Bluegrass vs. Newgrass
So I went to Pollstar.com and looked up upcoming live music in Asheville, NC between now and April. Guess what I found?
G. Love & Special Sauce, Ray LaMontagne, John Scofield, Larry Keel, Edwin McCain, BR549, Bela Fleck & The Fleck Tones, Big Head Todd & The Monsters, Tony Rice, Drums & Tuba, and Willy Porter.
Whew … and that is all before next summer!
The thing that really excites me is that a lot of these artists play the small intimate venues – my favorite.
I looked on Tony Rice’s site and it looks like he goes through Asheville quite a bit. When I was a kid learning bluegrass, he was one of the guys my teacher taught me a lot of. In fact, I had a Tony Rice Bluegrass book.
Bluegrass is kind of the distant red-headed inbred heavy metal version of country music. I admit it is an acquired taste – for sure. I’m not too hip to the bluegrass scene, but apparently there is a new genre called “newgrass” – which is basically “progressive bluegrass” – or bluegrass music for people who managed to move past Bill Monroe. It is the age old battle of the “purists” vs. the “new style” or experimentation.
Some good newgrass would be like the Yonder Mountain String Band, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Bela Fleck, Nickel Creek, and so forth.
Good stuff.
Oh no, its already begun. Whats your next blog gonna be, “John Deere Hats and Mullets are where its at”
Well, most (if not all) of the groups I mentioned are fairly trucker cap and mullet-free. So I hope not.
DM
I have been listening to Nickel Creek and Allison Krauss for years.. Saw Nickel Creek live last year at SDSU and it was one of the best shows ever! Didn’t know I was on the cutting edge of “New Grass”….
Have you seen Bela before? I saw them at Jazz Alley in Tacoma a few months ago. Marcus Miller is an amazing bass player.