Opinion / Humor

Sonny, I always liked your baritone singing a whole lot. I know you started on banjo early on. When did you become interested in singing, and do you remember the first recording you sang on? Also, what were the banjos you

Chris Jones has been unexpectedly detained at the Canadian border, so we are running this pre-pandemic column at his direction. It's Charlie Sizemore's favorite! Co-writing is definitely the mode of Music Row. We have a great co-writing tradition in bluegrass music,

Sonny, I've been enjoying your column since it began, and I finally decided to toss in my two cents worth. Last week you said that you played better standing up than you did sitting down. I've noticed the same about my

Hello from North Carolina. This week I'm in the studio recording some Christmas songs with the Night Drivers. Between writing charts, and watching A Christmas Carol and Elfto get into the Christmas spirit in late July, I'm a little pressed

Terry Herd decided to go to Oregon. He had to cross them Rocky Mountains to get there and I'm wondering if he got Larry Stephenson to drive him out there in his luxury bus and, if so, my hope is

Out of necessity, I'm afraid this column is being composed on a less-than-current iPhone (I received no compensation from Apple for saying that, though I thought I could get Samsung to kick in a few bucks). The fact is I

Hi Sonny, I just watched you and Bobby and Dale Sledd alongside Marty Robbins. The show was called The Drifter, and was filmed in black and white. It was done before Marty had his facial hair. You boys did three songs

Mr. Bluegrass Manners has been away from this column for a while. Since things began opening up in the United States and elsewhere, MBM has seized the opportunity to resume touring the country, attending bluegrass jam sessions, and raising one

Sonny, I LOVE this column so much. Thank you for sharing so many great stories! I can only imagine the incredible things you've seen and done, but I had to wonder about the many hours of boredom on the bus

Not to alarm anyone about the passage of time, but the Coen Brothers movie Oh Brother, Where Art Thou came out over 20 years ago. In case you're one of the few fans of bluegrass music who missed it, this