Author: Chris Stuart

Award shows usually disappoint. There’s so much that can go wrong, and even when things go right, the most that can often be said afterward is that awards were handed out and—in the case of the IBMA award show—music was

Greetings Bluegrass Fans, Once again I am forced to remove the dust cover from my Underwood typewriter and report to you a plot so heinous that it caused me to look up the word heinous. First, let me say that I am

Dear friends upon the Internet, And Facebook pals I’ve never met, Let us pause in late December To gather ‘round and remember, The year that was two-thousand-twelve, (Old arguments for now let’s shelve). I’d have to say, if I were pressed, Twas not the worst, but not

Death has crept near and far this week in unspeakable horror, to those we know and to those we hear about. Words are usually my comfort, but this past week has reminded me of the inadequacy of words to express

Our guest smarty pants this week has been called the Father of Bluegrass History—okay, I just called him that, but it’s apt. Neil Rosenberg is Professor Emeritus of Folklore at Memorial University of Newfoundland, a chair formerly held by Gandalf. Neil

This has been a week that I know a lot of you have faced already: having to put a loved one into hospice care and then watch as—in my case, my mother—slowly, quickly passed away from us. Alpha Mell Stanley Stuart

Today is Cyber Monday, the day that robots everywhere break Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics and take over the world. But while that’s happening, let’s shop! You may have already done your shopping on Black Friday (which started this year

This is Blue Yodel #53, the same number of times that local bluegrass band The Remington Riders of Free Dirt, Texas, played their signature song, Remington Ride, at a wedding on November 19, 1995. It was band policy to play

This is Blue Yodel #52, the same as the world-record number of strings broken by the band High Wind Advisory the night of December 5, 1983 in Delphi Plains, Ohio, when they attempted a bluegrass version of the rock opera, Tommy. I

I spent yesterday with Josh Graves by reading Bluegrass Bluesman: Josh Graves A Memoir, a collection of transcribed interviews given in the '90s by the resonator guitar master. Expertly edited by Fred Bartenstein with help from a lot of good folks,