Opinion / Humor

 Dateline: Raleigh. That’s the last time I'm likely to be writing that, at least at the end of September. I think we're all feeling a few pangs of sadness about the IBMA World of Bluegrass leaving here, but there's also

The very first column I wrote for Bluegrass Today was about maintaining your health during the stressful IBMA World of Bluegrass week. Most of the advice I gave was either discredited or just laughed at, and not for the right

Is the rerunning of a column about bluegrass conspiracy theories a blatant attempt to cross-promote our new single, What if You're Wrong? Perhaps, and there's a whole conspiracy theory in itself with some pretty solid evidence to support it. Esquire magazine

It's been a while since I've done a video column, but the time felt right. I promise it's not just because the letter "B" doesn't seem to be working right on my keyboard, although that certainly is a factor. Have

I read an interesting tale of the music business recently, in which an Edmonton music student and songwriter, Connor Shaw, claimed that a song he wrote was the basis for a recent number one song by country artist Jason Aldean,

Last week we discussed movie taglines, those one or two sentence teasers meant to entice us to rush out (or in) to see the film. As I said, they can range from the overly sparse: "An Event" (Earthquake), to the plot-spoiling

I hope you're staying cool in this, the hottest stretch of summer. I've got a lot of travel this week and next, taking me and the Night Drivers to Wyoming, Montana (consider that a Red Knuckles tribute), Saratoga Springs, NY,

Mr. Bluegrass Manners has been away for an unusually long time, and he asked me to pass on his apologies. He said he's been wanting to "spend more time with his family," which I found surprising since I had never

One of the most challenging aspects of hosting radio shows is doing interviews. What are the most relevant questions to ask? What are questions other people might not have thought of? How do you get the shortest possible response from

Are you a fan of the game "Truth or Dare?" I'll admit that I'm not. This is a game that has been responsible for accidental drownings, indecent exposure arrests, the burning of public buildings, and possibly the assassination of Archduke