Hope I'm right in saying that the majority of bluegrass and similar style music is vocal, not instrumental. But what we are talking about here is instrumental music played by master musicians. Vocal tunes by their very nature are perhaps more formulaic held together by lyrics as the framework for the tune itself. Instrumental music, played at the level of skill of Lage and Thile, possesses potential to break out of the formula every time it is played anew. It's not fair to ask these guys to be jukeboxes cranking out note for note the same ole stuff every night (if that's what you want put on a CD). They are creating something new out of something familiar each time they step up to the mike. And as I said earlier that serves to advance musical thinking regardless of the genre. Yeah some is more accessible that others, but each of us can change the channel, turn it off, play what we are comfortable with . . . whatever. Music, thank goodness, isn't a static endeavor!
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