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Master fiddler Michael Cleveland (above; photo: Amy Richmond) is the Bluegrass Situation's Artist of the Month for March, and the BGS staff have marked this with an article that heralds his latest album Lovin' of the game (released last Friday), together with a video of the title track and a playlist of his recordings. There is also a link to a 2018 interview (well worth reading) in which he explains why Benny Martin is his favourite fiddler.

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For fans of Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley, the Fretboard Journal features them in a one-hour podcast in which they talk about many things, including their latest album Living in a song. The FJ includes a link to the YouTube video of them playing and singing 'Moonshine run'.

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The Compass Records Group - in addition to Compass itself, a major bluegrass label - has a world-class catalogue of recorded Irish and Celtic music, on which the Group is holding a St Patrick's day sale with 20% off selected titles. The scores of albums in the sale can be browsed and shopped here.

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The Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol, TN/VA, announces its new special exhibition, 'I’ve endured: women in old time music', which will begin on 23 March and continue till the end of 2023. More details are in John Lawless's feature on Bluegrass Today.

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Today's bluegrass world is fortunate to have a crop of astounding young musicians. In the 1970s a similar wave of outstanding young talent included Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley, Tim O'Brien, Carl Jackson, Jerry Douglas, and Mark O'Connor. Mark O'Connor, who won the Grand Masters fiddle championship at the age of 13, is now releasing two books on his life and a CD of his early recordings. John Lawless on Bluegrass Today gives an overview (with video and audio recordings) of 'his meteoric rise from a teenaged phenom to a bluegrass music powerhouse in little more than a decade'.

© Richard Hawkins