by Christine | Jul 22, 2014 | Welcome Column
I first met Randy Pitts over the telephone, he in his Nashville booking agency office, me in my company car talking on my company phone on company time about hiring one of his acts for the Fathers Day Festival. Some would say a less than conducive way to begin a...
by Christine | Nov 1, 2007 | Welcome Column
In the old Seinfeld show, there was an episode where Elaine Benes was dating a guy who loved the Eagles song “Desperado” so much that he would insist on being able to hear it in peace, stopping whatever he was doing to savor every note. Elaine took this to mean he was...
by Christine | Jan 2, 2014 | Welcome Column
As I have elaborated in the recent past, part of my off-season bass playing program is play in any jam I can. One of the opportunities I have is to fill in a couple of old time jams in Palo Alto. Barbara the regular bass player for these jams is very diligent in...
by Christine | Aug 28, 2020 | Welcome Column
Fall is definitely in the air, and while a lot of the usual things we look forward to in the fall (Strawberry Music Festival, the CBA Fall Campout, and Hardly Strictly to name just a few), there is still a lot to do and a lot to look forward to. Here are just a few...
by Christine | Jan 14, 2014 | Welcome Column
Look at this post as pure speculation based on what I think I see as possible trends. These predictions are NOT necessarily what I wish to see, and should be treated as possibilities in the near or not-so-near future. It might be interesting to look back on this post...
by Christine | Aug 4, 2010 | Welcome Column
I remember a seminar I attended on doing presentations for groups of people. They said your presentation should consist of three parts: Tell them what you’re going to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you told them. They said a strong finish and ending...
by Christine | Jan 29, 2013 | Welcome Column
There’s nothing quite as much fun as playing to a roomful of people who don’t know bluegrass from a hole in the ground. I like picking for a picking audience too, don’t get me wrong. The punishment, I mean feedback, is invaluable and I always come away a better player...
by Christine | Aug 21, 2017 | Welcome Column
“A mule can’t kick when it is plowing and it can’t plow when it is kicking.” (Anon)LESSONSHow we learn is not left up to us – A knock on the nog from dear old daddoes not allow his scattered thoughts into the nooks and crannies in your head.It’s accidental,...
by Christine | Dec 7, 2016 | Welcome Column
Musicians of all stripes are gearheads at heart. The search for the perfect instrument never ends – an instrument with the right feel, the right tone, the best playability and the best story. It’s always out there somewhere. We fill up our spare rooms with...
by Christine | Jan 22, 2010 | Welcome Column
My first paying gig was at the opening of a new McDonald’s restaurant in Virginia Beach, Virginia in 1972. With hardly any professional performing experience outside of singing solos in high school and church choirs and having never attended a bluegrass festival at...
