Bluegrass anyone?

[AcousticShred]

Hey everyone, I have been listening to a lot of Bluegrass lately, in particular Ricky Scaggs and Doc Watson. Ive noticed a very prominent I-IV-I-V-I-IV-I-V-I
progression to it. Id like to hear from anyone else who is into this style. Do you have any other group I should hear if I enjoy the said bands?

[nighthawk]

SHoot yea.... Flatt and Scruggs, New Grass Revival, J.D Crowe and the New South. I could list off a million. Go pick up the Dirt band's circle album and go from there.. Poco, for a rock mix ..boy oh boy. I have a ton

[bugman]

Allison Krauss
Garcia and Grisman

[AcousticShred]

Yea I really like Allison Krauss and Union Station, although some of their stuff is too close to country for me. I have heard a garcia grisham cd, it was kind of jazzy..Is all their stuff like that?

Yea, and Ill check out Dirt

[bugman]

Yea I really like Allison Krauss and Union Station, although some of their stuff is too close to country for me. I have heard a garcia grisham cd, it was kind of jazzy..Is all their stuff like that?

Yea, and Ill check out Dirt

No, not all Garcia/Grisman albums are jazzy. Check out 'Shady Grove' and 'The Pizza Tapes.' Both of them are pretty bluegrass oriented.

[mk-ultra]

exaclty what type of music is bluegrass

[AcousticShred]

Its blindingly fast paced melodic country music with usually only acoustic stringed instruments. (guitar, mandolin, bass, banjo, fiddle)

[guitardude]

I went to a bluegrass festival recently was really cool.

[AcousticShred]

I wish I could go to one...what was it like?

[bugman]

I wish I could go to one...what was it like?

There's a got to be a bluegrass festival near you at some time.

Also check out Norman Blake...he can't sing (at all) but he's an amazing picker.

[elliot smith]

been listening to some gillian welch,their guitarist is amazing
and some hank williams,and Jimmy Rodgers

[SGshredder]

i play in a bluegrass band during the summer with my dad and buds. someone already mentioned Earl Scruggs, who is undoubtedly the god of banjo, but you all forgot Seldom Seen!! great bluegrass band. i love Krauss too. she is one of the best fiddle players around. i love it all

[guitardude]

I wish I could go to one...what was it like?


just a bunch of REALLY hot banjo and guitar pickers
:) :) :) :) :) :)

[thumper]

I play bass in a bluegrass/folk band. pretty fun

[Yamahauler]

Love Bluegrass myself. Just now getting Doc's Deep River Blues down. Another artist, who might not be well known is Doyle Dykes. I go to guitar workshops around the DC area for a lousey $5 and he plays for a couple hours. Gotta be the fastest guitar player I've ever heard. Mosey on over to http://www.doyledykes.com/default1.htm and watch him play Taylor's new "T5" guitar, which is an electric that can sound like an acoustic and a serious electric with the flip of a switch.
And the Seldom Scene, I've seen them at the Birchmeir a few times. Sure do miss the mandoline player. Getting old and his name leaked out. Loved his humor. Last time I saw them, the banjo players son showed. Dude is fast on the flatpick. Would love to find some dudes around the DC area to jam with. Just don't have any experience to just jump in and blend. :-(

[AcousticShred]

my comments on Doyle Dykes. Very skilled and great song writer from what I have heard on the video (if he wrote those songs) but in know way the fastest guitarist.

[dickiebong]

For the quintticential Garcia bluegrass head trip check out "Old and in the way" It's got that "High Lonesome" sound that is the back bone of true Bluegrass!

[WeezieJoe]

Anyone here know anything about resonators? I'm trying to learn to play GBDGBD. I'm finding it difficult.

[Eclectifish]

Check out Nickel Creek. They're sort of modern bluebrass. Very nice.

It's really different stylistically. I played with a bluegrass band in a musical a couple of years ago and really had to relearn a lot of things. Lots of fun.

[rwstoney]

If you are new to BG music a good starting place would be Bill Monroe. That's where it all started.

