D’Addario, known for its superior musical strings, has a reputation that dates back literally hundreds of years to a different continent. “The D’Addario roots have been traced as far back as the 1600s in Italy, where family manufactured strings,” says Brian Vance, VP of fretted strings and accessories for D’Addario. D’Addario was founded in 1974 by brothers Jim and John D’Addario in Long Island, New York. "Their grandfather, Charles D’Addario, migrated to the United States in 1905,” says Brian. “He came through Ellis Island and imported strings from Italy and eventually started making strings in New York.” What started as a small family business nearly fifty years ago is now the largest musical instrument accessories manufacturer in the world. It is still a family business, with Jim D’Addario as the lead in product innovation, John D’Addario III serving as CEO, Michael D’Addario overseeing global operations, and John and Michael’s sister, Suzanne D’Addario, who is responsible for the D’Addario Foundation. The company’s mission, clearly published on its website, is to create a digitally inspired global culture that continues to elevate what they make, how they work and foster relationships that consumers, retailers, suppliers, and employees covet. Add to that the vision to be one of the most admired and inspiring global companies through their passion for innovation and spirit of responsibility, and you can get a sense of the kind of company D’Addario strives to be every day. The vision and mission of D’Addario come down to five key values, explains Brian. “The five values are curiosity, passion, candor, family and responsibility. A lot of thought and work went into those words, and it is something the company really honors.” Brian says that Jim is a curious person by nature, and that led to everything from science, technology, and mechanics to the supply chain affecting how things are done at the company. “That approach has carried down to printing our own packaging, designing and manufacturing our own machinery, and drawing our own wire as a way to control quality.” The company’s key initiatives speak to its philosophy. Playback is D’Addario’s string recycling program. “We are trying to work with our customers to recycle their old strings when they buy new ones.” By signing up for a Players Circle account on the D’Addario website, strings can be shipped directly to the company or dropped off at local string recycling centers. Another initiative is centered around the company’s ProMark Drumsticks. Play.Plant.Preserve is a landmark reforestation project where tree seeds are planted for each pair of drumsticks sold. Approximately 85,000 trees are planted annually. Finally, the D’Addario Foundation works to champion positive change in the world through music. “We work to get instruments and accessories into the hands of children and provide a musical education for them, which is often life-changing for some,” says Brian. Over the years, D’Addario has acquired other brands, including ProMark drumsticks and EVANS Drumheads. Rico Reeds, D’Addario Orchestral Strings and Puresound Snare Wire rounds out the company’s offerings. While all genres of musicians use the company’s products, Brian says that bluegrass and Americana are important components of D’Addario’s business. “That community is extremely loyal and supportive.” Brian was widely exposed to bluegrass and acoustic roots music when he first started with D’Addario 22 years ago. “I went to many of the major festivals, including Gray Fox, MerleFest and IBMA. I fell in love with the music and with the artists. Now we send new employees to those same festivals, and it’s rewarding to see them fall in love with it, too.” D'Addario’s artist roster is impressive, with musicians from all genres from around the globe. “We make a great product that works for them,” says Brian. “The product keeps them loyal, and they are appreciative of the brand and what we do for the community. We co-market with them and support them at places like IBMA.” Guitar companies are also partners with D’Addario, including Collings, Bourgeois, Larivee, Beard and many more, including most recently, Taylor Guitars. “Taylor has recently partnered with us,” says Brian. “They are now using our premium XS coat Phosphor Bronze guitar strings exclusively on their guitars.” Brian says that he believes music is both important and influential. “It is important for our future to help sustain it and help it grow. We believe in the power of music. It makes us proud to work for a company that gives back so much.”

When Becca Bisque and Julie Gussaroff met at a music party in Colorado, it was the beginning of what is now a powerhouse string band. “Becca was looking to work with someone who was more expansive and creative,” says Julie. “She had just started writing songs. I was doing singer-songwriter stuff, and she accompanied me on viola.” The two thought it would be cool to have a band. “Finding that kind of musical connection isn’t easy to do. We began using our skills to write and grow together.” And have they ever grown! The Sweet Lillies were founded officially six years ago when Dustin Rohleder joined the group. The band is now comprised of Julie on bass, Becca on vocals, Dustin on guitar, and the band’s newest addition, Jones Maynard, on percussion. “The band Jones was playing with fell apart during Covid, and we were looking for a drummer, so it worked out great for all of us,” says Julie. “Jones is a talented, young and hungry drummer from Atlanta, and we have really enjoyed having him on board.” Luckily, The Sweet Lillies persevered through the Covid pandemic, despite Julie falling ill with the virus early on. “We opened for Sam Bush at the Gothic Theatre. I’ll never forget we played ‘Insane in the Membrane,’ and it was really cool. Then I went down the next day and was sick for the next couple of months with Covid.” Julie was very sick, and her bandmates came in to take care of her. Within weeks gigs began canceling due to the pandemic, which worked out well for The Sweet Lillies, as Julie was too ill to tour. “But we kept rehearsing,” she said. “I would stand up with my bass and rehearse, then go right back to bed. I think we came back stronger because of it.” The Sweet Lillies put out regular videos on YouTube during the pandemic. “That kept us going,” says Julie. She also credits their manager, Erwin Schemankewitz. “He stood by us during the entire pandemic. He was so loyal – he held space for us and just held us. We were without work, but so was he. We truly trust each other, and that relationship will last the rest of our lives.” Becca and Julie came up with the name of the band. “The Sweet Lillies reflects that the band is driven by women,” explains Julie. “We wanted to convey color and beauty, and the fact that two women started and created this project. We asked the men in the band if they are uncomfortable with the name, and they said, ‘Not at all.’ We believe the name is authentic and easy to remember. Plus, it looks lovely on a poster.” Songs by The Sweet Lillies convey the world around them. “The world is a crazy place,” muses Julie. “It seems things are coming to a head.” The band members come from very diverse backgrounds. “I grew up in New York in middle-income housing in Chelsea (before it was gentrified), and my parents were both social justice activists. Dustin grew up on a generational walnut farm. He was the first in his family to leave the farm to pursue his own path. That’s where the song ‘18 Wheels’ comes from.” That single was released in the spring and uses a tractor/trailer driver as a metaphor to tell the story of a man’s journey as a lone wolf in search of his own life. The animated music video of the song features a man walking through a fantastic fantasy world as he searches for what life has to offer. The song is one of twelve songs on their latest album, Equality, released June 2. The album, produced by Chris Pandolfi of the Infamous Stringdusters, has a strong social justice slant. “We believe all people deserve the same treatment and rights,” Julie says. “There is a direct relationship from childhood to the world around me. As a child, I walked out my front door to see homeless people suffering. That left a strong mark.” Chris contributed to the album as well. Like most bands, The Sweet Lillies have evolved over the years. “We went from being a noon set on a Sunday kind of band to a late-night set on Saturday band. We are more of a ragey, party, fun band, and we are an original band, as we do primarily original music. We love the music culture in Colorado, with bands like Leftover Salmon. We have had the opportunity to play with so many great artists, and we love the collaborative nature of the music here.” Julie says in the beginning, they were all strong songwriters with a folk music slant. “We always brought in artists as well, as we had a banjo on just about every song. As we have evolved, we are leaning toward a more heavy-hitting drum sound. And Becca is a powerful rapper with a strong ability to combine spoken word with music. There are actually three rap songs on our new album.” Julie says the band is in the process of writing songs for their fifth album. “We are a full-time four-piece band now.” Keep an eye out for The Sweet Lillies. They are making a strong mark in the music world.

