Interviews

Berklee College of Music student Ethan Setiawan is a rising young star honing his already considerable musical skills within the rich Berklee College of Music scene.

Ethan just announced the release of Checkpoint, a collection of solo mandolin and mandocello tunes out September 30 to complement previous recordings with Julian Pinelli and Theory Expats.

We'd been hearing good things about his music for several years, and the release of Checkpoint seemed the perfect time to shine the light on his accomplishments and diverse musical tastes.

Originally from Goshen, Indiana, Ethan won the Walnut Valley National Mandolin Championship in 2014 and has now entered his second year at ...

Portland, Maine — Joe K. Walsh has announced the release of his newest solo project entitled Borderland, a collection of bluegrass flavored original compositions featuring Joe's singing and mandolin/mandola playing.

Always a favorite at the Mandolin Cafe, we caught up with Joe with a few questions about the new project and what he's up to musically now that the summer touring season has ended. As a bonus, he shared a marvelous track from the album featuring his mandola playing.

The new album is an interesting twist: original compositions, traditional bluegrass influence, but mandola sprinkled throughout which adds a rich luster to the songs.

Mandola! yeah, it's got a connection to a different ...

Three musicians widely known for their artistry and teaching skills, Scott Nygaard, John Reischman and Sharon Gilchrist, have announced the release of The Harmonic Tone Revealers, a recording of traditional styled music that is sure to find a place in the favorites of listeners.

We were treated to an advance copy of the project and caught up with John Reischman for a few questions about the new recording.

What series of events led up to The Harmonic Tone Revealers?

Scott Nygaard and I worked together in California in the late 80s early 90s and were on each others Rounder recordings. He was featured on my CD Up in the Woods from 1999.

Once I moved to Canada our playing together pretty much stopped. A few years ago we were both hired to teach at NimbleFingers Music Camp in British Columbia and realized how much we enjoyed playing together. We decided ...

Michael Daves singing duets with Sarah Jarosz.

Michael Daves has made a name for himself over the past 15 years on bluegrass guitar and mandolin, and as a powerful singer. And now, he's the latest addition to the ArtistWorks online music school roster, where he will be teaching bluegrass vocals. With a strongly individual style, he's played and recorded with Tony Trischka and as a duo with Chris Thile. And recently he released his own double album on Nonesuch records, Orchids & Violence with an all-star bluegrass band that includes Sarah Jarosz on mandolin, Noam Pikelny on banjo, Brittany Haas on fiddle, and Michael Bub on bass.
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David Benedict could have chosen a variety of sites to host his ongoing video series featuring his music entitled "Mandolin Mondays." It's not like it's difficult to find a blogging host. His own web site has those capabilities. But January 4 of this year, post #1 appeared on the Mandolin Cafe with David playing a blazing version of "Huckleberry Hornpipe," and the hashtag #mandolinmondays.
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Five years ago, already a seasoned professional with multiple recordings and regular appearances at the very best music camps offering Irish music education, Marla Fibish made the move many a musician dreams of but so few realize: she left the corporate world to be a full-time musician.

To say she hasn't looked back would be an understatement.

A chance to share her talent with renowned guitarist Bruce Victor soon after resulted in a strong musical bond. New music was co-authored, performed and recorded, and ultimately the two wed.
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Author Bill Graham is a freelance outdoor writer, photographer, bluegrass musician and singer-songwriter who has authored more than 50 feature articles for the Mandolin Cafe, most of which are stored in our archived News section.

A non-musician might view the pale-blue building at 211 Lambert Ave. as a routine business serving local folks in Palo Alto, Calif. The street is fairly quiet. A Gryphon Stringed Instruments sign on the outside wall is modest. Words on the blue canvas awning over the front door calmly ...

About the author: Roots scholar and multi-instrumentalist Michael Eck is a respected songwriter; a nationally exhibited painter; and an award-winning cultural critic and freelance writer. He is also a member of Ramblin Jug Stompers, Lost Radio Rounders, Berkshire Ramblers and the Frank Jaklitsch Trio.

Weighted Mind is more than just a bold step forward. It is an artist's statement, made by a woman on a precipice.

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Sarah Jarosz has been on our radar since at least the Spring of 2008 when the then-16-year-old signed with Sugar Hill Records. She'd already played with the Austin Symphony Orchestra and appeared in a cameo with Earl Scruggs and Ricky Skaggs as part of the 2005 Country Music Association Festival.

Well... in the blink of an eye, that talented girl has turned into a young woman with plenty of musical accomplishments behind her and big plans for the future.
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Aaron Weinstein's Chord Melody System isn't so much a method book as it is a concise "strategy." It's a peak behind the curtain of what every mandolinist assumed from watching his YouTube videos was some kind of magical wizard operating byzantine levers and adroit pulleys, far beyond the comprehension of mortals and us common folk musicians.

What is perceived from the outside as mystery and complexity is merely a handful of concise tricks and tools.

In this book, Weinstein avoids the charade of soul-eating, complex music theory and exposes the dirty secret of what master mandolinists have known all along — the instrument's 5th tuning was wired for chord mobility and comprehensible transposition, pun intended. Through ...

A year after vintage instrument pioneer Stan Jay lost his battle with Mantle Cell Lymphoma, a difficult decision and uncertainty face the owners of Mandolin Brothers of Staten Island, N.Y.

In the past month a notice on the store web site requests visits by appointment. Acquisition of new inventory has stopped and the family is now actively seeking a new owner.

Stan's extended illness leading up to his passing and the challenges facing ...

For the past 15 years, Foghorn Stringband has defined a peculiar, hard-driving Pacific Northwest ensemble style, anchored in the mantras of old-time, but unafraid to bend the rules. Mandolinist Caleb Klauder — from the same Orcas Island digs as longtime Cafe member and tonewood dealer Bruce Harvie — bounced around in a handful of bands before teaming with fiddler Stephen "Sammy" Lind in an early version of Foghorn.

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