One of the best things about BG is the festivals. Prices tend to be reasonable and after the show's over there's pickin in the campground far into the night.

Just to stand up for Norman Blake I have to say I love his voice.

[bugman]

Anyone here know anything about resonators? I'm trying to learn to play GBDGBD. I'm finding it difficult.

They're usually used for slide guitar.

[adgardad]

I have played BG for about 33 years now. Started as a 5 string banjo player, now play a lot of guitar and fiddle as well as a little mandolin and dobro.
All the suggestions here sound good. If you are listening to Doc and Ricky those are good places to start. As you can see from the recommendations here there are a lot of stylistic differences within the genre of BG. The main divisions of Bluegrass are:
Traditional - Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, Jimmy Martin, Ralph Stanley, Reno and Smiley, Del MCCourey
Contemporary - Seldom Scene, Ricky Skaggs, Hot Rize, Country Gazette, The Country Gentlemen, Old and In the Way, Pete Rowan, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver
Newgrass - Newgrass Revival, Tony Rice Unit, David Grisman Quintet, Nickel Creek
I definately like all these performers but tend to listen more to the Newgrass sound. Traditional Bluegrass has little lead guitar in it and usually has guitar as a rhythm instrument. There are many new contemporary BG bands with some hot lead guitar players in them.
The bulk of the hot guitar pickers you will hear are in the contemporary or newgrass styles. I highly recommend Newgrass Revival/Sam Bush as a general intro to Newgrass Style Bluegrass (their Live in France album is a good overall Newgrass album - though none of their recordings ever quite lived up to their live shows) and Sam's "Ice Caps the Peaks of Telluride" is a great disc too.
Tony Rice is THE MAN as far as BG guitar in a modern vein goes, I especially recommend his "Manzanita" album (a fave for sure-bluegrassy but without any banjo) as well as "Cold on the Shoulder" and "Me and My Guitar".
Also, if you want to hear some picking that will just downright scare you, listen to "Markology" by fiddle player extraordinaire Mark O'Connor. This is Mark's guitar album, recorded when he was 16, and already a 2 time National Flatpicking champion. A couple other great BG guitarists out there are Dan Crary, Russ Barrenburg, the Cache Valley Drifters, Mike Marshall, and David Grier. That's really just scratching the surface but will give you a direction.
Festivals are definately the place to see, hear and play bluegrass. There are great festivals in all parts of the country. Some of my favorites are Bean Blossom, Indiana; Winfield; Kansas (Nat'l Flatpicking guitar championships) and Telluride, Colorado. Ther is a new CD/DVD of the best of the last 30 years of Telluride that just came out in June. Haven't seen or heard it yet but it might give you an idea what that one is all about. [I see that AcousticShred is from CT. There is a festival there called The Podunk Bluegrass Music Festival in East Hartford, CT August 4-7th.] Info on this and other festivals can be found at www.cybergrass.com.
Sorry about the long winded post, but I really love Bluegrass and want to share it with anyone that's interested.

[Griffin]

I would like to add Dan Tyminski (and all of the Union Station gang including Jerry Douglas). Dan's voice is the epitome of what a good bluegrass voice ought to be like. I watch their concert in Kentucky all the time.
Good call on New Grass Revival though you failed to mention Bela Fleck. Not a guitar picker but he has convinced me that a banjo can be a lead instrument. He and Sam Bush do an awesome lead trade-off on "Old Friend" from the Telluride Bluegrass Festival concert DVD. That John McGowan is also one heck of a fine singer.
Must have been cold when they were filming this. I noticed they were all wearing long sleeves (except Sam) and John was in a fleece hunting jacket.
Totally awesome forum here!

[Jammer]

I would like to add Dan Tyminski (and all of the Union Station gang including Jerry Douglas). Dan's voice is the epitome of what a good bluegrass voice ought to be like. I watch their concert in Kentucky all the time.
Good call on New Grass Revival though you failed to mention Bela Fleck. Not a guitar picker but he has convinced me that a banjo can be a lead instrument. He and Sam Bush do an awesome lead trade-off on "Old Friend" from the Telluride Bluegrass Festival concert DVD. That John McGowan is also one heck of a fine singer.
Must have been cold when they were filming this. I noticed they were all wearing long sleeves (except Sam) and John was in a fleece hunting jacket.
Totally awesome forum here!

