Page 1 of 4 1234 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 88

Thread: What do you like most (least) Bluegrass?

  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    I presently live in CO on a mountain called Eagle Peak in the Sangres.
    Posts
    11

    Default What do you like most (least) about Bluegrass?

    I have always wondered about this. Do you like recordings over live performances or vice-versa? Does technical prowess, be it vocal or instrumental, trump say, soul or tone or sincerity? Do you like to know where songs came from or is better to assume that you already do? Dress up? Dress down? Jamming? Practice? Research? Eclectic? Traditional? Gospel? Only Bill Monroe? Only......? What else? I don't think that, as a performer myself, I've ever seen a poll or any feedback at all except ones we've done at our festivals, and those mostly go for data like "who do you want to see" and "what do you want to eat" and "what can we do better." I'd like to know what MANDOLIN PLAYERS look forward to and what irritates you (them) if anyone would be so kind as to share those feelings. In fact, now that I've dug in, I wish someone had asked me. LOL
    Last edited by Ron Thomason; Dec-30-2009 at 8:13pm. Reason: word left out

  2. #2
    formerly OldDirtyTurtle Jason Kindall's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Ozarkistan
    Posts
    180

    Default Re: What do you like most (least) Bluegrass?

    I was drawn to bluegrass from the Grateful Dead, Garcia and Grisman, and jam band realms, so...

    I like the musicianship and melody lines, strong beats, and tight (or not!) rhythm. I still can't get into the high lonesome vocals.

  3. #3
    Cluster Plucker Scott Crabtree's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Santa Cruz
    Posts
    97

    Default Re: What do you like most (least) Bluegrass?

    I love live shows and festivals, some of the best people on the planet are at shows. I would rather be with good people than anything else! I listen to grass most of the time, which makes me really limited. I need to broaden my horizons for sure.The first record I ever choose to put on when I was like 8 or 9 was the Stanley Brothers. My mom couldn't stand it being played over and over and over and over. That record basically formed a lot of my opinion about music, syncopated music anyway. I've been on a major Sam Bush kick for a while, as well as The Red Knuckles and The Trailblazers. My girl on the other hand is happy listening to grass when its live, but throw it on the stereo; that's a whole other can of worms.
    “Music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it rest, heals the heart and makes it whole, flows from heaven to the soul"
    __________________________________

    You can play a shoestring if your sincere ~John Coltrane

  4. #4
    Registered User majorbanjo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Landstuhl, Germany
    Posts
    182

    Default Re: What do you like most (least) Bluegrass?

    The answer is Yes.....it's totally situational based on the individual piece and the mood I'm in at the time......it evolves and devolves......it's living and breathing......I love a studio piece and I love a live performance.....one person doing something ticks me off....the same thing done by another person on a different day doesn't matter......call me fickle.....one thing is certain......do not apply the terms "never" or "always" to me.....especially when it comes to music....or anything for that matter....I guess it's me that's evolving.....:-)

    However one thing remains contant....if the weather and the tide is right.....I'd rather be fishing than playing the mandolin....but I'll always be listening to music no matter the activity.....

    However..there are exceptions to everything and I'm pretty sure I'd "never" want to hear John Coltrane play a shoestring....no matter how sincere he might be......for context see signature above....and I'm pretty sure he meant to use the word..."you're"
    Thank you baby Jesus for one smokin hot mandolin...

  5. #5
    Registered User jim simpson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Wheeling, WV
    Posts
    5,508

    Default Re: What do you like most (least) Bluegrass?

    Ron,
    Good questions! I prefer bluegrass that's not totally perfect. I will take soulful singing, good ensemble singing and competent playing over slick, fastest, note perfect, hot playing. I guess a mix is probably best so you can have perspective.
    Old Hometown, Cabin Fever String Band

  6. #6
    Registered User rnjl's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Hudson Valley, New York
    Posts
    369

    Default Re: What do you like most (least) Bluegrass?

