Archive Articles
Olen Gardner—Little Preachin’, Little Teachin, Lotta Pickin’
By Sue Wade
Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine
November 1979, Volume 14, Number 5
“I used to carve my tops and trucks and other toys out of wood,” Olen Gardner recalls. “You used the resources around you. It was just the most natural thing in the world, if you wanted something, to make it.”
Necessity may have been the mother of invention back then, but the premier musician-craftsman of Carroll County, Virginia, still crafts, carves and repairs his playthings — only now, his playthings are some of the finest banjos and guitars in the field of bluegrass music.
The Return of Donna Stoneman—First Lady of the Mandolin
By Ivan M. Tribe
Re-printed from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine
June, 1983, Volume 17, Number 12
Back in 1971, Bluegrass Unlimited conducted a poll asking readers to list their favorites among pickers of standard bluegrass instruments plus lead, and tenor vocalists. Significantly, when the results were announced that December, all but one who placed in the top ten in each category were men. The one exception to this exclusively male compilation ranked among the top mandolin pickers, but probably took little consolation in it at the time since she left the world of professional music soon afterward. For a decade, Donna Stoneman, the principal subject of this sketch, found a new happiness in the service of God. Fortunately for Donna and others as well, she is retaining this mission, but has also recently resumed public performing with the Stoneman Family.
James Monroe
By Pete Kuykendall
Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine
July 1973, Volume 8, Number 1
Probably one of the most talked about people in bluegrass recently has been James Monroe. After spending a number of years paying his dues as a member of the Blue Grass Boys, in 1971 he started his own group. He, if for no other reason than being the son of the father of bluegrass music, has had many people watching his every move. Carrying a tradition and a name that has been synonymous with traditional styled music, his steps and sounds have been watched extremely close by almost everyone concerned.
Charlie Sizemore — A Lonesome Voice From The Hills
By Paul Morris
Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine
May 1986, Volume 20, Number 11
For the past eight years, the lonesome voice beside Ralph Stanley has been that of a fine young singer and musician named Charlie Sizemore. He is just 25 years old, but has already been a professional musician for a third of his lifetime.
Born November 23, 1960, on Puncheon Creek in Magoffin County, Kentucky, Charlie cannot remember a time when there was not music in the house. His father, Henry Sizemore, is both a bluegrass and old-time banjo player and was an ardent fan of the original Stanley Brothers. Charlie’s first musical remembrance was hearing the Stanley Brothers and it seems he learned some of the songs almost by the time he could talk.
Mike Lilly
By Robert Leach
Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine
November 1986, Volume 21, Number 5
Mike Lilly has long been regarded by many as one of the world’s foremost bluegrass banjoists. Few who have heard him in concert would argue that his technical prowess, creative ability, and devastating power of attack are anything short of awesome at times. As a gifted instrumentalist and prolific recording artist, his contributions to bluegrass music have been substantial.