Grasshopper is that you?

Yes, it's me, toe. Isn't this better than THC?

[adgardad]

Good call on New Grass Revival though you failed to mention Bela Fleck. Not a guitar picker but he has convinced me that a banjo can be a lead instrument. He and Sam Bush do an awesome lead trade-off on "Old Friend" from the Telluride Bluegrass Festival concert DVD. That John McGowan is also one heck of a fine singer.
Must have been cold when they were filming this. I noticed they were all wearing long sleeves (except Sam) and John was in a fleece hunting jacket.
Totally awesome forum here!
I expect that in the mountains of Telluride, even in the summer it's pretty cool. :biggrin:
Yes Bela is something else. As a banjo player he is very much on a plain all his own. If you've not heard him he's hard to pin down stylistically. You think banjo player = bluegrass, but not so with Fleck. He holds the record for being nominated for a Grammy the most times in the most different categories. His bluegrassiest outing is his album "Drive" that includes Bush, Cowan, Rice, O'Connor, Douglas, and Stuart Duncan on fiddle. [HIGHLY RECOMMENDED]. Even my friends that don't like bluegrass dig that one.
Those Newgrass boys can all play and sing and in so many diverse styles. They toured the world as embassadors for the US State Department in the 80s. They felt that they could never find a better band to represent the US and all it's diversity- a bluegrass band with jazz/blues/rock/celtic/reggae/classical/jam band influences. The original band had Curtis Burch on guitar/dobro though I think Bush played much of the lead guitar on their recordings. The later incarnation of the group had Pat Flynn on guitar. He has a unique style of flatpicking -different from the other guys in the pack, but it fit perfect with NGR.
For me the tour de force for newgrass is "Strength in Numbers-The Telluride Sessions". Bush, Fleck, O'Connor, Douglas, Egar Mayer on Bass. A mix of bluegrass and jazz arranged with a classical sensibility. Such ensemble work.
I can't wait to get the Best of Telluride DVD and CD. From what I see about it, there is totally different stuff on the DVD as on the CD, so will have to get both.

[adgardad]

Anyone here know anything about resonators? I'm trying to learn to play GBDGBD. I'm finding it difficult.
Are you playing a round neck or a square neck?
The round necks are for a more traditional style of guitar playing and a lot of guys use em for bottle neck slide, ala Clapton, Vaughan, other blues guys etc.
If you have a square neck it is layed down flat and played more like a pedal steel guitar. This is the bluegrass style that you hear so much these days on country radio.
The guys to check out here are -
1) 'Bashful' Brother Oswald - who used to play with Roy Acuff on the Opry for an older very traditional country style
2) 'Uncle' Josh Graves - the birth of BG dobro with Flatt and Scruggs
3) Mike Auldridge - great picker with the Seldom Scene and now with Chesapeake
4) Jerry 'Flux' Douglas - The king of modern bluegrass/newgrass dobro currently playing with Alison Kraus and Union Station and the current CMA Instrumentalist of the year
Those are the main guys though if you need more check out Stacy Phillips, Cindy Cashdollar (of Asleep at the Wheel), my fellow Iowan Randy Kohrs, and a guy I've just heard of Rob Ickes.
There are many good videos out there that show how to play these styles. If you get a chance to attend a bluegrass festival - go. You will see a number of different people at all levels of ability playing resonator guitars and most of them would be glad to help out and show you what they can. You will learn more in a day or a weekend at a festival than you would with weeks of a video. If you hit the right festival some of the people that I mentioned would be there performiong and possibly doing workshops to answer questions and give advice. Check out www.cybergrass.com for more info on dobro and festivals and you might look at www.squareneck.com for dobro tabs.
Good luck. It's a beautiful instrument. I wish I could make it talk like some of them can...It's off to the woodshed for me.. :smile:

[Griffin]

Greetings Jammer!
Tis me, grasshopper.
Cool forum here. Thanks for showing me the way.
going to be a busy week as I prepare for vacation.
Will keep an eye out for you.

