Have you ever heard true, authentic bluegrass music? If not, you are missing a wonderful, exhilarating experience. Bluegrass music comes out of the hill country of Kentucky and Tennessee. It was written by common folk about everyday experiences, as they lived their lives. It is performed mostly with stringed instruments, guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin and upright bass. Some of it has vocal accompaniment, while others is purely instrumental.
Two brothers, Charlie and Bill Monroe, started what we today call bluegrass music back in the 1920s. The team split up in 1938, and Bill went on to form his own band which he called “Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys.“ The band was different from all other bands, at that time, with their sound and type of music. Audiences liked what they heard, and the band became very popular. Bill Monroe is said to be the “Father of Bluegrass Music.”
In 1945, a gentleman named Earl Scruggs joined the band and brought with him a new 3 finger picking style on his banjo. Again, the audiences loved it, and today that style of picking is still referred to as “Scruggs style."
In the 1960s, bluegrass festivals began springing up around the country. The very first weekend long festival was held in Fincastle, Virginia in 1965, under the direction of Carlton Haney from Reidsville, North Carolina.
A movie was released in 2001 called, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” which revitalized the bluegrass music industry to the point where some rock bands are even playing bluegrass tunes.
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