Opinion / Humor

Sonny: I once joined a bluegrass band to play mandolin and sing tenor. Not longer after I joined, the bass player quit, so I took over that job. Having never played the bass before, I got an electric bass guitar. At

The tribute band is nothing new to bluegrass music or to any other genre of music, for that matter. "Beatlemania" was the first one I was ever aware of, but I know the concept is much older than that.  Sometimes there's

Anyone who knows her realizes that Kristin Scott Benson is a musician of the highest caliber, as her multiple IBMA Banjo Player of the Year awards can attest, but also that she is among the most thoughtful and intelligent people

Sonny is again unable to respond to questions this week, so we are re-running another of his most popular columns. Let's hope he is back at it next week. Sonny, I read your column weekly, and one thing is obvious; you are the

Leadership Bluegrass is an IBMA-related program which has been going strong since the year 2000. Its stated purpose, according to IBMA's web site, is "to pull together a cross section of people with exhibited or potential leadership qualities into a

Coming up with rules for holding in-person events in the era of COVID isn't easy, and no matter what organizers settle on, there is no way to please everyone. IBMAs board of directors certainly learned that in the wake of its

Sonny was not able to answer new questions this week, so we are running a classic edition of his column. We hope to have a new set of responses from him next Friday. Sonny, years ago you said that there was

In case you need to take your mind off of current events, and the inevitable rancorous arguments that accompany them, it might be good to apply your mind to a pop quiz. Think of this as bluegrass sudoku, even though it’s

Sonny, I'm curious about that session when Ira Louvin sang the low tenor part (is that right?) with you and Bobby on Give This Message to Your Heart. I think it was your fifth session for Decca. Pardon me if you've

I was recently sent a press release about a song that claimed it's the "Hotel California of bluegrass" (because you can never leave?), and it got me thinking about these kinds of comparisons: "The American Pie of Bluegrass," "The Mick