The Flatt & Scruggs song “Don’t Get Above Your Raisin’” has a message followed by many in the bluegrass field. Basically, the theme is do not forget where you came from, and do not forget who helped you achieve any success that you have had along the way. Billy Strings proves once again that he is a true follower of this sentiment.
Last September, Strings and his wife Ally were blessed with the birth of a son. Unfortunately, due to immediate health concerns, the infant was placed in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Through 24-hour monitoring and care, his son gained normal health and was able to leave the hospital after some time.
Last week, to show his appreciation to the staff at the hospital, Strings not only visited the hospital, but also participated in a video for the facility’s music therapy program, as well as performed mini-concerts on each of the floors for the patients, including at the NICU floor.
The video performance is part of the Corwell Health’s Blue Glass Studio program that broadcasts pertinent information related to music therapy. Of course, for this particular video, the name was changed to Blue Grass Studio to honor Strings.
While many entertainment figures take time out of their careers to do charitable acts, most of these actions are usually done on off-time or when the career is in a lull. Billy Strings is at the height of his career, selling out concert venues and working with some of the biggest musical artists in the bluegrass, country, and rock worlds. While his adolescent past has been filled with a number of demons, he has fought them off and offered thanks to the people and prayers that have been there with him.
This incident shows that Strings is grateful for everything good that has happened to him, be it in the music field or his personal life. For that, I continue to have a great respect for him.
I came across another article this past week regarding teaching music to children. This one is from a blog that is posted on the Alfred Music website (https://www.alfred.com/blog/tips-starting-elementary-guitar-program/). Alfred Music is similar to Hal Leonard and Mel Bay, in that they produce hundreds of books and videos on musical instrument instruction. However, its focus is much more toward educational programs, covering a wider variety of instruments (strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion, etc.), and setting up actual teacher/student paths.
The blog brings up some interesting thoughts for teaching guitar-centric curriculum to younger students. Some say that it is hard for a young person to learn guitar. The author states that he has had continual success with young students. My thought is that getting them to be interested in the instrument at a young age is the best bet for continued interest, not just as a hobby but perhaps as a possible profession. The struggle is getting young students to be disciplined in practice and progressing. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, distractions are aplenty, mostly coming from social media and video games. Playing video games is easy, but the teacher (or parent) needs to instill the idea that there is no long-term satisfaction with winning a video game, yet progressing on a musical instrument has tons of rewards.
The Alfred blog looks at setting up an actual guitar instruction classroom. It mentions the initial (and follow-up) cost of having everyone in class secure a guitar. It is very unlikely that in a class of about 25 elementary students, every one of them will afford a decent acoustic guitar, and it is even more unlikely that someone like Billy Strings will donate guitars to a school (https://bluegrasstoday.com/billy-strings-donates-guitars-to-all-the-students-at-his-former-school/). Thinking way back to my elementary school days, the music program consisted of everyone in 4th grade being taught basic instrumental music theory by purchasing a cheap recorder/flutophone (which one or two students’ parents even passed on), learning the basics, then moving on to some regular instrument such as trumpet, snare drum, violin, etc. While I wanted to pursue drums at the time, my parents only gave me one choice – play the old saxophone that my brother ditched, or nothing at all. After two years, I lost interest in it completely. I took an interest in guitar (particularly, bass guitar) at 15, played in my cousin’s oldies band, and went from there, much to my parents’ dismay.
The blog suggests that to cover some costs, the teacher/students/parents could resort to fundraising. Now this blog was written in 2018, pre-pandemic, and these days, people a lot more conscious of where their money goes. If anything, considering setting up such a project will require a lot a research. First, seeing if it is feasible – if enough kids would be interested in such a program in one classroom. Personally, I think that it would be unlikely, but perhaps an after-school project for an entire school would work.
Interest may also be gathered by presenting a music performance at the school by a local or touring bluegrass band. A lot of bluegrass bands have an educational program. The best initial place to find out this information is when Bluegrass Unlimited magazine publishes its Annual Talent Directory (https://bluegrassunlimited.com/article/2022-talent-directory/). Bands will note in their listing if they provide educational programs. While most kids will probably be fidgety during performance, there will most likely be a few that will take interest in learning an instrument. Maybe a few will not be interested in guitar but another instrument like bass, banjo, mandolin, or fiddle.