    I think for me, what's more important than live or recorded, technical skill or vocal range is authenticity of style. I like all kinds of bluegrass bands and acoustic music, but I think what links all the music I like is that the band or performer has a style or vision for their music which sets them apart from others. Among the founding generation, you could easily tell Jim and Jesse from the Osborne Bros from the Clinch Mountain Boys from Bill Monroe- they all had a unique sound and energy. These days, the Grascals have a different musical vision than the Steeldrivers but they both have a distinct style and energy and are very musically charismatic, each in their own way. (Just two examples of relatively newish bands.)

    To me, bluegrass is like a sonnet- it's a set form (more or less, with some variation) and the creative challenge is to do something different within the form.

  7. #7
    Gilchrist (pick) Owner! jasona's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Calgary
    Posts
    2,933
    Blog Entries
    38

    Default Re: What do you like most (least) Bluegrass?

    The instrumentals (the singing).
    Jason Anderson

    "...while a great mandolin is a wonderful treat, I would venture to say that there is always more each of us can do with the tools we have available at hand. The biggest limiting factors belong to us not the instruments." Paul Glasse

    Stumbling Towards Competence

  8. #8
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    maryland
    Posts
    1,410

    Default Re: What do you like most (least) Bluegrass?

    I like live performances over recordings, but that's not always possible. I don't like driving 2 hours to see a good show, so my preference would be live recordings or dvd. Everything being equal I prefer sincerity. I prefer vocals over instrumentals.....good 3 part harmony always trumps instrumental for me. I like to know where the song came from. I like musicians to where what they want, individually. For some reason I do not like matching uniforms. I prefer actual practice over jamming, but the social part of a bluegrass jam is great. I prefer gospel, and secular tunes that tell a story (City of New Orleans). I like Skaggs and I like John Cowan, so I like trad. and newgrass.

    What else?
    I want to see Peter Rowan. I've never seen him. I would like an order of Sweet Potato fries from the Gettysburg festival. Better? shows could be longer than 45 minutes.

    One more opinion from the gallery: everyone on stage should talk into their microphone when they talk. It brings the audience into the show. The Scene, following the lead of Duffey does this the best. Nothing worse than inside jokes that only the band members hear.

    One more thing: be yourself. If you're funny, and the crowd responds, be funny. If you're not, you don't have to be funny to be entertaining. The Gordo Brothers were hysterical at Indian Springs. Joe Val was serious and a tremendous, soulful talent. I couldn't take my eyes off of either show.

    I appreciate a professional musician asking. Thanks.

    All of this is subject to change as I age!

    Bob
    Last edited by re simmers; Dec-30-2009 at 7:20pm. Reason: add one more thing
    re simmers

  9. #9
    Cluster Plucker Scott Crabtree's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Santa Cruz
    Posts
    97

    Default Re: What do you like most (least) Bluegrass?

    It is in fact your prerogative to nit-pick, did you eat a rancid peanut or something? I would change it to the correct way of spelling, however I read it like that and I bet Coltrane with his super uber education will in his next life time learn to conjugate verbs, etc...and use the 'proper' English.
    “Music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it rest, heals the heart and makes it whole, flows from heaven to the soul"
    __________________________________

    You can play a shoestring if your sincere ~John Coltrane

  10. #10
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Northeastern Pennsylvania
    Posts
    220

    Default Re: What do you like most (least) Bluegrass?

