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Check out this year's issues of the Fretboard Journal for several new articles, including a lengthy piece on the formative years of the David Grisman Quintet (FJ Issue #6), featuring interviews with original band members interwoven to read like a conversation. Check out the FJ back issues for an extensive profile of Andy Statman (Issue #2), a piece on Wade Mainer, the 'Grandfather of Bluegrass' (FJ Issue #3), as well as the harrowing tale of Radim Zenkl's flight from tyranny to mandolin mastery (FJ Issue #4). I also contributed the photography to a forthcoming piece on the Mandolin Symposium.
Watch the magazine racks for more contributions to FJ this winter. A couple of hints: Think of the brightest rising star on the international mandolin scene (his first comprehensive US interview). And look for a photo essay of a legendary western pickin' party - think stickerweeds, onion fields and wind storms.
In Strings Magazine this year, I contributed articles and photos chronicling Seattle fiddler Lee Stripling's rediscovery, Buell Neidlinger's legendary career and final recording, and photos of North Carolina fiddler Joe Thompson.
I am sorry to say that Juan Reynoso passed away early this year at the age of 94. "Mi Bien Querida," a tune he learned as a young boy and taught to me, appeared in a Play It! column in Strings Magazine along with a history of the style of Tierra Caliente and an update on Paul Anastasio's project to document and catalog don Juan's legacy. I will never forget the moment in 2001 when the tune came into don Juan's mind after being forgotten for decades. Paul arranged it for three parts according to the maestro's sense of harmony. You can read the article and download the sheet music here.
It was an honor to write the biographies in the Tone Poets liner notes for Acoustic Disc, which features David Grisman's mando and guitar played by a historic assembly of 42 musicians.
Stay tuned for postings from the growing archive of articles and interviews.
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