The Old Geezer Speaks His Mind

This would be the first full day that I am 67 years old; yesterday was my birthday. Yesterday was Thomas Edison’s birthday, too. I used to wonder if Thomas and I had some astrological link, but then somebody else invented the mp3 player and the compact fluorescent...

The Old Home Place

At a recent barbecue/bluegrass jam, I was visiting with Marcos Alvira. We were discussing the joys of being a homeowner. I was telling him about all the work we need to do on our house; replace windows, remodel kitchen, refinish wood floors…and the list went on and...

The Old Man & the Guitar

It’s a warm winter’s night in the Ozarks. It should be cold. But it isn’t. It’s right now, or in the future, or in your imagination. A relatively obscure bluegrass festival is happening. It doesn’t even have a name, really, except for one. “THE Bluegrass Festival.”...

The One “Can’t Miss” Proposition

Gather ‘round, children, Uncle Bruce is gonna lay some wisdom on you. What’s that you say? I’m not really your uncle? Well, technically, you’re right. But I AM avuncular (look it up) – and the only guy more avuncular than me is Cliff Compton, and this is my column...

The one constant in life, change.

If each and every one of us were to set down and ponder the changes in our life over the last 20 or maybe 25 years, I’m sure that we would realize that most of the changes in our life did not follow the plan that we laid out. Such is the case with my life, and...

The one that got away

As Christmas, 1959, approached I was a freshman at Contra Costa College in beautiful San Pablo, California.  I wanted a guitar for Christmas.  Not just any guitar, but a Fender Stratocaster, which, then and now, I considered the most beautiful,...