    My favorite thing about bluegrass are the stories, and lyrics of some of the songs, such as getting brains blown out, being poisoned and thrown in the creek, and stuff like that. My Uncle was singing a beautiful song, and that last line was..."all I want is a 38 so I can blow your brains out" I didn't know the name of the song, but it packed a wallop at the end. I guess I am weird, but I also enjoy dirty lyrics, and my Uncle knows a lot of them! Some bluegrass numbers are very raw, and I get a big kick out of it. The old timers sing songs that make my ears burn sometimes!
    Once in a while a singer will go up to the mic and sing something that will absolutely floor me. The Ballad of Amelia Earhart was sang at our jam session, there was no fanciness about it, or hot, fast licks, but you could have heard a pin drop in the place. I still have goosebumps. The singer's voice was high lonesome. I feel a connection to the music, especially when they sing about hardships, because my life has not been easy, and I can relate to it.
    I also love the acoustic instruments that are played. It's great.
    My least favorite thing about bluegrass or any type of music, are musicians who are great players but lack charm, cannot connect with the audience, and have no personality. It doesn't take much effort to say hello to the people in the audience who are so appreciative of the music you play.

  11. #11
    Brentrup Evangelist Larry S Sherman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    New England
    Posts
    1,793
    Blog Entries
    4

    Default Re: What do you like most (least) Bluegrass?

    I love raw lonely-sounding bluegrass (under produced), without elaborate gospel harmonies, and especially love it without banjo. Just stripped down guitar, bass, fiddle, and mandolin (you can even hold the fiddle & bass).

    I know I am NOT in the majority, and please do not assume that I think I know best...just my opinion/preference here.

    My example of a great bluegrass cd is Red Allen & Frank Wakefield's "The Kitchen Tapes". There are crying babies in the background, and every song is pure magic.



    Larry

  12. #12
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Oakland, CA
    Posts
    47

    Default Re: What do you like most (least) Bluegrass?

    I like live performances the best. I think technical prowess is cool but it does not trump soul, tone, sincerity etc. A break does not need to be difficult to be good in my opinion. I'm interested in where the songs come from and I prefer a combination of different kinds, a mix of gospel, traditionals, ballads, fiddle tunes, originals, instrumentals, whatever you've got, just not too much of any one thing. I don't much care how the band is dressed.
    I've seen your shows two or three times Ron and didn't have any complaints. I like the extensive background information that you provide between songs. I don't know anyone else who does that as well as you.
    Michael Schaefer

  13. #13
    mandolinist, Mixt Company D C Blood's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Madison, Tennessee
    Posts
    896

    Default Re: What do you like most (least) Bluegrass?

    I love bluegrass...I prefer live over recorded. vocals over instrumentals...smooth, on-key trio harmony over trios that cross and double each other...sweet, medium-tempo instrumentals over hot, 360 bpm things with a lot of unnecessary chords...in tune over out of tune...smooth, unadorned bluegrass singing over technical vocal "gymnastics" and rock-sounding leads...mandolins over banjos (of course) without dobro over with dobro...F models over A models...my Silver Eagle (Silverangel) over any other mandolin I've ever had...I guess that's enough to start...
    D C Blood Mixt Company
    '96 Ratcliff Silver Eagle/Angel
    '09 Silverangel F5 distressed
    '09 Ratcliff A model distressed
    ..Blue Chip pick user...
    www.facebook.com/davidcblood
    www.facebook.com/silverangelmandolins
    http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/album.php?albumid=109 photo album url

  14. #14
    Brentrup Evangelist Larry S Sherman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    New England
    Posts
    1,793
    Blog Entries
    4

    Default Re: What do you like most (least) Bluegrass?

    Quote Originally Posted by D C Blood View Post
    my Silver Eagle (Silverangel) over any other mandolin I've ever had...
    I love hearing people who are happy with the mandolin they have!

    Larry

  15. #15
    Registered User Laird's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Poultney, Vermont
    Posts
    892

    Default Re: What do you like most (least) Bluegrass?

    I'm drawn to bluegrass by its reliance on acoustic instruments and the place-based references in many of the songs. It seems to me to be a pretty bioregional music (as is Old Time), taking from the past and moving into another time and a deeper sense of place--music that sounds just fine even without the electricity to power amplifiers.

    I like home-made music--participation more than performance. Folks around the living room or pub or campfire adding their own contributions (whether sonorous or not).

