Sonny, Let me say first off that if it wasn't for Sonny and The Earl, I would never have picked up a banjo. I've been playing now for 23 years, but it only feels like 5. Did time fly by for
Opinion and commentary
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Ask Sonny Anything… did President Nixon care for your bluegrass?
Hi Sonny! Thanks over and over for this column. I know back in the day that everyone was really on the road a whole lot with not a lot of down time at home. I was wondering if you guys
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Ask Sonny Anything… was there ever a banjo that got away?
Banjo NewsLetter was mentioned, and I did a column for them in the '70s. It had the ingenious, and thoughtful, title of Keep on the Sonny Side (very original). I want to thank Terry Herd and John Lawless for allowing me,
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Ask Sonny Anything… how did The Osborne Brothers find songs?
Sonny, you mentioned your tune, Banjo Boy Chimes (great tune, BTW). I'm curious to know what you think about Alan Munde's recording of it on his, Banjo Sandwich LP. David R. David, thank you for your time, and for joining us in
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Ask Sonny Anything… why do you call today’s bluegrass weak country?
Hey Sonny, I would love to know if you have any memories/recollections of bass player Ernie Newton who was featured on so many Nashville sessions in the 1940s and '50s, including many bluegrass recordings with Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, The
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Ask Sonny Anything… did banjo tone change with plastic heads?
Sonny, I can't thank you enough for your insightful article that you both produce each week. I read a lot of music articles in various online publications on a daily basis, a few are pretty good, most are just fair,
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Live bluegrass is back… bring on World of Bluegrass!
Bluegrass lovers enjoying live music at the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival - photo by Frank Baker Last Friday night, in Kodak, TN, Darin & Brooke Aldridge were no more than a few measures into Tear Stained Letter when I scribbled in my
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Ask Sonny Anything… did Earl ever get bored with the banjo?
Hello Sonny. I seen the brothers many times in and around Burlington, NC at Bass Mountain festival and The Big O Jamboree. Do you remember the Big O and any stories? One time I remember seeing Glen Duncan was on
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Ask Sonny Anything… a look back at 2019
Sonny wasn't able to get us answers to your questions this week, so we figured it would be fun to take a look back at the second column he did, back in June 2019. Hopefully he'll be back on track for next week. You've
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Ask Sonny Anything… celebrating The Chief’s 100th column!
Good morning Chief, well it's finally here... Ask Sonny # 100! On behalf of all our readers, your fans and admirers around the world, Mr. Lawless and myself, please accept our heartfelt thanks for this weekly journey through the pages