Amos Perrine

Named for and presided over by the undisputed king of bluegrass — Del McCoury — DelFest, first held in 2008, took over Cumberland, Maryland, this past Memorial Day weekend, May 22-25, 2025. Held at the Allegany County Fairgrounds, it’s a lovely backdrop with a fabulous view of Knobley Mountain rising high

This week’s column highlights two Appalachian roots music festivals: Spring Shakori Hills Grass Roots Festival of Music & Dance (Pittsboro, North Carolina, May 1-4, 2025) and Rooster Walk Music & Arts Festival (Martinsville, Virginia, May 22-25, 2025).  In addition to presenting a wide array of roots musicians in a

It's mini-review time again. This week the column looks at four new roots music releases, three that have not gotten as much attention as they deserve and one by a legend that comes out next month. There’s also an update on four stellar vinyl blues re-issues that

Spread across 14 stages the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (April 24–May 4, 2025) transformed the New Orleans Fair Grounds Race Course into a sprawling celebration of every style of American music. 5,000 musicians gave their all to nearly half a million fans, which is in itself

Byron Bay Bluesfest, held over Easter weekend since 1990, has long been regarded as Australia’s premier roots music festival, as well as being one of the world’s leading destination festivals. Reduced from five to four days (April 17-20, 2025) this year, Bluesfest still attracted the third largest crowd

This week the column again reports from two roots festivals held last month in opposite ends of the country — Stagecoach Festival in Indio, California (April 25-27, 2025) and High Water Festival in North Charleston, South Carolina (April 26-27, 2025). High Water took place at the town’s Riverfront Park which,