Getting Ready to Roll

It’s that time again. I’m going to talk about a subject I have talked about a number of times in the past and as far as I can tell it is time again to get into it. You probably think I’m talking about bass playing or just something about bass. As you are all well...

Getting started as a musician

The past three Welcome Messages had sort of a common theme – the frustrations of trying to become a musician, or a better one. I loved Geoff Sargent’s column on music lessons. I took music lessons when I was a kid. First was clarinet, and it was very...

Getting the Bluegrass Sound

Many of us meet beginner musicians who have bought an instrument, have all the instruction stuff and constantly listen to bluegrass CDs – and they keep asking, What is the secret? How do you get that sound? I believe the answer is, use your ears and...

Getting There First

Okay, it’s the year 2020. We’re all older than we were yesterday. The national parks are overcrowded (but not right now!). The freeways and highways are jammed (in so called “normal” times that is). Are there really any backroads of California left where you are the...

Getting to Know You

I am still coming down from the euphoria that lingers a week or so after a fun event; I’m speaking of the Bluegrassin’ in the Foothills Festival at Plymouth. It’s always good to spend time pickin’ and pot-lucking with the bluegrass family. Remember the theme song to...

Getting Your Music Fix During Shelter-in-Place

I don’t think I realized, until this Covid-19 pandemic, what an intensely social thing music was in my life. It became abundantly clear when my busy calendar of gigs and rehearsals suddenly got wiped out for at least 2 months. But along with those went the regular...