Opinion / Humor

A lot of fine pickers are nominated for IBMA awards every year, and a chosen few get to cross the stage and pick up a statue. But with five or six nominees in a category, that still leaves plenty of

Christmas time is with us again, and while we celebrate the birth of Jesus most of all, it’s also time to reflect on 2011 and recognize that none of us are worthy of the blessings we have received this year.

Inspired by Chris Stuart's 2011 Holiday Poem, illustrator Ryan Wilson imagines Big Mon at the pearly gates welcoming some of the notable bluegrass icons who passed on this year. Can you name them all?

A new tradition launches here at Bluegrass Today: Chris Stuart's Holiday Poem. Enjoy our 2011 year-in-review, or click below and listen to Chris read it aloud.   Dear friends out in the blogosphere, I hope a link has brought you here, To read and

Several weeks ago, I compiled a list of things that a newly-formed bluegrass band needs to do to get off the ground. I don’t have that list in front of me, and I’m too lazy to actually look for it

We’re in the midst of a series on band self-management, and one of the more difficult—and for some, tedious—jobs facing a new band is the writing of your first promotional material. For many musicians, the idea of selling yourself to

Dear Santa, Before we get to this year’s list, I’d like to clean up a couple of loose ends from 2010. Last year you left me the wrong Homer & Jethro LP. I requested Cool Crazy Christmas; I got Old Crusty Minstrels.

Having made the mistake of starting on the touchy subject of band personnel changes, their motives, methods, and possible prevention, I guess I have no choice but to finish the job, especially since last week I promised to go into

Most Bluegrass Today readers are familiar with the careers of Earl Scruggs and J.D. Crowe, who have led their own bands and, at one time or another, played supporting roles within bluegrass music. Both appeared as sidemen for performers like

I don’t know. Maybe I’ve been watching too much of the Brian Greene PBS series The Fabric of the Cosmos lately. It’s fascinating—things blow up and there’s talk about black holes and eleven dimensions. What I’ve learned is that somewhere there’s