Opinion / Humor

The forming of a bluegrass band and the subsequent management of that band involves a lot of important decisions, too numerous to cover in a single column,so this will be the first of a series. Future columns will deal with

Instead of writing my bluegrass music column, I’ve been watching the World Series. Tonight, it’s Game Six, which is important enough to be capitalized because it could be the last game of the year before a long, cold winter without

I wish I could sell you something that would make you a better songwriter, but unfortunately, there’s no tablature for songwriters, no string gauges to change if the chorus isn't working, no pearl inlay that will make you look deep

Wives of male professional bluegrass musicians may from time to time harbor fears about “bluegrass groupies” out on the road. I’m here to put those fears to rest once and for all. This wouldn’t really be necessary if any of

This piece is a contribution from Gene Reasoner, who co-hosts a syndicated Gospel bluegrass radio show called Believers Bluegrass, currently carried on about 20 stations. Gene also publishes his own blog, where this column first appeared. Tolerance is a word that has

Unless you’ve never given your email address out to a living soul (I’m starting to think this is a good idea), you’ve probably received some spam emails of some kind, representing some scam or another. Maybe you’ve almost fallen for

While publicly I’m all for big tents that allow more people to be part of (or at least buy a ticket for) this thing we call bluegrass, personally I have a very narrow definition: Bluegrass is whatever Bill Monroe whistled in

Sunday afternoon often has an air of loneliness and finality for me, as the unstructured fun and fellowship of the weekend starts to fade with the advent of the renewed routine of Monday morning. A week ago Sunday was especially

I would first like to offer the disclaimer that this article is being written during the first few days of a European tour. I apologize if jet lag affects my objectivity, writing style, common sense, or font. At a time like

    From: portermapes@gmail.com To: chris@chrisstuart.com Date: Sep. 3, 2011 Hey Pal, Well, it’s finally happened. I was hired on by the Willett Family to play banjo. This morning we hit the road at O dark 30 and as soon as I got in the van