From The Side of the Road… you won’t believe what this column is about!
The world of social media is a pretty tawdry place, as we all know at this point. Sensationalism, misinformation, and division are all rewarded, often with large profits at the expense of all the rest of us. For the professional musician or artist, it has brought a number of promotional tools, but the time spent […]
From The Side of the Road… canceled adjectives in bluegrass
I hate being an alarmist, but we may need to start varying the adjectives we use in bluegrass artists’ bio material and press releases. The problem arose recently after the official retirement of three heavily-used (until now) adjectives in ceremonies held at the IBMA World of Bluegrass in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was just the […]
From The Side of the Road… communicating on stage, if you must
On-stage communication between musicians can take many forms, and is required for a variety of purposes, some vitally important, some completely unnecessary but at least amusing. One of the biggest reasons for communication during a show is to assist someone in the band who may be, A. new to the group and not up on […]
From The Side of the Road… what is this word “retire” you keep using?
In a previous column here, we discussed what careers might be appropriate for a professional bluegrass musician who has taken the daring and rare step of actually retiring. It should be noted that the few bluegrass musicians who do quit the business tend to come back within a few years, or in some cases, within […]
From The Side of the Road… pronoun reversal in bluegrass songs
Quite a few years ago now, Pete Wernick came up with the concept of the pronoun/role reversal in classic bluegrass songs and suggested I write a column about it, which I promptly did. As I wrote about previously, one of his first examples that helped get this conversion process going was the Louvin Brothers’ I Wish […]
From The Side of the Road… festival workshop questions to set the mood
The summer festival and music camp season is fast-approaching, and with that comes the workshop season. I thought of it because just today I was listing some of the potential workshops my band members and I might offer at a festival later this year. If you’ve ever attended or taught a bluegrass workshop of any […]
From The Side of the Road… pandemic fun, in retrospect
Now that we’ve passed the five-year anniversary of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was interesting to look back on this column written a year or so after that world-altering era began. It was all about the aspects of that first year that we would be missing later, when we all resumed our frenetic […]
From The Side of the Road… music camp shenanigans
Music camp season is fast approaching. Do you have your camp outfits picked out (usually T-shirts from other camps) and washed yet? Do you have enough strings? Have you enrolled? In a typical music camp of any kind, there are the regular instrument classes that students sign up for, but often there are one-time workshops […]
From The Side of the Road… Mr Bluegrass Manners takes on 2025
Mr. Bluegrass Manners has been absent for quite a while, working on his forthcoming book, Advance and Retreat – A Guide to Appropriate Fan-to-Artist Distancing. We did persuade him to return, however, to take some questions that have been simmering among Bluegrass Today readers. Dear Mr. Bluegrass Manners, I attend a weekly bluegrass jam in […]
From The Side of the Road… mixed messages in bluegrass advertising
Greetings from the big city of New York. I’m here paying a visit to SiriusXM studios. Shortly I’m heading to Chicago to play with the Night Drivers on Friday, and on to Murphysboro, Illinois on Saturday. In short, I’m busy, plus Mr. Bluegrass Manners hasn’t returned a single text or phone call from me this […]
