Photos by kim brantley

Dave Adkins

Pours his Heart Out on Stage “This is the boss of the family; she’s 17,” Dave Adkins explains as he introduces Lila Jean, one of his many canine friends. The Pikeville, Kentucky, singer/songwriter is definitely a huge animal lover. He can’t turn away those adorable pooch and cat faces and often fosters and adopts four-legged…

Read More

the artists

Mike Scott with his Sullivan Banjo at the Grand Ole Opry. // Photo by Brenda Scott

Mike Scott

50 YEARS OF BANJO You might call Mike Scott of Gallatin, Tennessee, a golden boy. Always smiling, always picking, the banjoist is celebrating 50 years of performance. This is his golden anniversary in the music business. “Fans can look forward to more songs, recordings and perhaps a book,” Scott relayed. A busy man, he definitely…

Read More
Michael Prewitt // Photo by Alex Sutton

An Interview with Special Consensus Mandolinist 

Michael Prewitt Special Consensus mandolin player Michael Prewitt grew up on an old tobacco farm in Whitley County, a 45-minute drive east of Somerset. It wasn’t until he left Eastern Kentucky for an English degree at grad school in North Dakota that he began to reexamine his bluegrass roots. “As far as making a conscious choice…

Read More
Water Tower // Photo by David k. Cupp

On The Fringe

Bands Blurring the Lines of Bluegrass “I tell people we are the tradition of bluegrass, the attitude of punk rock and the culture of hip hop,” explains Kenny Feinstein (singer, multi-instrumentalist) of Water Tower.  That declaration perfectly sums up the unconventional musical personality of Water Tower, a Los Angeles-based string-band that is keeping old-timey, traditional…

Read More

from the archives

 The Lost & Found

Reprinted From Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine January 1986, Volume 20, Number 7 “Wide open” best describes the picking and singing style of the Lost & Found —one of southwest Virginia’s latest contributions to bluegrass music. Twelve years in the business seem to have taught the group several things. One is that planted-in-the-sod bluegrass lovers like their…

Read More