Greetings from the Night Drivers 2017 European tour. Traveling in places where you don’t speak the language can be challenging. This tour is taking us primarily through German-speaking countries, and while I speak a little German, my knowledge is primarily
Author: Chris Jones
Niche marketing to bluegrass fans
A story ran recently in Bluegrass Today that began, “Are you a bluegrass banjo fan who also traps small game?” It immediately made me feel like I hadn’t really given niche marketing the attention it deserves. Okay, I haven’t given
The best it ever was
It’s an extremely busy week, as the Night Drivers and I head off to Circa Blue Fest and then a European tour. Meanwhile I’m in the midst of some sort of satellite radio marathon. This is just a sign of
Irresponsibility Bluegrass – the time is soon
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
Free advice for songwriters, no registration required
Songwriting presents many challenges: how do you block out all of society’s noise to allow some musical inspiration to enter in? How do you get someone else interested in your songs once they’re written? Where can you get a good
Lists, leaks, and IBMA intrigue
The arrival of the first IBMA awards ballot is always interesting in one way or another, this year more interesting than most. Still, after having to start over this week with a new and less confusing ballot, folks at the
Show me the bluegrass bucket list!
You’ve no doubt heard of the “bucket list.” Like “show me the money” and other overused phrases, it has its origins in the movies. If you missed it, the bucket list is a list of things you hope to do
Alternative plot summaries for bluegrass songs
Have you ever looked at the song titles of a new album and wondered what those songs are about? In some cases, the guesswork is removed for you by the specifics in the title, like Wreck of the Old 97,
The very unreal threats of bluegrass groupies
Chris is out on tour with the Night Drivers this week, and asked us to re-run this column about bluegrass groupies. It originally ran in 2011, shortly after Bluegrass Today was launched. Wives of male professional bluegrass musicians may from time
Bluegrass Baby Names, part deux – celebrity edition
This is just a quick follow-up to last week’s discussion about bluegrass baby names. I had some readers offer some excellent additional suggestions that I either didn’t think of, or I didn’t have room for last week, including these: “Maggie” – Small