May e-newsletter from EBMA

EBMA NEWSLETTER - MAY 2017

The second issue of the new European Bluegrass Music Association (EBMA) monthly newsletter is now out. A good third of it consists of the first half of a very long and substantial interview with mandolin maestro Mike Marshall (USA) who now lives in Germany with his wife, classical mandolinist Caterina Lichtenberg. Gig schedules are contributed by leading European musicians and tour schedules are given for visiting artists, together with festival dates throughout Europe for May, June, and July.

There's a 'bluegrass royalty auction' - two wooden wall ornaments, with the outlines of a fiddle and an F-style mandolin, bearing the signatures of the members of the Earls of Leicester, the Steeldrivers, the Del McCoury Band, and other notable figures of the bluegrass world. Bids start at €30; you can place your bid by e-mailing the EBMA board.

Three CDs are reviewed, one of which is Cup O' Joe's six-track EP Bluebirds. The review opens with 'Over the last few years this family band from Northern Ireland have been recognised as one of the best talents around the European bluegrass scene', and ends with 'This CD is a tour de force that shows the best from the band... there should be more to come'.

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