Bluegrass and Sirius satallite radio

[Willie Poole]

I have been reading and posting here on the Cafe for the last 40 minutes and at the same time I am listening to Sirius radio bluegrass and I am about ready to PUKE...I have only heard three songs that I would classify as bluegrass...Sounds like a lot of mixed up styles being played on bluegrass instruments....Even when they play songs by some noted bluegrass pickers they pick songs off of the CD that are no where near bluegrass....

I know that different people have different ideas of what bluegrass really is but I have been around it long enough to know what it is when I hear it and what they play most of the time is garbage....I know, all I have to do is change the station, which I am about to do right now....

Don`t mean to step on any toes or try to persuated anyone to like what I like, just wanted to state my opinion, I surely will not sign up for another year of Sirius....

Willie

[Richard Eskite]

I was an XM satellite radio subscriber for nearly 10 years and dropped my subscription. I just found there wasn't anything I wanted to listen to. I don't know how many hundreds of stations they have, but there is very little depth to their programming. I found I was only listening to two stations, Outlaw Country and Bluesville. I recently bought a new car with satellite radio included with the radio and never even activated the account. They had a great thing going for a while, but ruined it with focus groups and trying only to appeal to the lowest common denominator (IMHO).

[JonZ]

Try Pandora. For best results, add every performer and band that you like to your bluegrass "station".

[sgarrity]

I'd suggest opening your mind a little and stop being so rigid in your definition of bluegrass. I listen to the Bluegrass station all the time and they play a good cross section of eras and styles. Have you ever heard their program TrueGrass? It's hosted by Chris Jones and is 3 hours of music from the first generation of bluegrass.

[sunburst]

I'd suggest opening your mind a little and stop being so rigid in your definition of bluegrass.

Easy enough to say, but some of us are old enough to know what we like, be rather set in our ways, and prefer not to listen to country/pop music played on "Bluegrass instruments" (or otherwise). I don't hear much Bluegrass on the "Bluegrass" radio stations, but like Willy said, all I have to do is change the station, put in a CD, or just listen to the world going by...

[JeffD]

Try Pandora. For best results, add every performer and band that you like to your bluegrass "station".

Wish I could get Pandora for the car.

[JeffD]

TrueGrass? It's hosted by Chris Jones and is 3 hours of music from the first generation of bluegrass.

The few times I have tuned into XM bluegrass that must have been the program that was on, because it was all classic, hardcore first generation bluegrass. But I don't listen to the station enough to know what else is on there.

I'd suggest opening your mind a little and stop being so rigid in your definition of bluegrass.

Nah. Folks like what they like and don't like what they don't like. The open mind we should all have is in tolerating those who are not indecisive in their tastes.



I got a new radio for the truck. Its got XM, and AM and FM of course, and a plug in for my MP3 player, and a CD player. I have an eight hour drive tomorrow. Between the XM bluegrass XM Willy Nelson and XM book radio, and my mp3 of 3500 old timey tunes and songs, and a stack of classical CDs, and a novel on CD, it will be my own darn fault if I get bored.

[Mike Bunting]

Nah. Folks like what they like and don't like what they don't like. The open mind we should all have is in tolerating those who are not indecisive in their tastes.


it will be my own darn fault if I get bored.

Besides, if our minds are too open, all our brains will fall out!



It aways is our own fault.

[vermin307]

I drive a truck and have XM bluegrass on all the time. I will admit from time to to time they play some stuff that is out there IMHO, but being a lover of traditional bluegrass, I personally find the majority of what they play I like. I love truegrass and track by track...my 2 cents worth (well maybe .25 cents with deflation of the dollar)

[Willie Poole]

I feel that if a station calls themselves bluegrass they should/would have more than 3 hours a week doing traditional bluegrass....I know there is one time when you can call and make requests and they play them...I do listen to Willie Nelson`s station quite a bit because I do like the old country music...Someone mentioned CD`s, I also find that even the big names in bluegrass don`t record a CD with all songs that are decent to listen to, much like the old days when a record (remember them) had a B side and an A side, the B side very rarely got any air play on the radio...Maybe I am expecting too much now days from bluegrass stations due to the fact that there are so many bands, when I was younger there were only a handfull of bluegrass bands that got air play on local radio stations, now days we have to pay to hear what we don`t like...Seems weird to me....