    Beyond that, I love jams. Like another respondent, I come from a jam-band background, and when I'm led into a deep and wandering jam, I'd just as soon be surprised where I come out! Into another song is ideal, followed by another jam and maybe a return to the first song. (My Deadhead roots are showing.)

    I really dislike music that feels too polished. Live is always preferable, but otherwise I'd rather have five musicians playing together in a studio, warts and all, then have one perfect track layered over another. As one of my own songs puts it, too much music is "laid down by some session players / living in L.A. / and polished by producers / till the rough spots fade away. / Processed like Velveeta / into some familiar style..."

    Most of the songs I'm writing these days are are regionally very specific. I think we miss out by not having many songs and stories about the particular places we live, and so I'm always trying to include local mountains or lakes or towns in the lyrics.

    Just to go a step further, I'm really interested in using traditional acoustic instruments in unusual combinations, looking for a rootsy tribal jam sound. Let's throw in some tablas and a djembe along with that banjo and mandolin, and maybe some accordian while we're at it!

    (I realize I wandered a ways from the question, but I was trying to show both how Bluegrass satisfies me and how I find it more limited than my own preferences.)
    Last edited by Laird; Dec-30-2009 at 9:08pm. Reason: Clarification

  16. #16

    Default Re: What do you like most (least) Bluegrass?

    God almighty. The threads just keep getting stranger. Congratulations to us. My favorite? The borderlines, especially when the high lonesome voice finishes a trick, and then the instruments take over like a bunch of damn banshees. It's haunting.

    Bluegrass rules.

  17. #17
    jbmando RIP HK Jim Broyles's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Plymouth Meeting, PA
    Posts
    4,451

    Default Re: What do you like most (least) Bluegrass?

    I like to hear all the music, so I generally prefer studio recordings to live performances, because my biggest complaint with live music is bad sound engineering. The performance can be sterling, but if the sound is muddy I will not enjoy it.

    That said, I like vocalists and instrumentalists equally, maybe a slight edge to the players. I do like high lonesome, but not nasal twang. Sincerity doesn't matter to me if it's bad. I would rather hear an over-slick good rendition than a sincere lousy one.

    In bluegrass, I like good banjo, good fiddle, a rock-steady guitar and (horror of horrors,) I can actually stand electric bass. I can actually take or leave the dobro and I am in fact kind of sick of Jerry Douglas' style. It is undoubtedly great but you can always tell who it is within a couple of bars. The mandolin does not have to be slick for me to enjoy it, in fact the bluegrass with more of an old-timey feel to the mandolin breaks, such as the Stanley Brothers' stuff with Pee Wee Lambert is some of my favorite bluegrass. I like Monroe-style and Steffey style, but I don't care for the cram-as-many-notes-a measure-as-you-can style of bluegrass soloing. I do prefer tradiotal instrumentation in bluegrass - no accordion or djembe, please. I don't even like harmonica, and I know Lester and Earl used it and I also know that Charlie McCoy is great but if I want harp, give me some blues. I'll take Gary Primich, please.

    I prefer traditional and gospel to newgrass, but if newgrass sounds traditional, then I like it. "Hippiegrass" irritates me. I just don't like it. And I play a few of the "standards" every jam - "Catfish John," "Midnight Moonlight," etc.. I much prefer "Can't You Hear Me Callin' ?" Songs which go {I- ii} irritate me too. I can't stand "Steam Powered Aereoplane," or "Devil's Dream." They just bug me.

    As far as dress, it doesn't much matter, but the shorts and a tee-shirt look is not my favorite. I wear a slacks, a dress shirt, a tie and suspenders when I play for an audience. It's my personal idiosyncrasy, and it's kind of new with me - I've only done it for about four shows now - but it is now my style.

