"A Living Prayer - #1?"

[Doug]

I just ran across this item that "A Living Prayer is the #1 Bluegrass Song" in June. I would have never guessed that it would be classified as bluegrass. I can believe Inspirational #1 but this is a real shocker (at least to me).

Doug

www.keithcase.com/News/050615News.htm

[Natalie]

Wow, that's great to hear!

I guess it could be classified as bluegrass gospel

[Bingo]

Interesting point!

Strictly speaking, "Bluegrass Music" was developed from the 1940s by Bill Monroe (who tried hard to retain control over the style, and over what could actually be called Bluegrass).

If we're going to stick literally to that definition it would exclude both:
1. "Old Time Music" - like the material reworked for the "Oh Brother" film, and practised today by people like Ralph Stanley, Uncle Earl, Jim & Jennie & the Pinetops, the Lonesome Sisters, Elizabeth La Prelle. etc.
and
2. "Progressive Bluegrass" - as developed by people like Sam Bush and Bela Fleck - and influencing many of the people in that chart you linked to.

Many newspapers and radio stations make no distinction - calling the whole spectrum "Bluegrass" for convenience. Purists may sometimes object - but most people go with that, and I suppose end up more or less accepting that anything done by a recognized "Bluegrass" artist in a roots/accoustic style, using some combination of fiddle/banjo/mandolin/guitar/resonator guitar can fit within the field.

Since her first three albums anyway, Alison hasn't really fitted into "Traditional Bluegrass" - but she is generally accepted as part of the "Progressive Bluegrass" spectrum. She and her band all have strong credentials in that field - and even her more eclectic songs still put a lot of emphasis on vocal purity and accoustic instrumentation. (People who think she skates rather too close to mainstream popular ballad styles sometimes call her "coffee table Bluegrass", but that wouldn't be my term)

[BonnevilleMariner]

Bingo, you seem to know your stuff when it comes to bluegrass! Maybe you're the person to ask my questions. I'm a Utah boy who's not really into either bluegrass or country, but I'm an AKUS fanatic.

Anyway, first of all how did it come to be known as "bluegrass"? What's with the name?

And secondly, being new to bluegrass and country, I'm wondering how/why the two are kind of fused together. I mean I hear a southwestern-sounding cowboy song back to back with a deep-roots southern-style "country" song on the same station. Country and pop country share a lot of elements with bluegrass. But geographically, historically, and culturally, the South and the Old West don't have a lot in common. Why do we now have cowboys from Mississippi and country boys from Nevada? Is there an explanation for why the South and the West have been bottled together these days in one musical genre?

[Bingo]

You've raised some good questions, there, BonnevilleMariner - but before I wade in over my head, I'd better make a disclaimer. Actually, I'm the outsider here (being English), so I certainly wouldn't have the arrogance to set myself up as an expert!
The cross-currents of Transatlantic influences, though, are still strongly discernible in the Appalachian Mountain Music that lies at the root of the styles you mention.

Kentucky's state nickname is "The Bluegrass State" (called after the plant), and Bill Monroe was a Kentucky-born man. He called his band (which included, at different times, Earl Scruggs, Peter Rowan, the late Jimmy Martin and many others) "the Bluegrass Boys" - and when a name was needed for the style of music he was developing, "Bluegrass" seemed the logical name to stick.

Since then, as I mentioned, it's been extended (at least by many people), both backwards and forwards to include Old Time Mountain Music (from which it originally developed), and the intricate acoustic styles of modern progressive roots music.

When Old Time Mountain Music was first recorded and broadcast in the 1920s, it was often called "Hillbilly Music" (but this term could be used in a disparaging sense.) "Country" or "Country and Western" were attempts to develop a more generally acceptable name.

You're right that they still have regional origins and connotations - but this should not be taken too literally in a geographic sense. What we call "Bluegrass" today in the broader sense, also has authentic folk roots in styles practised in Pennsylvania, New England, and some Canadian provinces. Today, both Colorado and the West Coast have thriving Bluegrass cultures and Festivals.

The "Western" element ought on the face of things to have little in common with the Appalachian Mountains - but this probably ignores the historic importance of settlers and the "Western trek". I've seen early photos of Old Time fiddle bands going on river boats into areas like Ohio and Illinois. I believe that quite a few of the early Texans came from Tennessee. Even in this century, Bakersfield in California became an important centre for "Honky Tonk" music because many migrants from Southern states concentrated there in the "
Dust Bowl" years.

Today, the radio and press (and a big part of the fan base) make a definite distinction between "Country" and "Bluegrass" - and I feel that commercial pop Country has indeed drifted a long way away.
But if you listen to the smaller, Independent stations - that usually adopt the overall term "Americana" - you can still find these "roots" traditions flourishing side by side.

[BonnevilleMariner]

Well, being English, I'd say you know quite a bit about American music. Thanks for the response. I had never heard 'Americana' used as a musical genre, but now that I think about it, it fits well. Another angle on this is that 'Americana' - country, western, bluegrass, and their respective offshoots - is the soundtrack of America's soul.

Perhaps what ties all the sub-genres together goes beyond just instrumentation and styling. Though ever evolving, Americana is music about what it's like to be an American- whether you grew up on a southern plantation in the early 20th century or if you are an urban commuter in 2005. As Trace Adkins puts it in his latest song "They're songs about me, and who I am." Many would hesitate to put AKUS, Ralph Stanley, Trace Adkins, and Lonestar into the same group, but it kind of works.

[eyesoflove]

Well, I just wanted to add what little bit extra that I know about Bluegrass origins and that is that it's also very deeply rooted in a Scottish sound brought over by the immigrants of that country. I grew up in the Appalachian mountains and live there still and the music, especially very old standards, definitely showcases a distinct Scottish sound. I just thought I'd throw that out there for anyone who cares .