Not a lot of you have cast your vote on where I should file my Merle Haggard CD, “The Bluegrass Sessions,” as I try tidying up my computer/music room that my wife refers to as something far south of a rat’s nest.

In case you’re wondering, 14 BluegrassJournal.com readers think it belongs in my collection of country music, while eight others are telling me to file it with my bluegrass CDs.

One reader (you can view his comments by going back to the Haggard story that appeared here a couple of days ago) said my simple little poll amounted to “a loaded question as it calls for the definition of ‘bluegrass.’ The staunch bluegrass conservatives will say ‘no,’ but they’re still waivering on whether the Osborn Bros. are bluegrass or not (all that drums/pedal steel nonsense).”

Right now, I’m promising the writer of that comment to give him a personal response, but in the meantime, take a look at the Haggard story, the comment that was submitted and join the dialogue. Just what is — and isn’t — bluegrass?

And please, vote. My wife’s waiting for me to clean up my room, stacks of CDs included.

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Merle Haggard - The Bluegrass Sessions

Okay, I have a confession. I’m a CD slob. I listen to ‘em, pull ‘em out of the player and let them pile up. They land n top of the handmade oak CD holder that I fashioned myself. Or on top of my desk. Under my desk. On the bench beside the desk.

And, it goes on like that throughout the year, with just an occasional grumbling from my understanding wife. But each year, usually as the old year rolls over into the new one, I can’t take the CD mess any longer and decide to clean house. I go back through my collection, resorting and re-alphabetizing the ones that just got stuck in the wrong place.

I listen to more than just bluegrass, although as the years go by, bluegrass pretty much dominates my listening time. And, I’ve amassed a big enough bluegrass CD collection that the genre has gotten an entire special section in my large CD holder. Everything that isn’t bluegrass is alphabetized and filed in its separate section.

But, I’m not about to let some anonymous committee make up my mind, especially without giving me any reasons for its decision.

This year, as I ponder my annual CD cleanup, I have a real quandary. I couldn’t wait until Merle Haggard’s “The Bluegrass Sessions” came out this fall. I live in a small town with a new Wal-Mart Supercenter, and I wasn’t too optimistic they would even stock it. But surprise, surprise, I found it there on its release date.

I brought it home, hooked up my boom box outside on the driveway because a friend had shown up with a bit of a car problem we dealt with, and punched play. I gotta tell you, I’ve never heard a bad Merle Haggard album, and this was no exception. I thought it was down-right good. But was it straight-ahead bluegrass? Before I could chew much on that question, some anonymous committee from the Grammy awards had given me the answer. No, said this committee without offering any explanation, Merle Haggard’s bluegrass CD could not be considered for any bluegrass award.

That decision brought howls from many corners, including the folks who were involved in the CD’s production.

But, I’m not about to let some anonymous committee make up my mind, especially without giving me any reasons for its decision. Instead, I’m going to hand that chore over to you, the faithful readers of BluegrassJournal. com. Tell me please, should I file this CD with the many other Haggard CDs I have, or should I move it to my special section devoted to bluegrass? Hurry, let me know. My wife, I know, is waiting for me to get this CD mess cleaned up for one more year.

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With the festival season slowing down for the winter months. We thought we’d run a poll to see how many festivals our readers attend each year.

If you’re anything like the staff here at BluegrassJournal.com I’m sure the correct answer is: E) Not nearly enough. But given that, we’re curious to see what the response is anyway.

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