Any bluegrass lovers here? I need recommendations.

[klmama]

My dc want to know what bluegrass sounds like, and I have no idea what to check out of the library. I'd like their first exposure to be to some of the best examples, KWIM? The only person I can think of is Earl Scruggs (remember Beverly Hillbillies?), but I don't know if he's the best respresentative for that musical style. Who else should I try?

[sdWTMer]

Alison Krauss! Edited October 16, 2008 by sdWTMer

[JudoMom]

Alison Krauss!

 

:iagree:

 

She's amazing!

[klmama]

Alison Krauss!

 

Any particular albums? The library has several!

[sdWTMer]

Hmmm.

 

We have "Forget About It" and we really, really like it. Do you have iTunes at all? Because you could always sample the music.

[TN Mama]

I like So Long So Wrong and Now That I've Found You: A Collection. Her voice is amazing. Oh, Forget About It is good too.

[klmama]

Hmmm.

 

We have "Forget About It" and we really, really like it. Do you have iTunes at all? Because you could always sample the music.

 

Thanks for the suggestion! I've put a hold on it!

[Rich with Kids]

Rhonda Vincent! She's great! Dolly Parton has some good stuff, too.

[Aunty Social]

.

[klmama]

Rhonda Vincent! She's great! Dolly Parton has some good stuff, too.

 

More names! Great! Thank you!

 

Could you please help me answer what I'm sure will be the next question, especially with Dolly Parton in the mix? How do you distinguish between country and bluegrass? When I hear it, I label it, but I'm not sure how to explain the distinction to my dc.

[tibbyl]

Another example of authentic bluegrass: Osborne Brothers

[klmama]

For an example of "true" bluegrass (earlier) you should try Doc Watson. He's amazing, and sang before bluegrass became countrified/popified. His life story is also unbelievable, if you wanted to go any further.

 

I don't mean to sound like a snob - there is just a big difference between what bluegrass used to be and is now. They're both good - and Alison Krauss has one of the most beautiful voices out there - try listening to her sing I'll Fly Away.

 

Best Doc Watson albums? The library has quite a collection! Thanks for the suggestion.

[klmama]

Another example of authentic bluegrass: Osborne Brothers

 

Thanks! This search on the library site took me to a video on the history of bluegrass that has the Osborne Brothers performing, plus lots of others. :001_smile:

[laylamcb]

Yeah, I think you should go with "new grass," and then go back and introduce them to traditional bluegrass after they've acclimated. :D I'd say that the original father of bluegrass was Bill Monroe. But again--I wouldn't start with Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys if I wanted my kids to actually like bluegrass. They're, um, an acquired taste.

 

If you can get hold of any New Grass Revival albums, they were the BEST progressive bluegrassers. The band included Sam Bush, John Cowan, and Bela Fleck. Oh, I loved those guys. Here's a YouTube video that features their "Callin' Baton Rouge." Why someone put it to Sleeping Beauty I don't know, but it's probably for the best: Your kids would LAUGH at John Cowan's big 80s hair. ;)

[laylamcb]

More names! Great! Thank you!

 

Could you please help me answer what I'm sure will be the next question, especially with Dolly Parton in the mix? How do you distinguish between country and bluegrass? When I hear it, I label it, but I'm not sure how to explain the distinction to my dc.

 

Here's a good explanation of what distinguishes bluegrass from country. :001_smile:

[SFP]

If you want to listen on line, WAMU out of American University has a fantastic bluegrass program.

[Spy Car]

I'd second the Osborne Brothers.

 

But no look into bluegrass would be complete with out other "old-schoolers" like Bill Monroe, and the Stanley Brothers.

 

And Flatt and Scruggs were really great (despite the "novelty" aspect of the Beverly Hillbillies).

[Book Crazy]

Have you seen the movie "O' Brother Where Art Thou"?

 

Lots of traditional bluegrass music in there.

[laylamcb]

Oh! And a young'un who performed (mostly) traditional bluegrass was/is Ricky Skaggs. I challenge anyone to listen to the lyrics of My Father's Son and not get choked up. Gets me EVERY time. :crying:

[CLHCO]

Ah, bluegrass, one of my favorites. We listen and play bluegrass around here.

 

I agree about Alison Krass. She has one or two solo albums that are not that bluegrassy so get ones with Union Station.

 

We love Mountain Heart, Clair Lynch (not always bluegrass but great), Cox family, Ricky Scaggs does country but he has done bluegrass and he's fantastic, Scruggs and Flatt are big favorites here, and if you are looking for older stuff, Bill Monroe is one of the founders of the style. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is not bluegrass but actually has some pretty cool stuff in that style out there too. Remember them?