There are a few other suggestions within the Alfred blog to look over that I will not cover here. I recommend reading the article. If serious about starting a music program within a school, you may consider securing the instructional books that Alfred offers entitled Sound Innovations for Elementary Class Guitar (https://www.alfred.com/sound-innovations-elementary-class-guitar-overview/). I am certain that a quality basic program in elementary school can lead to a bluegrass-oriented program in middle or high school. If I could turn back my personal hands of time and stuck with using my high-school teaching degree, I would have been motivated to set up some form of bluegrass/folk music club at the school at which I was working. As one can see form my past blogs, I am very interested in getting young people to be interested in performing acoustic music, particularly bluegrass music.
Last evening, I went to the Kentuckians of Michigan Lodge in Romulus, Michigan to see Fast Track, a bluegrass band consisting of players formerly of the Bluegrass Cardinals, Continental Divide, and the Rarely Herd to name a few. The lodge and association are known in the local bluegrass community for hosting many touring bluegrass acts as well as some local country artists.
Now bluegrass shows are not that common in the Detroit area, and with summer coming to a close, area festivals are not readily available. Add to that many festivals have permanently closed up. So when a bluegrass show is available, one would think that there would be a decent crowd.
Unfortunately, the audience number was sparse. Maybe 50 people, including a few lodge staff members. Now there a few factors that affected the low attendance. The show was booked only a few weeks ago, as Fast Track was actually heading to Ontario for a festival during the weekend and probably wanted to squeeze in a Friday night show where they could. Also, the K of M does not heavily promote the shows that they present, usually just posting the announcement on its website and Facebook page.
However, good bluegrass fans keep their eyes open and their ears to the ground. I don’t have a Facebook page, but I still check the internet at least once per week for shows in my area. While I haven’t been to The Ark in Ann Arbor since before the pandemic, I still check out the website to see what is coming up.
And that leads to another problem – the pandemic. That was over two years of panic among the masses, the closing of venues, banning socializing, and loss of personal communication. With that, people stopped going to see bands, especially at smaller venues, and bands stopped touring, either limiting performances to internet streaming or even disbanding due to no income. When the COVID bans were lifted, people had found other entertainment, basically continuing to stay at home.
Oh, there were live shows to go see. However, it strikes me that people will not go to a small bluegrass (or most any other music format) show for $15.00, yet will pay hundreds/thousands of dollars to go see Taylor Swift at a nosebleed seat and be surrounded by thousands of sweaty, heavy-breathing individuals holding up their iPhones to film this moment. Now, I will be the first to say that I am glad that someone like Billy Strings can fill a large venue and give a fantastic live performance. He is a phenomenal guitarist, and humbly pays tribute to his bluegrass roots during his shows. But how many of these “bluegrass” fans will then go to a local venue in the next few weeks to go see a touring bluegrass band like Fast Track? Probably close to zero.
The post-pandemic apathy of music fans has driven another nail into the live-music coffin. Instead of people going out to spend a few bucks to see what is happening on the music scene, the thought is to save up a few week’s wages to go see that one special act that everyone is talking about. Back when I was in punk and alt-rock bands in the 80s, we used to go to plenty of shows to see what bands were out there, thinking that we may be witnessing the next-big-thing in one of these dives. Today, we wait for the media to tell us what is good and what we should spend out money on. This concept has always been around, but it has exploded over the past few years.
Other than Billy, Rhonda Vincent, and a very few other bluegrass acts, most bluegrass performers have other jobs, and only tour during most weekends. I am sure all of them would love to be making a living playing the music that they love, but it is near impossible, and a lot of it has to do with the music-loving(?) public. The same liberal people that claim there should be a more fair distribution of wealth will make sure that Taylor Swift is a multi-millionaire while so many talented musicians still have to paint houses, dig ditches, and bartend.
