Chris Jones

  • Date line: Raleigh, NC

    | by

    Date line: Raleigh, NC This is traditionally a short column, written some time in between the IBMA World of Bluegrass keynote address and a showcase I need to attend at Tir Na Nog (that’s a local pub which I believe is

  • Thursday at Nothin’ Fancy 2015

    | by

    Thursday at the 15th Nothin’ Fancy Bluegrass Festival opened with the wonderful sibling harmony of Flatt Lonesome. Bluegrass Today columnist, Chris Jones, brought the Night Drivers to the stage next. Virginia native, Larry Stephenson, is always a favorite at the

  • Don’t they know…?

    | by

    I got a wide range of response to my suggestion that the world was going to be ending during the IBMA World of Bluegrass in Raleigh. After reading those responses, and in giving the whole issue some thought (but not

  • The end of the World (of Bluegrass)!

    | by

    I can’t delve too far into the specifics of it, but apparently the world is ending at the end of the month, more-or-less exactly in the middle of the IBMA World of Bluegrass, possibly during the Momentum Awards luncheon (I’d

  • Songs to skip at your next gig

    | by

    I’ve mentioned this before, but I have a theory that a sizable chunk of modern bluegrass fans aren’t listening to the lyrics of any of the songs. I’ve even tested this theory out on more than one occasion: once, when

  • Laurie video from Chris Jones

    | by

    In case you haven't had a sufficient Chris Jones fix today, here's the new music video he has just released along with his trusty Night Drivers. It's for Laurie, the opening track from their latest album, Run Away Tonight, available

  • Virtual reality, songwriter edition

    | by

    I never thought I’d find myself discussing video games in this space; I’m really more of a pinball guy, which I like to think of as an acoustic video game that you can set a drink on. Still, there’s been

  • Raw, Rested, and Ready

    | by

    The recording of bluegrass music, both in the studio and in live performance has undergone a lot of changes in the past decade or two. We’ve seen the introduction of YouTube, digital editing and pitch correction, and the advent of

  • Where all the bears are friendly

    | by

    Joe Lurgio recently contributed a thoughtful guest editorial about the stagnant nature of the IBMA Awards with suggestions about what might be done to keep the process updated. This prompted some give-and-take, which included discussion of the “big tent,” the

  • Post Literalism in bluegrass music

    | by

    I think we may have a small problem in our world with bluegrass fundamentalism. I’m not referring to the desire on the part of some to define bluegrass music in some sort of legalistic terms with a set of rules