Melvin Goins

Melvin Goins

Turning 80 in a couple of weeks, Melvin Goins has been a professional bluegrass musician for 62 of those years. For Melvin, like many of that era, his interest in music was kindled around the family's radio.

"We didn't have electricity," he recalls of his childhood. "But we had an old battery radio and we had to listen to that old battery radio on Saturday night to hear the Grand Ole Opry. We would gather around the old fireplace ... the old oil lamps a-burning. Mommy would make some gingerbread and pop some popcorn."

One wonders if he dared imagine that he would one day appear on that very same Opry -- many times, in fact. Well, he has, making Nashville almost like a second home. And when he's not appearing there, he can still be seen fronting Windy Mountain at various bluegrass festivals.

December

Who is this bluegrass pioneer who turns 80 this month?

Brother acts have always had a place in bluegrass music, from the early days (Monroe Brothers, Stanley Brothers, Jim & Jesse) up to the present day (Spinney Brothers, Gibson Brothers). This bluegrass pioneer played with the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers before forming a band with younger brother Ray in 1953. Then, after Ray retired from the music in the 1990s, he began fronting his own band, Windy Mountain, and continues to this day.

He first came to Nashville to record with the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers as a young whippersnapper of 20. He was, by his own account, "scared to death. I'd never been in a studio in my life. Sweat was rolling down my legs ... you could have took a bath or shower in my shoes when I got done!"

Obviously, he got over his nerves. He is now a member of the Bluegrass Hall of Fame, the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame, and the IBMA Hall of Fame.

Significant December dates in bluegrass history

• 1st: Carter Stanley (1966) and Jack Cooke (2009) died
• 5th: The Traditional Grass formed (1983)
• 7th: Bobby Osborne (1931) and Jason Burleson (1967) were born
• 10th: John Duffey (1996) and Dempsey Young (2006) died
• 11th: Flatt & Scruggs recorded "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" (1949)
• 19th: Uncle Dave Macon first appeared on the Grand Ole Opry (1925)
• 25th: "Rocky Top" by the Osborne Brothers was released (1967)
• 30th: Melvin Goins (1933) and John Hartford (1937) were born

James King

l. to r.: Donald Dowdy, James King, Eddie Biggerstaff,
Clay Lillard

During the mid-1980s, James King performed with Ralph Stanley, his musical idol, filling in when Ralph's lead singers couldn't make a show or a tour. Then, in 1988, King formed his own band, and he's been leading a band pretty much ever since.

But he has never forgotten that Stanley influence. The current edition of the James King Band is pictured here at Bradley's Barn, the now-abandoned studio founded by producers Owen and Harold Bradley where greats like Bill Monroe and the Stanley Brothers recorded some legendary songs in the early 1950s.

"I never thought I'd ever be in this studio," King says. "When I found out about it, I got cold chills ... hoping that Carter would say something to me."

November

Who is this singer with the royal name?

This bluegrass singer (pictured second from left) first came to Nashville in 1985 as a member of a band called Dealer's Choice (you think they liked to play cards?). The band participated in that year's SPBGMA band competition, eventually finishing in 16th place (out of how many, I don't know).

Now the leader of his own band, he has been back to the Music City many times, as well as all over the country. I have seen him perform many times through the years at festivals here in the Midwest, and I own two of his fine recordings from the 1990s: These Old Pictures (1993) and Lonesome and Then Some (1995).

The band appears to be pictured in front of an old brick wall, paint peeling off and all. Just where this is located and why the band is there will be revealed when this bluegrass singer's identity is revealed.

Significant November dates in bluegrass history

• 1st: The Seldom Scene formed (1971)
• 8th: Roy Lee Centers, former Clinch Mountain Boy, was born (1944)
• 11th: Banjoist Don Stover died (1996)
• 13th: Bassist Mike Bub, formerly of the Del McCoury Band, was born (1964)
• 16th: The Osborne Brothers recorded "Rocky Top" (1967)
• 20th: Bill Vernon (1996) and Charlie Cline (2004) died
• 21st: Jim Eanes (1995) and Allen Shelton (2009) died

Another Larry

The Larry Stephenson Band (l. to r.: Larry Stephenson, Kenny
Ingram, Danny Stewart, Kevin Richardson)

A member of Virginia's Country Music Hall of Fame, Larry Richardson has won SPGMA's Male Vocalist of the Year award five times during his nearly 40 years in the business. He also had a no. 1 hit ("Clinch Mountain Mystery") during his days with Pinecastle Records.