[Griffin]

What are you currently working on? I'm spending a lot of time on my new banjo, trying to get some fluidity in my playing. I have an instructional book to keep me busy with that for a while. On guitar I always come back to Russ Barrenburg's "Big Sciota". I know all the notes but can't make it flow like him. On the up side, I have Doc Watson's "East Tennessee Blues" nailed! It's probably my number one flatpicking tune. He and Dave Grisham made a CD a few years back with that number on it. Great CD but lousy studio job. All kinds of blips and bleeps on it.
I am surrounded by celtic players, and was one myself for many many moons, and have a hard time finding interested musicians to keep a good jam schedule going. Thus, I do not get good exposure to tunes or bands not on compilation CD's. My partner is an awesome rhythm player but he isn't very interested in my banjo, which surprised me quite a bit. He's all about guitar and loves it when I flatpick because he can't do it but loves the sound. I introduced him to that technique about seven years ago. Until then he was pretty much "a folk singer, a dope smokin' swinger, singin' songs that were steeped in tradition".
I would like to know what you are currently working on or what you are seeking.

[Griffin]

Wonder if you dig the Waifs?
Saw them on a Telluride DVD and was very pleased with their sound, especially the two girl harmony. "When I die" was the song. Any idea where one can find the chords and lyrics? I surfed to several sights but was unsuccessful so far.

[Jammer]

What are you currently working on? I'm spending a lot of time on my new banjo, trying to get some fluidity in my playing. I have an instructional book to keep me busy with that for a while. On guitar I always come back to Russ Barrenburg's "Big Sciota". I know all the notes but can't make it flow like him. On the up side, I have Doc Watson's "East Tennessee Blues" nailed! It's probably my number one flatpicking tune. He and Dave Grisham made a CD a few years back with that number on it. Great CD but lousy studio job. All kinds of blips and bleeps on it.
I am surrounded by celtic players, and was one myself for many many moons, and have a hard time finding interested musicians to keep a good jam schedule going. Thus, I do not get good exposure to tunes or bands not on compilation CD's. My partner is an awesome rhythm player but he isn't very interested in my banjo, which surprised me quite a bit. He's all about guitar and loves it when I flatpick because he can't do it but loves the sound. I introduced him to that technique about seven years ago. Until then he was pretty much "a folk singer, a dope smokin' swinger, singin' songs that were steeped in tradition".
I would like to know what you are currently working on or what you are seeking.

As I told you over on THC, I have had this illness that pretty much kicked the crap out of me, so I am mainly sitting around on electric playing scales and trying to get some finger speed built back up - not much acoustic stuff, although I can't get through a practice without getting the acoustic out at least once.

I was trying some slide the other day and stunk at that, so I am going to have to practice that, too.

I am working on the solo in "Sultans Of Swing", although I don't really believe I'll ever play it with a band.

Get some John Hartford if you want to hear some neat banjo music. It's not exactly hard core traditional but really fun to play. I recommend all of them, but my favorite is "Aeroplane". It was out of print for years and they just reissued it a couple of years ago, right before John Hartford died, rest his soul.

[Griffin]

