The story behind Bluegrass Unlimited
Bluegrass Unlimited has been a staple of the bluegrass industry for over 40 years. I’ve browsed back issues and eagerly read new issues right along with the rest of the bluegrass world. Until today, I didn’t know the backstory of how the magazine came to be.
The Fauquier Times-Democrat newspaper, in Warrenton, Va, is running a story in today’s paper detailing the story of how/why Pete Kuykendall began the magazine all those years ago as a newsletter, whose annual subscription rate was $3. Considering the increased content and the inflation over 40+ years, I’d say the current subscription rate of $25 is a bargain indeed.
With the world changing drastically around us, bluegrass music continues to thrive, and so has Bluegrass Unlimited.
“If you had asked me 10 years ago about the future of Bluegrass Unlimited, I would have said it would be dead by now," said Kuykendall. "But we are still healthy, and bluegrass music continues to grow."
Thanks Pete for helping the music grow, and for keeping us all reading for all this time.


The official web site for The Recording Academy, formerly The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, who distributes the annual Grammy Awards, has a nice piece up on the 40th Anniversary issue of Bluegrass Unlimited magazine. It was written by Dave Helland, and includes a brief overview of the...
Cindy Baucom, host of the syndicated radio program Knee Deep In Bluegrass, is profiled in the November issue of All About Women magazine, a regional publication in Boone, NC.
The piece, From the Runway to the Airway, She's Still The Queen by Sherrie Norris, talks with Cindy about her role as co-producer...
Lovers of Bluegrass, hope you will read my story called: The Adventures of Kristin Scott Benson in the July Bluegrass Unlimited. Bluegrass banjo with taste, melodic to the highest degrees, too fast for the eye to follow. You don't have to worry about bluegrass banjo with blusey nuances for the future,...
The June issue of Bluegrass Unlimited magazine is on its way to subscribers and retailers, with Del McCoury (and the band) on the cover. The Del piece is a substantial one, written by Chris Stuart.
Also included this month are features on Blue Moon Rising, Shad Cobb, and The McCormick Brothers. You...
The current issue of Teen Strings magazine has a story titled How To Train For A Fiddle Contest. It's written by John Boulware, who at age 19 is the 2006 Tennessee fiddle champ.
Teen Strings is a quarterly print magazine from String Letter Publishing, who also publishes Strings Magazine. The magazine...
WAMU's Bluegrass Country and Bluegrass Unlimited magazine have joined forces to bring a new monthly radio program to the air, starting this weekend.
Bluegrass Unlimited Top 30 Countdown will be broadcast on the last Saturday of each month from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (eastern), hosted by Lee Michael...




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A wonderful example of how an enterprise can stay true to its roots, yet still remain viable and au courant. They ain’t stodgy, yet they’ve never really bent over for the sake of the latest trend. This is a consistently excellent magazine, a publishing marvel!
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