    My 2’. Worth every penny.
    "I thought I knew a lot about music. Then you start digging and the deeper you go, the more there is."~John Mellencamp

    "Theory only seems like rocket science when you don't know it. Once you understand it, it's more like plumbing!"~John McGann

    "IT'S T-R-E-M-O-L-O, dangit!!"~Me

  18. #18
    Registered User Chris Willingham's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Idabel, OK
    Posts
    98

    Default Re: What do you like most (least) Bluegrass?

    Other than being completely in love with the music itself, my favorite thing is the agelessness of it. I think it's one of the very, very few genres that age doesn't matter. Playing in rock bands in high school, college and a few years after I got really tired of the egos/tattoos/etc. I've seen a little bit of ego at jams from a few folks, but I love the fact that I have literally been at a jam with a 10-year-old and a 91-year-old in an electric wheelchair and everyone was just there to enjoy the music and play together.

    I would say anyone that loves bluegrass is generally a honest, trust-worthy person. This isn't true with most types of music or musicians. Not that there aren't a few bluegrass scoundrels out there.

    Yep. All that plus smoking breaks and three part harmonies.

  19. #19
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Rochester NY 14610
    Posts
    17,378

    Default Re: What do you like most (least) Bluegrass?

    The most meaningful and memorable bluegrass performances I've seen have been of the real pioneers: Monroe, Flatt, Ralph Stanley, Reno, Scruggs, the Osbornes. Then have come some of the less iconic, but still influential: McCoury, Stover, Waller, Wiseman, the Lillys, Duffey, Auldridge, Graves, Clements, Hartford, Dillard, Krause. And I've loved some of the "city-grass" bands of young musicians trying to emulate their heroes, from the Greenbriar Boys to Bottle Hill, Country Cooking, the Charles River Valley Boys, Buffalo Gals, Keith & Rooney, etc.

    But what really interests me in bluegrass is actually playing it. Not that I do it that well, or that often any more, but I spent the first six years of "playing out" in a bluegrass band with my brothers, and that was truly memorable. We tried playing everything from Monroe to the Hollies and Simon & Garfunkel, and probably broke every rule and offended every purist we could. But we loved the energy and the instrumental drive, and tried to get the singing near to what we heard from the greats.

    I like bluegrass that moves fast but doesn't sound rushed, "high lonesome" singing, bands who understand the tradition but aren't totally bound by it, carefully arranged songs that may include a surprise, adaptations of non-bluegrass material that retain both the message of the original and the traditional style, women who pick and sing right along with the men (I mean you, Lynn Morris/Alison Brown/Sierra Hull!), "high baritone" harmonies, gospel quartets where the banjo drops out, tasteful lead guitar, fiddle tune breaks in harmony, and stage performers who come up to the campground after hours to jam.

    And I'm resistant to people who try to tell me what bluegrass is and isn't, and who criticize bands and performers for poking a toe outside the boundaries of what most other bands and performers are doing. I may enjoy innovations, or not, but I don't feel qualified to act as the Bluegrass Police, and I doubt the qualifications of those who deputize themselves to enforce bluegrass orthodoxy.

    Oh, and I think every bluegrass band should be required to learn one Gillian Welch song...
    Last edited by allenhopkins; Dec-31-2009 at 12:00am.
    Allen Hopkins
    Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
    Natl Triolian Dobro mando
    Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
    H-O mandolinetto
    Stradolin Vega banjolin
    Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
    Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
    Flatiron 3K OM

  20. #20
    Registered User Ken_P's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    508

    Default Re: What do you like most (least) Bluegrass?

    I love a lot a musicians that come from a bluegrass background, but the more I listen, the more I find I really don't like the real thing, at least when it comes to vocals. For instance, I love listening to Tony Rice in a new acoustic setting (especially with Bela Fleck, Sam Bush, etc), but much of his solo stuff and work with the Bluegrass Album Band leaves me cold.

    I need good, clean, and interesting playing if it's going to hold my interest at all. An interesting chord progression or rhythmic twist will grab me in a way that no vocal, no matter how "soulful" ever will.