Hey Jammer,
Yeah, I have a good John Hartford CD. It mentions the Aeroplane CD a lot. I think this one is a greatest hits one. It was bootlegged for me by a guitar player at my last work place. I didn't have the banjo then so I may have skipped right over some of the better tunes. The only one I learned from that CD was "Steamboat Whistle Blues". But, man, it has chord changes every line and is very hard for someone to follow you. I have a good guitar solo worked out but my partner still needs a cheat sheet. I'll listen to it all again tonight.
So, you're learning "Sultans of Swing". Man, that's out of my realm of possibilities. I never learned all the electric guitar moves. They use all pentatonic scales. Being a bluegrass fan and flatpicker, I hung out in the major and minor scales. It is only recently in the past few years that I've gained enough experience to start heading in that direction. Listening to Tony Rice I've come to realise that it is necessary for me to be a good lead player. I have a hard time "connecting" with the blues. I've heard it said that "if you want to play the blues, you have to live the blues". I'm just too upbeat for that so that's probably why I dig bluegrass so much.
I posted here earlier today looking for the Waifs "When I die" lyrics. I hadn't been able to find them but, wou7ldn't you know it, the FIRST site I went to afterwards...I found them. Just need the chords now.
That's always been my trouble being a music reader...I have a hard time picking out the tiny chord changes in a song. I either overkill it with 7ths or I just miss them all together.
I hope your illness doesn't keep you down too long. My partner had a minor heart attck two years ago. He gets out of breath easy and he quit smoking but he's doing very well. You hang in there and be well.

[Jammer]

Hey Jammer,
Yeah, I have a good John Hartford CD. It mentions the Aeroplane CD a lot. I think this one is a greatest hits one. It was bootlegged for me by a guitar player at my last work place. I didn't have the banjo then so I may have skipped right over some of the better tunes. The only one I learned from that CD was "Steamboat Whistle Blues". But, man, it has chord changes every line and is very hard for someone to follow you. I have a good guitar solo worked out but my partner still needs a cheat sheet. I'll listen to it all again tonight.

"Steamboat Whistle Blues" is one of my favorite songs of all time. For the instrumentals I play that pick and fingers thing I was telling you about and try to make it sound like banjo rolls, but this is fast. If I am the least bit out of practice my hand will feel like it's going to fall off.

My favorite banjo songs to play were "Sexual Harassment" "Don't Leave Your Records In The Sun", and "Miss Ferris". Try and sing "Washing Machine" without hurting yourself.

So, you're learning "Sultans of Swing". Man, that's out of my realm of possibilities. I never learned all the electric guitar moves. They use all pentatonic scales. Being a bluegrass fan and flatpicker, I hung out in the major and minor scales. It is only recently in the past few years that I've gained enough experience to start heading in that direction. Listening to Tony Rice I've come to realise that it is necessary for me to be a good lead player. I have a hard time "connecting" with the blues. I've heard it said that "if you want to play the blues, you have to live the blues". I'm just too upbeat for that so that's probably why I dig bluegrass so much.

Well, I have lived my share of blues, but a lot of the stuff that people call "classic rock" was just blues. I made the transition from blues to rock with no trouble at all. If you can play the other stuff you can play pentatonic scales, except you'll probably have the same problem I do with major scales - I do it so rarely I have to think about what I am doing, whereas with the pentatonic scales I just rip them off without thinking about them. It has been years since I have done any flatpicking, but now that you mentioned it I will have to start doing that again.

You said you are surrounded by Celtic players, so you have probably run into a few session players. If you take a piece of music to a session jam they will look at you like you have three heads, all of them empty. They improvise everything and expect you to, also. (If you don't know what session music is I was at a session jam once and they were playing the tune from the steerage party in "Titanic")

The blues guys are like that, too. They improvise everything - somebody will just start playing and until somebody starts to sing nobody even knows what the song is. I grew up playing that stuff, and even the bluegrass guys I knew would jam around like that, too.

About me and electrics: I played both electric and acoustic for about 10 years, then my main guitar buddy moved away. I traded my electric stuff in for all acoustic and played that for 20 years exclusively, just like you. I took classical guitar lessons and got a banjo. (Does any of this sound familiar?)

Then probably about 11 years ago I got a chance to play in a blues band again. Without an electric and an amp I traded my Gibson banjo in on a guitar and amp, and proceeded to get back into practice. I was in two bands for a while and finally got sick of the squirrelly people running those bands. I swear one of them was mentally ill and the other guy wouldn't let us completely play through a song without stopping us every few bars and wanting to do something different from what we were doing. Both the guitar players quit at the same time because practice was always so nerve wracking.

