I still consider 2018 a new year, but the next thing we know it’ll be much older. The change from one calendar year to another is an arbitrary transition, but it gives an annual pause to mark the passing of time and the conditions of things, which we will compare to those things in the past.
Even for optimists like me, the future has a certain foreboding lurking just below the surface, regardless of how things seem to be now. If they’re not so good, they could always get worse, but they might get better, right?
This year will be very different for some folks, for different reasons. I am embarking on a journey as a self-employed person – pretty scary after 40 years of being a classic “wage slave”. Of course the only slavery involved was the 9-5, 5 days a week routine, plus a commute. In return I got a steady wage and that has always been positive. I am hoping my new work life will be positive, too.
I have several friends for whom 2018 will be a battle against illness. I guess everyone will have to face this sooner or later, but my heart goes out to my friends. I am hopeful they all emerge from these trials with health and happiness intact.
One thing that has stayed the same is the debates that rage within the bluegrass community. The answer to the question has yet to be answered to everyone’s satisfaction. Maybe 2018 will be the year this matter is settled once and for all – but I doubt it. Actually, I like the debate – it keeps thing interesting and vital. I does make me sad when people get too angered about it, though.
Bluegrass is not going to die this year – this I know. Some may believe the genre is under siege, but I don’t see it that way. Bluegrass will undergo some changes this year – as it does every year. Various artists will pick and push and pull at the perceived boundaries of the music. Most efforts will not move the needle much – a momentary distraction. But some musicians will challenge these edges and they will have the talent and the vision to actually redefine those edges a little.
Some folks will deal with this process like musk oxen herd threatened by a wolf pack – they will huddle together and turn their backs on the circumstances. In doing so, they can avoid contamination by the changes they don’t like, and that is certainly their right.
But why not venture from the herd a little, now and then? The risks seem minimal, and the potential rewards are exciting. Frank Zappa, who probably never played bluegrass, said “A mind is like a parachute – it only works when it’s open.”
