheeling, WV, and ended up in Nashville. For the rest of the 1950s and most of the 1960s, the country fiddle virtuoso was on the road, playing in... [+] Read More

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Dobro whiz Mike Auldridge, bassist T. Michael Coleman, and lead vocalist and guitarist Lawrence "Moondi" Klein started Chesapeake to fill in their schedule between gigs with the Seldom Scene. But, when they were joined by mandolinist Jimmy Gaudreau, formerly of the Tony Rice Unit, the result was so successful that they agreed to make it a more... [+] Read More

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Though she did not become a big name in bluegrass music, during the '80s Emma Smith garnered a small but devoted following thanks to her interesting, perceptive songs and powerful mountain voice. Born Emma Lee Maggard in Hindman, Kentucky, she began playing guitar as a youth. She married in her late teens and set up housekeeping in Hazard,... [+] Read More

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Larry Sparks has said that he's the youngest old-timer around, and the self-description is an apt one. Emerging from the Stanley Brothers' Clinch Mountain Boys band, Sparks carried on with the sounds created by bluegrass music's first generation. His style was no knock-off, however; it had a distinctively bluesy tinge anchored by Sparks' own... [+] Read More

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Sam Bush extended the musical capabilities of the mandolin and the fiddle to incorporate a seamless blend of bluegrass, rock, jazz, and reggae. As the founder and leader of the New Grass Revival, Bush pioneered and guided the evolution of modern hill country music. Together with the bluegrass supergroup Strength in Numbers, he pushed the... [+] Read More

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The McPeak Brothers were a popular bluegrass trio from Wytheville, VA, comprised of banjo/guitar player Dewey, bassist/guitarist Larry and guitarist/lead vocalist Mike. Their older brother Udell broke into music first when he joined the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers during the 1950s. In 1963, he, Dewey and Larry formed the first version of the McPeak... [+] Read More

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Formed in the wake of Jerry Garcia's 1995 death and the subsequent dissolution of the Grateful Dead, the Other Ones consisted of ex-Dead guitarist Bob Weir, bassist Phil Lesh, and drummer Mickey Hart along with keyboardist Bruce Hornsby, a longtime satellite member of the group. After headlining the 1998 Furthur Festival, the Other Ones issued... [+] Read More

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The avant-garde banjo sylings of Tony Trischka inspired a whole generation of progressive bluegrass musicians; he was not only considered among the very best pickers, he was also one of the instrument's top teachers, and created numerous instructional books, teaching video tapes and cassettes.

A native of Syracuse, New York,... [+] Read More

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As country music swung back toward traditional styles in the 1980s, an inheritor of the soulful honky tonk style of Lefty Frizzell and Merle Haggard rose to the top of the business and notched hit after barroom hit. Sometimes he was known simply as "The Voice." Born in Woodland, AL, Vern Gosdin idolized the Louvin Brothers and the Blue Sky Boys... [+] Read More

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