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Wyatt Ellis is only 15, but the mandolin prodigy is making quite a splash on the bluegrass world and appearing alongside some pillars of the genre — Bobby Osborne, Sierra Hull, Sam Bush, Marty Stuart, and Ronnie McCoury, among them.

“The bluegrass community has always been welcoming to young and upcoming musicians,” Ellis tells Rolling Stone. “And that’s a huge part of my story and how I got into the music.”

The common denominator with all those names listed is that they’re each phenomenal mandolin players — icons of the genre.

The biggest story of this year’s International Bluegrass Music Association award show wasn’t that Billy Strings won his third consecutive Entertainer of the Year honor. Nor was it that Sierra Hull took home her sixth Mandolin Player of the Year trophy. And it wasn’t even that Molly Tuttle pulled off a trifecta with Female Vocalist, Song, and Album of the Year.

Rather, the takeaway from the 2023 gathering at the Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh, North Carolina, is that the ongoing “transition” within the...

In the span of less than a week, the bluegrass community was rocked to its core: Jesse McReynolds and Bobby Osborne, two pioneering voices and musicians of the “high, lonesome sound,” died within mere days of each other.

McReynolds died June 23 at 93, while four days later, Osborne died at 91 on June 27. Both were renowned mandolin players and singers, whose melodic innovation and artistic integrity within bluegrass has echoed throughout the genre since its inception in the mid-20th century.

“I just can’t remember a time in my life without hearing them,...

Nominations for the 32nd annual Ibma Bluegrass Music Awards were announced on Tuesday, with Balsam Range, Billy Strings, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Del McCoury Band, and the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys all vying for the Entertainer of the Year prize. The honors will be presented in person (after a virtual event in 2020) on September 30th at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Balsam Range, a past Entertainer of the Year winner, scored nominations in several categories, including Vocal Group of the Year and Song of the Year (for “Richest Man”). Strings,...

Chase Rice offers up the mellow ballad “Lonely If You Are” and Caroline Jones heads south in “Gulf Coast Girl,” plus new releases from Gwen Sebastian and Jedd Hughes in this week’s list of must-hear songs.

Davina and the Vagabonds, “I Can’t Believe I Let You Go”

Backed by brass, B3 organ and the barroom jazz of a well-tested road band, Davina Sowers creates her own Americana mishmash — a little Amy Winehouse-worthy neo-soul there, a little Great American Songbook-influenced songcraft there — with “I Can’t Believe I Let You Go.

There are two places where country hitmaker Josh Turner no doubt feels most at home. One is in the realm of gospel music and the other is the Grand Ole Opry. Turner has been an official Opry member since October 2007 and recently returned to Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium, the site of the wintertime Opry at the Ryman performances, to deliver a gospel classic with significant ties to the long-running radio show.

Joined onstage by Sonya Isaacs, a member of one of contemporary gospel music’s most distinguished family acts,...

Josh Turner pauses as he enters the backstage hallway of Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, taking time to say hello and chat with Grand Ole Opry crew members as he makes the short journey to his dressing room for the evening.

In just a few hours, Turner will make an appearance on the Opry, which relocates to the Ryman — its full-time home from 1943 to 1974 — during the winter months. It’s a building that has witnessed substantial country music history, and Turner became a part of that history when he gave his...

Josh Turner, whose 2003 debut single “Long Black Train” was a nod to his gospel-music roots, will release a full-length album showcasing songs of faith next month. Due out October 26th, the South Carolina native’s I Serve a Savior will include hand-picked hymns, new original material and live versions of Turner’s inspirational tunes.”

Also of special note is a live version of “The River (of Happiness),” a song written by Turner’s wife Jennifer and their eldest son, 11-year-old Hampton. The track also features vocal assistance from all four of the Turners’ young sons.

For me, what mainly constitutes a “bad” film is intention. Some cynically contrived mega blockbuster without a spark of creativity will sit with me far worse than 12 people with a camera and a story, no matter how insane (or inane) that story may be. For example, The Horror of Party Beach (1964) is both, and so much more; it’s an energetic monster romp filled with killer music, bikini dancing, gougin’ gore, and boppin’ bikers. And while the kitchen sink is sadly not included, Severin Films’ new Blu has plenty of groovy extras to lure unsuspecting bathers down to the sunny shores of *checks notes* Connecticut. It’s a gas and a half, you dig?

Okay, so it’s overcast the entire 78 minute runtime, but that’s part of its charm; low budget needs ingenious marketing, and director Del Tenney (I Eat Your Skin) decided to ride the rising tide of...