From The Side of the Road… even bigger and still better
We sometimes don’t like to think of it this way, but we live in a fiercely competitive and ever-changing business, with all of us searching for ways to offer something unique, and to find something that will give our musical product even the slightest edge over the competition. In other industries, it’s believed that it’s […]
From The Side of the Road… video game for bluegrass songwriters
I never thought I’d find myself discussing video games in this space; I’m really more of a pinball guy, which I like to think of as an acoustic video game that you can set a drink on. Still, there’s been a development in this world I think you should know about. Even if you’re not […]
From The Side of the Road… bluegrass anniversary gift ideas
Do you have a big wedding anniversary coming up? When we celebrated our 30th, I decided to consult the list of year or milestone-appropriate gifts as a guide for my gift (the 60th anniversary gift, by the way, is an actual milestone, which is very expensive to ship). If you’re like me, you would probably […]
From The Side of the Road… the missing ingredient in bluegrass songs
I don’t know if you’re familiar with the song made popular by Dobie Gray in 1973 called Drift Away, but it’s a song that’s had enduring appeal. I personally have always been a huge fan of the Dobie Gray version. It was always missing something, though, and maybe you too had been a little troubled […]
From The Side of the Road… find your bluegrass stage name
Do you ever play the name games? I’m referring to the cute methods of generating your own alternate name for a specific occupation. For example, you can arrive at your stage name by combining your middle name with the name of the street on which you were born. This one is admittedly an urban-biased system, […]
From The Side of the Road… crowd-funding for the contemporary bluegrass artist
We’re all adjusting to a world in which recordings and other music projects are being funded in new ways. Even established artists recording for established record labels are now using fan-driven funding campaigns to finance their work. This can either be looked at as a productive new way to engage fans (and what’s more engaging […]
From The Side of the Road… a look back at COVID restriction song ideas
This Valentine’s Day, you might have the opportunity to take the one you love (or at least the one you don’t mind too much) out to dinner, or to a movie. In other words, you might actually be going out somewhere in public, you know with other people around, some who might even be coughing in your […]
From The Side of the Road… Mr. Bluegrass Manners looks at 2024
Mr. Bluegrass Manners has been away from us for a while. He hasn’t been idle, however. He’s been doing research for an upcoming book with the working title, Why You Gotta Be So Rude? He also recently spoke at an international etiquette conference that included representatives from several musical genres. He remarked that bluegrass and […]
From The Side of the Road… bluegrass fears, real and imagined
You may think of people who have chosen bluegrass music as a profession as fearless types who proceed boldly into the future without a care for their material comfort, or family and financial stability. Perhaps you’re correct about the financial stability part, but in fact, professional bluegrass musicians and others who have chosen some related occupation […]
From The Side of the Road… bad bluegrass business concepts
Today is a travel day for me as I hop a dog sled to a freight train to another dog sled to a plane to a rental car, eventually to Nashville during SPBGMA weekend. For that reason I offer up this column from almost 12 years ago, with a few editorial changes made, like eliminating […]
