Chris Jones

1 week ago | bluegrasstoday.com | Chris Jones

Music camp season is fast approaching. Do you have your camp outfits picked out (usually T-shirts from other camps) and washed yet? Do you have enough strings? Have you enrolled? In a typical music camp of any kind, there are the regular instrument classes that students sign up for, but often there are one-time workshops throughout the week on various subjects, from string-changing, to sound reinforcement.

2 weeks ago | bluegrasstoday.com | Chris Jones

Mr. Bluegrass Manners has been absent for quite a while, working on his forthcoming book, Advance and Retreat – A Guide to Appropriate Fan-to-Artist Distancing. We did persuade him to return, however, to take some questions that have been simmering among Bluegrass Today readers. Dear Mr. Bluegrass Manners,I attend a weekly bluegrass jam in our area called “Pete’s Home Jam” which takes place at—and this may surprise you—Pete’s home. Pete’s a great guy and a decent guitar player and singer.

3 weeks ago | bluegrasstoday.com | Chris Jones

Greetings from the big city of New York. I’m here paying a visit to SiriusXM studios. Shortly I’m heading to Chicago to play with the Night Drivers on Friday, and on to Murphysboro, Illinois on Saturday. In short, I’m busy, plus Mr. Bluegrass Manners hasn’t returned a single text or phone call from me this week.

4 weeks ago | bluegrasstoday.com | Chris Jones

Next week there’s going to be a long overdue new Mr. Bluegrass Manners column, so to get you in the mood, we’re rerunning one from 2020 this week. Not just any one, though; this is the first MBM column after the infamous COVID-19 pandemic had struck us in March of 2020. This five-year anniversary brings back a lot of memories for us, and a few stories, most of which took place somewhere between our kitchen and bathroom.

1 month ago | bluegrasstoday.com | Chris Jones

Sequels are so often disappointing, Santa Clause 2 being a notable exception. Speaking of holiday classics, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol 2: The Next Verse ,wasn’t bad either. If you recall, Scrooge becomes the manager of the Cratchit family band and together––with a little help from St. Nick––they put on a benefit concert to save the mill where Peter Cratchit is employed (now a Hallmark made-for-TV movie).