Bluegrass is a genre full of stories. The earliest ballads, love stories, and tales of the old home place permeated the genre from its inception, making it known early on that bluegrass is a medium for telling stories as much … Read More
Bluegrass is best played fast! When the beats per minute crest 160 and the banjo picks get revving, the fun can officially start. Today’s modern bluegrass pickers turn up the tempo dial to 11 with increasing accuracy, leading to fantastical … Read More
Where would bluegrass be without the banjo? Well, if you listened to last week’s playlist, you’d know it wouldn’t be that bad… but we’d all miss the five-string all the same! Despite having a history that goes back many centuries, … Read More
Whoever said that the banjo is the backbone of bluegrass music has clearly never heard this playlist. Some of the best modern bluegrass cuts—even some of the best modern bluegrass groups—have eschewed the five-string banjo to make music with bluegrass’s … Read More
Bill Monroe’s mandolin playing is arguably what started bluegrass. His playing, and his vast instrumental repertoire, started developing in the 1940s—and they have defined bluegrass for the genre’s entire lifespan. In the twenty-first century, it’s still difficult to find an … Read More
The 1970s was a decade of transformation for bluegrass music. As the genre’s forefathers—including Bill Monroe and Mac Wiseman—continued to innovate, new arrivals to the music started to tug bluegrass in new and exciting directions. The nascent careers of David … Read More
Flatt and Scruggs are the other fathers of bluegrass. Earl Scruggs’ banjo playing—with his signature three-finger style—practically reinvented the instrument, while Lester Flatt’s singing and songwriting set a bedrock for the genre in the 1950s. Naturally, many of their greatest … Read More
Tony Rice tragically passed away far too young at the age of 69 on Christmas Day. It is impossible to overstate the effect Tony had on acoustic music, not to mention bluegrass—and to this day, he has no true equal … Read More
The holidays is (usually) a time for coming together to enjoy the music of the season. Bluegrass is no exception, and Christmas songs are often a favorite subject for bluegrass artists. From the genre’s forefathers like Ralph Stanley to modern … Read More
“The dreadnought guitar is the backbone of bluegrass music, and bluegrass guitarists are among the genre’s most talented vanguards. Early bluegrass guitarists like Doc Watson and Clarence White made opening arguments about the guitar’s place as a leading instrument in … Read More