by Christine | May 10, 2020 | Welcome Column
By all rights I should be in Parkfield right now at my first ever Mother’s Day Festival. I heard so many great things about that festival that I decided to go this year and pass on my second Sunday welcome column. Alas, we are in crazy times and that plan...
by Christine | Feb 20, 2016 | Welcome Column
Today’s Column by Charlotte, Watchdog of the SierraIt was one of those ranch projects that seemed like a good idea at the time. Until things started to happen.It was a cool, sunny day in spring, and my sidekick, Natasha-the-Slobberian-Husky, was slacking off/napping...
by Christine | Jan 21, 2017 | Welcome Column
(From February 2016)Written by Guest Columnist: Charlotte, Ranch Dog of the SierraIt was one of those ranch projects that seemed like a good idea at the time. Until things started to happen. It was a cool, sunny day in spring, and my sidekick,...
by Christine | Jul 2, 2016 | Welcome Column
(Editor’s Note–From last September.)A month ago, on the first Saturday of August, I was at the bluegrass festival of La Roche-sur-Foron in France when I received an email from Rick Cornish with this short but perfectly clear message: “Welcome column,...
by Christine | Aug 10, 2018 | Welcome Column
A month ago, on the first Saturday of August, I was at the bluegrass festival of La Roche-sur-Foron in France when I received an email from Rick Cornish with this short but perfectly clear message: “Welcome column, please.” Oh, soot! I had gone to France directly...
by Christine | Jul 22, 2011 | Welcome Column
The last month has been a musical turning point for me. After attending the Mandolin Symposium at UC Santa Cruz by myself, I realized just how hard I have to work if I ever want to be on the same level as any of the instructors there—people like David Grisman, Mike...
by Christine | Oct 7, 2009 | Welcome Column
Dateline: Nashville, TN; October 4, 2009 As I write this, I am sitting in a seedy, run down motel near the airport in Nashville, Tennessee. I just returned from a brief walk in a chilly, albeit gentle rain to get a couple of bottles of beer. I walked past rows of...
by Christine | Apr 21, 2010 | Welcome Column
What a time the 2010 CBA Spring Campout was! The weather, always a dodgy issue in April in northern California, was spectacular. We had been trained to believe that dry but windy was as good as it got. How about bright and sunny all day? Yeah, we’ll take that! With...
by Christine | Sep 23, 2011 | Welcome Column
There’s no question about it: travel is one of the great perks of life as a professional musician. But make no mistake, music touring is not – I repeat NOT – vacation travel. It is usually hard work all by itself. Case in point is my current ten day tour, which...
by Christine | Apr 18, 2012 | Welcome Column
How often has this happened to you? You get together with some friends, at someone’s house, or at a festival. You’re in a circle, the instruments are out, the lantern is lit, the beverages are ready, and it’s time to start the jam. “OK, what shall we play?” someone...
