Chris Jones

Several years ago, there was an event at the IBMA World of Bluegrass that was called the “Bluegrass Pentathlon.” If my memory serves me correctly, it was the brainchild of Pete Wernick, but I could be wrong; he has a

I hate being an alarmist, but we may need to start varying the adjectives we use in bluegrass artists’ bio material and press releases. The problem arose recently after the official retirement of three heavily-used (until now) adjectives, in ceremonies held

Güglingen, Germany. Day 8 of European tour: We just wrapped up a show at the Altes Theater in Heilbronn, Germany. As with last week’s show in Prague, this was a double bill with Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley. It’s a charming

In the ever-present debate on tradition vs. innovation in bluegrass music, I feel that the value of consistency is sometimes overlooked. It seems like bands are always seeking to change up their sound from one album to the next –

You may be used to this being my weekly humor column, unless you were one of the handful that missed that memo and thought this was deadly serious stuff I’ve been putting out every Wednesday (you have my sympathy, in

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 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

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

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

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