by Christine | Dec 18, 2007 | Welcome Column
I know of one talented washtub bass player that when attending festivals, would sneak up on a group that didn’t have a bass, hide behind a car so as not to break up the jam, and play until they would notice and start asking. “Who’s playing the...
by Christine | Dec 25, 2011 | Welcome Column
We were playing and singing “I’ll Fly Away” at a Christmas gathering when the text came into my cell that Warren Hellman had passed away. As we finished the song, I told everyone that I had just received some terrible news and there was silence in the room after I...
by Christine | Nov 25, 2019 | Welcome Column
There can be times when as a musician you get tired of the stuff you are playing, and you may echo the cry of Iggy Pop in 1979, and a decade earlier by the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, “I’m bored!” What to do if you need inspiration to progress with your music? I typed...
by Christine | Sep 29, 2012 | Welcome Column
Good morning from Whiskey Creek, just a few square feet under six acres that is more demanding than a young bride born with a silver spoon in her mouth, six acres populated by one house, one barn, one feed shed and one wood shed that all have roofs just aching to leak...
by Christine | Jun 22, 2018 | Welcome Column
There were so many things to love about this year’s Father’s Day Festival — Del McCoury and his amazing band, Edgar Loudermilk’s stunning drive on the bass, jamming with friends in camp, Molly Tuttle’s ethereal voice, High Country’s 50th anniversary show on Vern’s...
by Christine | Mar 9, 2008 | Welcome Column
Recently there have been a few movies that were based on the subject of cyber “intelligence”. The Will Smith movie, I-Robot and Steven Spielberg’s AI or Artificial Intelligence both took turns exploring the possibilities and moral repercussions of intelligent design....
by Christine | Nov 2, 2015 | Welcome Column
Along with about 100,00 other people, I attended IBMA in Raleigh at the end of September. I’m reliably informed that it wasn’t 100 million people but it certainly felt that way. Crowds were a big part of the theme this year and that’s great, because crowds of people...
by Christine | Sep 25, 2013 | Welcome Column
It’s not surprising that bluegrass music – with its tons of local associations – also has an all-encompassing international association as well. However, the local bluegrass associations and societies are primarily fan-based. They provide a focal point for like-minded...
by Christine | Oct 11, 2011 | Welcome Column
At the recently concluded IBMA World of Bluegrass meetings in Nashville, three keynote addresses were scheduled to set the tone. Together, the three speeches described a bluegrass arc from our blugrass past to several ideas about what our future could and might look...
by Christine | Sep 28, 2016 | Welcome Column
Right now – right NOW, the IBMA World of Bluegrass is going on in Raleigh, North Carolina. You remember Raleigh, right, from the Andy Griffith Show? If Sheriff Andy Taylor had important state business, he had to go to Raleigh to do it. County stuff could could...