 

There is sometimes a fine line between bluegrass and country but as a general rule, bluegrass uses almost exclusively acoustic music and usually not a drum set, though I believe Union Station uses one. Banjo, especially when played in a 3 finger picking style (Scrugg style) is definitely more of a bluegrass instrument, though used sometimes in country.

 

Bluegrass is a bit more... hyper? That's probably one way to say it. It's not as crooning as country generally. Standard bluegrass instruments are guitar, with a boom-chuck pick and a fairly distinct style, banjo, fiddle, bass, and mandolin chucking on the off-beat of the bass to give sort of that snare-drum sound you'd have against the bass drum. The dobro is often used as well, where country will have a bit more pedal steal (Barbara Mandrel), though either can be used in both.

 

Time Life has a treasury of bluegrass your library has, mostly older stuff but it does have Alison Krauss. It has some good music on it.

 

Hopefully that gives you some starting directions!

Edited October 16, 2008 by CLHCO

[Slartibartfast]

I recently heard this group on NRP

 

 

It is The CherryHolmes, they are a family.

 

I grew up with my dad listening to Bella Fleck and this family really impressed me.

 

Bella Fleck recently did an album with Chick Corea that I really enjoyed.

Edited October 16, 2008 by Sis

[CLHCO]

I recently heard this group on NRP

 

 

 

It is The CherryHolmes, they are a family.

 

I grew up with my dad listening to Bella Fleck and this family really impressed me.

 

Bella Fleck recently did an album with Chick Corea that I really enjoyed.

 

Ooo! They're good! I love new finds. I'll have to find their web site.

 

Bella Fleck is amazing but I admit I don't care as much for the psychadelic jazz style he's done with the Flecktones.

[Jami]

It's technically "NewGrass" I think, but Nickelcreek is a fun intro to the general style.

 

http://nickelcreek.com/

 

And I think Chris Thile (mandolin) has done some solo work.

[Camy-7 boybarians 1 lady]

I like Vince Gill's old stuff (when he was primarily Bluegrass). I am also a big fan of Alison Krauss. Blessings.

[Spy Car]

The other thing I'd like to mention is that (to my mind) bluegrass suffers more than almost any other musical form I can think of in being listened to as a "recording" vs being experienced "live".

 

Not to say that bluegrass isn't enjoyable recorded, but this is really music that is great to experience up close, and tap your foot too.

 

So if there is a "bluegrass society" or festivals in your area do try to experience some live bluegrass. Anything else just isn't an fully authentic experience.

 

Bill

Edited October 16, 2008 by Spy Car

[Alice]

If you're not opposed to Chrisitian music than The Isaacs are very good. (Some people call it Stained Glass Bluegrass :)).

 

We also love Nickel Creek and Alison Krauss.

 

We actually had a bluegrass band at our wedding...people still talk about it.

[laylamcb]

The other thing I'd like to mention is that (to my mind) bluegrass suffers more than almost any other musical form I can think of in being listened to as a "recording" vs being experienced "live".

 

Not to say that bluegrass isn't enjoyable recorded, but this is really music that is great to experience up close, and tap your foot too.

 

So if there is a "bluegrass society" or festivals in your area do try to experience some live bluegrass. Anything else just isn't an fully authentic experience.

 

Bill

 

SO true! If you're ever in ol' Virginny, the Old Fiddler's Convention in Galax is the absolute limit. Oh, the music. Incredible!

[Word Nerd]

It's technically "NewGrass" I think, but Nickelcreek is a fun intro to the general style.

 

http://nickelcreek.com/

 

And I think Chris Thile (mandolin) has done some solo work.

 

I love them!:iagree:

[Mad Jenny Flint]

His current band is the Dappled Grays (http://www.dappledgraysmusic.com). They do a combination of some traditional, some newgrass, some swing/jazz. He is the bass player in the group.

 

Newgrass Revival with John Cowan is also one of my favorites. Sam Bush is an excellent mandolin player, as well.

 

The other artists already mentioned are also terrific. Chris Thile just gets better and better. His new CD "How to Grow a Woman from the Ground" has some great instrumentals on it and is extremely creative, although it is very cutting edge and many die-hard bluegrass fans do not like his stuff. Um, at all.

[laylamcb]

How cool is THAT, Jenny?? So you married the music man. Every girl's dream.... :001_smile:

[klmama]

Thank you, everyone! I'm excited to listen to your suggestions! My music-loving dc will be thrilled! :001_smile:

[Mad Jenny Flint]

How cool is THAT, Jenny?? So you married the music man. Every girl's dream.... :001_smile:

 

You made me smile. Actually, the music is only a part-time thing, now. It is something he loves to do, and it shows, but the money comes from elsewhere. They have gotten a lot of attention, though- the title song of their CD has gotten a lot of play on XM radio, they made the bluegrass charts, and they recently played a showcase spot at the IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) conference in Nashville.