A few years ago, the Larry Stephenson Band's 20th Anniversary collection won IBMA's Recorded Event of the Year. Just one look at the stellar supporting cast is enough to explain why it won: Sonny Osborne, Dale Ann Bradley, Marty Stuart, Ricky Skaggs, Connie Smith, Del McCoury, and Dudley Connell.

Larry and the band have also appeared on the Grand Ole Opry many times and on the RFD television network.

October

Who is this high-singing mandolin player and his band?

Hailing from Virginia, the leader (pictured at far left) of this foursome cut his musical teeth in the Washington, D.C., area with the likes of Cliff Waldron and Leon Morris. Later, he played mandolin and sang tenor with the Bluegrass Cardinals and Bill Harrell and the Virginians.

In 1989 he formed his own band and, three years later, relocated to Nashville, and has been headquartered there ever since.

After releasing 18 albums on Pinecastle Records during an 18-year-stint with the label, the group recently signed with the Nashville-based Compass Records.

Significant October dates in bluegrass history

• 2nd: Earl Scruggs was involved in a serious auto accident (1955)
• 7th: Bill Monroe recorded "Mule Skinner Blues" (1940)
• 10th: Sammy Shelor, longtime banjoist for the Lonesome River Band, was born (1962)
• 15th: Bill Monroe recorded "Uncle Pen" (1950)
• 16th: Don Reno died (1984)
• 22nd: First Rounder Records LP released (1970) and Maybelle Carter died (1978)
• 23rd: Merle Watson, Doc's guitar-playing son, died in a farming accident (1985)
• 27th: Joe Mullins, formerly of the Traditional Grass, now a Radio Rambler, was born (1965)

Lonesome Larry

Larry Sparks

I saw Larry Sparks perform with his Lonesome Ramblers a few times during the 1990s, and they're still going strong. By the looks of it, the guitar he's holding could easily have been with him all the while -- even when the Lonesome Ramblers recorded one of their first albums, Rambling Bluegrass, in Nashville.

"Nashville," he says, is "an exciting place. When [I] think of Nashville, I think of the Grand Ole Opry and the people that's been there for years."

Larry is one of those peeps who's been there a tol'ably long time, and, before that, he was there -- like so many others -- in spirit, as a young boy sprawled in front of the "big stand-up floor radio."

"We used to listen to WSM every weekend," he recalls.

Earlier this year, he was inducted into the George D. Hay Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville.

September

Who is this "lonesome rambler"?

He has been picking professionally now for nearly half a century, with 50 recorded projects to his name and numerous awards under his belt, including Best Male Vocalist and Album of the Year.

He began the year of my birth -- 1964 -- with the Stanley Brothers, playing lead guitar. He stayed on with Ralph following Carter's death until 1969 when he formed his own band, the Lonesome Ramblers. He has toured extensively, including in Canada and Japan, and appeared on TV programs such as Austin City Limits as well as at the Grand Ole Opry.

He first came to Nashville in 1969 with Ralph Stanley to record the now-legendary album Hills of Home. And like many of today's bluegrass heavyweights, he appears regularly at the Station Inn (where he is pictured above just prior to a performance).

Significant September dates in bluegrass history

• 3rd: The first bluegrass festival took place in Fincastle, Va. (1965)
• 9th: The father of bluegrass, Bill Monroe, died (1996)
• 13th: Bill Monroe was born (1911)
• 16th: Bill Monroe records "Blue Moon of Kentucky" for Columbia Records (1946)
• 21st: Shawn Lane, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist for Blue Highway, was born (1971)
• 24th: Flatt & Scruggs record "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" (1962)
• 27th: Charlie Monroe, Bill's older brother, died (1975)
• 30th: The Stanley Brothers record "How Mountain Girls Can Love" (1958)

JD

J.D. Crowe

As in J.D. Crowe, not the kind of degree lawyers have. If degrees were handed out for bluegrass banjo (and in some places perhaps they are), this man would be at the head of the line.

Back in the 1960s, he three-finger-picked the banjo alongside Jimmy Martin, still considered one of the best rhythm guitarists in the business.