Bluegrass fans take note: While I am glad that you helped someone like Billy Strings achieve big success, you should also take the time to search out smaller bluegrass shows, especially ones that are not at festivals, in your area and attend those as well. And you Billy Strings fans that think you know bluegrass music, then how about going out and seeing other bands, especially the more traditional ones. Billy would be the first to tell you that.
Last week, this article popped up on the Google search page: https://www.guitarworld.com/features/how-to-keep-your-kids-interested-in-playing-guitar . As expected with Google and its spying, I get a lot of articles related to music, and most of them I tend to ignore. However, this article piqued my curiosity, and after reading it, saw that it had some good information.
While the article leans toward young electric guitar players and keeping them interested in continuing to play, the information presented can be used to motivate young musicians of any instrument, including bluegrass instruments. Young people get interested in the fun of playing guitar, mandolin, or fiddle, especially when they see other young bluegrass musicians on stage getting a lot of attention. However, convincing them that regimented practice is what makes success, and informing them that flashy playing doesn’t just come in a few minutes, can be difficult. Moreover, there are a lot of other distractions, including video games and social media. The article makes some great suggestions, so let’s go over them an cover how this can work with bluegrass youngsters.
Take them to a gig – Especially during the summer, bluegrass festivals abound. While most seem to be in the mid-east and south of the US, there are many spread out in the northeast, mid-west, and western parts of the country. Add to that folk and old-time fiddle festivals that also showcase instrumental talent. One can stay for just an afternoon or evening, or camp out for the extended weekend. These events give the chance for the youngster to see a number of bands/artists, and bluegrass festivals have that treasure of the band members talking and shaking hands directly with their fans. What could a young musician value more than talking with someone playing the instrument that he/she is starting on? Moreover, many of these festivals have instrument workshops for amateurs to learn a few tricks from the professionals. Do some internet searching for music festivals in your state.
Buy a new piece of gear – What bluegrass musician doesn’t have a capo? Or get the kid a new, better strap. Pay attention to how he/she is playing. Perhaps instead of guitar, let them try a mandolin, or bass. Check with perhaps getting some sort of “jam” recording or video so that he/she has a virtual band to practice with.
Keep the instrument accessible – Instead of putting it in the case after practice, have it on a stand so that it can be easily seen and picked up to practice with at odd times.
Online lessons – In-person lessons always seem to work the best, but they are not always convenient. YouTube, of course, has tons of free lessons, but there are also web sites like ArtistsWorks that have big-time bluegrass guitarists, fiddlers, banjo players, and mandolinists offering in-depth lessons for a subscription. Again, pay attention to what the student needs, then ask around.
Learn with them – An excellent parent/child bonding is to both be learning the instrument at the same time. You can actually learn from each other.
Introduce them to other musicians – As stated earlier, band members at bluegrass festivals totally appreciate their fans, and will spend hours after a performance talking to people, signing CDs, and taking photos. So many of these artist will be flattered to know that a youngster is learning the same instrument, and will usually sit for a few minutes to show a technique or give the kid a guitar pick as a souvenir. Bluegrass musicians are so easily approachable. One of the fun things about staying at festivals overnight are the jam sessions happening as someone’s trailer. It is not uncommon for a person that you just saw on stage earlier come walking up to join in. Also, pay attention to bluegrass bands that have younger players. Cherryholmes was a great family band years back, but today one can see The Petersens, Williamson Branch, and the Cotton Pickin Kids show up at festivals.
Set some fun challenges – Find some songs that might be just a wee bit more difficult than what is currently being worked on, then present them in a short while. Perhaps implement some different types of music into the bluegrass fold. Billy Strings does this a lot, yet still keeps it near the bluegrass idea.
Find the right amount of encouragement – Follow all of these previous concepts, but don’t suffocate the kid, nor push them into hating music. Remember that all kids are different, even within one family, and it is possible that while one child may be a banjo prodigy, the next sibling could not care less about music and wants to play baseball instead. Ask other parents of musically inclined children what has worked for them, and try those ideas out. Just keep tabs on what works, and always be positive with the student’s progress.
Hopefully some of these thoughts will help parents with bluegrass students keep them motivated and produce the next Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, or Sierra Hull.
