There's a period between after nominations are announced, and before final voting closes, when nominees become aware they may be being watched and/or listened to more closely. The stakes of what they do become just a little bit higher. Voting has
Opinion / Humor
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From The Side of the Road… vocal tips from our avian pals
Have you ever played in a band with a lead singer who changes the way he or she sings in the presence of an attractive member of the audience, or what might be called a "potential mate?" You know what
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From The Side of the Road… I’m truly sorry
Happy Wednesday! This column is actually a slightly edited rerun from almost 10 years ago. It seemed mostly non-specific, but if you read carefully you can place this around the time that Kanye West snatched an award away from Taylor
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From The Side of the Road… a bluegrass bucket list
You've no doubt heard of the "bucket list." Like "show me the money" and other overused phrases, it has its origins in the movies. If you missed it, the bucket list is a list of things you hope to do
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From The Side of the Road… burning question: haiku or senryu?
Last week Bluegrass Today published a rerun of my first bluegrass haiku column to help set up this new one. It turned out to be a good decision because some of the responses I got helped me learn valuable new
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From The Side of the Road… bluegrass haiku, for me and you
I'm planning to write some new bluegrass haiku for next week, which, if I'm honest, is a form of procrastination because I'm really supposed to be writing the liner notes for the debut album by Desperate Ryver (be on the
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From The Side of the Road… personal ads for bluegrass pickers
As someone who landed his first full time bluegrass employment thanks to a classified ad, I continue to take an interest in this kind of advertising. Not to be voyeuristic, but the personals section has always been pretty interesting, too;
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From The Side of the Road… tips for new bluegrass artists
In the last 10 or 15 years, bluegrass music has had its share of people trying to break in from other genres of music. Apparently the lure of low money and smaller touring vehicles is just too tempting for some
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From The Side of the Road… talking politics on stage
Returning to the stage MC work subject, this is a revised version of the final installment of my series on the subject: This was the column I was hoping to get someone else to write for me. It was the one
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From The Side of the Road… deconstructed band names
Way back in the first year of this column I did a series on band management, pretending that I knew something about it. The first installment dealt with the subject of naming bands, since it's something every band has to