"I got to work the Opry with Jimmy and I met so many of the artists back then [who have] since passed away," he recalls. "That's some of my greatest memories of Nashville."

One of those who has passed is Martin, who died in 2005.

In the 1970s, Crowe relocated to Lexington, Kentucky, where his band, the Kentucky Mountain Boys (later the New South), had a steady, six-nights-a-week gig at the Holiday Inn. There he had the pleasure of picking with another premiere guitarist, Tony Rice, perhaps the best rhythm and lead player of that (or any) era of bluegrass.

In a recently published biography of Rice, Still Inside (Word of Mouth, 2010), Tony speaks highly of his former boss: "One thing's beyond dispute -- playing with Crowe shaped my guitar playing permanently," he says. "He is the guy who made me aware of the fact I have the capability of taking this guitar and having a rhythm section in my hand."

August

Who is this banjo-pickin' legend?

This silver-haired banjo picker, pictured here at the Station Inn, is a veteran -- and I do mean veteran -- of the Nashville scene. His first gig in Music City was as one of Jimmy Martin's Sunny Mountain Boys -- 57 years ago. (You do the math.)

"We came up and recorded some sessions over at Bradley's place," he says of those early days. "That was real exciting because I had never been in a recording studio like that. Being where it was in Nashville ... that was big time."

In the 1970s, he formed his own back-up band, the New South, whose list of members through the years reads like a Who's Who of bluegrass all-stars: Larry Rice, Tony Rice, Doyle Lawson, Keith Whitley, Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Douglas, and Don Rigsby, to name but a few. The self-titled first album, released in 1975 and featuring the classic song "The Old Home Place," was one of the most widely influential bluegrass albums of the 20th century.

Significant August dates in bluegrass history

• 2nd: Lorraine Jordan, featured elsewhere in this calendar, was born (1961)
• 3rd: Paul Mullins, of the Traditional Grass (and a former Blue Grass Boy), died (2008)
• 8th: Osborne Brothers joined the Grand Ole Opry (1964)
• 10th: Jimmy Martin was born (1927)
• 13th: The same recorded "Sunny Side of the Mountain" (1964)
• 15th: County Sales began full-time operation (1965)
• 16th: Fiddler extraordinaire Vassar Clements died (2005)
• 18th: Charlie Waller died (2004)
• 20th: Ralph Stanley II was born (1978)
• 27th: Ralph II's uncle, Carter, was born (1925)

84 Years Young

Jesse McReynolds

Jesse McReynolds turned 84 last week, but he's still a-pickin' and a-grinnin', as evidenced by the mandolin workshop he gave at Bean Blossom last month -- attended by yours truly.

His older brother, Jim, with whom he performed for half a century, died in 2002 at age 75. After their brief foray into country music, they recorded such bluegrass standards as "Sweet Little Miss Blue Eyes," "I Wish You Knew," "Hard Hearted," and "Pardon Me."

In the mid-1990s, the duo was a regular at Terry Lease's midwestern festivals, where I saw them perform many times (the first being at Quincy, Illinois, in 1996).

These days, Jesse doesn't travel near as much and tends to stay pretty close to his home base in Nashville. He is pictured above at the Ernest Tubb Record Shop on Music Valley Drive in the Music City.

July

Who is this inventive mandolinist who turns 84 this month?

Along with his older brother, this mandolin picker came to Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry in 1964 to play bluegrass music.

But, he recalls nearly 50 years later, there "wasn't that many bluegrass groups then really around Nashville ... and there really wasn't that much work for bluegrass musicians getting on the package shows that was going out of Nashville."

So, to put food on the table, they went country -- for a time. They recorded several country songs, including"Diesel on My Tail" (1967), which peaked at no. 18 on the Billboard charts.

"That got us ... a lot more work so we could stay in the business," he says.

They eventually came back to bluegrass, their first love, and became regular performers at Bill Monroe's Bean Blossom festivals. This younger of the two brothers also developed a unique and influential style of playing the mandolin, called crosspicking, in which he applies certain bluegrass banjo techniques to the mandolin.

