The following comes to us from Jack Tottle, Professor Emeritus, and founder of the East Tennessee State University Bluegrass, Old Time and Country Music Program. Although retired for several years, Jack continues his work to preserve the memories of bluegrass
Opinion / Humor
Ask Sonny Anything… Ever try the melodic style?
Ask Sonny Anything is a recurring feature where our readers pose questions to the great Sonny Osborne, one half of the iconic Osborne Brothers who redefined bluegrass music in the 1960s, and noted banjo maven and collector of fine prewar
Spring is come, and with it the return of Bluegrass Haiku
Spring just always seems to inspire me to write in haiku form, since there’s no baseball and bluegrass festivals are cancelled for a while. We’ve covered this short form of poetry, which originated in Japan, in columns past. Some of my
Ask Sonny Anything… How about Lester?
Ask Sonny Anything is a recurring feature where our readers pose questions to the great Sonny Osborne, one half of the iconic Osborne Brothers who redefined bluegrass music in the 1960s, and noted banjo maven and collector of fine prewar
Ask Sonny Anything… Osborne Brothers on Hee-Haw?
Ask Sonny Anything is a recurring feature where our readers pose questions to the great Sonny Osborne, one half of the iconic Osborne Brothers who redefined bluegrass music in the 1960s, and noted banjo maven and collector of fine prewar
Dear Mr. Bluegrass Manners – quarantine edition encore
Mr. Bluegrass Manners was deluged with quarantine-related etiquette questions, not only because we’re all in uncharted territory now and have plenty of questions about it, but also because we just have lots of time on our hands, at least when
Ask Sonny Anything… Did you teach Hank Jr to play banjo?
Ask Sonny Anything is a recurring feature where our readers pose questions to the great Sonny Osborne, one half of the iconic Osborne Brothers who redefined bluegrass music in the 1960s, and noted banjo maven and collector of fine prewar
Mr. Bluegrass Manners – Quarantine edition
Mr. Bluegrass Manners has been in self-quarantine mode long before he was asked to do so by the powers that be, because, you know, manners. He is more than adept at hand-washing and social distancing, though he prefers the term
Ask Sonny Anything… Working with a rhythm guitarist
Ask Sonny Anything is a recurring feature where our readers pose questions to the great Sonny Osborne, one half of the iconic Osborne Brothers who redefined bluegrass music in the 1960s, and noted banjo maven and collector of fine prewar