# Bluegrass **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 10, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bluegrass/513344 "2009-10-10T21:15:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bluegrass/513344/1 "2009-10-10T21:15:35Z")
Joe Val and the New England Bluegrass Boys Flatt and Scruggs Bill Monroe The Stanley Brothers Sonny and Bobby Osborne JD Crowe and The New South Jimmy Martin The Kentucky Colonels Jim and Jesse Country Cooking well, okay The Seldom Scene Dave Evans The Lewis Family Cherryholmes Reno and Smiley Raymond Fairchild (you know, the Fastest Five Strings Alive) Tony, Bela, Alan… and all those other bluegrass banjo pickers Who did I miss? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bluegrass/513344/2 "2009-10-10T22:24:38Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > Joe Val and the New England Bluegrass Boys > > Flatt and Scruggs > > Bill Monroe > > The Stanley Brothers > > Sonny and Bobby Osborne > > JD Crowe and The New South > > Jimmy Martin > > The Kentucky Colonels > > Jim and Jesse > > Country Cooking > > well, okay The Seldom Scene > > Dave Evans > > The Lewis Family > > Cherryholmes > > Reno and Smiley > > Raymond Fairchild (you know, the Fastest Five Strings Alive) > > Tony, Bela, Alan… and all those other bluegrass banjo pickers > Who did I miss? A few hundred. Wait! Are you only looking for _banjo_ players? ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bluegrass/513344/3 "2009-10-10T22:38:37Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > A few hundred. > > Wait! Are you only looking for _banjo_ players? No, not just banjo players. I have just been getting back into bluegrass and was wondering what like individuals would suggest some groups that I have missed. I.e. John Hartford RIP, and the Dillards come to mind. Suggest!!! ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bluegrass/513344/4 "2009-10-10T22:43:01Z")
Del McCoury Sam Bush Gonna see Fiddlers Four tomorrow - should be good. And if you like the Dillards, you should enjoy the Darlings! ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bluegrass/513344/5 "2009-10-10T22:52:13Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Del McCoury > Sam Bush > > Gonna see Fiddlers Four tomorrow - should be good. > > And if you like the Dillards, you should enjoy the Darlings! It’s strange that you mention Del McCoury. I was just listening to his and Steve Earle’s bluegrass/blues/roots music, “The Mountain”. Good stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bluegrass/513344/6 "2009-10-10T23:00:24Z")
You know what I’m gonna do? I am going to put on the rare _Banjoland_ album. Rounder record… ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bluegrass/513344/7 "2009-10-10T23:07:20Z")
I am a fan of [Ricky Skaggs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricky_Skaggs). ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bluegrass/513344/8 "2009-10-10T23:12:22Z")
> [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](#): > > I am a fan of [Ricky Skaggs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricky_Skaggs). No need to link. I am well aware of the amazing man that is RS. Do you have the Skaggs and Rice album? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bluegrass/513344/9 "2009-10-10T23:13:46Z")
Red Allen. Old time stuff, but sufficiently great. Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver. I get tired of that if it becomes repetitive. You said Seldon Scene, but have you tried the original John Duffy with The Country Gentlemen? Some Doc Watson stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Pray\_for\_peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pray\_for\_peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pray_for_peace)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bluegrass/513344/10 "2009-10-10T23:18:01Z")
Sorry, I don’t know any of the artists who have been mentioned so far, but I happened to see a group in concert called [Hot Rize](http://www.hotrize.com/), and I thought they were great. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bluegrass/513344/11 "2009-10-10T23:23:40Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Red Allen. Old time stuff, but sufficiently great. > > Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver. I get tired of that if it becomes repetitive. > > You said Seldon Scene, but have you tried the original John Duffy with The Country Gentlemen? > > Some Doc Watson stuff. I forgot about Red Allen. I have the Folkway Years 1964-83, with the amazing Bill Keith, Camptown Races. I like Doyle ok, never got into him though. As for Doc, I love him, but he’s not really bluegrass. **samclem** , who knew? As for the Seldom Scene, Ben Eldrige is cool, but I hate that smarmy singing style that the Scene always does. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bluegrass/513344/12 "2009-10-10T23:25:23Z")
> [@Sidney Evgeni Jordan](#): > > Sorry, I don’t know any of the artists who have been mentioned so far, but I happened to see a group in concert called [Hot Rize](http://www.hotrize.com/), and I thought they were great. With Peter Wernick on the five (we banjo players call our instrument the five, btw) ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bluegrass/513344/13 "2009-10-10T23:26:42Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > No need to link. I am well aware of the amazing man that is RS. Do you have the Skaggs and Rice album? Well, he wasn’t on your original list, so I didn’t know. Don’t have Skaggs and Rice, but it’s now on the ol’ Amazon wishlist. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bluegrass/513344/14 "2009-10-10T23:28:51Z")
