Bluegrass

There is no way to sugar coat this. Somebody doesn't know what he's talking about - and it's not Oldham.Well, Ben Oldham and I got called out by Richard Innes of the Bluegrass Institute the other day for "ignoring" the ACT benchmarks scores - apparently the holy grail of assessment in his mind.Of course, this is all part of a larger conversation about Senate Bill 1 and the on-going Task Force on A

I’ve started collecting a fair amount for free stickers lately, but I don’t post too many of them on here because a lot come from small Mom & Pop type places that run out fairly quickly. This free Forever Bluegrass sticker’s website says they want them to be shown all over the world, so here [...]

Bluegrass is an old-fashioned, low-tech genre of music played on acoustic instruments. Typically, the sound features bass, guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, and harmony vocals. This weekend, a friend of mine working for the Prince William County, Virginia government is putting on a bluegrass festival to benefit historic preservation efforts at Bristoe Station Battlefield. The [...]

Friday, May 16 BLUEGRASS BONANZA! Lone Mountain Sisters + String Break @the Plough & Stars 116 Clement @2nd, SF 9pm / $6 (yeah that's cheap...two great bands for six bucks!) Real-life Sisters, Cameron and Prentice grew up listening to bluegrass, and their love for it inspired them to form their own band...with their husbands, THE LONE MOUNTAIN SISTERS. read more

Seven Kentucky Democrats are vying to take on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in November, but one in particular — businessman Bruce Lunsford — is already pulling away from the pack. Besides securing several weighty endorsements and enjoying a large advantage in early polling, Lunsford became the first Democrat to release TV ads, launching a [...]

My wife and I went to a show last Thursday at Jammin Java featuring Chatham County Line. Chatham County Line is a young bluegrass band that incorporates some very traditional bluegrass elements, like playing around a single microphone. They are one of my favorite bands these days and I own two of their albums. Both [...]

This is a mighty fine recipe that has travelled with me from place to place.  I got it from my Mom years ago and, as is the usual story with family recipes, it has a tangled story of how it came to become part of our family food legacy.  The story goes like this:  sometime during the 1950's, my granma gave my mom a recipe for Tuscan soup (the only thing I remember about this soup is that it had tiny meatballs in it... whee!).  In 1966, while our family was stationed in Verdun, France (my dad being in the army n' all of that), my mom swaps the Tuscan soup recipe for a recipe for short ribs which came from another army housewife who used to live in Kentucky.  In 1987, my mom swaps me this short rib recipe for a crawfish recipe of mine.  Then in the ear

7"X5" Graphitint & Aquarelle on paperI did say it was time I drew some people. I realize that the only other figure I have included here is the statue of St Anthony, not exactly life drawing. Well this isn't really life-drawing either, but a photo of Ella when she was home for Christmas, playing Ben's bass.Graphitint is great for low-key winter scenes, but they don't produce a satisfactory yellow or anything even approaching a fleshtone, so I supplemented tonight. Mind you, the watercolour pencils aren't much better, still, this was an interesting exercise, I may do do more of these.

Growing out of the instrumentation of early 20th century string bands and the influence of Blues, Bluegrass received radio exposure in the 1930s. In this article we will be discussing Bluegrass, Western Swing, and Country Two-Beat styles, their development and history. More: continued here addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.geoff-lord.com%2Fguitar%2Fbluegrass-western-swing-and-country-two-beat-history-and-development-drummers-guide-posted-by-eric-starr'; addthis_title [...]

Stu Silberman told the audience at the Long Term Policy Research Center's meeting yesterday that Booker T Washington Academy is "under investigation."When this was reported by the Bluegrass Institute it was news to the Kentucky Department of Education.Asked to explain what happened to the Academy to cause such dramatic improvement while Petrilli was principal, Silberman stated that it was "a bad example." Then he said the school is currently "under investigation."BGI suggests that "limiting legal liability for his bad personnel moves" is at work here. [It] "smells a lot like trying to cover his tracks after running off a high-performing principal." Rumors of a lawsuit float in the background but so far Petrilli has gone quietly.

