My favorite bluegrass band for going completely insane is the Infamous Stringdusters. They're live stuff is what really gets me going and is available for streaming on SoundCloud.
Try this out for starter's - fast forward to 8:06.
I've been listening to bluegrass for most of my life, and I'm reddit-old, but I'm not a scholar. I just know what I like. Rather than give a list I'll just give you music.
My bluegrass and newgrass mix "Born Down in the Southland" https://www.mediafire.com/folder/rhwq96tvvrhek/Born_Down_in_the_Southland
it needs updating, I own a lot of stuff now that would fit well with it, but a lot of folks have DL'd it and enjoyed it over the years so I figure it's good enough. It's heavy on the progressive bluegrass/newgrass (very little drums though) of the 70s and 80s (tony rice, hot rize and such) and some of the titans of the prior generation (mr. bill monroe, doc watson etc)
it's totally not definitive but it ain't bad
if you want live shows that fit into that style let me know. I have a ton up and ready for sharing.
If it is, it's on ebay
Though she moved out to California at the age of 7, she was born in Boaz Alabama. She started out singing "hillbilly" music (more of a mixture between country and bluegrass) with her brothers. In fact, she created quite a stir when she performed with a bare midriff at the Grande Ole Opry.
In 1962 she put out the very important album Rose Maddox Sings Bluegrass and for the rest of her career she stuck mostly to bluegrass music. It was not common for females to be playing and singing bluegrass music at this time.
Her singing would have a big impact on many female bluegrass/folk artists to follow (Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton credit her as a big influence).
In addition to recording with Buck Owens and even Bill Monroe, she regularly performed with Vern Williams. She was a pistol!
I'm sure you're aware that as a traditional tune, there's no single definitive version. that being said, I'd recommend Fiddler's Fakebook as probably the most widely distributed fiddle tune source out there.
Not trying to be that guy but I played a BlueChip for years and gave them up for these which are, in my opinion, literally identical and a fraction of the price.
Far Western is a documentary about country (and some bluegrass) from Japan making its way to the US. Bluegrass 45 was a pretty important Japanese bluegrass band from the 1970s onward.
Peter Rowan wrote it.
On the album You Were There For Me (with Tony Rice)
Also on the album Reggaebilly
There's one called Live in Stereo.
It was recorded in 1965 in Vancouver, and the recording is a bit better than their other live recordings. And they are on that night.
That being said, the Long Journey Home album is worth it for Clarence and Doc Watson picking alone. Plus, it has Nola by Bill Keith (recorded at Newport)
Continuing my role as "the Archive.org" guy today...
Steep Canyon Rangers have quite a few shows up on Archive.org
BTW, thanks for this, I hadn't heard them before.
The only link I could find that worked was to their Soundclick page. You should try searching for each of the members listed there to see what they've done recently. Good luck!
I can recommend this book: Bluegrass fiddle styles by Kenny Kosek and Stacey Phillips. It contains a bunch of transcriptions of a load of classic tunes including a couple with numerous versions. It's a bit of a weird book to learn from because it's arranged roughly chronologically instead of by difficulty, but it's so dense with information. Just make sure you listen to all the songs as well as just sight reading the breaks because that's what'll give you a real feel for the style! This spotify playlist has most of the songs from the book in it in the same order. But yeah, just listen a lot, improvise, make some noise and have fun!
Get yourself either a drill bit adapter or a purposefully made string winder, makes it so much easier especially on pita instruments like Mandos and Banjos. And not the manual powered ones, you want something that spins them quick. If you get the drill bit one make sure to set your clutch really low and stop using it when you're getting close.
Never knew Doyle wrote that one. Cool!
Great video! If anyone's interested in more stuff like this, Dan Huckabee put out a good class on bluegrass harmony singing that's still available on Amazon. I think there are three more as well but don't have time to search for them.
This is from a great DVD called A Bluegrass Journey which I would highly recommend.
It’s showcases Grey Fox and the IBMAs from 03 I think So you get to see some amazing performances from Del, Jerry Douglas, Tim O’Brien, Peter Rowan, Tony Rice, Nickel Creek and a lot more.
Do you think he knows about Ola Belle Reed? Her work is more proto-bluegrass folksongs but it is an interesting bridge style that not everyone is familiar with.
There is a good biography you can get on Kindle. I thought Kindle has a reader function. https://www.amazon.com/Blind-But-Now-See-Biography-ebook/dp/B0089YLKVW/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?adgrpid=96615890789&gclid=Cj0KCQiA1ZGcBhCoARIsAGQ0kkoMRo5UOHcTkyMG9iaUnY0yZpEMQ3d35hAUCk6pc9zi3CGOqiITZJUaAqgZEALw_wcB&hvadid=421636902373&hvdev=m&am...
