By Ross Boissoneau William “Bill” Kanengiser is best known as a founding member of the celebrated Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. The group has released 14 CDs since its founding, receiving two Grammy nominations and winning one. The LAGQ’s recording of the title work on Pat Metheny’s Road to the Sun hit #1 on the Apple […]

By Ross Boissoneau John Basile is not as well-known as many other guitarists. Perhaps it’s because his discography is limited, with 14 recordings under his name over the last 38 years. Maybe it’s because of his many other interests and vocations, including radiology and boxing. That’s right, he ran and managed various imaging clinics, and […]

By Ross Boissoneau Michael Manring says his love affair with his chosen instrument has been nearly lifelong. “I fell in love with bass as a kid,” he says. “I was a little young for the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, so for me it was Woodstock. It was like a bomb going off for me and […]

By Ross Boissoneau Joshua Davis is: A) A popular singer/sonwriter B) An instructor at Interlochen Arts Academy C) A finalist on season 8 of the NBC show The Voice D) All the above The answer, of course, is D. Familiar to audiences around the state and the Midwest from both his time fronting the band […]

By Ross Boissoneau Guitarist Nels Cline isn’t a name necessarily familiar to those who follow the charts, even though he’s been a part of the popular band Wilco since 2004 and he’s contributed to hundreds of recordings, as a sideman, studio guest, or bandleader or co-leader. That includes seven with the ironically-named Nels Cline Singers, […]

By Ross Boissoneau Numbers to know: Six, two, 20-plus and 48. As in six International Bluegrass Music Association wins, two Grammy nominations, more than 20 recordings, and 48 years (and counting) since Greg Cahill founded the Chicago-based bluegrass outfit Special Consensus in 1975. That’s a lot of history. And yes, a lot of numbers. But […]

By Ross Boissoneau Robert Berry is many things: Multi-instrumentalist. Vocalist. Songwriter. Studio owner. Producer. Conceptualist. He comes by all those things through a lifetime spent in music. As a youth, he was a fixture at his family’s music store, and by his high school years was gigging regularly as well as working at a local […]

Specially written by Irene Gómez for Strings By Mail Articles. 2023 has offered the opportunity to realize some interesting and contrasting facts, such as the birth of Wes Montgomery, Bach’s moving to Leipzig, Liszt arriving to Paris and the passing of the great American pedagogue Julia Crane. Today, let’s remember Julia Crane. 1923, the passing […]

By Ross Boissoneau It’s not that far from pop to jazz, or from guitar to ukulele – at least not for Jeff Linsky. The California-based musician has performed pop and rock, Latin, jazz, and more. He’s done so in various settings: solo, in duos, trios, full band and with an orchestra. It all comes from […]

Specially written by Irene Gómez for Strings By Mail Articles. 2023 has offered the opportunity to realize some interesting and contrasting facts, such as the birth of Wes Montgomery, Bach’s moving to Leipzig, Liszt arriving to Paris and the passing of the great American pedagogue Julia Crane. Today, let’s take a glance at some details […]