Steve Beshear the Democratic Challenger has made a rout of it and at 98% of votes counted is holding a commanding lead over Republican incumbent Ernie Fletcher 59%-41%. I knew I was feeling kinda confidant yesterday, just hope Mitch is reading all this.

...but the headline spins "vouchers and tax credits"Before we look at the poll, let's do a little thought experiment. Start by answering the following for yourself:How satisfied are you with the amount of money you pay for health care?Very satisfiedSomewhat satisfiedSomewhat unsatisfiedVery unsatisfiedDo you believe the quality of health care services has gotten better, gotten worse or stayed about the same over the last few years?Gotten betterGotten WorseStayed about the sameDo you think patients should have choice in determining where their children receive health care services?YesNoDon't know/No opinionMedical vouchers are a type of service delivery in which a state issues certificates which allow parents to select the doctor of their choice for their child. Do you feel medical vouchers would be good for Kentucky health care?YesNoDon't know/No Opinion~Now, let's think about how the average Kentuckian might have answered these questions. Do you think a substantial percentage of K

Take a peek at yesterday's post by Richard Innes on this year's late release of NCLB results in Kentucky. He blames KDE for being unprepared for a situation they have known about since 2001; congratulates Fayette County for their aleting the parents they could; and liked the Post Op-Ed, as I did.We don't fully agree on the proper response to the situation, but the Bluegrass Institute definately scores some points.

I arrived back in Houston a few hours ago after having driven all the way home through rain very similar in magnitude to the rain that almost shut down the whole festival on Saturday night. It's good to be home, but the 5-hour nap I just took has left me feeling more than a bit sluggish. Anyone wanting to officially enter the contest needs to package up their answers for me in an email and send

The music festival ended about midnight and became quite an experience when severe thunderstorms moved through the area in the late afternoon. There was so much lighting around that both the performers and the audience had to take shelter several times over the next few hours, and it eventually became too dangerous for the performers to use any microphones and lighting. Finally, around 10:30,

I don't have many photos to add to the contest today because tomorrow's line up has more of the better known bluegrass performers and I think that they would be easier to identify. In fact, some of the biggest names in bluegrass music will be on stage here between nine a.m. and midnight on the 23rd of June. That said, here are a couple of photos to add to the challenge: The fellow on the left

I've just completed Day One here in Owensboro, Kentucky, and I'm getting ready for another day of music with six good friends who have joined me here from all over the country. In fact, we are from seven different states: Texas, New York, Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. But speaking of books... I received a really striking book from a publisher just before I left

RALPH STANLEY Y LOS CLINCH MOUNTAIN BOYS.¿Conocéis la música bluegrass? Sí, ya sé que se traduce como "hierba azul". Pero más va a sonaros a música de vaqueros y de pelis del oeste. Cosas del cine, porque esta música se desarrolló más bien en algunos estados del sudeste de los Estados Unidos, como Kentucky y Virginia. Da igual, porque en el fondo sus raíces llegan de bien lejos: parten de las tonadas que ingleses y sobre todo irlandeses llevaron con ellos a América. Por eso, suena algo a celta, aunque recuerda mucho más a la música country. De esta mezcla proceden los instrumentos, el violín, la mandolina, el banjo o las guitarras... mucha cuerda como veis.Pues bien, si hay un verdadero doctor del bluegrass ese es sin duda ninguna el veterano y venerable Ralph Stanley, con más de 55 años de profesión a las espaldas. En sus actuaciones con su grupo (los Clinch Mountain Boys) suele usar un típico sombrero virginiano (vaquero, diríamos) y acostumbra a iniciar cada canc

The Bluegrass Institute followed up on the Commissioner search today. A post by Richard Innes on the Bluegrass Policy Blog nicely ties up the events, chronologically and logically. And, the Kentucky School News and Commentary blog appreciates the Shout out!