[mandobassman]

I listen to XM in the car every day. I often listen to Bluegrass Junction but very often listen to other channels such as all of the NPR stations, the acoustic channel, classical and sometimes I just scroll through to find something different and new. Many times I have discovered new music I would have never heard otherwise. As far as Bluegrass Junction is concerned, I think the play a tremendous variety of styles and generations. I don't necessarily like everything I hear but there's something for everyone. I feel that Sirius/XM is a tremendous value. Any music you would ever want, talk, NPR, politics, sports, book radio, medical... all for a very low monthly price. I haven't listened to broadcast radio for 5 years now.

[JeffD]

Any music you would ever want, talk, NPR, politics, sports, book radio, medical... all for a very low monthly price.

They have a good selection I agree, but a lot of what I like cannot be found.

I would love an old timey music station. Charlie Poole, Gid Tanner, fiddle instrumentals, string band music, up through ebryonic bluegrass. Thats why I bring my MP3.

I would kill for a traditional Irish and Scottish music station. Oh man.

A station devoted to Western Swing. Vintage and modern.


And as far as talk stations are concerned - wouldn't it be great to have a fishing station. Just a couple three old guys sitting around jawboning about fishing and swapping enthusiastic stories and advice on techniques and equipment. Take a few phone calls now and then. Man I could listen to a station like that for hours. Talking about fishing is the next best thing to actually fishing.

[sgarrity]

What do you want to hear Willie?

[Marty Henrickson]

I'm not all that impressed with Bluegrass Junction, either. I'm fairly open-minded as to the limits of bluegrass, but so much of what I hear on Sirius Bluegrass just sounds like generic country played with BG instrumentation. The exception being TrueGrass, I live that show. I would like to hear the newgrass show, I haven't heard it yet.

I will admit that I probably have a pretty low tolerance for waiting for something good, because I can plug a thumb drive loaded with hours of music into my dashboard and set it for random play and listen to nothing but stuff I like (everything from Monroe to The Grateful Dead to Andres Segovia), and no corny banter between songs. Or, access Pandora through my smartphone and listen through the stereo via the bluetooth connection in my truck.

[sunburst]

...Or, access Pandora through my smartphone and listen through the stereo via the bluetooth connection in my truck.

Wow, the 21st century. Bluegrass via bluetooth!

[J.Albert]

"I would kill for a traditional Irish and Scottish music station. Oh man."

Try "GotRadio Celtic" (internet streaming channel at GotRadio.com).

Download the iTunes app (they have a version for Windows if you're using that), click on "radio", and poke around. There are other "Irish" channels, too.

The GotRadio channel is not "strictly traditional" -- but VERY listenable.

- John

[Mikey5String]

Not really a fan of bluegrass country. I agree that it sounds like country
music with bluegrass instruments. The exception being
True grass.

I am into many genres of music. I like bands that
push the envelope. Contemporary country with a banjo and mandolin
isn't pushing the envelope. It's not bluegrass either.

[Marty Henrickson]

Wow, the 21st century. Bluegrass via bluetooth!

Yeah, some of this stuff is pretty cool. Hmm, I'm thinking: Bluegrass via bluetooth = high-tech redneck!

[Ivan Kelsall]

Willie - I listen to 2 I'net Radio stations - 1) The Bluegrass Mix, & 2) Front Porch Bluegrass. Both play mainly good Bluegrass music but some c**p creeps in from time to time. I mentioned in another post that if i hear Merle Haggard sing 'Momma's HUngry Eyes' once more i'd scream - the 'Mix' played it twice yesterday- so here goes aaaaaggggghhhhhhh !.
Re. "Pandora" i believe that it's good,but unfortunately it's not available in the UK. The real deal is the OFF button,
Ivan

[GRW3]

Umpteenth 'not real Bluegrass' thread spread around the forums...

If 'Real Bluegrass' was overwhelmingly popular:

Clear Channel would have twenty stations on autofeed...

XM would only play it... Or at least have two channels...

Festivals would be all traditional...

The problem is that it's not that popular. A three hour show is pretty good. I've been around Chris Jones and Ned Luberecki to know the have a great respect for traditions. XM/Sirius is, however, a business and they have to maximize the audience. The one trad grass fan in a hundred that won't listen if it's not all his way is small potatoes to total potential.

If you want all trad, all the time get an iPod.

[sunburst]

If you want all trad, all the time get an iPod.

