David's Blog

The vast majority of musical acts—soloists, bands, vocal combos—never have a hit. A few have one hit and build an entire career out of...

I'd been looking for a job my whole last year of college and had gotten interviews--the local PBS station, newspapers, several regional...

Mention Kentucky anywhere in the world and the name conjures a whole range of associations--the Kentucky Derby. Fried Chicken. Basketball....

"Dobro" is actually a brand name for a type of instrument (a "resonator guitar") invented by the Slovenian immigrant John Dopyera and his...

I knew it must be a musical instrument but couldn't figure out how it might be played—the strings are too thin to be plucked or bowed....

Even at his lowest, in those lean, hard years after the war, my father loved to sing, always had. As a boy bringing in cows from the...

My maternal grandfather Dewey lived a short walk from our house in our tiny coal camp when I was a kid and I spent a lot of time with him....

Our family's gospel group, a generation before mine, didn't rely on standard musical notation but on the seven-note (or sometimes...

Especially at yard sales or flea markets. This one's a charango, with ten strings, typically used in South American music. Its paired...