Opinion / Humor

Occasionally in this column I’d like to look at a specific song and, if possible, talk to the songwriter about it. First up is Herschel Sizemore’s Rebecca, a bluegrass instrumental standard. I just heard a story from the respected and beloved

Before I continue this series on band self-management, and its sub-series on naming your bluegrass band, it might be useful to review some of what was discussed last week. A few recent trends in bluegrass music have also been called

Ask Mr. Blue Grass Smarty Pants appears at odd times in Blue Yodel. You can post questions or add comments below and we will make sure Mr. BGSP sees them and replies on what he calls the Wonderful World of Webs. This

The forming of a bluegrass band and the subsequent management of that band involves a lot of important decisions, too numerous to cover in a single column,so this will be the first of a series. Future columns will deal with

Instead of writing my bluegrass music column, I’ve been watching the World Series. Tonight, it’s Game Six, which is important enough to be capitalized because it could be the last game of the year before a long, cold winter without

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

Wives of male professional bluegrass musicians may from time to time harbor fears about “bluegrass groupies” out on the road. I’m here to put those fears to rest once and for all. This wouldn’t really be necessary if any of

This piece is a contribution from Gene Reasoner, who co-hosts a syndicated Gospel bluegrass radio show called Believers Bluegrass, currently carried on about 20 stations. Gene also publishes his own blog, where this column first appeared. Tolerance is a word that has

Unless you’ve never given your email address out to a living soul (I’m starting to think this is a good idea), you’ve probably received some spam emails of some kind, representing some scam or another. Maybe you’ve almost fallen for

While publicly I’m all for big tents that allow more people to be part of (or at least buy a ticket for) this thing we call bluegrass, personally I have a very narrow definition: Bluegrass is whatever Bill Monroe whistled in