The recent post about Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers in contrast to some proudly ignorant adverse reaction by supposedly open-minded acquaintances to my International Bluegrass Music Museum T-Shirt gave me some food for thought. Having been around bluegrass solidly for only the last five years or so, I have found the hearfelt, solid gold treatment of fans by Steve, his wife and the Rangers to be the rule, not the exception.

Contrary to the opinion of the smugly, hypocritically and defiantly uninformed (I mean really - a supposedly open-minded and understanding recovering alcoholic criticizing bluegrass musicians and fans as moonshine swilling neanderthals at the mere site of my T-shirt?), I generally encounter the following whether talking to band members or fans or when trying to sit in on a jam with my poor skills:

(in no particular oder) low on pretension, high on friendliness and support, high on musical skill and knowledge, fun loving, low on opinionation, dedicated, socio-economically and politically diverse, and easy going. Even though many are highly educated, that is not very important in the big scheme of things. And they seem to handle their liquor pretty well although they surely understand human weakness as well as strength. All these things apply whether you are traditionally or progressively oriented, which seems to be a logical point of difference - although bluegrassers tend to like at least a little bit of both whether they admit it or not.

My wife and I have been stalking our own favorite band of grammy-nominated national success for four years now and they can spot my wife out of a crowd even when we show up in a whole different section of the country. We are very ordinary and older for this younger band, and yet they reach out and spend a little time talking with us. Meanwhile, the local band takes me jamming and gives me tips even though I am barely able to chop chords at a reasonable pace.

I just needed to get that out there. Sorry if it has rant all over it. The bluegrass music world is a good world by any measure.