Author: Chris Jones

I took a look at the calendar this morning (I do this at least once a month), and it occurred to me that I’ve been writing these weekly columns for Bluegrass Today for almost a year now, One of the first

Well, it’s all over but the tux-rental (or overalls-rental, depending on your awards show dressing style). The 2012 IBMA Awards nominees have been announced, and the countdown to the awards show has begun (note: if you’re actually counting down to

The Night Drivers and I just concluded the Minnesota Bluegrass and Old Time Music Association’s annual pre-festival Bluegrass Jam Camp, which we loved doing. It’s a really good, and well-run program in a beautiful setting. We’ve taught at numerous music camps

The past year has been a year of bluegrass mourning, as we’ve said goodbye to some of the music’s great pioneers and innovators. The deaths of celebrated figures have become more of a public concern in the internet era, and

I’ve become very disillusioned with the zodiac, I have to admit. First there were the overly general daily horoscopes: “Make sound financial decisions today. Expect news from a friend, family member, or other human being you may or may not

After last week’s column, I was inundated with requests for more uninteresting stories from the world of bluegrass, or any other worlds that may contain tales of the boring and predictable. I had no idea there was this unfulfilled need out

While in England recently, I was looking through the local newspaper and came across the headline “County gets new non-emergency number.” I was immediately comforted to know that the boring headline, followed by the even more boring story, isn’t just

Bluegrass musicians, and musical artists in general, often fall into a category of people who have a hard time with the bureaucratic and organizational side of the music business. Heck, some artists have a hard enough time just getting themselves dressed in

Jim Lauderdale (I call him “Jim”) does a characteristically hilarious name-dropping bit on stage, which often involves the names of semi-famous government officials, e.g. Madeline Albright. I paraphrase: “I was just talking to Condoleeza Rice on the phone, and she

It’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks that saw The Night Drivers and me going from Bean Blossom, Indiana to Huck Finn’s Jubilee in Victorville, California and back to Tennessee in less than a week. We did some night driving,