What's not to love about Bluegrass?

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CraKaJaX

CraKaJaX

Lifer
Dec 26, 2004
11,905
148
101
Banjo + Mando + Fiddle + extra Good acoustic pickin' = Great stuff. Throw in a cold beer or a glass of good whiskey and you are off to the races.

I've been on a huge Bluegrass bender over the last few days. For some reason this genre just makes me feel good - it's so bright/happy/good time/sunny sounding. It makes me want to jump up on a bar and slam some pints, or stomp my feet until my foot shatters in 34 places. Something about it .... I can't explain.

I know there are a few of you here that play some sort of instrument, so here are a few of my favs of stupid-good pickin' tunes that'll make you realize how bad you are at guitar but make you feel good at the same time :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eryxQ4DOnyI - 3:50 mark ... is that Wayne from Wayne's World? The bass player is about as exciting as a 2x4.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cI3EZGUwm8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUqth22t-U4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlIFpqnVi5I - A favorite of mine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlWqnyfmrFw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRK7-SIAbtQ - Not so much Bluegrass, but a favorite tune of mine from Bela. Not to mention Wooten is absolutely disgusting with that bass. Also notable here is that the sax player, Jeff Coffin, is now with the Dave Matthews Band as LeRoi's replacement (if you recognized him)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2Wv0ZyuLhc - Also not Bluegrass, but some GREAT chicken pickin'

Don't lie - you feel good now, don't you? Any of you dudes into this stuff? Link away!
 
Humpy

Humpy

Diamond Member
Mar 3, 2011
4,464
596
126
I like it but the trendiness has led to a ton of sloppy bluegrass music. It reminds me of the quantity-over-quality "shredder" period of electric guitar playing.
 
S

Spacehead

Lifer
Jun 2, 2002
13,067
9,858
136
I'll check out 'Bluegrass Underground' on PBS now & again. Heard some of the Leftover Salmon show a month or so ago. Some of the songs sounded a little progressive rock influenced. Looks like they're not strictly bluegrass.

Nickel Creek always sounded good.
A friend got me listening to Iron Horse. Bluegrass covers of metal songs.
 
werepossum

werepossum

Elite Member
Jul 10, 2006
29,873
463
126
Last edited:
CraKaJaX

CraKaJaX

Lifer
Dec 26, 2004
11,905
148
101
werepossum said:
Love bluegrass, both traditional and most of the high energy alt bluegrass (Yonder Mountain String Band, Old Crow Medicine Show.)

We saw Yonder Mountain String Band with Trout Steak Revival this spring and it was one of the best concerts I've ever seen. Ditto with Steve'n'Seagulls, who play hard rock with bluegrass instruments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64-TjDCa6sw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12tNayvYcJk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3Yeum4AaDw&list=RDEM5emuC3PdD8DbJ-x6ntL7Sg
Click to expand...

I've seen both YMSB and OCMS. Both of them put on a great show. OCMS got the crowd more involved, but maybe that's because it was a free show at Ommegang brewery upstate and everyone was completely gone. It was a great time. You could tell the band was also having a great time. That always makes the show extra good. :thumbsup:
 
werepossum

werepossum

Elite Member
Jul 10, 2006
29,873
463
126
CraKaJaX said:
I've seen both YMSB and OCMS. Both of them put on a great show. OCMS got the crowd more involved, but maybe that's because it was a free show at Ommegang brewery upstate and everyone was completely gone. It was a great time. You could tell the band was also having a great time. That always makes the show extra good. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
Yep, we've seen OCMS a few times. The wife isn't interested now that Willie Watson's gone, unfortunately.
 
SlitheryDee

SlitheryDee

Lifer
Feb 2, 2005
17,252
19
81
I don't like the vocals in bluegrass usually. It's usually very flat and uninflected. I also don't like the sound of a banjo in most cases. The closest I've come to enjoying it was the stuff put out by Alison Krauss and union station.
 
FeuerFrei

FeuerFrei

Diamond Member
Mar 30, 2005
9,144
929
126
Bluegrass is a bit too countrified for me to get into.

Closest I get is enjoying this one folk album Postcards by Beyond the Pale.
Feels like a sunny Sunday afternoon in 1940s Eastern Europe. Cheerful yet meditative. Evocative enough to be in a movie soundtrack.
It's nicely done music and if you enjoy bluegrass you might appreciate it. (no banjo, afaik)

... Half the fun of listening to the largely (but not exclusively) instrumental Postcards, in fact, is trying to figure out exactly where this Toronto-based combo fits in stylistically. Postcards is acoustic-oriented world music -- that much is undeniable -- but exactly what area of world music are we talking about? Beyond the Pale have an East European orientation, and parts of this 2009 release are relevant to Jewish klezmer music. The Jewish influence on Postcards is quite strong, but the gypsy music of Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and other East European countries is a heavy influence as well. And some of Beyond the Pale's influences come from outside of Eastern Europe; Eric Stein's mandolin playing sometimes suggests Italian folk, and there are hints of both Italian folk and French chanson in some of Milos Popovic's accordion playing. On top of that, there are some Middle Eastern influences on Postcards -- which makes perfect sense when one considers that Middle Eastern music and a lot of East European music involve what is known as "modal" or "scalar" playing. But as far-reaching and unpredictable as Postcards is, the album is also pleasingly consistent. ...
Click to expand...
 
werepossum

werepossum

Elite Member
Jul 10, 2006
29,873
463
126
FeuerFrei said:
Bluegrass is a bit too countrified for me to get into.

Closest I get is enjoying this one folk album Postcards by Beyond the Pale.
Feels like a sunny Sunday afternoon in 1940s Eastern Europe. Cheerful yet meditative. Evocative enough to be in a movie soundtrack.
It's nicely done music and if you enjoy bluegrass you might appreciate it. (no banjo, afaik)
Click to expand...
You might like alt bluegrass groups such as Yonder Mountain String Band or Old Crow Medicine Show, which tend to play hard and fast and are damned near hard rock at times. Or the Legendary Shack Shakers, who are described as a punk blues band rather than bluegrass but who take elements from as wide a range of American musical influences and themes as I've ever seen, from pure punk to bluegrass to carnival music to Texas polka.

Agony Wagon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFveFXTbqDA

Blood on the Blue Grass
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxlCUN_ykUI

Swamp Blood
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp4Ffb3GsaI
 
nakedfrog

nakedfrog

No Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
62,947
19,190
136
I've only got flat top mandos at the moment, so can't really get a proper chop (chop chords are a bit of a bitch in any case, but I've worked on them here and there), but still take some cues from bluegrass.
 
Thebobo

Thebobo

Lifer
Jun 19, 2006
18,574
7,672
136
Best Bluegrass album evah!

41177CJ0MPL.jpg
 
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