Significant July dates in bluegrass history

• 1st: Keith Whitley (Clinch Mountain Boys) and Dempsey Young (Lost & Found) were born (1954)
• 4th: Charlie Monroe (1903) and Peter Rowan (1942) were born; the Country Gentlemen formed (1957)
• 8th: Kenny Baker, longtime fiddler for the Blue Grass Boys, died (2011)
• 9th: Jesse McReynolds (1929) and Ronnie Bowman (1961) were born
• 10th: Bela Fleck was born (1958)
• 13th: Rhonda Vincent was born (1962)
• 18th: Ricky Skaggs was born (1954)
• 23rd: Alison Krauss was born (1971)

The Adcocks

Martha and Eddie

On June 14, 1987, the state of Virginia held Eddie Adcock Day to coincide with his induction into the Virginia Country Music Hall of Fame.

Be that as it may, since 1958, Eddie has called Nashville home.

"Used to be that the capital of bluegrass was Washington, DC, but that changed," he says. "Everybody moved down here ... and it's where things are happening."

Martha "moved down" in the early 1970s, fulfilling a lifelong dream.

"When I started writing songs, and then when I was a teenager, I started thinking about Nashville," she recalls. "It had become a hotbed, an amalgamation of the kinds of music that I was really enjoying -- everything from folk to bluegrass to old timey and country."

It still is a hotbed, and it still is where things (musically, at least) are happening.

June

Who are these bluegrass lovebirds?

This husband-and-wife duo have been performing together for nearly 40 years. They met in Nashville in 1973, after his notable banjo-playing stints with Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys and the Country Gentlemen.

Together, they performed in II Generation and Talk of the Town before striking out as a duo under their own names. I saw them perform a few times at festivals in the Midwest during the '90s. They always can be counted on to put on a high-quality and entertaining show.

Significant June dates in bluegrass history

• 1st: Hazel Dickens was born (1935)
• 7th: Clarence White was born (1944)
• 8th: Tony Rice (1951) and Sara Watkins (1981) were born
• 14th: Eddie Adcock was inducted in the Virginia Country Music Hall of Fame (1987)
• 16th: First recording of "Orange Blossom Special" by the Rouse Brothers (1939)
• 19th: Lester Flatt was born (1914)
• 20th: Ira Louvin died (1965) and Dan Tyminski was born (1967)
• 22nd: Jim & Jesse record "Sweet Little Miss Blue Eyes" (1962)
• 26th: Kenny Baker was born (1926) and Bill Harrell died (2009)

Tradition!

l. to r.: Evan McGregor, Adam McIntosh, Joe Mullins, Tim Kidd,
Mike Terry

As a member of the Traditional Grass, Joe Mullins performed on the same stage with the likes of Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley. Now, with the Radio Ramblers, he carries the torch originally lit by those luminaries.

The Traditional Grass broke up shortly before my passion for this music was kindled in the mid-1990s, so I never got the chance to see the band live (though I have practically worn out its fine recordings, especially the flat-out awesome 10th Anniversary Collection).

But I intend (Lord willing and the creek don't rise) to make up for that lack in my bluegrass experience by seeing Joe and the Ramblers twice this summer -- at Bean Blossom in June and at Rockome Gardens in August.

May

Who are these traditional pickers?

This group, led by the banjo man in the middle, toured extensively last year -- 35,000 miles in 20 states. And it plans to do the same this year, including stops at Bean Blossom and Rockome Gardens (both of which I plan to attend).

This banjoist is well known in bluegrass circles, having gotten his start in Nashville back in the 1980s with the Traditional Grass, a band that also included his father and the late Gerald Evans Jr. With his new mates, he has released two CDs on Rebel Records, continuing in the same traditional vein, the way, says one Nashville DJ, "God and Bill Monroe intended bluegrass to be played."

The boys are pictured here in front of the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, where the music got its start in the 1940s.

Significant May dates in bluegrass history

• 2nd: Roy Lee Centers, lead singer with the Clinch Mountain Boys, died (1974)
• 9th: Keith Whitley, former lead singer with the Clinch Mountain Boys, died (1989)
• 10th: "Mother Maybelle" Carter was born (1909)
• 11th: Lester Flatt died (1979)
• 14th: Jimmy Martin died (2005)
• 17th: Red Smiley, half of the popular duo Reno & Smiley, was born (1925)
• 26th: Rob Ickes, dobro player for Blue Highway, was born (1967)
• 28th: Jerry Douglas, dobro player for the rest of the planet, was born (1956)

Driving at Night

l. to r.: Mark Stoffel, Ned Luberecki, Jon Weisberger,
Chris Jones

With fellow Weary Hearts Ron Block, Butch Baldassari, and Mike Bub, Chris Jones left behind a classic recording entitled By Heart (Flying Fish, 1989), produced by Hot Rize's Tim O'Brien.