So here I was without a gig again. I didn't miss my banjo much because I wasn't that good anyway. My wife and I started going to a new church and the music leader turned out to be an old friend of my wife's. He found out about me and asked me to help him out with the music. They had this contemporary worship thing going like a guitar mass, only with amps and stuff. After some major arm twisting, I agreed to come to one of their practices.

Man did these guys stink. It's hard to say which was worse, their timing or their sound. There was three guitar players at the time, all playing amplified acoustics, and the sound was nothing short of mush. Their timing was so bad I had them practicing with a metronome at one point. Eventually they conned me into playing with them and I used my Stratocaster to give the sound some dimension. It worked: I would lay some arpeggios and little runs over the top of their acoustic mush, occasionally hitting the distortion pedal and ripping into a full blown solo from time to time just to tweak the old farts.

The moral of the story is that sometimes having an electric guitar can keep you playing when there's nothing else going on - and as we all know, there's playing and then there's waiting around until the next time you can play.

I hope your illness doesn't keep you down too long. My partner had a minor heart attck two years ago. He gets out of breath easy and he quit smoking but he's doing very well. You hang in there and be well.

Actually, I am doing okay physically. They say it takes about two years to recover from an event like I had, and for someone who's supposed to be dead I feel pretty well.

I was speaking of the mental part. I was so depressed I didn't feel like doing anything, not even playing. For me to have started playing again seriously is a major step forward.

[Griffin]

[QUOTE=Jammer]"Steamboat Whistle Blues" is one of my favorite songs of all time. For the instrumentals I play that pick and fingers thing I was telling you about and try to make it sound like banjo rolls, but this is fast. If I am the least bit out of practice my hand will feel like it's going to fall off.QUOTE]

that's awesome. someone who actually knows the tunes I play!

[QUOTE=Jammer]You said you are surrounded by Celtic players, so you have probably run into a few session players. If you take a piece of music to a session jam they will look at you like you have three heads, all of them empty. They improvise everything and expect you to, also. (If you don't know what session music is I was at a session jam once and they were playing the tune from the steerage party in "Titanic")QUOTE]

Yes, improv is a very big part of music here amongst the Celts (one of which I am). That was a big draw top bluegrass for me. There is as much improv technique as there is technical. I was the same as a kid drummer (my first REAL instument besides piano). I was always able to take songs to the next step because I was able to let go of what the song "was supposed to be". All of my previous partners, except one, were strict "by-the-record" players. They insisted on making the song sound exactly like the recording. That's all fine and dandy to learn it in the first place but jee whiz, after that it just got completely lame and boring. With that, my cousin is a veritable encyclopedia of songs. He knows everysong every written sonce 1960 to 80. but then he stopped. He hasn't learned anything new since Bob Dylan got out of rehab. But he cannot step away from the song. We have great jam sessions but he comes out with something like "Cats in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin. I mean, what can you do with that???? Nothing. So, my younger brother (excellent guitar player) and I usually play in between the blogs of songs our cuz does. I realise you need his kind of player at a party because he plays all the songs everyone knows. But then to get the musicians flying, my brother and I take over. He loves jamming with us and we told him with as much grace a possible..."everything you're playing...we don't want to play. Basically, you have to learn about thirty new songs". And he was cool with that. He made a great living off those old songs but to listen to them one more time makes me want to pull my hair out. The last jam we had he turns to me with gjuitar in hand and starts..."mother do you think they'll drop the bomb..." and I was compelled to hold my hands up and say "No, we're not playing THAT".
My most successful career as a muscician was playing celtic music. My celtic partner and I were both avid flatpickers and we took the celtic tunes like "the Battle of Aughrim" and sped them up to bluegrass speed and then threw in some bluegrass cliches in the solos. People went wild for them! Very successful duo. Then my son was born. But that's another story.

I know it can be difficult to recover mentally but it sounds like you have what it takes to get you through. Sometimes I just wish music wasn't so hard. Flatpicking is totally the way an acoustic guitar should sound but it takes a lot of work to just get warmed up and then to make progress on top of that can be fleeting to be sure. I'm glad I spent the time on rudimentary stuff when I was young because I don't think I'd want to do afford the time now. Trying to learn the banjo is work enough without having to add the guitar to it.