See, the thing about RS and me is that I know him from being in JD Crowe and the New South. And of course with Skaggs and Rice. Skaggs alone for the longest time was a country artist, and I forgot about him and Kentucky Thunder. Ah, well. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bluegrass/513344/15 "2009-10-10T23:40:34Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > I forgot about Red Allen. I have the Folkway Years 1964-83, with the amazing Bill Keith, Camptown Races. > > I like Doyle ok, never got into him though. As for Doc, I love him, but he’s not really bluegrass. > > As for the Seldom Scene, Ben Eldrige is cool, but I hate that smarmy singing style that the Scene always does. Who knew? Growing up in Arlington, Va., I heard my first bluegrass in/about 1960. I tuned in stations from Warrenton, Va., just West of DC. I probably still have reel-to-reel tapes of stuff you wouldn’t believe. Old-time Country and some Bluegrass. As to the “smarmy” singing style of SS. I like to think that they brought Bluegrass music into the modern age. To do that, you had to polish the act. You couldn’t give the hip audience in the Washington DC area Bill Monroe or the Stanleys. Flat and Scruggs had made it to Canegie Hall, but the mainstream listeners need something that was a bit smoother than the haunting sound of Carter Stanley(I get goosebumps listening to many of his vocals). And the Seldom Scene was it. They polished it, did it as professionally as anyone could, and made bluegrass popular in the 1980s. It certainly died a death in the 1990s 'til now, at least amongst the general population. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bluegrass/513344/16 "2009-10-11T00:08:50Z")
In any Bluegrass list I made, I’d be sure to put Mr Bill Monroe in First Place! Going back to His Disciples, how about the [Charles River Valley Boys](http://http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/charles_river_valley_boys/bio.jhtml)? Cambridge Folkies from the Old Days, their _Beatle Country_ is one of my fave LP’s–now available on CD. Through [Rhapsody.com](http://Rhapsody.com), I’ve become fond of the [Dry Branch Fire Squad](http://www.drybranchfiresquad.com/)–a touch of Old Timey along with straight Bluegrass. And a funny frontman. The Dillards were fine Bluegrassers but their _Wheatstraw Suite_ was pioneering country rock. Then there was [Dillard & Clark](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dillard_&_Clark)–with strong Bluegrass roots, no matter how far out the lyrics got; soulful singing, too. I love \*The Mountain \*(already mentioned), Steve Earle backed by the Del McCoury Band. Partly because I like the way Earle’s rough voice goes against the grain of the smooth Bluegrass. Damn–I find some modern Bluegrass just _too_ smooth. That is, musicians trying to play as fast as possible but lacking the soulfulness of the pioneers. (The Stanley Brothers were very soulful & Ralph’s modern projects are worthwhile.) Check out [David Grisman](http://www.acousticdisc.com/dgq_splash.html) for examples of where you can go beyond Bluegrass. Straight Bluegrass, Newgrass, World Music, etc. Lots of songs available. Find some of his work with Stéphane Grappelli–Gypsy Jazz is very close to my heart. Or go back to the Old Time String Band music that came _before_ Bluegrass. The New Lost City Ramblers. The Red Clay Ramblers. Even the Holy Modal Rounders… ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bluegrass/513344/17 "2009-10-11T00:31:20Z")
Ah yes, the Dry Branch Fire Squad. And of course, Olin Gardner. Now, nobody knows who Olin Gardner is, right? I didn’t know what I wanted for Christmas, but my granddad had a banjo he built, and he used to play it clawhammer style. And he had this book, with musical notation, which I had never seen before. It was so mystical and strange. And I said, yes, get me a banjo! To make a long story short, I ended up taking lessons from Olin, and I had never seen someone play an instrument up close, and I was mesmerized. Okay, this is going to be a banjo post. I used to lie on my bed and strum it, and hit that fifth string, and it would ring out so clear and pure. But I ramble. Anyone who has ever taken a banjo in hand knows what I am talking about. As for me, I’m gonna go and get my granddad’s five out, and strum it a while. And maybe start a banjo appreciation thread. Sorry to hijack my own thread. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bluegrass/513344/18 "2009-10-11T04:15:31Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > Who did I miss? Well, you need to get more current. 😉 Some very fine bluegrass bands of recent vintage: [Steep Canyon Rangers](http://www.steepcanyon.com/) [Chatham County Line](http://www.myspace.com/chathamcountyline) [King Wilkie](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z2cDrLaK_o&feature=related) (though I understand this configuration is no longer together, and part of the group is now touring as the Wilkie Family Singers, with much less of a bluegrass orientation) [Packway Handle Band](http://www.myspace.com/thepackwayhandleband) ---
**Author:** ![unclviny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e274bd/32.png) [@unclviny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclviny)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bluegrass/513344/19 "2009-10-11T04:19:36Z")
Hot Rize Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers the Skyline Drifters Unclviny ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bluegrass/513344/20 "2009-10-11T04:40:27Z")
Shit! Don Stover and the Lily Brothers! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bluegrass/513344.md?page=2)