Justin Grizzle fell into the music business naturally. “I married the boss’s eldest daughter,” he laughs. Gold Tone Music Group was founded by Wayne and Robyn Rogers, who still operate the company to this day. Justin serves as General Manager, running the company’s day-to-day business, while Wayne focuses on product development, and Robyn serves as vice president. “She has the final inspection,” says Justin. “She inspects and packs between forty and sixty instruments a day, and her brother, Brian, handles the shipping. We ship out about one thousand instruments a month.” Robyn’s nickname is “Mama Gold Tone.” The family-run company is in Titusville, Florida. Founded in 1993, Gold Tone’s roots go back long before that. “Both Wayne and Robyn were folk musicians,” says Justin. “They opened a shop called Strings & Things Music Center in 1976.” As the company expanded, they realized they could build instruments. In 1993 Robyn and Wayne began building instruments in a shed in their backyard. “What was unique about them is they had a strong retail background, and they knew what musicians wanted when they came in,” explains Justin. “Not many people who came in their store could afford banjos, and there was a lack of parts.” Wayne found ways to reduce the cost of entry-level banjos, making them accessible to more people. They created a quality banjo that players could access at a good price.” The Gold Tone TB-100 travel banjo, with its shorter neck and smaller body, was sold via mail order, and the banjo got a great review in a magazine that opened the doors to stores calling, wanting to sell the banjo. From that backyard shop, Gold Tone has now become a major player in the music industry with several factories overseas. “We design and engineer everything here,” says Justin. “And we still handcraft some instruments here. We do a lot of custom work.” The company also does repair work for musicians around the world. “We have ten guys in our repair shop. They are set up to change hardware, file frets, cut neck angles, and much more. That approach makes us different from a lot of other import companies.” Justin says that all the company’s instrument technicians are gigging musicians. Wayne Rogers always believed that unique instruments open a musician’s ability to create. One of those musicians is Bela Fleck, who Justin says is a perfect spokesperson for the company. “He owns several of our banjos, including the Cello, Baritone and Piccolo. The Bluegrass Heart banjo spawned from our OB-3 Twanger, a pre-war style resonator banjo that is a replica of J.D. Crowe’s original RB-3 Banger. It’s something really unique for the modern banjo player.” The company caters to those who play traditional bluegrass and folkstyle instruments, as well as those who are into what Wayne calls “Folkternative” instruments, many of which are hybrids that combine instruments, including a mandolin-guitar, mandolin-cello, a dojo (five-string dobro style), banjo-bass, resonator bass and more. “They are interesting, real instruments for real musicians,” says Justin. Traditional instruments are still as popular as ever. “Within the last four to five years, with the release of our OB-3 Twanger banjo, we have taken a step into a higher league of players. And now there’s the OB-2 Bowtie, both of which are under the Mastertone name. We are finding ourselves in a new ballgame for expectations of what our instruments can do.” One of the things Justin likes most about the company is that it is a local, family-based company. “We have a cool dynamic here. We are all really easygoing. Our customers enjoy the fact that we are personable and open to hearing new ideas. And when you call our company, we actually answer the phone.” Justin says many of their clients come directly to the store. “When they get here, they are blown away by the number of instruments we have here.” The company is located near the Kennedy Space Center and Orlando, a perfect location for shipping instruments across the country or around the world. There are other related companies under the Gold Tone umbrella. Earth Tone is the manufacturer of real calf skin drumheads. Woodsong is Gold Tone’s acoustic guitar line. Zero Glide is a patented nut for any stringed instrument. Gold Tone is the distributor for Jose Jimenez classic guitars, another family company located in Madrid. And Loop-2-Learn is a smartphone app that makes learning new songs easier by allowing the user to loop a portion of any YouTube video or video from their camera roll. “It was built with the intention of learning songs,” Justin says. “It takes the start and end parameters and loops them. Users can even adjust the speed while retaining the pitch.”