  21. #21
    Ursus Mandolinus Fretbear's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Copperhead Road
    Posts
    3,136

    Default Re: What do you like most (least) Bluegrass?

    This is a subject close to a lot of our hearts. I need the band that I am listening to or just the guy that I am playing with to have a deep and abiding respect for the history and make-up of the music that is being expressed. It is not about liking it all; I simultaneously cannot really stand to listen to most of WSM's lead singing (except for some gospel harmonies like "I Hear a Voice Calling") yet I consider his mandolin playing to be the Alpha and Omega and study some of it like a root doctor studies herbs. I understand that some people don't like the music "too polished" and I was listening to an instrumental sample from "Grasstowne" the other day where I only just really understood that term for the first time, but on the other hand, the polished professionalism of bands like Hot Rize, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver and J.D. Crowe and the New South make me so proud of this music that I would put it up alongside ANY music in the world and feel confident that it had nothing to be ashamed of, and could stand on equal ground musically. I am attracted to the polished aspect of recording and performance as I have a perfectionist nature, and have had to listen to people make disparaging comments about our music ever since I got into it, and I don't like to give them any valid ammunition by hearing it played it in a half-assed way.
    But Amsterdam was always good for grieving
    And London never fails to leave me blue
    And Paris never was my kinda town
    So I walked around with the Ft. Worth Blues

  22. #22

    Default Re: What do you like most (least) Bluegrass?

    The blue grass performances that have made the biggest impression on me have all been live and I'll never forget them. There are many studio recordings by the old timers that mean a lot to me, but they don't have quite the impact of a really good live show. As a veteran of many blue grass shows, I don't think there is only one right way to present the music live. Each band's performance style reflects the personality of the members. I think what counts most to listeners is sincerity and a belief in the music you play as well as a desire to please the audience.

  23. #23
    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    13,103

    Default Re: What do you like most (least) Bluegrass?

    Joe Craven must be the most sincere musician in the world. I have seen him actually make music on a shoestring.
    Emando.com: More than you wanted to know about electric mandolins.

    Notorious: My Celtic CD--listen & buy!

    Lyon & Healy • Wood • Thormahlen • Andersen • Bacorn • Yanuziello • Fender • National • Gibson • Franke • Fuchs • Aceto • Three Hungry Pit Bulls

  24. #24
    Registered User Mike Snyder's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Neosho, Mo
    Posts
    2,320

    Default Re: What do you like most (least) Bluegrass?

    I want to hear some Scotch/Irish ancestry in the music. I want to hear the echo of a Smokey Mountain holler. I hear this old-time influence in some Monroe instrumentals (Southern Flavor,Roanoak) and from Ralph Stanley, Hartford, Blake, Watson, Hazel Dickens, Gillian Welch, Compton, Ostrusko, Lynn Morris, Garcia/Grisman, Tim O'Brien, and others. I have enjoyed every performance I've seen at festivals, with the exception of John Cowan, but if I'm going to purchase music to listen to, it'll have an old-timey flavor. I was years into bluegrass before I ever listened to old-time, and I still love bluegrass. A lot of it is just too slick. The mandolin gets faster and faster and these kids have such fantastic technique, and it just leaves me cold. Feels without soul. This is a very personal question you've asked, so don't be a hatin' on me. I'm an old-timey guy, and I like old-timey bluegrass.
    P.S.-Pretty much any old-school bluegrass gospel is dandy, too. If I'm called upon to perform, that's what you'll hear. That and a few fiddle tunes.
    Last edited by Mike Snyder; Dec-31-2009 at 3:12am.
    Mike Snyder

  25. #25
    Registered User John Flynn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    Richmond, VA
    Posts
    8,076

    Default Re: What do you like most (least) Bluegrass?

    I like it when it stays in firmly in touch with its old-time and Scots/Irish roots.

    I don't like it when it becomes too much of a "performance art." I really don't like it when what is billed as bluegrass has crossed over into country-pop, which a lot of it does nowadays.

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •