June 2022

My heart was torn when I read that the John Hartford Memorial Festival would be in Springville, Indiana, not Bean Blossom, IN at the Bill Monroe Music Park. I love my little cabin in the woods at the Bill Monroe Music Park (BMMP). It has served us well for many adventures at the John Hartford Memorial Festival (JHMF). And it was reserved and paid for from June 1-5, 2022. ‘My’ cabin has beds, an air conditioner, mini fridge, microwave and sleeps four. We know how to set up to suit our tastes and keep dry.

If you reach Appalachian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Martha Spencer, it’ll be from the top of her mountain in Virginia, likely when she’s out walking in the woods. Spencer grew up nestled into hills as old as time. Raised in mountain music (she grew up in the famed Whitetop Mountain Band, which dates back to the 1940s), Spencer channels the old sounds, but she can just as easily create new sounds from her worldly travels.

Today BMG announces The Byrds: 1964-1967, a new large-format 400-page collectible art book curated by the band’s three surviving founding members, and available in three versions, including a Super Deluxe Limited Edition signed by Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman, and David Crosby.

The Byrds: 1964-1967 is available for preorder now at www.byrdsbook.com

Austin’s Kalu & The Electric Joint are back with a stellar new single “Garden of Eden,” which is out now. The track will be accompanied by a stunning new music video [https://youtu.be/tefQt2Eb9DQ] directed, shot, and edited by Barbara FG. “Garden of Eden” is the latest in a string of singles the band has released during the pandemic and is part of a bigger body of work they’ve been working on since 2019.

GMP Live is excited to announce the return of North Beach Music Festival, set to take place over December 9th–11th, 2022 at the familiar and newly renamed historic landmark, Miami Beach Bandshell, and adjacent Bandshell Park.

The Alex Leach Band’s Jim Lauderdale-produced debut, I’m The Happiest When I’m Moving (2021), earned praise as “a bold statement [of] their fresh take on bluegrass—one that draws on a wide-ranging set of historical sounds, yet remains as authentic as Alex himself” (County Sales), while an archetypal example of Leach’s ability to unearth a “deep catalog” gem, “Golden Rule,” spent an unprecedented 19 weeks at #1 on Bluegrass Today’s weekly Gospel airplay chart.

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