Opinion / Humor

Veteran readers of this Wednesday column may recall that around New Year’s Day (that is to say sometime between December 26th and the first day of Spring), I present an annual bluegrass knowledge test, known officially as the “Bluegrass Knowledge

Peter Thompson, noted California bluegrass D.J. and former concert organizer, recently e-mailed out a copy of Woody Guthrie’s New Years resolutions from 1942, which Woody called “New Years Rulins.” It was a long list, with 33 items on it, and had

I’m away for the holidays in a remote northern cell phone and internet-free land, so the following is a rerun of an earlier column. The part you’re reading was sent to Bluegrass Today by brainwaves (they have tremendous telepathic powers

Bluegrass bands face an annual challenge at this festive time of the year. And no, I don’t mean the challenge of coming up with money to buy gifts when your band isn’t working at all. Though it is a traditional time

Sequels are so often disappointing, Santa Clause 2 being a notable exception. Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol 2: The Next Verse wasn’t bad either. If you recall, Scrooge becomes the manager of the Cratchit family band and together—with a little

The concept of bluegrass “success” is a subjective one, especially in a world where the majority of bluegrass professionals hold at least an off-season day job (for what it’s worth, this was once true of professional athletes, too). Last week,

How do we define “success” in the bluegrass music business? We certainly can’t do it by the standards used in the mass market music world, where success is considered to have been achieved when you own your own airplane and

Thanksgiving is upon us. It’s a time when bluegrass musicians, sound engineers, event producers, etc. are all taking a break from their routines, and they’re all heading to a place called “home” (remember that?) or perhaps to a relative’s house.

This is week 2 of “National Post-election Can-we-all-take-a-break-from-fighting-each-other-on-social-media Month.” A good way to celebrate is to just go to sleep. That’s what I did, and for that reason, I don’t have a new column for you this week. I did

I was trying to think of a good mindless escape from post-election analysis and the inevitable elation or depression you feel, depending on which horse you had money riding on. Even if you’re one of those who are happy with