Going on vacation Friday. Hope to hear from you again before I go. Won't be around for THREE WEEKS!!!!!!!!

[Jammer]

I almost forgot to repost the lesson I posted on THC when we originally started talking about this forum:

http://michaelk101.com/todd/toddmp3/hybrid.wmv

And speaking of jams, I used to go to a jam session every Saturday at Music Folk (an acoustic music store) when I lived in St. Louis. We would typically have a half a dozen or so guitar players, a fiddle or two, a banjo, and maybe a hammered dulcimer. I used to start everybody off with "Steamboat Whistle Blues" or "Aeroplane". It got to the point where it would come time to start and everyone would look at me as if it was now the new tradition. I didn't mind.

I don't know about you, but over the years I have had just as much fun playing at jams and open mics as I do paying gigs. Playing in church is a thankless task because no one is indifferent to you. Somebody will always have some kind of complaint, but at least you don't have to dodge beer bottles.

Mrs. Toe and I were talking the other night and she thinks I should play the open mic up at the Irish pub up the road here as a sort of a "Hey, I'm back" thing. I know a bunch of Irish drinking songs and Jimmy Buffett - you know the stuff that bar patrons love, particularly after they get lubed up.

So where are you going on vacation?

[Griffin]

Hey Jammer,
By all means, get back in the swing of things and play tha open mic, though it's advice I should take myself. I haven't been on stage since Christmas 2002. My trouble is with my partner...he gets stage fright and has absolutely no confidence in his playing. But he's such a solid rhythm player and I tell him all the time. But he keeps comparing himself to me and my flatpicking but he shouldn't. It's like he won't get back out there until he's "as good as me", which is ridiculous because I think he is. Okay, he's not a lead player...but so what, right? Bands need rhythm players too.
I've never played in a mass at church though I've done several christmas concerts so I've never experienced the reaction you mentioned. All in all, we were usually well received because we were just that little bit different. Plus, we were the real thing. My old partner and I had agreed never to play the blues because, no matter how good we were, if a black person stood up who could hardly play the guitar, he would still be appreciated more than us because he was the "real thing". When it came to the celtic/bluegrass cross-culture...WE were the real thing so people dug it.
I've never been a great fan of playing pubs, though I've done my share. I prefer the "soft seat" venue where people pay money to come watch you play, they sit down and shut up and listen...none of this banging beer bottles on the tables or "play some beatles!" from some drunk in the crowd. Also, I find the pub audience only puts up with you because they're there. It's not like they went to see YOU, they went for the dinner special so they're not paying attention.
When my son was born in '97 I had to take a hiatus from the band (actually a duo) and my younger brother stood in. He expanded the band to include a bass and fiddle (something I could never convince my pal to do) and they started doing the pub gigs. I went ot several of their shows and it looked like fun but it was the same old thing...people ignoring you and the din of the room. I just couldn't dig it. So I pretty much let him keep the thing going and I stayed out of it. Then I found my current partner who happens to live two doors up the hill from me so he was very convenient.
And it's the damnest thing. I was telling my wife..."Okay, connor is 6 now and he doesn't need as much supervision so I think I'm going to go and look for another band". And my wife was all for it. "Go ahead," she says. "It's been a long time. Go find one". So I start looking and BAM! we get pregnant again. So much for the new band idea. But now my daughter is nearing a year old and I'm still out of the scene. Good news, however, a local singer/songwriter (iffy but not too bad) has been trying to recruit me for wome time. He plays at the hospital here on tuesdays for the veterans and approaches me everytime he sees me. I doubt I will ever take him too seriously but it sure feet nice to be wanted. So I figure for the next few years I'll build up me repertoire of new tunes, advance my licks, learn some banjo, and then make my own band. Rather than have ME go to THEM, I'll do the recruiting myself. That way I can get what I want out of it.