Back in 2003, Bluegrass Unlimited published an article entitled “Single Mic Performance: A How-To.” It covered the basics of a bluegrass band performing live around a single microphone, which was the norm for both live shows as well as recording and radio broadcasts back in the early days of recording and radio. As audio technology improved starting in the 1950s, it became more common for individual instrument/vocal miking.
Starting in the 1990s, some bluegrass bands brought back the charm of single-microphone performances. Bands like Hot Rize, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, and the Del McCoury Band would perform with one microphone, or a variation using two mics (one dedicated to the instrument playing a solo). Karl Shiflett & Big Country recorded a few albums using only three mics covering the entire band sound, with two pointed toward the band and a third dedicated to the standup bass. Even today, Billy Strings and his band will perform a short set standing around a single ribbon mic in front of his arena-sized audiences.
The single-mic performance is an art form for bluegrass and other acoustic bands that sounds wonderful when done correctly, so let’s go over some of the ideas that can make this work out for any interested party.
Position: Each instrument, as well as vocals within the ensemble, has its own dynamic. The banjo cuts through a lot louder on its own than the mandolin or even a normal dreadnaught acoustic guitar. Moreover, a tenor voice tends to cut through over a bass or baritone unless the singer(s) know how to control their own volume. In probably 80% or more cases with bluegrass bands, the lead singer is also the rhythm guitarist, with background vocals handled by most of the other instrumentalists. A “U” shaped pattern around the microphone will most likely not sound good, as with each instrument equal distant from the mic will have a lousy level balance. For a five-piece bluegrass band, the most common popular set-up is the “3-2″ pattern, with the lead singer/guitarist center in front of the mic about 1.5 to 2 feet away. Two instrumentalists, particularly ones that offer backing vocals (mandolin, banjo, or fiddle) would stand on either side of the guitarist, close but not bumping, and turned facing the mic as well. Remaining musicians (bass, other lead instrument) would stand behind in the gaps formed between the three members up front, again close but not bumping into other members. This leads to the next consideration.
Choreography: First, when singing, the singer will lean in slightly to the mic for his/her voice to be the focus. As the chorus comes in, the lead singer leans very slightly back, and the two (or more) backing singers will lean in to the mic. This will create a more pleasing “self mix” of the vocals. The more skilled movements come with the instrument solo breaks. The lead singer and upcoming lead instrument need to make the correct move so that they don’t trip over each other. In most cases, I have seen band members move in either a clockwise or counter-clockwise movement. For instance, if there is a banjo solo and the banjo player is standing immediately to the left, the singer/guitarist will step back (with the musician who is in the back giving that person some room) and move to the left where the banjo player once stood. At the same time, the banjo player moves toward the center position in front of the mic. Once the solo is complete, the guitarist and banjoist rotate in the same circular way. This takes a lot of practice (i.e., perfect this before trying it in front of an audience), which also means keeping the headstock of one’s instrument in the corner of the eye so it doesn’t bump another player while moving.
Microphones: While the durable dynamic mics such as the Shure SM57 and SM58 prove reliable in some stage settings, this is not one of them. Dynamic mics do not perform well with distant sounds, since all of the musicians will be standing about 2 feet away. This situation calls for more sensitive mics such as condensers or ribbons. If going the condenser mic route, it should be a large-diaphragm type. The standard of this type is the AKG C414. However, these price well over $1,000. AKG, as well as a few other manufacturers such as TASCAM, Behringer, and Audio Technica, produce condenser mics that are way less expensive, a few priced under $100! While these cheaper mics may not have the warmth of the C414, they do have similar features such as switches for pick-up patterns and bass roll-off. Note that condenser mics require a phantom power supply, usually of 48 volts DC. Most mixing consoles have some form of phantom power, but to be safe, have a stand-alone power supply available. A similar situation goes for ribbon mics. Professional ribbon mics can price over $6,000! However, more consumer-friendly models can be found for under $200. Results are similar to condensers as far as warmth and quality. Passive ribbon mics have a low output, so they require a mic preamp, while active ribbon mics have the preamp built in, but require phantom power. My immediate advice is to contact a reputable sound engineer or the customer service reps at Sweetwater.com for the best choice in a microphone.
