John Lawless

Roanoke

Online Editor at Bluegrass Today

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Articles

Plenty Ventured from Chris Jones & The Night Drivers

1 week ago | bluegrasstoday.com | John Lawless

Mountain Home Music has a new single on offer this month from Chris Jones & The Night Drivers, a clever song Chris has written called Plenty Ventured. He has fun with a line we’ve all heard, and most of us have probably used, pressed into a lonesome-sounding grasser. Or as Chris puts it…“This twist on the old proverb, ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained,’ popped into my head pretty much out of the blue.
Randy Jones passes

1 week ago | bluegrasstoday.com | John Lawless

Randy Jones with Lonesome River Band at MerleFest (5/4/14) – photo © Judith BurnetteRandy Jones, noted bluegrass mandolinist and singer, died on April 9 at his home in Stearns, KY. He was 58 years of age, and passed after a battle with cancer. He was involved with bluegrass most of his life, starting at only five years old.
Wayne Lanham to The Country Gentlemen Show

1 week ago | bluegrasstoday.com | John Lawless

The Country Gentlemen Show, formerly known as The Country Gentlemen Tribute Band, has announced the addition of Wayne Lanham to the group on mandolin. He steps in to the spot recently vacated by founding member Dave Propst, who is retiring in order to stay closer to home. Wayne has been a fixture in the bluegrass scene in his native northern Virginia most of his life.
Time Adds Up (If You're Lucky) from Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers

1 week ago | bluegrasstoday.com | John Lawless

Hot on the heels of their recent bluegrass gospel album, Thankful & Blessed, Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers have dropped their first secular bluegrass single in two years with Time Adds Up (If You’re Lucky). It’s a song about something we see more and more as we age, how time seems to just fly right by. Mullins explained how the song came his way, and why its meaning hits so hard for him these days. “I’m rarely satisfied with the status quo. And I love roots music that is bona fide.
Curt Chapman leaving Wildfire, retiring from touring

1 week ago | bluegrasstoday.com | John Lawless

Bluegrass bass players are dropping like flies!Curt Chapman has told us that he will be leaving Wildfire, a band he founded with Robert Hale two decades ago, and giving up the touring side of the bluegrass music business. Over a long career, which started when he was just 13 years old, playing bass with Cousin Wilbur in Nashville, Chapman has been part of a number of important and influential groups.
The River Knows drops for The Steeldrivers

1 week ago | bluegrasstoday.com | John Lawless

Sun Records has a second single from The Steeldrivers today, The River Knows, a new murder ballad from the pen of founding member, fiddler and vocalist Tammy Rogers. The River Knows tells a story of abuse and retribution, but unlike the old time killing songs where the culprit is known, this one leaves us with an air of mystery and uncertainty. We know the original abuser is dead, but by whose hand? Rogers says that she is grateful for her co-writers who really fleshed this story out.
Laci Mack signs on with Little Sugar Creek Farm

1 week ago | bluegrasstoday.com | John Lawless

Bluegrass photographer Laci Mack has been one of favorites for several years. Not only does she do a wonderful job documenting live performances, both indoors and out, but she is a delight to work with and turns in beautiful images without fail. That’s a big part of the reason why she is in high demand for band photos and album covers as well. Laci was nominated last year for the very first IBMA Photographer of the Year award, which we are certain she will win many times in the future.
Three Seasons from The Henhouse Prowlers

2 weeks ago | bluegrasstoday.com | John Lawless

For their first new single of 2025 for Dark Shadow Recording, The Henhouse Prowlers have chosen one written by their guitarist, Chris Dollar, about the passing of the years. Titled Three Seasons, the song serves up a metaphor for our life as it relates to the cycle of the seasons. Dollar says that it occurred to him that each 12 month period sees the whole sequence of life, death, and rebirth played out.
Surprise live album from Billy Strings & Bryan Sutton

2 weeks ago | bluegrasstoday.com | John Lawless

Billy Strings and Bryan Sutton – photo © Joshua Black WilkinsWith literally no warning, Billy Strings has released a surprise live album recorded last year in Nashville with fellow flatpicking monster, Bryan Sutton. It’s plainly titled Live at the Legion, for the fact that it was tracked at American Legion Post 82 in the Inglewood section of town on April 7, 2024. Post 82 has long supported bluegrass music, and uses funds raised from live music to support their mission to assist area veterans.
CBA Father's Day Festival to celebrate 50 years!

2 weeks ago | bluegrasstoday.com | John Lawless

When several interested bluegrass lovers near San Francisco, CA started discussions in 1974 about founding a non-profit organization to promote the music in their state, I’m sure they hoped for big things. But one doubts that they could have imagined the immense growth and reach of what became the California Bluegrass Association, or the impact it has had on west coast bluegrass fans and artists.