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Bluegrass Music


Bluegrass music is a composite of folk-derived styles that evolved from old- time string band music. Bluegrass music was pioneered and honed through the skillful innovations of Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys. Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs who were key members of the Blue Grass Boys, assisted Monroe in the formulation of bluegrass. Bluegrass has been called "the folk music with overdrive" and it is generally acknowledged as the fundamental source of much of our native American folk music. Bluegrass features the 5- string banjo which is considered the only instrument that originated in America.

Few artists have played such an important role in innovating a music genre as has Bill Monroe. Known as the Father of Bluegrass, Monroe is primarily responsible for the creation and development of early bluegrass music. Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys dramatically changed the art of the vocal and instrumental ensemble. The impact of these changes are not only still being felt today but are actually continuing to grow, a half century later. Monroe who turned 81 in 1992, is still as vital a force in bluegrass as he was five decades ago.

Monroe, who frequently changed his band members, employed Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs during his most fertile years (1945-48). Few artists have done as much for bluegrass music as Flatt and Scruggs. Monroe hired Earl Scruggs in 1445. Earl's unique and unprecedented new approach to banjo-playing not only helped Monroe define the essential bluegrass sound, but also revived the banjo. In fact, in the early years Earl's style of banjo playing became the hallmark behind Flatt and Scruggs' bluegrass music. Lester Flat, who also joined the Blue Grass Boys (1946) played rhythm guitar and was key to defining many of the enduring bluegrass rhythms. Flatt, who developed a G- chord guitar run that now bears his name, sang lead vocal against Monroe's high range tenor on many of the Blue Grass Boys numbers. Flatt & Scruggs broke away from Monroe in 1948 to form The Foggy Mountain Boys.

For more than five decades, countless bluegrass bands have helped refine and sustain bluegrass, many of which inodeled themselves from Bill Monroe's band. Hilo Brown, Josh Graves, Jim & Jesse, Grandpa Jones, Joe Maphis, Benny Martin, the Osborne Brothers, Don Reno, Anhur Smith, the Stanley Brothers, The Stcnemans, Carl Story, Merle Travis and Mac Wiseman, exemplify just a few. These musicians were all basically influenced by Monroe's approach, but also introduced their own innovative and pertinent ingredient.

Bluegrass music has prospered through the years with the advent of several newcomers-Allison Krauss, Bluegrass Cardinals, Boone Creek, The Dillards, Hot Rize, J. D. Crowe, Nashville Bluegrass Band, New Grass Revival, Ricky Skaggs and Seldom Scene. Today bluegrass encompasses all the di erent approaches and styles of the past fifty years, yet most musicians remain consistent with the idiom.

back Revised: 12/9/1999 | Thanks for visiting!