News from (and of) recent visitors

Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers, who topped the bill at Omagh last September, are looking forward to getting back on the road, which at present won't be until May. On the plus side, their new DVD, the vinyl edition of their latest album, and more merchandise are available at special bundle discount prices. More news and details are on their latest e-newsletter.

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Gina Furtado was also here last autumn at Omagh and on other dates, playing banjo with Chris Jones & the Night Drivers. Her solo album I hope you have a good life has just received a Highight Review in the April 2020 issue of Bluegrass Unlimited from Nancy Cardwell Webster.

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Kenny & Amanda Smith also played at Omagh some years earlier (Kenny has since been back as a member of the Band of Ruhks). Their latest album With you is now being released by Farm Boy Records.

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Becky Buller, who played at Athy and elsewhere early this century with Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike and has since won two Grammy swards and eight IBMA awards, has just released a new single, 'The barber's fiddle', a story of tradition, with eighteen award-winning fiddlers taking part in the recording. More details are on the latest newsletter from Dark Shadow Recording.

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Finally, an artist who would have been a visitor earlier this month but for the coronavirus crisis: Thomm Jutz. When it comes to continental Europe's contributions to the US bluegrass scene, Jutz looks like having a comparable impact in songwriting and record production to what the Kruger Brothers have had as performers. The first volume of his record project To live in two worlds is being released today by Mountain Home Music Company. More details on his already impressive career are in Mountain Home's press release, and the track 'Moving up, moving on' can be heard in John Lawless's feature on Bluegrass Today.