On-stage communication between musicians can take many forms, and is required for a variety of purposes, some vitally important, some completely unnecessary but at least amusing. One of the biggest reasons for communication during a show is to assist someone in
In a previous column here, we discussed what careers might be appropriate for a professional bluegrass musician who has taken the daring and rare step of actually retiring. It should be noted that the few bluegrass musicians who do quit the
Quite a few years ago now, Pete Wernick came up with the concept of the pronoun/role reversal in classic bluegrass songs and suggested I write a column about it, which I promptly did. As I wrote about previously, one of his
The summer festival and music camp season is fast-approaching, and with that comes the workshop season. I thought of it because just today I was listing some of the potential workshops my band members and I might offer at a
Now that we've passed the five-year anniversary of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was interesting to look back on this column written a year or so after that world-altering era began. It was all about the aspects of
Music camp season is fast approaching. Do you have your camp outfits picked out (usually T-shirts from other camps) and washed yet? Do you have enough strings? Have you enrolled? In a typical music camp of any kind, there are the
Mr. Bluegrass Manners has been absent for quite a while, working on his forthcoming book, Advance and Retreat - A Guide to Appropriate Fan-to-Artist Distancing. We did persuade him to return, however, to take some questions that have been simmering
Greetings from the big city of New York. I'm here paying a visit to SiriusXM studios. Shortly I'm heading to Chicago to play with the Night Drivers on Friday, and on to Murphysboro, Illinois on Saturday. In short, I'm busy,
Next week there’s going to be a long overdue new Mr. Bluegrass Manners column, so to get you in the mood, we're rerunning one from 2020 this week. Not just any one, though; this is the first MBM column after
Sequels are so often disappointing, Santa Clause 2 being a notable exception. Speaking of holiday classics, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol 2: The Next Verse ,wasn’t bad either. If you recall, Scrooge becomes the manager of the Cratchit family band and