 

Dh has also shared a stage with many of the bluegrass greats- like Allison Krauss and Ricky Scaggs, among others; and he has played with the Claire Lynch Band as a fill-in bass player.

 

Yes, I am proud of him. He does a bang-up job.

[hillfarm]

My family plays bluegrass, old time gospel, and old time music. Dh plays guitar, I play fiddle, and dd plays mandolin. One of the things I really like about this kind of music is that so much of it is learned by ear and varies from musician to musician. I like the really old and early stuff best. It has such a sense of history and place to it.

 

Someone mentioned having a bluegrass band play at their wedding. We are scheduled to play at one next Saturday:001_smile:. We will pick up some family member to play bass and since most of the attendees play, I expect it will end up in one big jam session, which I love. Then we sit in a big circle, each person gets to start one of their favorite songs and the others join in. When I first started playing, I thought I had to know which song they were going to play, but I learned how to just join in. Then for a while I thought I needed to know what key. But I have learned that all I need to do is just start playing notes that sound right and the rest will come. It is great fun and a wonderful opportunity to learn how to "think musically" on your feet.

 

One of the classic videos in this genre is called High Lonesome, which is a biography of Bill Monroe. It is very interesting.

 

This music, while not necessarily mainstream, is far from dead. There are many players around where I live. And a large number of family bands, especially among the homeschool community. Often times on a Saturday night there are three or four different jams and showcases from which to choose to go play (that's within about a fifty mile radius--we're pretty rural here).

[Jean too]

Not your daddy's bluegrass New Nashville Cats http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=uVbGTdv4jgU

 

Ricky Skaggs http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=7QZ0eZ196SM

 

Dan Tyminski http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=HJXtlpvaLlU&feature=related

[Alyce]

We love bluegrass around here. My husband plays the Banjo and I play the dulcimer. There is definitely a difference between the original bluegrass and the new bluegrass. Personally I prefer the original. There's also a difference between the original bluegrass and mountain bluegrass. Doc Watson is a good place to start and Earl and Scruggs aren't bad. Can't give you any examples of mountain bluegrass because those are usually local groups and they are hard to find. I'm not thinking real clear this am so when husband gets home I'll ask him for some of the names.

[Alyce]

Here's some suggestions: If you can find Bill Monroe, he is considered the father of Bluegrass and would be great to hear how traditional blue grass is done. The Osborne Brothers are also original bluegrass style. See if you can find Ralph Stanley, he is also old style as are The Country Gentlemen. Some of the newer ones have already been mentioned buy you can add Klinch Mountain Boys and Dell McCoury to you list. For just songs you might try "Echo Mountain", "Man of Constant Sorrow", "Dueling Banjos", "Froggy Mountain Breakdown", "Cripple Creek", "Wabash Cannnonball", Wikipedia has a good explanation of what bluegrass is and how it was formed they also have some other well known names on it.

[CLHCO]

Is it just me, or is bluegrass a particularly homeschooly thing to do? We went to a GospelGrass festival this summer (in truth, about half the bands didn't really do bluegrass style but it was still wonderful) and I think about 90% of the kids there were homeschooled. There were a few younger non-homeschooled kids with grandparents but the bands were almost all homeschool.

 

We've been working at getting our family band up and going too. We just fully put it all together in June and already we've had a couple parties we've payed for. It's a blast. I don't think we'd be doing this if we weren't homeschooling. There wouldn't be the time and I don't think I could easily have talked my kids into thinking the music is great, both old and new.

 

I have loved this thread. I'm going to bookmark it and when (if?) my computer gets repaired and I get iTunes back up and running, I'm going to have some fun seeing what else I can find to add to our collection and education.

[Alyce]

It's the type of instruments being used. Country is traditionally the guitar and maybe fiddle. Bluegrass has more acoustic instruments such as banjo, fiddle, madolin, bass. I guess I also consider it to be faster, you rarely hear slow bluegrass music. There's also often a twang in the voice that isn't there for country especially if you listen to traditional bluegrass. Dolly Partin started out bluegrass as did many country stars and then they switched to country. That's why much of it is now called newgrass. It's kind of a middle road between bluegrass and country. I'll stick with traditional bluegrass myself. I do like some of the new stuff but really perfer the "old mountain music". If you get the RFD channel they have bluegrass shows I think on Friday nights but they may have moved it. It's the "mountain bluegrass" rather than the modern stuff.