Last October, a jovial fellow named Matt Kinman showed up at the Goleta Old Time Fiddlers Convention, which happens annually in the second weekend of October near Santa Barbara, CA. A likeable guy with a southern way of talking and unusual upstrum frail on the banjo, he walked away with top awards in banjo, fiddle,… Continue reading Matt Kinman: The Back Porch of America
This week Fiddlefreak ponders the eternal question: can a music blogger have a favorite band? Or should he? As it happens, I lucked into an advance copy of Outshine the Sun from Foghorn Stringband last weekend at the annual CBA Father’s Day Festival in Grass Valley, California. The miles flew by as we burned up… Continue reading Foghorn Stringband: Outshine the Sun (MP3)
Santa Cruz, California is the home of barefoot hemp-wearing earth-mamas, world-famous surf breaks, and mossy redwood forests of epic proportions. Down on Pacific Street you see everything from bass-thumping Chicano low riders to panhandler addicts with cats riding on their shoulders. And of course the Umbrella Man who walks the street wearing all pink and… Continue reading Luke Abbott: Take Me Home (MP3)
On February 25, Evie Ladin will release her solo record titled Float Downstream. Produced by mando wizard Mike Marshall, this is a lovely collection of mostly original songs that feature her distinctive drop-thumb clawhammer banjo style. Evie is known in the trad music community as a dancer and member of the all-girl Stairwell Sisters (featured… Continue reading Evie Ladin: Float Downstream (MP3)