Pixie and the Partygrass Boys – hailing from the Wasatch region of Utah – have made great strides since The Bluegrass Standard last caught up with them in 2019. Back then, they were mostly playing locally and in a few adjoining states. Since then, they’ve been picked up by a record label, Americana Vibes; signed with a management company; and have been touring more extensively across the entire U.S. Their first release with Americana Vibes dropped in May. It’s called “The Chicken Coop Vol. 1” and includes some guest artists. “It’s a really fun collection of high-energy covers we’ve been doing throughout the years,” explained Pixie and the Partygrass Boys mandolin player and vocalist Ben Weiss. For instance, there’s a contribution from Ahn Phung, a flutist for Boston-based string band Twisted Pine. Andy Hall – of the Grammy Award-winning Infamous Stringdusters – guests on a song with his dobro. In a cover of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” Pixie and the boys change the place – where the devil jumped up on a hickory stump – to their home state of Utah. They invited Jeremy Garrett – also of The Stringdusters – to fiddle as if he were a devil of the Wasatch. Weiss is joined by the namesake of the group and the one he credits with much of the band’s theatrical energy, Katia “Pixie” Racine, who brings lead vocals and ukulele to the mix. Amanda B. Grapes takes care of fiddle and vocals; Zach Downes delivers the upright bass; and Andrew Nelson rounds out the lineup with his guitar and vocals. While they were mostly originally schooled in jazz – and Pixie, in theater – they’ve brought their backgrounds to bluegrass in a way audiences seem to appreciate and embrace more and more as the years pass. They regularly gig in the Pacific Northwest; across Utah; and in Montana, Idaho, and Colorado. This summer, they expanded out and toured in the Midwest and Northeast. Just one fall date on their list is a multi-day appearance at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas, happening September 13 through 17. “But the mountain west has become our home turf, so to speak,” Weiss said. They’re aiming to soon put out their second record with Americana Vibes. “We’re gonna do an album of all originals,” Weiss said. He expects it to be “heartfelt and anthemic.” Each of us is a songwriter. Everybody in the band,” he explained. Generally, one member of the band will bring a basic song they wrote, and then they “arrange them together as a group.” While he said Pixie penned most of the music for the upcoming record, they’ve all originated stuff, and the real magic happens once the band gets together. “Everybody has a different creative perspective,” Weiss said. He believes this is what gives the music its unique edge. He said themes will range from a number Pixie “wrote for her ex-boyfriend, an ode to the love that has survived although the relationship ended” to something political. One song is called “These Chickens Eat Fascists.” “The song is a little punk rock,” Weiss said, trying to describe its vibe. He said it addresses “the unease among classes and political affiliations.” Weiss said one thing that has changed since we first talked to him in 2019 is that the band’s sound has become more defined. “Partygrass has very much solidified into its own sound,” Weiss said, adding that over the years, they’ve thrown all they have as individuals – their unique backgrounds, tastes, methods – into a metaphorical cooking pot. “Now, we’ve cooked it all down and have a good gumbo.”

With a title that hints at collective disgruntlement – “Nation of Sorrow” – multi-instrumentalist, Rachel Baiman has brought an experienced team to her self-produced project. The LP – Baiman’s third – was released this spring. It “leans heavily” into her “bluegrass and old-time sensibilities.” In addition to solo projects, Baiman’s bio includes work with fellow fiddle player and Grammy nominee Christian Sedelmyer, via the duo group 10 String Symphony. She’s also done “session and side-person” work with notable artists such as Kacey Musgraves, Kevin Morby, Molly Tuttle, and many more. She recorded the tracks of “Nation of Sorrow” in Nashville with engineer Sean Sullivan, who has won three Grammys for his work on records by Crooked Tree, Tall Fiddler, and The Travelin’ McCourys. Much to her delight, she was also able to snag sound mixer Tucker Martine, who has worked with artists such as The Decemberists, Neko Case, and First Aid Kit. She went out to Portland, Oregon, for a couple of weeks to complete that part of things. “Every time I came across a record where I was like, this is how I want it to sound, it was Tucker Martine,” Baiman explained. “He’s really responsible for setting those amazing acoustic sounds.” She described sound mixing as “make or break” to a project. The record contains her own original songwriting along with a single called “Self Made Man,” which was a “reinvention” of folk singer John Hartford’s song of the same name. Baiman said songwriting is her main musical interest these days. A native of Chicago, she moved to Nashville at age 18 and has since evolved and grown as an artist. “When I moved to Nashville, I kinda fell in love with songwriting,” she explained. Although her main instrument is fiddle, she opts for other tools when it comes to composing tunes. “Banjo is easier to write with, and guitar is even easier to write with,” she laughed. “I love writing and reading,” she said. “I read a lot of literature and novels.” She said this enhances her compositions because it allows for “learning about different people and places.” In this record, she said she really hones in on her own personal political beliefs, which she said are about current “economic oppression” and include her rallying cries to socialism. She said, in a nutshell, the music is about “the camaraderie of the human experience” and “the hardships everyone has gone through these past few years.” “I touch on a lot of socio-political issues, and songwriting can hit on those issues in an emotional way.” She said she has received feedback that is both “amazing” and “adversarial.” Her tone indicated she might actually welcome both forms of feedback, within reason; both are part of any healthy conversation. Baiman’s activism takes an additional form when she teaches others. She has taught a few songwriting workshops wherein she tries to get others on board with her activism through art. “I try to get people to write songs from the point of view of narrators they disagree with,” she explained. Baiman said she has been making music since childhood but, sadly, found no peer group growing up in Chicago. Then, she attended the Mark O’Connor fiddle camp, held just outside Nashville. “At this camp, there were top players from all the genres,” she reminisced. “I saw the amount of possibilities there and heard playing I had never heard before.” Suddenly, she found her people: Nashville. No doubt, connecting to peers who make the kind of music she loves has helped lighten Baiman’s own load over the years. The camaraderie of music can be powerful. Whether one agrees with Baiman’s politics or not, one thing is clear: Her success so far shows there is a place for personal political music that both plows – and amplifies – emotion.

