Irwin Silber, Sing Out! Co-Founder and Longtime Editor, 1925-2010
Irwin Silber, a longtime editor of Sing Out!, who co-founded the folk music magazine with Pete Seeger, musicologist Alan Lomax, and others in 1950, died on Sept. 8 in Oakland, California. He was 84 and had suffered with Alzheimer’s disease.
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Paste Magazine Suspends Print Publication
In another sign of the tough economic times in which we are living and, specifically, the decline in print media, Paste Magazine has suspended publication.
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Remembering Kenny Edwards, 1946-2010
"A star has fallen; a really bright one." A memorial service is set for Sunday, Aug. 29, in Santa Barbara, California for Kenny Edwards, a driving force behind the American folk-rock movement of the 1960s and 1970s. He died on Aug. 18 at age 64. A guitarist’s guitarist, Edwards was a co-founder of the Stone Poneys and Bryndle and also collaborated with many other musical luminaries. Singer-songwriter, guitarist and AcousticMusicScene.com co-creator Glen Roethel remembers him fondly.
[To read Glen's tribute to Kenny Edwards, click on the headline.]
Bluegrass Label Pinecastle Records Reemerges
Pinecastle Records, a major player in bluegrass music for the past two decades, shut down in February. Its owner and president, Orlando, Florida businessman Col. Tom Riggs, was experiencing serious health issues, and his family opted to close the label and focus on his health. This left artists in limbo, with their recordings quickly going out of print. Earlier this month, Dr. Lonnie Lassiter, a bluegrass music lover and friend of the Riggs family, assumed ownership of the label and tapped two of its former executives – Ethan Burkhardt and Matt Hood – to head up the new venture.
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Mitch Jayne of The Dillards, 1930-2010
Mitch Jayne, bass player and front man for the influential bluegrass band The Dillards, passed away Aug. 2 after being diagnosed with cancer recently.
Although The Dillards toured and recorded for decades, helping to expose the world to the music of the Ozarks, they are best known for their recurring appearances on CBS-TV’s “The Andy Griffith Show,” in which they played The Darling Boys, a family of mountain musicians. The Dillards were inducted into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame last year.
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Bluegrass Album by the Late Sen.. Robert C. Byrd to be Reissued
Although he was best known as the longest-serving member of the United States Senate, Robert C. Byrd, who died Monday at 92, also was an old-time and bluegrass fiddler. On July 27, Virginia-based County Records plans to reissue a bluegrass album recorded by Byrd, who represented West Virginia for more than half a century in the Senate and also served as the chamber’s majority leader for 11 years.
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Sonicbids Acquires ArtistData
Sonicbids, the website designed to help artists leverage the power of the Internet to manage their electronic press kits (EPKs) and find and book gigs, has acquired ArtistData, an online publishing platform that more than 25,000 musicians use to update and manage their gig-related information across the Web.
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Pete Seeger-Signed Banjo to be Auctioned Online in June
A one-of-a-kind Deering banjo that has been signed and played by Pete Seeger will be auctioned off this month to benefit the Emergency Relief Fund of American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Local 1000, the traveling musicians union.
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Folk Alliance International Seeks War & Political Songs for CD
Modern war and political songs are being sought for inclusion on a special compilation CD release to benefit Folk Alliance International (FAI), as well as to create a fund to provide acoustic instruments for returning soldiers who were injured in combat.
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2010 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Winners Named
Six songwriters have been named as winners in the 2010 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition for Emerging Songwriters. Kate Klim (Boston, MA), Kim Richardson (Mountain Home, AR), Andy Gullahorn (Nashville, TN), Dan Colehour (Nashville, TN), Jon Brooks (King City, ON, Canada) and Michael Troy (Fall River, MA) were selected by a panel of judges from among 32 finalists who performed two songs each during the New Folk Concerts on May 29 and 30 as part of the Kerrville Folk Festival that continues through June 13 at the Quiet Valley Ranch in the Texas Hill Country.
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