I’ve long held this theory that a chosen few males who are born in Kentucky are blessed with this rare gene that gives them these wonderful high-lonesome voices. The names Monroe, Skaggs and Osborne immediately come to mind. Or maybe it’s something mystical, like a strange compound in the spring water that sprouts from the Kentucky hills.

But Larry Stephenson makes me ponder expanding my theory….

Mandolinist Scott Napier, a 10 year veteran of Larry Sparks’ Lonesome Ramblers and stints with Dale Ann Bradley and Marty Raybon has released a new solo project fittingly titled “All Out Front.” The new CD features seven instrumentals penned by Napier along with 5 other tracks that feature the talents of Bobby Osborne, Dale Ann Bradley, Don Rigsby and Marty Raybon….

St. Louis, MO., — The 20th annual “Gateway City Indoor Bluegrass Music Festival” returns to the Sheraton Westport Chalet Hotel in St. Louis, MO. The 3 day festival, running March 5-7, is promoted by Midwest Bluegrass Festivals and brings top Bluegrass artists and up and coming artists to the Gateway City.

Award winning bluegrass music has come to the St. Louis for 20 years and will return again this year to feature “Gateway City” favorites….

Bobby Osborne, one of bluegrass ’s war horses, has a lot going on as he pulls out of the starting gate for the new year. For one, he has a new label, having recently signed with Rural Rhythm, and there’s the promise that a couple of projects are already in the works….

Another year rolls around and memories of the bluegrass sounds of 2009 still float like sugar plums in my head. And, a lot of juicy plums there were in the past year, indeed a bad year for the national economy but quite robust in the realm of great bluegrass CDs.

As I look back on the past year, the wealth of bluegrass in the form of new CDs piled high….