Practice, practice, practice!: If you and your bandmates are serious about performing around a single microphone, it takes a lot of practice, just like practicing your instrument. Set up the microphone, and record your practices, then listen to see how each song comes off. This is something no band that wants to sound good should attempt live after only one or two practices. Those bands previously mentioned that implement this mic technique into their live performances work on this tirelessly. Check out single-mic band performances by either attending shows or searching on YouTube.
Well, it’s that time of year again. The International Bluegrass Music Association sends out its first round balloting for the 2023 awards. Since I am no longer a member, I don’t get to nominate or vote, but I am still on the Association’s email list, so I get the announcements. Also, my inbox gets inundated with dozens of emails from artists, managers, booking agents and record companies with “For Your Consideration” in the subject line.
For anyone not familiar with the IBMA’s process, the first round consists of any member can write in anyone that they want for any category (bands, musicians, vocalists, songs, albums) and send it back. The second round usually lists about 10 names in each category, from which you select five. The final round lists five or so nominees, for which you choose one. There are other awards given out during the business days at World of Bluegrass that are usually chosen by the board members, such as the Momentum Awards and Hall of Fame recipients.
I have always been disillusioned by the IBMA awards, much like my apathy towards the Grammys. The mass membership does not critically look at the past year, especially when it comes to the nominations of vocalists and musicians. In each category, easily 80% of the names are repeats from the previous years, whether or not those artists have put out any recorded material during the year. Songs and albums are pretty much current, but that has a lot more to do with how well the record companies and publicists have done their job rather than how innovative that song or recording is.
When I was a lot more involved with the IBMA, as well as subscribing to Bluegrass Junction on Sirius/XM and talking more with artists, I could tell throughout the year who would win an award without doubting myself. I honestly do not pay much attention now. I am glad that some younger artists such as Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, and my good friend Bronwyn Keith-Hynes are getting recognized without too much prejudice from the traditionalists. However, I was never really interested in award ceremonies, even when some of my work was nominated at the Detroit Music Awards years ago. They may look good on a resume, but personally, I appreciated a positive comment from someone that I didn’t know more than a plaque or statuette.
As for the Momentum and Hall of Fame Awards, that is even more political, so to speak. While I was a member of Leadership Bluegrass, I was part of a small group that was petitioning to get Hazel Dickens to be a member of the HOF. She was already a recipient of the Distinguished Achievement Award back in the 90s, but we felt that she belonged in the HOF due to her extensive work in songwriting. She was finally inducted in 2017 with her early performing partner Alice Gerard, right before I resigned from Leadership Bluegrass due to its political involvement.
I know that the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America (SPBGMA) has similar awards at its conference in January, but I have never paid too much attention to it. Perhaps this upcoming year I will, as I do plan on attending the 2024 conference (Please, no family tragedies!). While SPBGMA is not as influential as IBMA, and it does value the more traditional side of bluegrass, I have some faith that SPBGMA values its membership’s thoughts and opinions more than the IBMA. And it has great jam sessions just like IBMA.
I don’t buy too many CDs any more. Mainly because I don’t get around to seeing/hearing who is out there. However, I do try to keep my ear to the ground when it comes to bluegrass. And I have been pretty vocal in my previous blogs about my admiration of Billy Strings.
A few days ago, I went out and purchased a copy of Me/And/Dad, Billy’s latest release that he recorded with his stepfather Terry Barber. Terry was the man that got Billy into playing guitar. Granted, there were some demons in both men’s lives over the years, namely addictions, that have had an impact on their lives’ direction. As for Billy, growing up in a drug-infused part of Western Michigan didn’t help, but his love for music helped him overcome much of those demons along with an understanding patriarch.
We all know how Billy has become a rising star, not only in the bluegrass community but in the live music spectrum, drawing humongous crowds from traditionalists to Deadheads. One of the things that I admire about him so much is that, to paraphrase Lester Flatt, he never got above his raisin’. His humility has always shown through, and this album is just a sample of that. He recorded a number of bluegrass and old-time country standards with Terry, and share vocal duties throughout. The album has a stellar cast of backup musicians, including Ronnie and Robbie McCoury, Michael Cleveland, Mike Bub, Jason Carter, and Jerry Douglas.
