Author Archives: cousinlynn953

Time for the 2019 Joe Val Festival!

Posted on February 13, 2019

Far and away the major winter bluegrass event in this part of the country, and maybe in the whole country (as Alex MacLeod of Rock Hearts corrected on the show back on the 26th), it’s time again for The Joe … Continue reading →

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Rhode Island’s Best-Kept Secret? Rock Hearts on HAH!

Posted on January 30, 2019

I had heard the name, but knew nothing of the band when Tony Watt asked if I’d like to have them on live.  They are scheduled to appear at the Joe Val Festival this year, so I said, sure, if … Continue reading →

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The Legendary Al Hawkes Dies at 88

Posted on January 10, 2019

I met Al Hawkes at one of the Joe Val Festivals, back in the Green Room.  It was not the one where he received the 2009 Heritage Industry Award from the Boston Bluegrass Union.  It might have been 2016 when … Continue reading →

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It’s the Eighth of January!

Posted on January 8, 2019

And that means it’s time for ‘The Battle of New Orleans’ with Johnny Horton (1959):     Johnny Horton of course took the song from Jimmy Driftwood (whose real name was James Morris).  From a site called the Greasespot Cafe, … Continue reading →

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Extra! Fiddlin’ John Carson Played Tex’s ‘Christmas Time’ in 1927!

Posted on December 19, 2018

Well, sort of. After I played Tex Logan fiddling his composition, ‘Christmas Time’s a-Comin’’ with The Lane Brothers, followed by Bill Monroe’s classic first recording of the song, listener Paul Murphy emailed me with this news (reprinted with his permission): … Continue reading →

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Well Met—It’s Opry Time Again!

Posted on November 14, 2018

The Metropolitan Opera broadcast season begins December 1st.  Again this year there are seven Saturdays starting earlier than 1:00 PM.  In all cases we subtract about 15 minutes from the Met starting time for WHRB’s Prelude to the Met.  Fans … Continue reading →

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Tony Watt Launches JamVember

Posted on November 1, 2018

It’s at the Sheraton in Framingham, it’s taking over a good portion (but not all) of the hotel for a weekend, but it’s not a festival.  So what is it? It’s JamVember, a “Boston’s bluegrass Jamming non-festival.”  The neologism is … Continue reading →

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The Whiskey Gentry’s Dead Ringer—Is Lauren Staley!

Posted on October 26, 2018

Hits and Misses 8 “It was a face I’d seen a thousand times at every Derby I’d been to.  I saw it, in my head, as the mask of the whiskey gentry – a pretentious mix of booze, failed dreams, … Continue reading →

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Harvard Football vs. HAH: A Draw!

Posted on September 11, 2018

This year the Sports Department has elected to dispense with their customary Pre-game shows, so they won’t be taking as much time away from HAH.  And there are three Friday games, plus two 1:30 Saturday games, so only five games … Continue reading →

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Why I Cancelled Barbara Martin Stephens

Posted on August 30, 2018

I’ve been wondering whether I needed to explain this at all, but I did mention it on air, so if anyone is curious, this is what happened: Barbara Martin Stephens lived with Jimmy Martin from 1953 to 1966, and had … Continue reading →

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