Mike Sanyshyn and Tianna Lefebvre both grew up surrounded by music. Tianna actually had her first recording session when she was just fifteen years old. “We both entered contests, and Mike found a photograph of me singing on stage and him playing the fiddle, but we didn’t meet for another couple of years after that when we were both twenty-one.” The two hit it off, and they have been together ever since. Mike and Tianna are married, and together they are half of Jackson Hollow, an award-winning bluegrass and country band based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The other two members of Jackson Hollow are Charlie Frie and Eric Reed. The band’s tagline is “Bluegrass and Country – Living in Harmony.” And that pretty much describes the music they play. “I was always exposed to bluegrass,” says Mike, who played traditional fiddle tunes. “I used to enter old-time fiddle competitions.” The bluegrass bug bit in 2011 when they attended Wintergrass in Bellevue, Washington. It was at that festival that both fell hard for bluegrass. “We loved how authentic it was,” he says. “And the people were all so nice.” Hearing Rhonda Vincent was the turning point. “It felt like home for us,” Tianna says. Jackson Hollow was formed in 2015. It took a while to find their footing as a bluegrass band. “We played in a lot of jams with friends, and we tried a few other musicians until we found people we want to spend time with,” says Mike. “Being on the road can be stressful. You have to find people you have good chemistry with, and Charlie and Eric are a lot of fun.” he band is driven by Tianna’s powerhouse vocals. She is the winner of the British Columbia Country Music Association’s (BCCMA) Female Vocalist of the Year Award and the Horizon Award. Her career has seen her performing with stellar artists, including Shania Twain, Michelle Wright, and Russel DeCarle. Mike has plenty of recognition as well. He is an award-winning fiddler who has won Provincial Fiddle Champion titles, and he has placed in the top three at the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddle Championship. He has also been named the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) and BCCMA Fiddle Player of the Year, and he has played with Ian Tyson, Lucille Starr, The Good Brothers, Randy Bachman, and the Grammy-nominated artist Deric Ruttan. He plays mandolin and provides harmony vocals to the group as well. The other two members of the band have plenty of accolades in their own right. Upright bass player Charlie Frie is also a talented vocalist. He has been recognized by BCCMA with a Mike Norman All-Star Band Award for bass. Eric Reed is on guitar, and Juno, a nominee and Canadian Folk Music Award winner is on banjo. He is also a talented producer and recording engineer. Mike and Tianna went to IBMA in Raleigh for the first time in 2018. “We had never been, and we were on our own,” recalls Tianna. “We didn’t know anybody there.” They went to see Ricky Skaggs get inducted that weekend and had the opportunity to meet him at a pre-show event. “It will be fun to go back now that we have a history.” It’s no wonder that in their short time as a band, Jackson Hollow has received the BCCMA Gaylord Traditional Country Award four times. Even the band’s publicist, Jasper Anson, received the President’s Citation Award from BCCMA. The band’s debut album on Mountain Fever Records is Roses, released on March 10. The title track comes from a song that Melba Montgomery’s son-in-law, Shane Barrett, pitched to them. The song runs four minutes and 29 seconds, longer than most songs on the radio, but they believed in the song so much they put it on their album. In addition to Melba and Shane, the album features eighteen other notable songwriters, past and present, including Jerry Salley, Carl Jackson, and Leslie Satcher, along with Canadians Patricia Conroy, Doug Folkins, Duane Steele, Jackson Matthews, and Maddison Krebs. Roses is a bluegrass album with Americana and traditional country influences. “We wanted to create a collection of music that is more timeless than commercial,” says Tianna. “Everything from the choice of songs on Roses to the instruments reflects a classic sound, but with the advantages of modern recording.” There’s an emotional connection to the songs on the album, which Mike says, is “a love letter to the music that grabs us as artists. Roses showcases the bluegrass genre to those waiting to discover it while respecting the pioneers who started it.”

Appalachian culture relies heavily on storytelling and sharing stories through oral traditions. Much like bluegrass music, those stories may intend to teach life lessons or explain why things happen or just provide some entertainment. The latter is the case when it comes to characters like Mothman, Flatwoods Monster and Sasquatch. These cryptids find their homes in Appalachia, and their origin stories and reported sightings are shared around campfires, at sleepovers and more as a fun way to pass the time. Appalachia has gained a reputation for its cryptids due to a combination of not only those rich folklore traditions but also its dense forests, rugged terrain, and the history of isolated communities. These elements have contributed to the development of legends and stories surrounding mysterious creatures in the region. Here are some of those key cryptids that star in stories: Mothman: Likely the most famous cryptid associated with Appalachia, Mothman gained widespread attention in the 1960s in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Described as a large humanoid creature with wings and glowing red eyes, Mothman was reportedly seen by multiple witnesses before the tragic collapse of the Silver Bridge. Some say Mothman was created as a mutant from the nearby TNT factory, and the appearance was a warning of the impending disaster. The legend of Mothman has since captured the imaginations of many and has become a popular subject in books, movies, and even restaurants - which have created menu items in the likeness of Mothman into ice cream sundaes, burritos, and pizza. Mothman has become a beloved symbol of local folklore. The Appalachianile Bigfoot - or Sasquatch - sightings are reported across various regions, the Appalachian Mountains are also said to be home to this elusive creature. Bigfoot is described as a large, hairy humanoid that roams the dense forests of the Appalachians. Bigfoot has ample hiding spaces in Appalachia’s vast, remote regions, which helps to avoid human detection. Appalachian communities have embraced the legend of Bigfoot, and it has become an integral part of the region's folklore and cultural fabric. Bigfoot festivals and events draw interested folks. Flatwoods Monster: The Flatwoods Monster, also known as the Braxton County Monster, is a cryptid associated with an alleged encounter that occurred in Flatwoods, West Virginia, in 1952. People described seeing a creature as tall with a red, glowing face and large, non-human eyes. Its body was described as either metallic or covered in shiny, metallic-like armor and a pungent odor emitting from the creature. The Flatwoods Monster has since become an iconic figure in Appalachian folklore and has been commemorated with a local museum and an annual festival. The Wampus Beast: This creature is part of Appalachian folklore, particularly in the regions of Kentucky and Tennessee. It is often described as a half-woman, half-cat or half-dog creature who lets out eerie screams and has glowing eyes. The Wampus Beast is said to be a shape-shifting creature that lurks in the forests, and its sightings might bring bad luck or foretell an impending tragedy - similar to that of Mothman. The Snallygaster: Found in Maryland and surrounding areas of Appalachia, the Snallygaster is a creature that resembles a half-bird, half-reptile monster. It has wings, a beak lined with sharp teeth, and tentacles or octopus-like appendages. The Snallygaster is said to terrorize the countryside, preying on livestock and even attacking humans by silently swooping from the sky to pick up and carry off its victims. Sheepsquatch: This creature is a regional legend in West Virginia, Virginia, and Kentucky. It is described as a creature standing up on its two back legs, resembling a mix between a sheep and a bear, with long, shaggy white fur, sharp teeth, and glowing red eyes. Sightings of Sheepsquatch have been reported since the 1990s and its origin and nature remain shrouded in mystery. The wooly-haired creature is sometimes referred to as “The White Thing.” These are just a handful of the cryptids in Appalachia. And there are even more cryptids beyond the Appalachian region, such as the Loch Ness Monster in the Scottish Highlands and the Yeti in the Himalayan Mountain range in Asia. Many cultures have their own versions of monsters. Appalachia has a rich heritage of folklore and oral traditions passed down through generations. Stories of strange encounters, mythical creatures, and unexplained phenomena have become deeply ingrained in the culture. Cryptids are often intertwined with these stories, becoming part of the collective imagination and contributing to the lore of Appalachia. The above cryptids, among others, add to the folklore and mystique of the Appalachian region. While the existence of these creatures is debated, their legends continue to be passed down through generations, adding to the rich tapestry of Appalachian folklore.

