Opinion / Humor

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

Are you a fan of the game Truth or Dare? I’ll admit that I’m not. This is a game that has been responsible for accidental drownings, indecent exposure arrests, the burning of public buildings, and possibly the assassination of Archduke

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

I’m excited to announce the return of Mr. Bluegrass Manners. He’s been out on the road, touring all 50 states in his well-mannered (but used) bluegrass bus, spreading the gospel of bluegrass etiquette, and building grassroots support for no particular

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

Aside from coal mining songs from songwriters who’ve never set foot in a mine, and moonshining songs from people who have only consumed the final product and know nothing about the actual production of the stuff, let alone outrunning or

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

Jim Lauderdale (I call him “Jim”) does a characteristically hilarious name-dropping bit on stage, which often involves the names of semi-famous government officials, e.g.Madeline Albright. I paraphrase: “I was just talking to Mike Pompeo on the phone, and he agreed

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

I’ve discussed the issue of CD sales here in the past. Disregard whatever I may have said before because there have been some important new developments on that front. Well, one, mainly: people really aren’t buying those things.  I’m exaggerating a