Earl Scruggs

When it came time for the Infamous Stringdusters to record their new album, A Tribute to Flatt & Scruggs, the band gathered in the studio and pressed record; all at once, all together, just like the bluegrass pioneers whose music they were picking. Hot on the heels of yet another GRAMMY nomination—this time for their latest LP, Toward The Fray—the Stringdusters are revisiting the forefathers of the genre in a way not too distant from their GRAMMY-nominated A Tribute to Bill Monroe.

Collaborative musical encounters between distinct artists have been woven into the fabric of bluegrass at least as far back as the in-studio meeting of Flatt & Scruggs with Doc Watson. So it was almost inevitable that, at some point, the idea would surface of bringing together musicians from the groups that make up the rosters of sister labels Mountain Home Music Company and Organic Records.

Ronnie Reno’s Man-Do-Lin Productions record label is releasing 2 albums for digital downloads and streaming with many more titles to be released this year. The second group of titles to be released on Reno’s Man-Do-Lin Productions label are Lester Flatt – Legends of Bluegrass (1971) and Ronnie Reno & The Reno Tradition – Front Porch Gospel.

When COVID forced the organizers of the first ever Earl Scruggs Music Festival to postpone the event to 2021, they figured there was nothing they could do. But following successful drive-in concerts in the US and Europe, and a well received first drive-in concert with Darin & Brooke Aldridge, we’re proud to announce that we can bring some of the magic of the Earl Scruggs Music Festival to live audiences on Saturday, September 5.

The inaugural Earl Scruggs Music Festival, scheduled for September 4-5, 2020 in Mill Spring, North Carolina, is still moving forward in these uncertain times. Festivals everywhere have been hard hit by a summer of cancellations and an atmosphere of uncertainty, but we all will need to gather again soon. In the meantime, the Earl Scruggs Music Festival is proud to present A Month of Mondays, a series of lively livestreamed interviews between the festival’s artistic director Steve Johnson of SJ21 Music and select performers from the festival.

The Earl Scruggs Music Festival is proud to announce new additions to the festival lineup for the upcoming 2020 festival: The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Jim Lauderdale, Chatham County Line, and the Earls of Leicester.

Today the Earl Scruggs Center and WNCW are proud to announce the inaugural Earl Scruggs Music Festival, coming September 4-5, 2020 to Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, NC. Celebrating the legacy of an American music legend, the Earl Scruggs Music Festival will bring together artists from bluegrass, Americana, blues, and many other roots music genres to celebrate the pioneering vision of Earl Scruggs. Few other artists in American history have had such an impact as Scruggs.

The McCoury family legacy is one of the richest in bluegrass. Father Del McCoury was a crucial member of Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys and achieved legendary status with his souring lead vocals on signature Monroe songs and originals. His band is a family band, and has been for a while.

As Tim O’Brien and Friends kicked off the final set of RockyGrass 2012, I planted my feet a couple of yards behind the elevated stage. The canopy of treetops overhead, awash in color from the stage lights, absorbed a light drizzle. To my right, the deity of all double bassists, Edgar Meyer, calmly warmed up next to the main stage staircase.

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