by Christine | Feb 15, 2019 | Welcome Column
Author’s note: That this column appears on a day when the music world lost one of its icons (Merle Haggard) is purely coincidental – no disrespect is intended. Condolence to all of Haggard’s fans and family.I’m in a pretty good mood today, so it’s a...
by Christine | Oct 11, 2016 | Welcome Column
She’s brave, I thought. I could never be that brave. I sat in the audience under a shade tree at the Kings River Bluegrass Festival watching Oak Grove, the Schwartz family band. As a newcomer to bluegrass, I never encountered a family band with whom I...
by Christine | Mar 16, 2017 | Welcome Column
For many aficionados of bluegrass and old-time music world-wide, printed publications have been a vital source of information for over half a century. Books and magazines are now having to shift up to make room for internet resources, but I still regularly have...
by Christine | Oct 1, 2019 | Welcome Column
As Ripley might say, “Believe it or Not” there is a connection. Although if you try to find a connection between St. Augustine and Bluegrass you find that “Kentucky bluegrass and St. Augustine have little in common other than being green and widely used for lawns”....
by Christine | Dec 10, 2013 | Welcome Column
How do you take five not very noisy instruments that cannot be listened to without electronic amplification except in a rather small room and turn their music into something large groups of people can listen to? Add to this problem the fact that each of the...
by Christine | Nov 24, 2006 | Welcome Column
How do you do, you all! Sit yourself on a nice comfortable chair or bed and immerse yourself in a fantastic world of— oh, who am I kidding. This is Bluegrass ‘n Stuff. One of the coolest things you can do in music is incorporate dynamics into your playing. That’s like...
by Christine | Jul 11, 2012 | Welcome Column
As a convert from rock and blues music to the joys of bluegrass, I have learned that the differences between these musical worlds is not limited to the music. There are deep cultural differences as well. Ted Lehman’s column yesterday brought up the subject of encores,...
by Christine | Oct 13, 2008 | Welcome Column
Back in the mid- to late-1990’s we were traveling around the country in a large fifth wheel trailer, this was before bluegrass for us, and we discovered we needed to keep in touch with the important people in our world via e-mail. The Internet was pretty new, and we...
by Christine | Mar 12, 2019 | Welcome Column
I?ve been pondering the strength of ?traditional? bluegrass music to hold its devoted audience, and this search has been abetted by my current reading of Daniel Levitin?s book, The World in Six Songs. In a section about what he calls ?Comfort? songs, Levitin writes...
by Christine | Oct 11, 2014 | Welcome Column
“Okay, let’s see what we have here. I suspect there is a mandolin, five string banjo, guitar, fiddle, and acoustic bass that made the whole thing work as it was supposed to. If the parts are all intact I may be able to figure out the cause of death. Just for the...
