Tennessee’s two U.S. senators and a third who has cashed some songwriting royalty checks said Monday that songwriters deserve a raise. But they’re not likely to get one any time soon. Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Orrin Hatch
Some unpleasant news for bluegrass pickers and other musicians: The latest bid for recording artists to earn royalty payments for songs played on AM-FM radio is likely to stay bottled up in Congress. Any chance of this bill succeeding where similar efforts
Bluegrass bands often show pride for their home state, with Tennessee, North Carolina, and of course, Kentucky, all frequently mentioned in bluegrass tunes. However, a state just slightly to the north is the subject of a new collection with bluegrass
This is the first in what I hope will be an occasional series of songwriting challenges to appear in the Blue Yodel column. In every songwriting workshop, one question always gets asked: which comes first, the words or the melody? I try
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
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
Earlier this year, we had a guest contribution from Brandon Adams, in which he described his hopes and goals with regard to attending the 2011 World Of Bluegrass as a songwriter. Here is his follow-up report. This year's IBMA went by pretty
Louisa Branscomb remembers the feeling of a different IBMA world. Walking along the banks of the Ohio river at a past World of Bluegrass celebration (then held in Owensboro, Kentucky), she reflected on the honors bestowed upon groups, vocalists, instrumentalists,
If you're an established songwriter or an aspiring one, here's an event you'll want to take notice of. Jim Lauderdale will be participating in a live chat on Facebook, on Tuesday, February 1, at 7 PM EST. The chat will
