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...
by Christine | Jul 15, 2016 | Welcome Column
(Editor’s Note–Here’s one of my favorite archival offerings from Nancy Zuniga. It goes all the way back to 2007, yet sounds like she could have written it yesterday. Yes, we’re running another oldie today. In case I...
by Christine | Jul 5, 2007 | Welcome Column
Anyone who knows me, knows that I take pictures…and lots of them. I have no training in the art of photography, and don’t know an aperture from an F-stop. But I love pointing and clicking and trying to capture something that might, years later, help to recall...
by Christine | Feb 4, 2009 | Welcome Column
When I was a younger (read: thinner) man, one of the hobbies I enjoyed was spelunking. If you don’t know the word already, spelunking is cave exploring as a hobby (as an avocation the same activity is speleology). I liked the tight spaces, the darkness, the chaotic...
by Christine | Sep 19, 2011 | Welcome Column
A bluegrass jam was just ending. Friends both with and without instruments were all smiles from the last song they finished. The evening had been perfect. Everyone had gathered over a potluck where a long table became covered by dishes of food from the guests....