In 1990, Chris relocated to Nashville.

"It was an interesting time," he recalls. "A little more of the bluegrass sounds were being accepted at that time and it was also a time when a lot of other bluegrass pickers were moving here."

He formed the Night Drivers in 1997, and, later that year, I saw them perform at Rockome Gardens in Illinois. I remember being surprised at the sound of his voice, which is somewhat low, not at all like the "high lonesome sound" one associates with this type of music. But it works, especially when accompanied by some tenor harmony provided by one of the Drivers.

Many musicians have worn that appellation over the years. Current mandolinist/fiddler Mark Stoffel, a native of Germany, is a former winner of the Illinois State Fiddle Champioship, held annually at the Illinois State Fair. Bassist Jon Weisberger is well known in bluegrass circles as a writer of articles and CD liner notes as well as currently serving as IBMA's vice chair. Former Rarely Herd banjoist Ned Luberecki hosts a bluegrass program on Sirius, as does Chris.

l. to r.: Ron Block, the late Butch Baldassari, Jones,
Mike Bub.

April

Who are these "night"time pickers?

Formerly a member of Weary Hearts, this bluegrass singer and songwriter formed his own band in the mid-1990s. The band's first CD, No One But You, appeared in 1997.

Since then, the band has recorded and traveled extensively. Its recent "best of" collection is entitled Lost Souls & Free Spirits.

Two members of the group host bluegrass programs on SiriusXM Satellite Radio, and another member currently serves as vice chair of the International Bluegrass Music Association.

The band is based in Nashville and is pictured here in front of Gruhn Guitars, a music store in downtown Nashville featuring vintage bluegrass instruments.


Significant April dates in bluegrass history

• 2nd: Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver formed (1979)
• 10th: Gerald Evans, of Traditional Grass, died (2010)
• 13th: Sam Bush was born (1952)
• 16th: April Stevens, one half of the Stevens Sisters, was born (1974)
• 20th: Doyle Lawson was born (1944)
• 22nd: Hazel Dickens died (2011)
• 30th: Rob McCoury was born (1971)

Not So Little Anymore

Ronnie Reno

But he was Little Ronnie Reno when he played in the Don Reno Band a half-century ago. Don was his legendary banjo-playing father, who -- with Red Smiley -- blazed the bluegrass trail in the 1950s and early 1960s with songs such as "I'm Using My Bible for a Roadmap" and "I'm the Talk of the Town."

Don died in 1984. With his two brothers, Ronnie formed the Reno Brothers to carry on the tradition with recordings such as Drawing from the Well. I remember seeing the brothers perform at Rockome Gardens in the mid-1990s.

Currently, Ronnie Reno & the Reno Tradition carry the torch. Ronnie also hosts Reno's Old-Time Music Festival on the BlueHighways television network. He came to Nashville in the mid-1960s, "about 50 years of just having a good time ... making a good living -- a clean living I might add -- and playing our music," he says.

March

Who is this bluegrass child prodigy?

This mandolin picker and singer is the son of a bluegrass pioneer. He was a musical prodigy, performing in his father's band when he was still so little he needed to stand on a milk crate to reach the microphone.

That was in the 1950s. Since then, he has performed and recorded with the likes of Johnny Cash, Conway Twitty, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Mel Tillis, and the Osborne Brothers. In the 1990s, he formed a trio with his brothers, Dale and Don Wayne. Currently, he fronts his own band.

He is also involved in the BlueHighways TV network, which broadcasts bluegrass music all over America via satellite as well as on 25 cable networks.

Significant March dates in bluegrass history

• 3rd: Doc Watson was born (1923)
• 4th: John Duffey, of the Country Gentlemen and the Seldom Scene, was born (1934)
• 15th: Last public performance by Bill Monroe, Friday Night Opry, Nashville (1996)
• 16th: Tim O'Brien (1954) and Ronnie McCoury (1967) were born
• 19th: Randall Hylton died (2001)
• 23rd: David Grisman was born (1945)
• 28th: Earl Scruggs died (2012)
• 29th: Mike Lantz, mandolinist for Front Range, died (2006)

Another North Carolina Jordan

l. to r.: Josh Goforth, Ben Greene, Lorraine Jordan,
Brad Hudson, Tommy Long

That's right. Not Michael. Lorraine. She fronts her own group, Carolina Road -- a band steeped in the tradition-rich sounds of the Carolina hills.

Though based in North Carolina, Lorraine loves coming to Nashville.

"It's just so wonderful to walk down the streets of Nashville and know that you're walking in the same steps that so many of the legends have walked," she says. "I've been coming to Nashville ever since I was a little girl ... and I'll be coming here until my dying days."

February

Who are these Carolina pickers?

This traditional bluegrass band, fronted by a mandolinist from North Carolina for the past 15 years, performs annually at the SPBGMA (Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America) Awards Show held each February in Nashville.

This N.C. mandolin picker received IBMA awards for Recorded Event of the Year in 2006 and 2009 for her participation in the Daughters of Bluegrass recordings, Back to the Well and Proud to Be a Daughter.

Overall, the group has seven nationally distributed recordings to its credit, including Carolina Hurricane, Back to My Roots, and A Stop in South Port Towne.


Significant February dates in bluegrass history

• 1st: Del McCoury was born (1939), as was longtime Del McCoury Band fiddler Jason Carter (1973)
• 3rd: Bill Monroe first recorded for Decca (1950)
• 8th: Doc Watson's son, Merle, was born (1949)
• 10th: Louvin Brothers joined the Grand Ole Opry (1955)
• 18th: Dudley Connell (1956) and Don Rigsby (1968) were born
• 19th: Grandpa Jones died (1998)
• 20th: Chris Thile was born (1981)
• 22nd: Flatt & Scruggs last appeared on the Grand Ole Opry (1969)
• 25th: Ralph Stanley (1927) and Pete Wernick (1946) were born

Special C

Special Consensus (l. to r.): Rick Faris, David Thomas,
Dustin Benson, Greg Cahill

In 1975, Greg Cahill got together with some college friends and formed Special Consensus. Those friends have long since departed, but Cahill remains, the glue that holds it all together.

The band's first album came out in 1979; the most recent project, the Grammy-nominated Scratch Gravel Road, was released last year. In all, the band has 16 recordings, and Cahill has played on them all.

He has also released three solo recordings and four banjo instructional videos. In addition, he teaches at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago and served on IBMA's board of directors from 1998 to 2010, the last four years as board president. In 2011, he was awarded IBMA's Distinguished Achievement Award.

My favorite Special C recording, from 1996 (l. to r.:
Bobby Burns, Diana Phillips, Cahill, Colby Maddox)

January

Who are these bluegrass "educators"?

This band celebrates its 38th year in 2013. Many members have come and gone, but the banjoist has remained a fixture from the beginning.

Though based in Chicago, the band has strong ties to Nashville, as two members of the quartet call the Music City home.

A major focal point for this band is introducing young people to bluegrass music. In the past 30 years, it's been estimated the band has performed for more than a million students.

One of its strong recordings is 1996's Strong Enough to Bend.



Significant January dates in bluegrass history

• 2nd: Red Smiley, of Reno & Smiley, died (1972)
• 6th: Earl Scruggs, who passed away last year, was born (1924)
• 10th: Butch Baldassari, founder of the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble, died (2009)
• 13th: Jimmy Martin recorded "You Don't Know My Mind" (1960)
• 19th: Charlie Waller (1935) and Dolly Parton (1946) were born
• 20th: Flatt & Scruggs played at Nixon's first inauguration (1969)
• 26th: Charlie Louvin, one half of the Louvin Brothers, died (2011)
• 30th: Reno & Smiley recorded "I'm the Talk of the Town" (1953)

2013 Bluegrass Calendar

A new year, a new calendar. But still the game goes on, or, as Sherlock Holmes would say, "The game is afoot." This year, each month will feature a different bluegrass act. Once again, it will be your task -- if you choose to accept it -- to identify the performer(s). As the title of the calendar suggests, each band is based in or around Nashville, Tennessee.

All the photos featured in the calendar were taken by Alane Anno, a Nashville native. Last year, she became the official photographer for the International Bluegrass Music Association's World of Bluegrass convention, awards show, and fanfest, held each year in Nashville.