Happy Thanksgiving! This week we celebrate something-or-other that happened on Plymouth Rock in such-and-such a year (and they say history isn't being taught well enough in our schools!), the existence of the domesticated turkey, and the growers of cranberries (also
Opinion / Humor
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From The Side of the Road… new slogan ideas for bluegrass promotion
We live in a time of wholesome claims being made about food products. We see words like "organic," "fair trade," and "sustainable," and we're meant to be impressed by these, even if we're not exactly sure what those terms actually
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From The Side of the Road… Beatles bluegrass mashups
Occasionally in this column we've decided to do song title mashups, blending some of our bluegrass standards with titles of other well-known songs. When we did this with '70s and '80s pop hits, we came up with songs like "Rocket
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From The Side of the Road… what we say, what we mean
We sometimes exaggerate in bluegrass music as a way of compensating for the fact that we aren't generally playing music for a mass market audience. And, even though most of us actually like that smaller-scale community feel of our music
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From The Side of the Road… Mr. Bluegrass Manners pops in
Mr. Bluegrass Manners is back! I requested that he take some questions this week, while I’m still on a European tour, possibly writing from a Spanish jail (a nice one, though). As always, these questions came via my Facebook page and are
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From The Side of the Road… find your true bluegrass spirit animal
In this general feeling of turning a corner, seeing light at the end of the tunnel, and whatever other hopeful clichés, we can attach to the year 2022, we're all at least looking forward. Recently I advocated acquiring some self-awareness
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Turtle on a Fence Post – 2022 Bluegrass Awards show reflections from Mike Fiorito
The sun sets on the 2022 World of Bluegrass - photo © Frank Baker As the 2022 IBMA Awards and live performances kicked off, Hurricane Ian began its approach on the West Coast of Florida, eventually smashing into Fort Myers. The
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From The Side of the Road… please IBMA, can I have some more?
The recent IBMA awards show received some sharp criticism in some quarters, one of those quarters being right here in Bluegrass Today. The following is not an attempt to disagree with any of that criticism, nor to pile on with
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From The Side of the Road… imagine a bluegrass Google
Whenever you search something or ask a question of the Almighty Internet gods (whose names are Pete and Roscoe) on your computer, the usual procedure is to type a question in the search bar at the top of your internet
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Dear IBMA, please do a better Awards Show
There was a lot to like in last night's IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards, the 33rd uninterrupted running of the annual event. It's always fun to observe our bluegrass stars done up in all their finery, with spouses and families in tow.