Author: Chris Jones

Whatever the future makeup of the IBMA Board of Directors might be in an ideal world (heaven), whether it have 16 members or 5 members, whether it be human, or run by AI bots who play a little banjo on

This being the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, you would naturally be expecting a Thanksgiving-y column, perhaps a list of bluegrass things to be thankful for, e.g. "I'm thankful for my Blue Chip TPR 45," or "I'm thankful for Jimmy Martin's lead

One of the most important cliche phrases of the current decade, aside from "drink the Kool-aid," "going forward,"  and, from the world of television news: "at the end of the day," is "there's an app for that." We now have

I know I sometimes struggle when I'm having to field questions like, "do you really wish Raleigh would be less supportive of the IBMA?" or "do you really believe Bill Monroe died in 1981 and was represented by Monroe body

You'll find that if you're in the bluegrass music business for any length of time, things can and will occasionally go wrong. Mistakes will be made, sometimes through no fault of your own (but who are we kidding?). I've found

I’ve discussed in past columns the fact that, while bluegrass bands still get booked at weddings, there are at most three appropriate bluegrass songs to play at a wedding. Even some of the instrumentals are questionable, at least if you

Perhaps it was the approach of Halloween, or perhaps the post-IBMA World of Bluegrass mental fatigue, but my mind has suddenly turned to the macabre.  More specifically I've begun thinking about the writing on headstones. Epitaphs are often fascinating, sometimes horrifying,

It was an outstanding IBMA World of Bluegrass this year, in my opinion (as opposed to the opinion of some person ranting on a street corner in Raleigh), and yes, I was awake for a great deal of it. The

For those who attended the recent IBMA World of Bluegrass, I hope you had a great week and are recovering well. Reviews of the event, from the awards show to the keynote address, were generally glowing. There was widespread concern and

Greetings from the IBMA World of Bluegrass in Raleigh, or whatever city this is (it's easy to feel disoriented during this week). A few years ago here, I wrote and recorded a song dealing with the number one problem facing