Evelyn Glennie's world of sound began like most of ours—where we grew up, whether in urban or rural areas. While the city environment may have immersed you in the clamor of passing automobiles and overhead airplanes and the joy of laughter and squeals of neighborhood children, the rural setting, like Evelyn's family farm, most likely produced an orchestra of sounds through livestock and machinery and the tasks that busied your hands, feet, concentration, and imagination. “Growing up on a farm and being around livestock, you have to be aware of the surroundings and be responsible for that,” said Glennie. “You also learn about patience because you can't force nature. One thing prevalent throughout my career is knowing that things don't happen in five minutes.” She speaks of patience, completing the given tasks, and seeing them through “from the beginning to the end,” organizing your time and developing that time frame over months and years. “So, I think that it was an incredibly healthy upbringing. There’s no doubt about that. But I certainly appreciated that more in my later years than obviously just being on the farm as a kid.” Throughout our lives, we grow through discovery, making the freedom to discover pertinent to learning and progressing knowledge. Glennie’s introduction to the drum involved “freedom of discovery,” thanks to her teacher, who told her to take the drum home for seven days to discover it, from its construction to the sounds it produced. Therefore, her first experience with the drum was not through rigid posture and positioning but through striking the drumhead and the sides of the drum in various ways and receiving the vibrations through her body. This changed how Glennie thought about dynamics because she connected with the resonance, not just the impact, and this allowed her to go to the extremes of dynamics and deal with time differently because she connected what she was feeling to her natural body state. “I think it just allowed me the realization and the permission to believe that I was part of that sound, that it belonged to me,” said Glennie. “It wasn't just something you could copy from somebody else. It was a sound you could experience even on a recording, belonging to that moment.” In some instances, you are the instigator of the sound, and in others, you may be the listener, Glennie explained. “They are two completely different things. If you're talking from an audience point of view, you'll never have that close relationship with the vibration as the player will. What the player can do is acknowledge the resonance and suspend that resonance in a physical motion or simply that motion of listening, paying attention to the space that they're in. The audience will grasp the body language and what to feel from that sound.” She adds that everybody is present at that moment, “which makes live performances also difficult to record. In my case, I don't see there being any techniques or systems because we are dealing with a moving thing,” a vibration, if you will, changing from “space to space, from person to person, from moment to moment, instrument to instrument, and piece to piece.” Glennie said you could line up different bass drums; even if they are the same size and make, they will still differ. But you must pay attention and listen for those differences, which is challenging. “Listening is very tiring,” she said because you’re finding the balance between what you hear and what you're listening to. “Hearing is something you can react to immediately if registered, but listening isn’t always about sound. Listening is about bringing the other senses into play and connecting all of them. You can be with someone who has no speech, yet you are listening to each other. That is what's so fascinating about listening. It belongs to all of us and can be accessed by all of us,” whether deep or shallow listening in short or lengthy periods. “If you compare the listening to the occasion of a baby just being born, the listening is incredibly heightened. If you listen to a dying person over a period, the whole pace of your listening changes and that, I think, is interesting. Your listening has its extension and its release.” Glennie often performs barefoot but stipulates that she doesn’t do it all the time “because of the different environments and the type of floor, as in stone or tile, that can get very chilly.” It's more about balance,” she said, more about realizing what sound is and “the feet are incredibly sensitive. They really kind of act as your resonator but also your balancer.” She detailed how you negotiate weight and, “in this case, the weight is the sound. You are balancing all of that through your feet,” which provides the grounding for the rest of the body to “maneuver like a bit of bamboo.” She expounds on the nature of the instruments she plays by the frequency from very low to very high and how the attacks are varied. “The fortissimo on a triangle is very different from the fortissimo on a bass drum. So, with percussion playing, the body's being attacked in different ways than when you're playing the violin because you know that most of the sound is on this side of the body. You know the position of the arms and the hands, but ultimately, you've got this thing stuck to your body, so the feet are crucial to try to act as that stabilizer.” Glennie, a Polar Music Prize, Sonning Music Prize and three-time GRAMMY recipient, who has received 28 honorary doctorates from various United Kingdom universities, clarifies the difference between good performance and honest performance, which is doing the very best you can and playing “literally how you are at that moment and time.” It's about letting yourself be yourself in that performance and saying this is how I want to interpret the piece at this moment. She said everybody has different opinions about what you do, and that's life. “There will always be bits and pieces to attend to that need developing, and it can be something as simple as not judging the interpretation right in a particular section.” It doesn’t have to be about wrong notes but feeling that you didn’t perform in the way you wanted to. “I think your relationship becomes more detached when you're trying to strive for a good performance. An honest performance is about your relationship with the piece of music and the occasion you find yourself in at that moment.” Founded earlier this year, The Evelyn Glennie Foundation’s mission is to Teach the World to Listen in many ways and in many landscapes. One project of the foundation is The Sounds of Science, being rolled out in schools in Birmingham, England. “Students are dealing with 10,000 years of man-developed sounds, so they're exploring many subjects including geography, history, science, technology, music sound creation,” and how humans have changed the world – from the first stone tools to the discovery of Newton’s laws of motion and gravity, the nuclear age and beyond. The project is a collaboration with composer Jill Jarman and world history author Christopher Lloyd. However, the core of the foundation is about listening in different ways. “We are looking at the musical landscape, the business landscape, social, religion, you name it landscape, right across the board,” said Glennie. “To be clear, it is not a music Foundation. It is literally a foundation about listening.” Meeting the Queen In 2017, Evelyn became a Companion of Honor, an exceptional award granted personally by Queen Elizabeth II to a select few. Glennie said this of the late Queen of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth: “She was quite a small lady in height wise but a very private lady, utterly charming, and incredibly professional. Of course, the Monarch is never allowed to express their opinions, so she was neutral on everything. She continued her duties until the day before she passed away and was very devoted to the country, and you really felt that. I felt very privileged to have had the chance to have met her on several occasions.”

