The 5th Suwannee Roots Revival takes place Thursday, October 14 - Sunday, October 17 at the renowned Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park (SOSMP) in Live Oak, Florida.

With their first full-length album for Mountain Home Music Company, the Alex Leach Band and its youthful leader make a bold statement that their fresh take on bluegrass — one that draws on a wide-ranging set of historical sounds, yet remains as authentic as Alex himself — is just what 2021 needs.

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass announces the fourth round of musicians in this year’s Let The Music Play On, with Boz Scaggs, Jim Lauderdale, Fantastic Negrito, Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi, and Robert Earl Keen.  Let the Music Play On is a celebration of roots music, honoring the 20th Anniversary of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, airing Saturday featuring new performance footage, archival sets, and fans’ festival memories from previous years.

The pandemic may have canceled the big, in-person festival this year, but cozy up! Celebrating Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion livestreams kick off tonight with online, live concert events that include Jim Lauderdale, Acoustic Syndicate, Amythyst Kiah, Morgan Wade, and Martha Spencer, a WBCM Radio Bristol Farm and Fun Time show, flashback performances from festivals past, and the Bristol Sessions Super Raffle drawing.

With the cancellation of this year's Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion came the promise of a few "surprises" on what would have been festival weekend - and the Birthplace of Country Music (BCM, parent nonprofit of the annual event) is making good on it. 

Two-time GRAMMY® Award-winning American music icon Jim Lauderdale’s new bluegrass album, When Carolina Comes Homes Again, is out now on Yep Roc Records.

Recorded at Echo Mountain Recording in Asheville, NC, in conjunction with Come Hear NC, his 33rd album is a return to his geographical and musical roots paying homage to his native North Carolina harkening back to the earliest music he learned to play. 

GW: Describe the recording process for Call the Captain for our readers. What was the vibe like in the studio? And what drew you to Bill Reynolds as producer?

Ever since Bill Monroe stormed out of Kentucky 75 years ago with a hot new take on traditional tunes, bluegrass music’s metric drive and high lonesome sound has thrilled and inspired audiences around the world. That bluegrass high energy and soulfulness was captured live in December of 2019 at the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky for BLUEGRASS NOW!, a nationally televised PBS special premiering Saturday, February 29.

Jim Lauderdale, the prolific, two-time GRAMMY® Award-winning American music icon, shares the video for “Cackalacky,” from his new bluegrass album, When Carolina Comes Homes Again, out March 27 (note new release date) on Yep Roc Records.

Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park (SOSMP) is thrilled to announce that Greensky Bluegrass, Béla Fleck & The Flecktones, Sierra Hull, Ghost Light, and Jon Stickley Trio are added to The 4th Annual Suwannee Spring Reunion lineup along with a host of other acts. The festival takes place Thursday through Sunday, March 19-22 at SOSMP in Live Oak, FL.