There are those of us who don't want all trad all the time. Some of us have diverse tastes in music; I like Nickel Creek, but it's not Bluegrass, I like Oscar Peterson, but it's not bluegrass, I like some Country music, the real stuff (mostly old) about the country, i like blues, jazz, rock-n-roll, some classical, lots of "acoustic" performers, etc.. What I don't like is the shallow Nashville pop music that gets called "country" music these days. The stuff where a bunch of Nashville song writers get up in the morning and go to work and sit around a table and write "songs" around a "hook". When that is played on "Bluegrass" instruments it only makes it worse. Bela Fleck, Alison Brown, Chris Thile, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, etc. use the instruments associated with Bluegrass to play other types of music, and I like most of it. (Liking most of any music is about all we can hope for.)
I'm not a Bluegrass traditionalist, but I know what Bluegrass music is, and I feel like I should be able to expect to hear it if I tune in to a Bluegrass radio station.
Back in the day, Bill Vernon had a radio show out of Roanoke called "Bluegrass with Bill Vernon". Eventually, he started to play some related acoustic music, older stuff and newer stuff, often performed by players who are generally Bluegrass musicians, and accordingly, he changed the name of the show to "In and Around Bluegrass with Bill Vernon". (Then, the management of the station changed and he got booted off the air so the station could make it's "broadcast mission", or whatever, more concise by excluding music that is "in and around Bluegrass", loosing a great radio show by one of the true experts of Bluegrass, the music that led up to it, related music, history and so forth, but that's another topic.)
If a station is going to play country/pop music, that's fine, but shouldn't they say so rather than saying it's a Bluegrass station?
I often hit "scan" on my car radio and listen as it scans all the available stations again and again, and usually I don't hear anything worth stopping to listen to. Such is the music business, that even though I love many genre's of music and many types of music, whoever decides what is and is not commercially viable doesn't include much of it. Many people don't listen to music they aren't familiar with, don't give it a chance, it's not going to get "popular" if nobody is hearing it. If they are listening to the radio they sure aren't getting used to anything other than the stuff receiving air play, and that is determined by the music business more than anything else. I nearly never hear my favorite music on the radio, but it out there struggling along despite the efforts of the music business.

[chip]

I believe Sirius/XM is the best thing going for listening to bluegrass/etc. I can't think of anything even close to this format that presents new and old artists in a 24/7 fashion. My listening is glued to the Bluegrass channel, some news occasionally and some talk shows, otherwise it's Bluegrass. Sorry some of you don't appreciate the channel.

[Willie Poole]

Someone asked me what would I like to hear....Sunburst answered for me...I like a lot of different kinds of music but Like John said when I hear a station say this is bluegrass I want to hear bluegrass...This is not just my opinion as I have discussed this many times with a lot of people but most of you people that are under the age of 40 don`t really know what bluegrass is because you tune into stations that play country, rock and roll etc and are using bluegrass instruments so it gets defined as bluegrass, a lot of bands do this to get booked on bluegrass festivals in the summer months, easy money if you have travel aggangments....I am not against anyone listening to what they like its just that what I hear today isn`t bluegrass....a song doesn`t have to be twenty years old to be traditional, its the way it is presented and the story it tells that makes it traditional...Lord knows my band plays some songs that aren`t traditional but most of the requests we get are for the older songs, some even older country songs when country was country, of course you youngsters would not know about that either....LISTEN TO WHAT YOU LIKE...I just asked for opinions on what people thought about Sirius/XM radio calling what they play bluegrass, I also know that IF they did only play traditionl songs they would play all of their CD`s in about four hours and have nothing else to play so they have to play just about everything that has a bluegrassy sound...As for me I love barber shop singing and anything that has good harmonies where the instruments don`t drown out the voices....The "Modern country" is all about loud instruments, smoke and lights flashing...Now I ask you, is that really what "country" is?

And yes "What is Bluegrass" will be discussed forever on this format because it is ever changing but is it for the best? Time will tell, Newgrass didn`t last long so maybe traditional bluegrass will win out again....Bands will play what they have to so they can make a living so what ever the public wants will win out in the long run....

[JonZ]

Wish I could get Pandora for the car.

There are two solutions for that, if you are really interested. My wife is able to stream it on her smart phone. (I'm not smart enough yet for a smart phone). There are also programs that will allow you to record streaming audio as mp3 files to play later. So, theoretically, you could record Pandora at night to listen to in the car. Pandora occasionally asks you if you are still listening and pauses the stream. So I am not sure how well the overnight thing would work in practice. You could also record what you listen to at work, and listen to reruns later.

If you drive a lot, the smart phone is probably the way to go, but a monthly data plan costs $30--the same as a whole year of Pandora Premium. On the road, I just plug in my iPod and "make due" with my own music collection, or listen to a book.

[Rodney Riley]

I find that just like when I first started driving and listening to the radio. I switched a lot between WLS and KXOK. Then I added an 8-track... I could listen to all my favorites. Now with the Sirius, pluggin in the ipod, CDs and the HDD function, I just change to something else.