News

Standing in front of more than 80,000 faces, Eric Church took a moment to absorb the spectacle at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Saturday evening.

“I’ve never played a show this close to my heart,” the country singer and Tar Heel State native noted to the deafening roar of the crowd.

Named the “Concert for Carolina,” the all-star gathering was the brainchild of Church and fellow North Carolina “local boy done good” Luke Combs. The two country stars combined forces and called everyone they knew...

Duane Eddy, the twangy, Grammy-winning rock guitarist who had Top 10 instrumental hits including “Rebel Rouser” and “Forty Miles of Bad Road” and scored with a version of Henry Mancini’s “Peter Gunn,” died Wednesday of cancer at a hospital in Franklin, Tn, his wife Deed Abbate told The Associated Press. He had turned 86 last week.

Eddy, who influenced generations of guitar legends including George Harrison, John Fogerty, Bruce Springsteen, Ritchie Blackmore, Mark Knopfler and The Ventures’ Don Wilson, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

Born on April 26, 1938, in Corning, NY, Eddy began playing guitar at age 5. He moved at 13 with his family to Arizona, where he met local DJ Lee Hazlewood, and the two would share a long, fruitful association. Eddy first recorded with Jimmy Delbridge as Duane & Jimmy in 1955, and his debut single as a solo act to dent the charts came three years...

What is a folk festival to do after becoming a global news story? That was the central question for this year’s Newport Folk Festival, which over the past half-decade has drawn increased attention with a slew of surprise guests, world premieres, and special appearances — from Dolly Parton to Chaka Khan, and culminating in last year’s revelatory return of Joni Mitchell after her several-decade absence from the stage.

By the end of this year’s festival, the answer to that question seemed clear: 2023’s Newport was a necessary restart and redirection,...

Dolly Parton has shared a new rendition of “The Last Thing on My Mind” from an upcoming all-star collection of covers celebrating what would have been folk legend Doc Watson’s 100th birthday.

I Am a Pilgrim: Doc Watson at 100, due out April 28 and available for preorder now, finds Parton, Rosanne Cash, Jerry Douglas, Chris Eldridge, Steve Earle, Valerie June, Bill Frisell and a dozen others delivering takes on Watson’s greatest tunes.

Ahead of the tribute album’s release, Parton unveiled her tender, newly recorded version of the Tom Paxton...

Billy Strings has expanded his 2023 tour with a run of summer tour dates.

Following a run of shows taking place in February and March, Strings will return to the road in April for even more touring. He’ll headline two nights at Red Rocks and also play multiple shows in St. Augustine, San Diego, Austin, Indianapolis, and Cleveland.

The newly announced summer run takes place in July and August, including multiple nights in Cary, Nc; Boston, Ma; Portland, Me; Essex Junction, Vt; and Huntsville, Al.

Tickets for Strings’ newly announced tour dates go on sale Friday, February 17th at 10:00 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster, with an artist pre-sale taking place on Wednesday, February 15th (use access code Chorus).

Tickets to Strings’ previously announced concerts are available via Stubhub.

Last November, Strings released Me/And/Dad, a new studio album on which he and his father — fellow musician Terry Barber...

When I heard Elizabeth Cotten (1895-1987) was going into the Rock Hall, I nearly fell out of my chair! As host of “The Village Folk Show,” I regularly hear Cotten’s name from the mouths of prominent folk artists — Guy Davis, David Bromberg, Gillian Welch, Eliza Gilkyson, Amy Ray. Credited with the “Cotten-picking” guitar-playing style — she played left-handed and upside-down — this master’s impact on roots music is strong, deep and continuing.

Meanwhile, her story is amazing: While working in a department store in 1940s Washington D.C., Cotten discovered a crying, lost, little girl and returned her to her mother. The grateful mom: singer-songwriter Peggy Seeger, sister of legendary Mike Seeger, who promptly hired Cotten as a domestic for the family. When Mike Seeger discovered her long-dormant talent with a six-string, he recorded and released the 62-year-old’s first record, “Elizabeth Cotten: Folk Songs and Instrumentals with Guitar.”

Following...

After being forced to take a year off due to the Covid-19 pandemic, MerleFest will return in Fall 2021. The annual eclectic musical fest will take place September 16th to 19th in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, with a first round of performers that includes Melissa Etheridge, Mavis Staples, and LeAnn Rimes.

Held over the course of three days at Wilkes Community College, the event includes appearances by Tedeschi Trucks — composed of bandleaders and partners Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks — Donna the Buffalo, Scythian, and the Waybacks. Additional artists will be announced in...

Set in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina for more than three decades, MerleFest has presented a lineup of country, folk, bluegrass, and Americana musicians that have placed the event in the pantheon of must-visit music festivals. The 2020 four-day event, taking place April 23rd through 26th, will continue that tradition with appearances from Willie Nelson and Family, Alison Krauss, the Jerry Douglas Band, Jim Lauderdale, Sam Bush, Donna the Buffalo, Peter Rowan and the Free Mexican Airforce, and dozens of others. The complete lineup will be announced in the coming months.

Happy 73rd birthday to Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member Linda Ronstadt, born July 15th, 1946, in Tucson, Arizona. In addition to her mid-Seventies dominance as rock’s premier female artist, Ronstadt also delivered impassioned performances of country songs throughout, and beyond, that era, with crossover hits including the Everly Brothers’ “When Will I Be Loved,” Neil Young’s “Love Is a Rose,” and her Grammy-winning take on Hank Williams’ “I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love With You).”

Also faithful to the origins of country music...

Justin Townes Earle released his latest album, The Saint of Lost Causes, earlier this month, the follow-up to 2017’s Kids in the Street. The Nashville songwriter and son of country legend Steve Earle sat down with Rolling Stone to discuss some of his earliest musical memories, like the first time performing with his dad when he was 17 for a Thanksgiving food drive.

“Me and my dad played a few Doc Watson songs,” he explains. “We’re Earles, we’re arrogant, and we always feel good about what we do, but it was intimidating.

On Friday evening, dobro player Jerry Douglas stood side stage at MerleFest and marveled watching Tyler Childers play the headlining slot in front of a capacity crowd numbering in the tens of thousands.

“It’s great to see all these new artists here,” Douglas says. “You know, Tyler used to come and watch this thing. So did Zac Brown and the Avett Brothers. And they’ve all eventually headlined here. It’s a sacred place to play — it’s a badge of honor.”

Childers, the rapidly-rising Americana/country star, played...

When Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs took the Ryman Auditorium stage with Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys for their first appearance together on the Grand Ole Opry on December 8th, 1945, the moment was a sort of “big bang” for bluegrass. After leaving Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs would spin off into their own band, the Foggy Mountain Boys, performing together until an acrimonious split in early 1969.

With 13-year-old Marty Stuart in his new band, Nashville Grass, Flatt would continue on a more traditional musical path, while Scruggs recruited sons...