In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, it seems fitting to feature one of today’s leading Irish bands, Gráda. Much like Bill Monroe did in developing the Bluegrass style, incorporating Irish & Celtic influences among others, Gráda is a bit of a modern day reversal. Gráda’s latest CD, Natural Angle, (Compass Records) finds the group’s music “bridging traditional Irish and Appalachian tunes and songs with Americana songwriting.”…

On their new CD, “Natural Angle,” Irish band Gráda launches headlong into the cross-genre world of new acoustic music, bridging traditional Irish and Appalachian tunes and songs with Americana songwriting. Gráda, whose name means “gradient” in Irish, have always drawn from a melting pot of influences; “Natural Angle,”…

Led by Kentuckian and former Long Ryder Sid Griffin, The Coal Porters, are a stunningly unconventional five-piece bluegrass band from London. While they perform originals and traditional material alongside songs from Bob Dylan and Gram Parsons, their new release Durango defies the traditional boundaries of bluegrass music which is why they proudly call themselves “the world’s first Alt-Bluegrass band.”…

Nashville, TN…Grammy^®-winning country artist Kathy Mattea and the legendary bluegrass band, Hot Rize will co-host the 20th annual International Bluegrass Music Awards on Thursday, October 1, at 7:30 p.m. at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium….

Nashville, Tenn., — For a variety of reasons, it’s harder than you might think for groups of musicians who’ve assembled for tours and special performances to preserve their unique chemistry on tape for fans and historians. Studio time and expense, multiple commitments and sheer logistics usually overwhelm the noblest archival impulses. Even artists who keep every clipping, poster and video cassette from their career usually can’t produce audio documents that capture fully and professionally what these special and sometimes historic gatherings actually sound like, which is funny considering that’s why they came together in the first place….