Spring Has Sprung

Spring Has Sprung

Springtime is near my darlin’  … and I’m counting now the days. (Bill Monroe) Living in California sure makes it easier when it gets down to saying goodbye to Old Man Winter. Compared to my years living back east, out here the winter hardly ever even comes: It’s not...
The Porch

The Porch

The Daily Grist: “My ideal summer day was reading on the porch” … Harold Varmus   A porch is a wonderful place to be. If you want to be a front porch picker, you have to have a front porch. It’s just as much fun to pick on the back porch and if you have a wrap...
Blue Ridge

Blue Ridge

You’d be pretty hard pressed to come up with the name of a mountain range which is more storied and sung about than the Blue Ridge Mountains, especially if you’re a Bluegrass fan. The Blue Ridge will forever be my favorite mountains. They were the first mountains I...
Baseball is Back!

Baseball is Back!

Bluegrass and baseball are connected at the hip. And I would have serious withdrawal symptoms if I were deprived of either. Covid tested me with both addictions over the past two years and I was worried that labor negotiations might deprive me of one of my passions...
The Path to Bluegrass

The Path to Bluegrass

When I read the “Hooked on Bluegrass” stories, I am struck by how many different ways we come to know and love bluegrass music. For some, it’s very direct – they grew up in a bluegrass-soaked environment, and it was part of their lives for as long as they...
Nicknames

Nicknames

If you’re gonna be a Bluegrass fan, you gotta have a nickname. It’s as simple as that. Fortunately for me, I was reared in the Southeast, (where Bluegrass was born). Colorful nicknames are the rule there. My mom called me “Bert Boy” almost before I was born. I kid you...