by Christine | Sep 9, 2010 | Welcome Column
Monday was Labor Day and it got me thinking about how the labor movement affected my life. My father worked most of his life at the American Smelting & Refining Company (ASARCO) lead refinery in the tiny village of Selby, just west of Crockett, where I grew up....
by Christine | Oct 6, 2014 | Welcome Column
Last fall, just about a year ago, I fired Regina from her Welcome columnist job. I had what I considered a good reason; she’d neglected to send me her essay for the month and she’d neglected to let me know it wouldn’t be sent. Now, the first offense isn’t really an...
by Christine | May 28, 2017 | Welcome Column
The other day, in response to a post examining issues of taste and breadth of vision in bluegrass I was accused of being a Yankee (guilty) and of bringing a Yankee sensibility to my analysis of what’s happening in bluegrass music (maybe not so guilty). The post,...
by Christine | Aug 21, 2018 | Welcome Column
The other day, in response to a post examining issues of taste and breadth of vision in bluegrass I was accused of being a Yankee (guilty) and of bringing a Yankee sensibility to my analysis of what’s happening in bluegrass music (maybe not so guilty). The post,...
by Christine | May 17, 2020 | Welcome Column
I have to admit that these 200 word-columns for the new Breakdown format feel like trying to write a Haiku, which is more-or-less a 3 verse, 17 syllable poem about something to do with nature. Well Bluegrass music has its own structure built around (mostly) 3 cord...
by Christine | Mar 5, 2014 | Welcome Column
Before I can launch into this week’s essay, I need to offer a sincere apology to all you readers and to the CBA’s amazing webmaster and Board Chairman emeritus, Rick Cornish. I missed last Wednesday’s deadline, and I didn’t realize it until the next day. Wednesday...
by Christine | Nov 4, 2009 | Welcome Column
One of the things that makes bluegrass music so appealing is its organic nature. In a world where music is big business, bluegrass is the music that was played on rickety front porches long before technology became the new musical instrument in the land. The music is...
by Christine | Nov 24, 2011 | Welcome Column
There’s a lot of happy memories I can remember from my November’s of yore. Also one that bring back a lot of tears and heartache. All told, mostly happy memories, and lookin’ back as Lester was wont tosing, the good times outweigh the bad. Some of my...
by Christine | Aug 9, 2018 | Welcome Column
It hasn’t happened all that often that I hear a song that so impresses me that I can remember just where I first heard it, and that I spent the next few days learning it, and it is still one of my five or ten favorite bluegrass songs 30 years later.The death last...
by Christine | Apr 20, 2008 | Welcome Column
If you have read the postings on the Message Board the last couple of days you know how beloved Allen Light was, how much he accomplished, and you’ll get an idea of the huge contribution he made to the bluegrass community. And I know those messages are just a...