You can feel the family warmth throughout the song selection. It truly feels like Billy and Terry jamming with some friends in the living room on a Friday night. With all of the flash that Billy can have on stage at one of his sold-out shows, one can tell that this is where he is most comfortable.
I talked briefly a few weeks ago that Billy was at SPBGMA in Nashville last month (and how I missed it). You can take it for granted that he drew an amazing crowd. However, what I failed to mention is that he went there with a 13-year-old mandolin player named Wyatt Ellis. Billy knows that people come to see him play his chops, but he is very giving in wanting to showcase other talent, especially young kids coming up in the bluegrass community. Perhaps he is serving as a big brother/mentor to Wyatt, and hopefully he can keep Wyatt on the right track in life as well.
Cheers to you, Billy, it is an attitude such as yours that helps keep bluegrass going!
Well, we laid my mother to rest yesterday, and I feel that I should get back to busy-ing myself in order to keep my mind alert and my slightly arthritic hands working.
Yes, I missed SPBGMA, but I am glad to see that it was a success. Lots of jamming, and plenty of surprises. I am committed to being there next year!
I will still be moving back into my mom’s house and selling my house, so the clean up will continue, along with cleaning out some of my mom’s stuff from her house. As for me, more selling off of music equipment, especially amplifiers and other electric guitar-related stuff that I never use any more. I’ll be also selling some jackets that don’t fit or never fit in the first place but I was too lazy to get rid of. My advice is, if you are in the Detroit area, keep checking Craigslist and look for “Dearborn/Hamtramck” as a location.
I will be trying to hit more shows as well. Not much offered during February and March, but I will keep checking and hope to find a few major bluegrass shows that I can have guitarists try out the 2208! I will definitely try to hit a bluegrass festival as well, but with Milan and Blissfield both cancelled, it will be either Charlotte or something on the west side of Michigan.
And back to practicing gutiar and fiddle, as well as songwriting. Taking care of mom took a lot out of practicing, and I was not motivated to do any songwriting, Hopefully, I can get inspired. I plan to attend more Songwriters Anonymous meetings, as they have always had supportive people.
And finally, lutherie. I definitely want to get back to maintenance and repairs of guitars. I plan to start simple, like setting up that $47.01 bass guitar that I got a few months back (https://luegra.design.blog/2022/12/17/the-47-01-bass-guitar/). I still have a few Yamaha acoustics that I want to set up, one that needs some repairs, and a lot of other minor jobs. I really enjoy working on guitars, and I want to accomplish a few things before the Demon Arthritis takes over.
Next week, I should have a blog full of rants and raves. Chew on it and comment.
I apologize for being late on this blog, and I am keeping this one short.
Well, I sent in my registration for SPBGMA 2023 in Nashville in January! I really need this vacation, as I haven’t been on any getaway for over three years. Someone hit-and-run my car last week, so I was considering not going due to the cost of repairs. However, if I don’t get away for a few days, and use these next few months to look forward to the vacation, I will probably snap! The AMA AmericanaFest and the IBMA World of Bluegrass conferences used to be my regular trips, but since both organizations have become so political, I’ve passed on them for over two years now, and I don’t miss going (although I do miss seeing some of my friends there).
Although it is not as big as AMA or IBMA, SPBGMA shows itself to be non-political, just there for the love of the music. That is good enough for me, as I just want to listen, jam, and maybe shop some of my songs around. Watching some of the videos from the last SPBGMA conference, I am sure that I will have a blast! I hope to see some old bluegrass friends, make some new connections, jam in the hallways, get some artists to be interested in my songs, and talk to some fiddlers about articles for Fiddler Magazine.
Here’s another cool thing that Billy Strings does. In addition to his charity work of donating guitars to underprivileged kids, he loves to give people a free taste of what his live shows are like. In cooperation with nugs.net, Strings will broadcast the first 15 minutes of his current show live on YouTube for free, and for anyone interested in seeing the entire show, that person can pay to have the show streamed. Trust me, those first few minutes of a Billy Strings show are powerful, and even if you don’t purchase the streaming service, you will be amazed at his talent for free! Yeah, the first three or four minutes of the free broadcast are loaded with advertisements, but it is worth the wait.
