Despite my southern heritage, I have never been much of a country music fan. However, for some reason, when I hear a good Bluegrass song with a good guitar and banjo playing, I can't help but to become entranced and listen. Bluegrass is a genre of music played using acoustic stringed instruments and usually accompanied with a high-pitch vocal style. It is a sort of mixture of country, gospel, jazz, and blues. Although it was developed in America, its roots are from traditional music belonging to the English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish. It was especially inspired by Scotch-Irish immigrants in Appalachia.
The creation of Bluegrass is often accredited to William Smith Monroe, better known as Bill Monroe. He is known today as the "Father of Bluegrass". Monroe named his band "Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys" after the nickname of his native state, Kentucky (the Bluegrass State). This is also where the genre of Bluegrass received its name. This band played music that was different from the traditional country genre that most were familiar with at the time. Monroe's new band had a hard driving and powerful sound, utilized traditional acoustic instruments, and featured distinctive vocal harmonies. The instrumental combination consisted of mandolin, banjo, fiddle, guitar and bass. They first appeared on the Grand Ole Opry in 1939, and afterwards they enjoyed extensive success.
While Bill Monroe is mostly credited for creating the Bluegrass genre, it is believed it came into its when in 1945 Earl Scruggs joined the band. Scruggs is very well known for perfecting and innovating a 3-finger picking style on the banjo. Scruggs was so popular with this style that today it is called "Scruggs style" and is a defining characteristic of Bluegrass.
In 1948 Scruggs left "Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys", to form a band with guitar-player Lester Flatt. This new band would become known as "The Foggy Mountain Boys." They decided to add a resophonic guitar, or Dobro, into their instrument combination. The Dobro became quite popular in their music and, as a result, is used in many Bluegrass bands today. When Scruggs and Flatt parted, Scruggs began a group with his three sons called "The Earl Scruggs Review". Scruggs still records and performs today in groups that usually contain his sons. Flatt went on to successfully play with his group "The Nashville Grass" until shortly before his death in 1979.
It wasn't until the 1950s when people began calling this genre Bluegrass, and it wasn't until the 1960s when the concept of a Bluegrass festival was first introduced. With these festivals and the increased availability of recordings increased Bluegrass's popularity. Today, Bluegrass is played throughout the world. The movie O Brother, Where Art Thou has been often been credited with attracting wider audiences and increasing interest in Bluegrass music.
If anyone is interested in where I read about the history of Bluegrass, I obtained most of my information at www.ibma.org and also some at www.about.com (specifically http://folkmusic.about.com/od/historyoffolk/a/Blugrass_Histor.htm )
Bluegrass and O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Bluegrass, O Brother Where Art Thou? and The Odyssey
There are many ways that the song “I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow” and the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? can apply to The Odyssey. In particular, there are many similarities between the relationship with people and God in the movie and with people and gods in The Odyssey. In O Brother, Where Art Thou? which is set in the Great Depression and featuring messages of Christian faith, people pray to God to receive his blessings or to receive salvation. In The Odyssey, and in Greek mythology, people pay tributes to the gods in hopes of receiving blessings in returns or to simply avoid a god's wrath. The songs throughout the movie and the poem are also similar. Both are intended to guide a person, or a person's soul, down the right and virtuous path.
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