Twin Creeks Stringband finds its origin in Franklin County, Virginia, where its predecessor – Dry Hill Draggers – brought hard-driving old-time dance band music to shows and dances for 35 years. About five or six years ago, after losing the band’s banjo player for medical reasons, three members of the long-standing outfit soldiered on, grabbing up a fresh banjo player and re-forming as Twin Creeks. Today, the full lineup includes that new banjo player, Jared Boyd; Chris Prillaman, founder and owner of Twin Creeks Distillery in Rocky Mount, Virginia; Jason Hambrick; and Stacy Boyd. Some current members have relatives who were once part of Dry Hill Draggers, so the band has a legacy filled with family ties. The culture and landscape of Virginia influenced the band’s music, for sure. “Being based in southwest Virginia – where all of our band members were born and raised – has led to a few things becoming tied in with our style of music,” Jared Boyd explained. “The first is the tradition of flat footing and square dancing, where the favorite type of bands to play for these dancers are those with a strong, solid rhythm.” Like the Draggers before them, he continued, “Twin Creeks Stringband puts the focus primarily on the driving rhythm and leaves out unnecessary extra notes or fancy licks.” He said another undeniable influence is the mountain landscape of home. “The rural, mountainous area where the band is located also serves to explain how our style of old-time is unique and can’t be found even in just the next county or two over.” Boyd said, “Believe it or not,” he took “a little time to warm to the banjo. My parents made me start taking clawhammer banjo lessons in middle school, and it wasn’t until a few years later that I got to where I actually enjoyed playing. I had started a youth old-time and bluegrass band with some friends, and we played gigs together for a few years. At that point, I enjoyed playing with that band, but I still wouldn’t say I was absolutely in love with the banjo.” It wasn’t until a few years after – following participation in competitions at fiddler’s conventions, including the notable Galaz convention – that he “realized there was so much I was missing out on in my playing compared to what everyone else was doing.” He taught himself “missing licks or techniques to better compete against the best banjo players in the area.” That process of learning and improving – that challenge to become top-notch – led him to “discover a ton of different clawhammer players of the past and present” and realize how unique each of their playing styles were. “It was at that point that I realized how much the banjo meant to me,” he explained, “and how much I wanted it to be a part of my life.” His decision has paid off. In addition to the whole band winning first place in the 2022 Galax old-time band competition, Boyd also placed first as an individual for old-time banjo and won the “Best All-Around Performer.” Twin Creeks Stringband released its first album – “Lee Highway Blues,” – in the spring of 2020, and its sophomore release – “Up Jumped Trouble” – followed last fall. Boyd said all band members have “day jobs” and don’t perform every weekend. This summer, however, various members will participate in several of the fiddler’s conventions in the southwest Virginia region, and they’ll return to Galax again in August for a “full week of fun and jamming.” They’ll also make a few appearances at the beloved Floyd County Store during late summer and fall. Boyd said one of the reasons he loves old-time music so much is because it is a group effort. “Everyone in the band is always playing together equally, compared to when bluegrass musicians take breaks, and the rest of the band is mostly just providing backup to whoever is taking the break,” he said. “This also ties back to the fact that old-time music, especially in southwest Virginia, is primarily for dancers. It’s not so much of a performance art as it is a community event.” He explained that bluegrass is an evolution from old-time, a precursor genre all about dancing and having a good time, saying, “Of course, neither of those things are mutually exclusive. Plenty of good old-time bands can put on a great show, and plenty of bluegrass bands have a solid, consistent rhythm that is friendly to dancers as well. Old-time music primarily focuses on the overall energy that music creates, and any showiness or showmanship can be added on afterward if they so choose."

Don’t try to pin Shelton and Williams, based in Danville, Virginia, down to any one musical genre. While rooted in bluegrass, you might hear them veer off to something traditional, contemporary, old-time or something else altogether. “We love it all,” says Johnny Williams. “We may start off with a bluegrass tune and follow it up with Pat Benatar.” Their love for all genres of music comes naturally. Jeanette Williams was the youngest of eight children on a tobacco farm. “My brother, who was eight years older than me, was involved in musical theatre. He always had the lead role in school plays, and we all went to see him. Another brother, two years older than me, was in a southern rock band in high school, so I was influenced by that as well. At church, I heard Gospel music and learned to sing harmony. And we always had a radio playing while we worked at the tobacco barn.” When she met Johnny Williams around 1988, she was exposed to bluegrass music. “I grew up in a mountain town in Virginia,” says Johnny Williams. “No one in the family played instruments, but my parents and my granddaddy sang in church.” Johnny says he was a “late bloomer,” getting into music in high school. “I was the lead singer in a Motown band. My neighbor taught me three chords of a Johnny Cash song, and I learned to sing and play with his band.” Johnny started listening to Hank William’s greatest hits album and an album by Flatt and Scruggs and the Osborne Brothers. “I also listened to the radio and eight tracks. I was hooked.” When the band fizzled out, Johnny stopped playing until he was 36 or 37 years old. “I took up music again, and my major influences include Ralph Stanley, Doyle Lawson and Tony Rice.” Johnny and Jeanette met at the Mock Grand Ol' Opry show, where Jeanette was Emmylou Harris and Patsy Cline, and Johnny was Hank Williams and Bill Monroe. “I joined his band after we met there,” says Jeanette. As a child, Jay Shelton was the only one of the three exposed to bluegrass and old-time. “I got a good dose of Gospel bluegrass at the Hawker family reunions,” he says. “There would be three generations of family playing and singing, and that had a big influence on me. It got the fire burning in me to play music.” In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Jay says he always had country music on the radio and stereo. “I even explored rock and roll in the 1980s. I think that helped me develop my musicianship and made it possible for me to play all styles. I got into all of it.” The turning point for Jay was when he discovered Tony Rice. “Everything was over then. I was enamored with his music. I even had a chance to meet him when I was a young musician through my friend Bobby Hicks. I was a fiddle student