Nice of you to ask about my vacation. My inlaws are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this year so we'll be at their place for a few days. I'm going to take a few kids camping in the next province form here and to a theme park. We'll do the "guy thing" for a few days, have some fun, and head back home. I'll be doing some carpentry work around the house as well...building a gate for my new fence, a microwave stand, some cabinet doors, some painting...and LOTS of playing.
Gotta split for now.
Be well.

[Griffin]

Hey Yamahauler, if you like Doc...(my personal favorite)
Check out "Windy and Warm" for fingerpicking. Nice tune!

[bugman]

http://www.acousticdisc.com/onlinestore.html#cds

[GuitarguyMoseng]

....

[Dieselten]

Del McCoury & The Dixie Pals, Don Stover & The White Oak Mountain Boys, and anything and everything by Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys. The Bill Monroe stuff is a Bluegreass primer.

[NickFreeman]

Love to see a Bluegrass thread. I've been out to Telluride twice, once in 2001 and again in 2005. I've been to tons of festivals (Bonnaroo, Magnolia, Springfest, Merlefest) I can honestly say that Telluride tops them all. If you get a chance to go, do it and try to camp in Town Park, great night jamming.
I'd also like to recommend John Hartford, the Aeroplane Album is a classic. If anyone is interested in playing the song "Steam Powered Aeroplane", it's really easy.

G Am
Well I went away, in a steam powered aeroplane
Am C G
Well I went and stayed and damn near didnt come back again (repeat)

chorus
Am C G
Sittin in a 747 just watchin the clouds roll by
Am C G
Cant tell if its sunshine or if its rain
Am C G
Rather be sittin' in a deck chair high above Kansas City,
Am C D
On a genuine old fashioned steam powered aero plane.

If you want to solo over this try using G ionian.

[shredmaster12]

whats a good bluegrass guitar

i was thinking about the Gibson ES-137

[wayslow]

The past few years have seen some new interest in bluegrass, gospelgrass, newgrass...

Been a lotta good groups mentioned here in this thread. Head yerself to live365.com, click on 'bluegrass' under the 'country' genre...there's quite a few 'grass stations to listen to. Like a lot of ya, I'm familiar with most of the classic and radio/TV players, but there's one helluva bunch of good 'grassers out there.

Hat's off to ya'll who can play this stuff right. I sit in with some grassers now and then, a fiddler, a mando dude, and a gittar picker...it ain't easy to keep up with 'em, speed seems to be their thing. And baritone singers don't seem to fit in...seems like they all have high voices. But I jump in whenever I can, lol.

[Waldener]

you should totally listen to Jim Hurst. I have two CD's he's a total monster on guitar.


http://jimhurst.com/


I listen to a lot of bluegrass and often attend a local radio show here that my friend hosts. I'm just getting into playing some bluegrass, but I've been listening for about a year or more.


These guys are incredible. David Rawlings is my guitar teacher's favorite guitarist in the whole world.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nugXkgd_-84



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7knB3VtAqY

[millrat]

whats a good bluegrass guitar

i was thinking about the Gibson ES-137
the standard is the Martin D-28, but any dreadnaught that has that nice woody sound to it, and is pretty loud will do fine. it's nice to see some bluegrass talk on here. if you wnat to see a great flatpicker, check out Bryan Sutton

[Waldener]

I've been working on some bluegrass recently. I'm planning on delving deeper into fiddle tunes this week. It's weird, if I think of them as runs or walks, it's so much easier than thinking of them as scales. :b I'm weird.

[Hack]

I digs me some bluegrass.
I've been enjoying the Yonder Mountain String Band a lot lately.

[LeftyPick]

HUGE bluegrass fan here. Without any doubt, Doc Watson is my hero. His sense of timing and sweet playing is just unbelievable. Plus he really transmits his life issues though his guitar playing, no doubt.

[LCH]

Love Bluegrass myself! The list of good pickers is much too long to list here!...and then there is me :eek: I am not much of a Bluegrass picker but I manage to butcher a few tunes now and then. Here is a link to a tune my little Bluegrass band did a few months back. I am the ugly fellow plaing guitar on the left of your screen!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMtKh6ZdTUM