From The Side of the Road… Have you seen my latest review?
No recording artist likes bad reviews. In fact, most recording artists are pretty unhappy with reviews that are even mediocre. When was the last time you heard an artist say, “Well, it was a pretty bad review, but it was fair. Our material was a ‘weak blend of trite and poorly-written originals and tired and […]
From The Side of the Road… pitch session for bluegrass standards
Some of our best-known bluegrass standards were most often written by one person or maybe two, like Carter Stanley or Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. Almost none were written by a committee of three-to-five writers, meeting for a 2:00 p.m. writing appointment on Music Row. At those sessions there’s usually somebody pitching an idea, hoping […]
From The Side of the Road… bluegrass TV shows coming soon?
I don’t want to alarm you about the passage of time, or, if I’m honest, I do want to alarm you about the passage of time, because it’s fun: The movie Oh Brother, Where Art Thou came out over 20 years ago! It was a movie which helped raise the profile of bluegrass music, led […]
From The Side of the Road… quiz for bluegrass college students
It’s been such an exciting development to see the growth of bluegrass music in higher education. Programs like those at ETSU, Berklee, and Morehead State are not just providing degrees to students who are pursuing their musical passion, they are turning out serious professionals in the business, from Becky Buller to Chris Pandolfi. There’s one […]
From The Side of the Road… getting there is half the fun
The Memorial Day weekend is sort of a milestone in the year. It’s the unofficial start of summer. The fashion people also tell us it’s now okay to wear white shoes (lime green leisure suit optional). Canada celebrates a long weekend the week before, this coming Monday being Victoria Day. That marks the unofficial start […]
From The Side of the Road… come and listen to a story
After writing 500 or so of these, I find that I occasionally tire of all the truth-telling (with the occasional lie thrown in just for fun, or do I have that ratio reversed?). If you wouldn’t mind indulging me, then, this week will be strictly a work of fiction. It’s just a little bluegrass-related short […]
From The Side of the Road… it’s time for Bluegrass Haiku!
There’s a tradition here of publishing at least one bluegrass haiku column per year. I’ve usually taken presidential election years off because even short-form poetry about leaves and clouds is controversial and divisive in these years (“Is that a reference to chem trails?” “Are you trying to make a subtle statement about climate change?”). However, […]
From The Side of the Road… a look back at millennial bluegrass humor
WIth Gen Z soaking up a lot of press right now (while not knowing what the antiquated term “press” even refers to), it’s easy to forget that millennial jokes still resonate with people, which I think is even a pretty millennial way to put it. This is a look back at my millennial bluegrass column […]
From The Side of the Road… For Your Consideration notices
For your consideration: I might as well warn you that I’ll be opening all correspondence this way for the next two weeks. It has a little more zip to it than, “To Whom it May Concern,” anyway. I’m also going to start all conversations this way. Yes, it’s IBMA Awards voting season again. For those […]
From The Side of the Road… tax advice for the bluegrass musician
I’m traveling today, so this is actually a rerun from years gone by. Since the subject is taxes for musicians, though, you’ll find it has a certain timeless quality, because nothing else gives quite the sense of deja vu as tax season. This was a two-parter so the link to part 2 is below. It […]
