by Christine | Nov 24, 2019 | Welcome Column
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,...
by Christine | Mar 11, 2013 | Welcome Column
Jimmy Dale Rimes (rhymes with “dimes”) is a bluegrass musician. An All-American no doubt about it card carrying banjo player; the 5-string banjo (no way would he be caught with a 4 string, Dixieland type, play it in a pizza parlor strumming with a flat-pick kind of...
by Christine | Dec 10, 2014 | Welcome Column
Well, it’s that time of the year again. The Christmas season, also known more by the more secular Holiday Season. Whatever the reason, a lot of good things happen this time of year. By and large, families are together more, and we all – all of us – try to...
by Christine | Nov 15, 2016 | Welcome Column
(Editor’s Note: I woke up thinking about Tom Tworek this morning. Since 2008, when we lost him, there’s been a huge turn-over in the CBA membership; many readers this morning won’t recognize Tom’s name, but for certain many will...
by Christine | Jan 6, 2008 | Welcome Column
I suppose Mark Varner asked me to write Tom Tworek’s obituary because I knew him longer than most in our bluegrass community. Tom and I played in a bluegrass band nearly thirty years ago–Duck Soup. But, truth be told, I didn’t really know Tom back then. My guess...
by Christine | Aug 31, 2019 | Welcome Column
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...
by Christine | Mar 4, 2018 | Welcome Column
(It wasn’t awfully long after discovering bluegrass music when he met, fell in love with and married his wife, Nancy, that Henry began writing monthly Welcome columns. Here’s one he wrote back in 2009 that generated a lot of discussion on the Message...
by Christine | Nov 21, 2009 | Welcome Column
Every now and then, we find ourselves in jams that are so much fun that we stay in them for hours. The weather’s great, you have a compatible bunch of pickers, the perfect mix of instruments, and a blissful vibe. These kind of jams can’t be planned or concocted....
by Christine | Jul 15, 2009 | Welcome Column
I’m one of those nutjobs who enjoys band practice. I really do! This goes way back to my earliest days in a rock band, when we were all novices and it was just miraculous how putting some time in together can smooth some of the bumps in a band’s sound and allow them...
by Christine | Jan 23, 2012 | Welcome Column
I’m considering buying a guitar and a mandolin with pickups. Jeanie and I often drag our instruments around as we travel around the state and beyond, and we find open mics or some kind of music showcase at a restaurant, bar, or café. We’ve learned that most of these...
