I want to describe a scene at a typical bluegrass concert or festival that will probably be familiar to both artist and fan, and it may cause each to shudder just a little: A fan walks up to a performer while
Author: Chris Jones
-
-
From The Side of the Road… there’s a day for that!
We're constantly trying to find new and more effective ways to market bluegrass music to a wider audience, or just a less narrow audience, if you want to look at it that way. I've recently returned from the IBMA World
-
From The Side of the Road… post World of Bluegrass analysis
It's the IBMA World of Bluegrass week-after. I usually go through my annual post-IBMA bluegrass cleanse during this week, which involves vigorous exercise (five push-ups), listening to music based on instruments Bill Monroe didn't like: the flute, the harp, the
-
From The Side of the Road… World of Bluegrass admission quiz
I've just arrived at the IBMA World of Bluegrass and I have a short report that mainly has to do with the check-in process. If you've kept up with social media discussions (something I don't recommend), you may recall there was
-
From The Side of the Road…. return to live shows haiku
For my band, Labor Day weekend marked the first return to playing in front of in-person audiences. Now, a few weeks later, after more festival dates and some real night-driving thrown in (Bean Blossom to Nashville in the wee hours),
-
From The Side of the Road… the rejuvenating power of bluegrass
My band's first show in front of real people since March of 2020 (we did an entire tour with pretend audiences in late 2020) was over the Labor Day weekend at Thomas Point Beach in Maine. It's a wonderful event,
-
From The Side of the Road… crossing borders in the age of COVID
As of the Labor Day weekend, I have returned to touring and playing music for people I can actually see. For me this often involves cross-border air travel, and it did this past weekend. I was expecting it to be
-
From The Side of the Road… not one penny for tribute bands
The tribute band is nothing new to bluegrass music or to any other genre of music, for that matter. "Beatlemania" was the first one I was ever aware of, but I know the concept is much older than that. Sometimes there's
-
From The Side of the Road… eh, whatever
Leadership Bluegrass is an IBMA-related program which has been going strong since the year 2000. Its stated purpose, according to IBMA's web site, is "to pull together a cross section of people with exhibited or potential leadership qualities into a
-
Tom T. Hall passes
Dixie and Tom T. Hall - photo by Terry Herd Bluegrass and country music legend Tom T. Hall passed away at his home in Franklin, TN on Friday, August 20th. He was born in Olive Hill, Kentucky in 1936. Known as "The