Author: Chris Jones

We in the bluegrass music community have our own vocabulary, like referring to the banjo as “the five,” an instrumental solo as a “break,” a professional bluegrass income as “a living,” etc. I think we could all still stand to

Late December and January are always the time for countdowns and lists of the top “things” of the past year. You know, we have the Bluegrass Today top 30 songs of the year, the top 10 movies no one cares

I have a New Years tradition: I resolve to quit smoking, then realize I didn’t smoke to begin with. That was easy. I also take this time to give an annual bluegrass knowledge quiz. This time around, I thought veteran readers

Merry day-after Christmas. I’m spending the holidays in a somewhat remote area of western Canada, where it was necessary to write and send this column in late November, to allow time for it to be delivered by dog sled (with

I hope you’re having a wonderful holiday season so far. Much of traditional Christmas literature, including, I believe, the first chapter of Matthew (“Like, Really Awesome News for Modern Dudes and Dudettes” translation), refers to this week as “crunch time.”

Do you give holiday gifts to the bluegrass people in your life, like your band members, your agent, your manager, your sound engineer? It’s not usually expected, which is good in a way: you’re off the hook if you don’t

Last week’s millennial bluegrass songs generated a lot of suggestions for additions. Many were good ones, and I’ll include some here. One reader pointed out what I already knew: my list is incomplete without a song title that makes some reference

We love to make fun of millennials; you know, with their selfies of their own wedding proposals, their own baptisms, and their own gas station fill-ups; their inability to perform labor-intensive  tasks like coal mining or voting. But of course

I’m neck deep in studio work in North Carolina this week, so here’s one that first ran right before Thanksgiving two years ago, and right after the 2016 election. As you’ve noticed, the political climate may actually be more tense

Let’s face it: it’s difficult to be married to a musician, but it may be most difficult of all to be married to a songwriter. As the spouse, you end up hearing songs about bad relationships, break-ups, leaving on the