by Christine | Sep 15, 2013 | Welcome Column
Lately, I’ve been playing a lot of disaster songs. Bluegrass is full of them: Wreck of the Old 97, Galveston Flood. You know what I mean. I go through phases like this all the time. There’s so much variety in bluegrass and it’s fun to focus on a...
by Christine | Sep 26, 2018 | Welcome Column
Many years ago, I went to a Crosby, Stills and Nash concert. It was in the 1970’s, so well past the group’s heyday. Several times during the show, Stephen Stills chided – scolded! – the crowd for clapping or singing along. “We’re the singers”, he said....
by Christine | Feb 11, 2009 | Welcome Column
(Happy birthday, Katy!) Remember the line from the old American Express commercial? “Membership has its privileges!” This is the message the CBA is trying to convey to its members, because the organization needs its members. But sometimes we have difficulty...
by Christine | Sep 17, 2020 | Welcome Column
Yes, I have to accept it, my hair has become very white, and I shall soon be clocking up my three-quarter century. I have not paid too much attention to this, but I have noticed over the last few years that my attitude to many aspects of life, including music, has...
by Christine | Jan 23, 2013 | Welcome Column
In bluegrass, there’s an ongoing subplot of the Quest for the Best Sounding Instrument. Guitar players will wax poetic and actually swoon as they describe the perfect tones of a vintage pre-war Martin HD28, or a similarly ancient D18. It’s not just Martin – Gibsons of...
by Christine | Dec 10, 2011 | Welcome Column
It’s a beautiful day in the middle of June. You’re sitting in your lawn chair on the large grassy area, surrounded by towering pine trees, in front of the vacant main stage at the Fathers Day Festival (bluegrass) in Grass Valley, California. Your eyes...
by Christine | Apr 22, 2013 | Welcome Column
I’ve spent a fair amount of time in music stores since I started playing guitar 40 years ago. As a starry-eyed teen with dreams of musical fame and fortune, I’d ogle the Martins, Gibsons, and Fenders and fantasize about whipping out a huge bankroll and taking home two...
by Christine | Feb 28, 2012 | Welcome Column
Cold here at Whiskey Creek. I know, I know, the mid-fifties don’t qualify as cold for a lot of you, but this boy…er…old man…was born and bred in the Bay Area where winters, and summers for that matter, are mild. So were bundled up inside just waiting out the chill...
by Christine | Jul 26, 2020 | Welcome Column
My wife and I watch too much television. I slowly work my way through several books I want to read, but each one takes weeks to finish because I get engrossed in the darn TV.We are both news junkies and watch the BBC and CBS news shows early in the evening. Then we...
by Christine | Nov 13, 2010 | Welcome Column
Many of you readers have already experienced it. For those who haven’t, some of you will, some of you won’t. Attending your high school reunion is what it is. But not just any high school reunion. I’m referring to the big one. Maybe the biggest one....
