Category: Bluegrass
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So What Have You Been Up To Lately?
Glad you asked that question. One thing I haven’t been doing is posting articles on this website. Sorry about that. I tend to be a private person most of the time. I don’t share much and I definitely don’t overshare. It’s not that I have that much to protect with privacy, it’s just that I…
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New Home for the Bluegrass Special
Last month The Bluegrass Special’s almost 45-year run on KSON came to an end. I will always be grateful to KSON for giving me the opportunity to host a bluegrass music radio program in San Diego for so many years. But the Bluegrass Special is not finished! There is another country radio station in San…
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We Had a Good Run!
After more than 2300 radio shows, the Bluegrass Special on KSON has come to an end. My last show was heard on Sunday night, September 13th which coincidentally was Bill Monroe’s birthday. I’m glad that I was able to go out with a show paying tribute to the Father of Bluegrass Music, whose song “Uncle…
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Bluegrass Is More Than Music!
Over the past three decades, I have been an active member of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA). I’ve been on several committees, given a keynote speech, led workshops, produced awards shows and more. But the most gratifying job I’ve had has been serving on the board of the IBMA’s Bluegrass Music Trust Fund. The…
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Remembering Merle
Merle Haggard turned 79 today and then died. He had been ill for a good while although he was planning to fulfill some concert dates in the near future. Today was also my father’s birthday, who would have turned 95 had he lived this long. Dad loved to hear Merle Haggard sing and so it…
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40 Years on KSON!
It was on March 7, 1976 that my radio show, The Bluegrass Special, went on the air for the first time. I can’t remember a time in my life when I have been more nervous. When the clock hit 6 PM (the original air time for my show) I played my intro music from a…
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Best Bluegrass Albums of 2015
It’s time to make a list of the top 30 bluegrass albums of 2015, as heard on KSON’s Bluegrass Special December 27. If you missed it, you can listen at kson.com/bluegrass through the end of January. This list doesn’t mean that the album listed higher is any better than the album listed lower. It only…
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Remembering Bill Keith
Bill Keith, newest member of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, died on October 23, less than a month after being inducted into the IBMA’s prestigious Hall of Fame. Bill accepted the honor in person at ceremonies held in Raleigh, North Carolina. Confined to a wheelchair, he uttered a brief but heartfelt acceptance speech, thanking…
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A Celebration of Bill Monroe’s Birthday
The “Father of Bluegrass Music” is Bill Monroe, the first recording artist to incorporate into his band the five acoustic instruments (mandolin, 5-string banjo played three-finger style, fiddle, guitar and string bass) that make up a classic bluegrass ensemble. He was born September 13, 1911 in Rosine, Kentucky, 104 years ago. September 13 fell on…
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The Punch Brothers: Something Special Indeed
The Punch Brothers played the North Park Theater on Wednesday night and I just had to write about the experience, because that’s what it was for me—an experience, not just another concert. The Punch Brothers are at first glance a bluegrass band—four musicians playing mandolin, guitar, bass, fiddle and banjo—a little younger, a little more…