Nice comparison - I thought they both sounded great and very similar. It makes me wonder if I would see a big difference from the cheap dunlop's I have been using. These are 3 for $8.00 on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JB4WAR2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Nice playing by the way.
I bought a Banjo on Amazon! - Randy White Banjo
Yes thats right! I bought a Gold Tone OB-150RF 5 String Bluegrass Banjo on Amazon, and got it delivered in about 5 days! I've been spying this banjo out for awhile and saw all the great reviews and wanted to see for myself if this would be a good choice for students that need a mid price ($1000-1200)banjo good enough for gigging and hard core festival jams. My vid goes from delivery to setup to review. Overall this is really a good buy in this price range, see for yourself.
Gold Tone OB-150RF 5 String Bluegrass Banjo on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0773CXNMQ?psc=1&ref=ppx\_yo2ov\_dt\_b\_product\_details
Advice for ya! Keep it in its case when you aren't playing. And pick up a humidifier for it. I use a d'addario one, it's cheap and works great. https://www.amazon.ca/Planet-Waves-Acoustic-Guitar-Humidifier/dp/B0002D0COE/ref=asc_df_B0002D0COE/?tag=googlemobshop-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=292925630342&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6627948979711757925&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvq...
Or! You can use humipacks. They're a bit more pricy but, they last 3-6 months depending on conditions. Might be a good idea to get a set up done on it every few months too as seasons change, especially in its warranty stage. Welcome to the Martin club! I joined 5 months ago and I'm very happy with my purchase.
Maybe not best but at least an honorable mention for YMSB covering northern song at Penn's Peak 2 years ago https://archive.org/details/ymsb2012-07-15.m210
Also, Dark Side of the Moon Shine from Poor Man's Whiskey is a lot of fun. The studio version doesn't do it justice. I stumbled on them doing it at a festival in 2010 and it kinda blew my mind because I didn't know it was a thing. 10/10 would accidentally see at 2:00 am again.
Actually, "Little Grasscals: Nashville's Superpickers" was a project put out pre-Grascals. The basis for the project came from a group that played at The Station Inn every Tuesday night called The Sidemen. They, along with a handful of other musicians, did a project called "Little Grasscals: Nashville's Superpickers". The Sidemen eventually deformed/reformed into The Grascals (borrowing the name from the project).
Non dobro player opinion:
The square neck type is common for the lap slide style that is traditional in bluegrass. This allows you to use heavier strings than you'd want to use on a round neck, for more volume and sustain. You lose the ability to set the guitar up for non-lap style playing, but switching from lap style setup to conventional is a major change, not something you'd want to do frequently. If you really want both you should just have two instruments.
On the other hand, if you just want to try it out, maybe just go for whatever is cheapest? Preferably already set up for slide, with elevated strings.
There are a bunch of other opinions out there....
Billy looks so strange all clean shaven! Billy Strings tour resumes March 6th! Listen to his shows live on Mixlr and join the chat with the rest of the Billy Goats! http://mixlr.com/billy-streams/
Meant to post the main kickstarter page with his video which is cute. Met Rog at Merlefest last year in the Media Interview tent. Guy had a broken leg in a full cast and hobbled back and fourth in the mud and rain to interview every single artist that came in. He is super in love with the musicians and the music… and I'm just stoked a few of y'all took a few minutes to check him out. Much love!
Ride the Wild Turkey is a good one! Just for the moment, because I don't think I can pick all-time favorites, lately I've been really into Sam Bush's Poor Richard's Blues (although I haven't been able to find a digital copy of the original track, just this awesome live bootleg) and the White House Blues.
June Apple is a great album: https://www.amazon.com/June-Apple-Connell-Eric-Skye/dp/B01HLIXBJA
Also - the Garcia / Grisman albums are awesome. So What is jazzy.
You would probably really like Allison Brown too.
Charlie Louvin's Satan Is Real is the best Bluegrass book I've read. (Okay, they might be country/fringe country, but it's a great read.) I'd highly recommend it to anyone into the classic country/bluegrass world.
Definitely check out the book the tunes came out of!
https://www.amazon.com/Hartfords-Mammoth-Collection-Fiddle-Tunes/dp/1732119007
I haven't, but I have friends on the label and they speak very highly of it. I agree with your assessment for sure!
Thanks for this post. Haven't listened to Edgar in way too long. Some earlier work might fit your Jazz side such as the Unfolding and Work in Progress. Anybody he collaborates with are going to be the best in the business.
You ever checked out Longview?
I like the track Windy Mountain.
When I started playing fiddle my teacher recommended the american fiddle method book by brian wickland; it's great! It has angelina baker, old joe clark, cripple creek, and a bunch of other common tunes. It has chords with it as well as finger diagrams for playing the violin chords so you can take turns playing the melody. The book also has variations of the songs with slides and double taps.