More news of past visitors

Authentic Unlimited (l-r): front, Stephen Burwell, Eli Johnston,

John Meador; rear, Jesse Brock, Jerry Cole

With the retirement of Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame member Doyle Lawson from active touring, three of the members of his group Quicksilver - Eli Johnston (banjo), Stephen Burwell (fiddle), and Jerry Cole (bass) - have decided to carry on together as Authentic Unlimited, completing the band with the addition of John Meador (guitar) and Jesse Brock (mandolin).

John Lawless introduced the new band on Bluegrass Today yesterday, with more details given by Sandy Hatley, who announces that they are already booked for the Bluegrass First Class festival in late February 2022. With Jesse's departure, the mandolin chair in Fast Track has now been filled by Shayne Bartley, another thoroughly experienced bluegrass veteran; see the Wilson Pickins Promotions press release and today's Bluegrass Today.

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Multi-instrumentalist Tim Carter has formed a new band, Damn the Banjos, which (despite the name) puts Tim's three-finger-style banjo at the centre of its sound. The band, comprising Tim (banjo, mandolin, vocals), Mike McAdam (electric guitar, vocals), Dann Sherrill (drums, percussion), and Scotty Huff (bass guitar, vocals), describes itself as 'a pseudo-supergroup of funked-up folkified Americana blues & roots rock music'. A promo video of their music is on John Lawless's feature on Bluegrass Today and on YouTube; it includes a snatch of 'Road to Roosky', a reminder of the time when Tim and his elder brother Danny, as the Carter Brothers, were regular audience-pleasers at the Johnny Keenan Banjo Festivals.

© Richard Hawkins