of Bobby’s for a while.” Jay also sang in church and spent time as a singer-songwriter performing solo. Jay knew Jeanette and Johnny, but not well. “In 2016, they were playing some local shows, and I took my wife. I told her it was a great opportunity to see them perform.” Johnny recognized Jay from the stage and invited him to join them on guitar and vocals. “That worked out pretty well, and in 2019 Jay asked Johnny to produce a solo project for him. “Jeanette joined on vocals and bass. We didn’t know it at the time, but we lived five miles apart. We had been hiring other musicians from two and three hours away when Jay was right down the road from us.” Now known as the Shelton and Williams, Johnny says the band plays all kinds of music. “Whatever a venue wants, we can do, from straight traditional to rock and roll. We pay attention to what the audience is responding to, and we adjust our set from there. We really play to the audience’s desires.” They make it work as a trio, but they will bring in banjo, fiddle, etc., when they play bigger shows and recording. “It’s fun knowing we have the freedom to play what we want. When a band does the same twelve to fifteen songs night after night, it’s hard to keep up the excitement and energy for the audience.” For the So Much Time, So Much Love album released last July, Jeanette says they focused on the folk market. “The Crosby, Stills and Nash tune 'Wasted on the Way' features all three of us. Then we each brought three additional songs that we felt passionate about recording." Two of the songs on the album are originals, written by Johnny. “Right now, we are gathering pieces and thinking about directions for our next project. We are bringing in whatever songs speak to us.” Jay says that while the band doesn’t rehearse regularly, they will try out songs with each other occasionally. “We mesh well, and we complement each other.” Each member of the band is accomplished. Jeanette has over 32 years of performing experience and many awards. She has more than seventeen SPBGMA nominations, with three wins for female vocalist of the year. She has won two IBMA awards and two songwriting awards. Johnny was named Virginia State Champion male vocalist, PCABO male vocalist two times, and PICABO songwriter of the year. He has won the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest at MerleFest twice and has been a finalist for songwriter and male vocalist of the year at SPBGMA. Jay was active on the bluegrass scene in the 1970s and 80s as a lead singer and guitarist before changing directions and being the frontman for a rock band for many years. He then became a singer-songwriter doing solo shows until he returned to Bluegrass in 2019. Jay is an accomplished lead guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist. His first project, Home (which included Johnny and Jeanette), was released in 2019. Jay’s wife, Beverly, coordinates a fundraiser each year, and Shelton and Williams is the featured act. The sixth annual Bluegrass by the River Concert will be Saturday, September 16, at the outdoor amphitheater at 2 Witches Winery and Brewing Company in Danville, the birthplace of Tony Rice. Proceeds go to Project Lifesaver, a non-profit organization that provides wristbands to quickly locate individuals with cognitive disorders who are prone to the life-threatening behavior of wandering. A portion of the proceeds will also be donated to Pam Rice, widow of legend Tony Rice. www.sheltonandwilliams.com www.facebook.com/sheltonandwilliams

Bob Lucas sits in his country house near Zanesfield, Ohio, and plucks a string on his gourd banjo. “I’ve spent half my life tuning...and the other half playing out of tune.” It’s a typically entertaining comment from the talented multi-instrumentalist and the writer of big songs for Alison Krauss, The Newgrass Revival, and other artists. His online bio describes him as a “glory shouting, sweet singing, banjo picking, guitar thumping, old-time fiddling, songwriting rounder with a desire to share a sense of musical wonder any way he can.” Now, he’s sharing how he wrote “Momma Cried” on the banjo. Recorded by Alison Krauss and Union Station and sung by Dan Tyminski, Lucas created the song for a play about Frances Slocum, a Quaker girl kidnapped by--and then lived happily with--the Miami people on the American frontier. Unlike other bluegrass and roots music songwriters, much of Lucas’s catalog consists of songs written for plays and theatrical productions during a long relationship with Mad River Theater, located near his rural home. There was a moment when Lucas considered taking the more conventional path and moving to Nashville. He called someone who had done just that for advice. But when he explained he already had a salaried position writing songs for the theater, he was advised to stay put. “He said, ‘Don't move to Nashville. What you got going is what everybody here wants,’” Lucas recalls. “So that was that. I told my wife we won't be moving to Nashville because what we got is what we want.” Unlike other banjo-playing songwriters, Lucas is not Southern but thoroughly Midwestern, having grown up in Holland, Michigan, idolizing his brothers- all singers- and listening to Calvinist hymns. “It was all very powerful,” Lucas remembers. “Choirs and big organs. And then I grew up with these barber shoppers. My brother Don’s quartet was a barbershop quartet straight up. But they sang very modern arrangements.” The storytelling Lucas grew up with influenced his songwriting. “My best friends on the planet are guys who like to sit around, have a little bourbon, and tell stories. They collect stories and things that happen to them and think, “Oh, this is gonna be a good one to tell!” Lucas worked at a YMCA camp when he was a teen. “There was a guy there who could really play the banjo. And I wanted to do that. I wanted to be able to play the banjo and play not necessarily a million notes, but the right ones.” The songs on Banjo for Lovers, Lucas’s latest banjo-centric album, reflect his musical curiosity. He employs several strumming and picking styles and complex chord progressions not often heard in bluegrass, pairing his effervescent banjo with electric guitar. As a teenager, Lucas moved to Bloomington, Indiana, to hang out with a brother. He soon taught music lessons, wrote songs, and played in local bands such as The Not Too Bad Bluegrass Band with singer/guitarist Jeff White. Lucas also recorded an album for an obscure label in Bloomington. Sam Bush and John Cowan of The Newgrass Revival were working in the same studio when the engineer listened to a test pressing of Lucas’s album. “So, he puts the needle down at various spots, and the first thing that came out was ‘When the Storm is Over.’ I was not there when it happened, but Sam told me later he jerked his head around and said, ‘Who is that?’” The Newgrass Revival recorded the song, and 50 years later, Lucas figures it’s probably his best-known tune. “It’s still being performed. Bela Fleck did that as an encore across the nation recently with his Bluegrass Heart tour.” Lucas first knew Alison Krauss when she was a kid from Champaign, Illinois, playing in a band with her brother. Years later, Lucas’s friend and former bandmate Jeff White needed some songs for an audition with Krauss. Lucas played him an original composition, “The Road is a Lover.” Krauss recorded that song and two more tunes: “Daylight” and “Momma Cried.” “Both of the records my tunes are on went Grammy,” Lucas says. “It was just crazy.” For almost 30 years, Lucas wrote for Mad River Theater Works, which began in 1978, creating plays that explored Ohio history. In 40 years, the company has staged 30 plays on national tours, often presenting them to young people at schools and educational institutions. The plays have explored many social issues in stories focused on historical characters and chapters, including Jackie Robinson, the Underground Railroad, Rosa Parks, the Freedom Riders, Casey Jones, and Frances Slocum. “When I started having a chance to work for Mad River, they were doing all these shows about race relations,” Lucas recalls. “Anything that had to do with where Europeans and either Indigenous people or African people--where those two cultures came together--was what I wanted to talk about in my writing.” Lucas not only wrote music for these productions but was often onstage, portraying characters and singing the songs he had written for them. “I really like the music from Freedom Riders. I'm not blowing my own horn, but there are a lot of very strong songs. And my catalog is full of songs about these characters that I really don't have firsthand knowledge of, but I felt things that they really needed to say to clarify their position.” Lucas continues to write and perform. In “So” on Banjo for Lovers, the singer looks at his life and declares, “I've sopped up the gravy and tasted the wine.” Lucas admits that album is autobiographical. “Here's the way it is with me. I don't have a big pension. I have lived my pension. I've done what I could with my life and my time. I've trekked through the world high and low, and I have sopped up the gravy and tasted the wine, and I've loved it. So, I got no regrets.”

Garth Brooks. Taylor Swift. Blake Shelton. Carrie Underwood. Eric Church. Bryan Sutton has played for them all. A Grammy Award-winning guitarist and nine-time IBMA Award “Guitarist of the Year” recipient, Sutton has genuinely earned his role as one of the most sought-after session guitarists in the business. He garnered notice for his playing style in the 1990s when he was brought on as one of the guitarists for Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder. He also found time over the years to fit in work as a record producer, music educator, and more. The roster of well-known names Sutton has played with – or played for – is long. When asked which recordings were most meaningful to him, it must have been difficult to pin it down. How do you rank your projects when you’ve worked year after year with some of the very best names in music? “I’ve been fortunate for years now, having recorded with folks from all over the musical place,” he said. “I’m working today, as a matter of fact, continuing a project for banjo player Wes Corbett. We’ve got Brittany Haas and Paul Kowert also in the band. It’s so good!” Sutton said, “I’m also proud of the record that Andy Hall has released. He’s not just a great player but has written some really strong tunes.” “It’s not out at this point, and I’m not sure when it will be, but I produced some tracks for Dolly Parton last year,” he said. “That was fun to do.” He continued, "I’m very proud of the work I do as more of a Nashville session guitarist. It’s not bluegrass per se, but I really enjoy being able to do that work with some of the finest producers, writers, and musicians in the world.” Additional stuff he’s done recently is the new Morgan Wallen record, which he called “a blast” to make; a project set for release from the country-pop duo Dan and Shay; and “some really wonderful country music from Hailey Whitters.” Outside of his work as a performer, Sutton is edified by all types of music. “If I need to really zone out and just listen and be inspired, I will often put on some solo classical piano,” he said. “I’m a fan of Beethoven, Schumann, Bach and Mozart. It’s just strong music.” As a complete alternative, he's a fan of heavier rock music. “There are some interesting parallels in the energy in that music and some of the places we go in bluegrass. I’m a fan of a band called Car Bomb. They take the idea of a predictable rhythm and throw it out the window. It’s fun to listen to.” Sutton said both his family and community of origin were oriented towards music. “We played all the time, and I literally don’t have a time where going out and jamming…playing with friends…was a negative thing. I’ve always loved playing,” he reminisced. “I remember when more live music was regularly on TV, seeing the Nashville Network and shows like the American Music Shop,” he said. “On MTV, there were more of these Live Aid-type events, and I would see the lead singer surrounded by great musicians. I remember feeling that I would want to be in those bands. I’d also see folks like Jerry Douglas on my favorite bluegrass records – but also on TV, playing with popular country singers – and feeling that there might be a place for me in that world.” He was right; there was a place for what he brought to the table. A big place where his first thoughts of becoming a musician were realized in a way that might seem like a dream to many aspiring musicians. He has some pretty good advice for those young people just starting, hoping to “make it” in Nashville. He said he recalls always having wide-ranging interests in different areas of music and thinks it’s an asset. “I didn’t do just one thing or play one instrument,” he recalled. “I’ve always just wanted to play the best music with the best people. I’ve jumped genres and played several instruments. I think that diversification has helped me. I think the theme there for an aspiring musician is to be adaptable. Don’t come to a place like Nashville and think you’ll immediately find a place for exactly the thing you do. It can happen, but it’s rare.” He further advised, “Come with a good attitude and work to notice where you might fit.” He said if learning something new will help a budding performer snag a gig, they should learn it. While not engaged with his studio sessions, Sutton said he enjoys adding more teaching into the current mix. “I’m in my 12th year with ArtistWorks,” he said. “The last couple of years have had me out with Béla Fleck as part of his Bluegrass Heart project. That’s been so great. We’re not as active this year into next, but will still be out here and there.” He said the ArtistWorks online learning allows students to interact with Sutton via a “video exchange” process. “They submit a video to me, and I film a response,” he said of this unique way of learning. “The whole community then gets to view the content. It’s like a 24/7 virtual masterclass. I think the masterclass format is the best for group teaching, and this program nails that in the 21st century.” Just imagine having access to a teacher as accomplished as Bryan Sutton. That’s indeed some pretty sweet learnin’, where the virtual schoolhouse must certainly rock.