This past week, the talented teenage bluegrass performer Carson Peters was eliminated from competition on the music-reality show The Voice. Sad, but what can you expect? The judges, even country star Blake Shelton, are all expecting the next Aretha Franklin or Otis Redding to come on stage looking like a cute white kid.
A few years back, bluegrass band Mountain Faith competed on another entertainment-reality show, America’s Got Talent. The judges were impressed, even the arrogant a-hole Howard Stern (sorry, I just do not like that man). Of course, the band did not make it to the finals.
So why do I bring these situations up? For two reason. First, we bluegrassers need to accept that the rest of the music listeners will always look at bluegrass as a novelty genre. Like polka, tejano, and other culture-centric forms of music, the mainstream music industry looks down on these formats. The possible exception to this is Celtic, with the popularity of Lord of the Dance and other Broadway-type shows highlighting this music. However, in those cases, much of the raw tradition was watered down and reworked with pop-music ingredients (pop arrangements, physically attractive performers, etc.) to make them accessible to the mass audience.
Last week, Billy Strings and his band appeared on The Jimmy Kimmel Show. They sounded great, but they were dressed totally out of the norm. I am used to seeing the band in their usual laid-back jeans and t-shirts. This time, they were wearing Western-style suits and big ol’ cowboy hats. Yes, the song “Red Daisy” that they performed was a lot more traditional bluegrass than their usual fare (and they killed it!), but the look was too hokey! It seemed like they were forced by the show’s producers to wear the suits. They looked a bit uncomfortable, but they got through it. Who knows? Maybe they will start wearing them on stage more often.
This leads to my second reason. Should bluegrass bands and artists succumb to the whims of pop music standards just to get noticed? Did Peters or Mountain Faith really need to go on those reality shows? Knowing how the judges are, and how America’s taste in lousy music is, even Bill Monroe or Flatt & Scruggs in their prime would have never made it past the semi-finals.
The real good and successful bluegrass acts know who their fan base is, and who got them the success that they have. They also know that they are happy and successful with the success that they have achieved. Rhonda Vincent, Dailey & Vincent, and Del McCoury have all been loyal to the bluegrass fold. If someone from outside of the bluegrass audience takes notice, all the better! However, these acts have no intention of changing their style just to attempt to appease the pop music audience or executives.
Acts such as Ricky Skaggs and Patty Loveless have had pop success in the country music field, but they (Skaggs especially) have learned to not get above their raisin’. They have come back to an arms-wide-open bluegrass audience and seem totally satisfied.
Yes, Alison Krauss has achieved pop music success like no one else in the industry. And while her bluegrass side of music is limited with Union Station, it still exists. Some from the bluegrass fold may consider her no longer bluegrass. She is still a bluegrasser in my eyes and thousands of others. She did not attempt to get her foot in the pop music field – her talent and voice were so good that it was the pop music execs that came after her! Moreover, at the beginning of her peak of success in the music industry, rather than continuing to work the pop music end, she instead served a big part in the traditional music movie soundtrack O Brother, Where Art Thou?.
Let’s talk a bit about that album. OBWAT was successful, indeed! At the time, it was receiving no airplay, yet sold over 6 million copies. The radio execs were saying that it was a fluke, despite many listeners calling in requests. Twenty years later, where is bluegrass? It seems that it really was a fluke in the pop music industry. However, this was not the fault of anyone but the radio execs. They pushed that “one-hit-wonder” status on the album so much that listeners tended to believe it, and turned away from bluegrass and the other roots music formats. You don’t hear much about it or any bluegrass music on country radio these days.
In short, bluegrass artists should not water down or surrender to pop music whims just to get noticed. Be happy with the loyal audience that you have. If your talent is really that great, others will notice, just like Billy Strings.
Tonight, I go to see a great traditional bluegrass band that didn’t get above its raisin’, Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers.
Luegra 