BlogGrass

Hey, you got old-time in my bluegrass!” Old-time music, like bluegrass, is the combination of centuries of influence from Scotland and Africa—yet it’s still uniquely American. In old-time, instrumentalists don’t take solos as they would in bluegrass, meaning that energy … Read More

If you’re a bluegrass fan, you have a memory of seeing a great band play live. Whether at a festival or in a concert hall, live bluegrass has a great energy to it—and live recordings are a great way to … Read More

Who’s ready for some more bluegrass covers? I love bluegrass bands who look to all corners of the musical pantheon to bring in songs that were never intended to be played in a bluegrass style—then they do it anyway! This … Read More

The 2000s were an interesting decade for bluegrass. Riding high off the genre’s revival in the late 1990s and early 2000s from Dolly Parton’s The Grass Is Blue and the Coen Brothers’ O Brother Where Art Thou, artists in this … Read More

The mandolin is an interesting instrument with an interesting history. Though some may associate its gentle 8-string tones with mobster flicks and the music of the 1920s, for us there’s no question—the mandolin is the backbone of bluegrass! Bill Monroe … Read More

Ricky Skaggs may be known better to some as a classic country star of the 1980s, but to us, he’s a well seasoned bluegrass bellwether who’s been in the game for more than five decades. Both a skilled instrumentalist and … Read More

Two weeks ago, we listened to a playlist of the Founding Women of Bluegrass—and this week, we’re listening to a list of the women who are taking charge and moving the genre forward! From longtime stewards like Alison Krauss and … Read More

March is Women’s History Month—so let’s celebrate bluegrass music’s founding mothers! It’s hard to pinpoint the exact year when bluegrass began, but it certainly wouldn’t have been without the contribution of the earliest female performers of the nascent genre, like … Read More

Gospel music is a core aspect of bluegrass music. Spirituals, hymns, and other religious music featured prominently in the early days of bluegrass, and it continues to do so to this day. The classic format of four voices with guitar … Read More