To friends and readers of bluegrassjournal.com,

I will take a stab at recalling our last tour of the year back in the 1980s, heading into the Christmas break we take every year so we can have quality time with our families who put up with us being away from home all to frequently throughout the year.

We left Chicago in our van to play several shows in OH and PA. We encountered a pretty intense snow storm as we drove through IN and had to pull off the road for a while due to no visibility. Once we finally got back onto the highway, the van began losing power and we nursed it into an off-highway repair shop in OH.

Pigeon Forge, Tenn. — A special Saturday “WDVX Blue Plate Special” this Saturday will feature an appearance by nationally acclaimed Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out.

The popular radio show is broadcast before a live audience and hosted by The Pottery House Cafe & Grill at the Old Mill Square in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

Nashville, Tenn. — Alison Brown has achieved success in many areas: a Harvard graduate, record label co-founder and owner, mother, and, the role that most people know her in: banjo virtuoso. With her tenth release, The Company You Keep, the usually soft-spoken Brown is speaking up for independent music.

Nashville, Tenn., — Country Music Hall of Famer Vince Gill will bring his guitars, his songs, his voice and, most likely, many of his favorite collaborators when he takes the Ford Theater stage as the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum’s 2009 Artist-in-Residence. The Tuesday evening performances are slated for February 3, 17 and 24, 2009.