EXAM 7 PART 1

Bluegrass
The earliest recorded country string bands were comprised of combinations of fiddle, guitar, and
banjo. These bands provided a repertoire and technique that would forecast bluegrass, a unique
substyle of country music. The characteristics that set bluegrass apart from the string bands that
predated the style, were faster tempos and demanding technical facility. Although bluegrass
developed relatively late in country musics history, when first heard it seems to be a throwback
to the older string bands. Although the string band tradition does play a large role in the legacy
of bluegrass, bluegrass is much more eclectic in its repertoire and its manner of performance.
The most unique aspect of bluegrass is that its origin is attributable to a specific individual, Bill
Monroe, the father of bluegrass.
Bill Monroe (19111996) was born in Rosine, Kentucky, where he absorbed the local string
band music as well as the Baptist and Methodist hymns. He began by learning a bit of guitar and
eventually took up the mandolin.
Bill and his brother Charlie formed the duo the Monroe Brothers, performing live and on
radio. They recorded for Victors subsidiary Bluebird label from 1936 to 1938. Brother
mandolin/guitar duos became a popular musical format, such as the Delmore Brothers, the
Louvin Brothers, the Callahan Brothers, and the Blue Sky Boys. What made the Monroe
Brothers exceptional was their manner of performance, and that was primarily due to Bill.
This is because the Monroe Brothers style was more aggressive and technically demanding than
existing string band styles. Where most mandolin players employed a gentle parlor style, softly
playing notes filling between the guitars rhythm, Monroe played a much more advanced,
assertive style. The Monroe Brothers played fast numbers at blazing tempos, Bills rapid-fire
melodies underpinned by Charlies bass runs on guitar.
The brothers broke up in 1938 and Bill went on to form the Blue Grass Boys. The personnel for
the Blue Grass Boys consisted of fiddler Robert Chubby Wise, guitarist Lester Flatt, and
banjoist Earl Scruggs. The members of the band are country musics most technically advanced
musicians and a tremendous asset to the maturation of the bluegrass style.
A characteristic of bluegrass that Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys defined was its use of
rhythm. Because the group did not include drums, it was up to the string instruments to provide
the rhythm. The distinctive rhythm of bluegrass is provided by a strong backbeat. By executing a
quick strum of muted strings, a short percussive chop sound is produced to accent the
backbeat, simulating a drum.

Listening example: Its Mighty Dark to Travel

Artist: Bill Monroe

In 1948, at the height of the groups popularity, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs left the Blue Grass
Boys and formed their own band, The Foggy Mountain Boys. Flatt and Scruggs were one of
country musics most popular acts in the 1950s and 1960s and brought bluegrass to national
attention when they performed The Ballad of Jed Clampett for the television series The
Beverly Hillbillies, and Foggy Mountain Breakdown in the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde.
Instrumentation for the Foggy Mountain Boys was the same as Bill Monroes band, with the
addition of the Dobro in 1955. By incorporating the Dobro, they popularized its use and nurtured
the development of a fast fingerpicking Dobro technique similar to what the other string
instruments were playing.

Listening example: Earls Breakdown

Artist: Flatt and Scruggs

Modern Bluegrass Traditions

The experimentation of new bluegrass artists in this era led to the adoption of the term
newgrass. From the 1980s on, bluegrass has continued to flourish. Some bluegrass artists have
exhibited strong jazz characteristics in their music. Banjoist Bla Fleck (b. 1958) intently studied
the music of jazz pioneers Charlie Parker and John Coltrane and took part in the 1980s New
Grass Revival. He then became a member of Strength in Numbers, a remarkable group of
musicians including Dobro guitarist Jerry Douglas, mandolin player Sam Bush, fiddler Mark
OConnor, and bassist Edgar Meyer. In 1989 Fleck assembled a remarkable band known as the
Flecktones including virtuoso bassist Victor Wooten.

Listening example: Hoedown (composed by Aaron Copeland)

Artist: Bela Fleck

In 2000, bluegrass brought a new energy and fresh compositions to a mainstream youth audience
with the band Nickel Creek. The musicians in the band have won numerous awards
individually and as a group at bluegrass festivals. With a young, fresh, alternative music look,
virtuoso talent, and original compositions, they have made bluegrass appealing to a young
audience.

Mark OConnor (b. 1961) is the voice of todays fiddle players. He became a championship
fiddler while still a boy. He toured with French jazz violin legend Stephane Grappelli and
became the first-call session fiddler in Nashville, recording for country stars on more than 450
releases. On the side, he recorded with such jazz icons as saxophonist Michael Brecker.
OConnor eventually left the demanding studio scene to pursue his own artistic endeavors,
including the composition of a fiddle concerto featuring himself with a symphony orchestra, and
jazz sessions paying homage to Grappelli.

Listening example: Sweet Georgia Brown, Amazing Grace, and Orange Blossom
Special
Artist: Mark OConnor (with the Boston Pops)

In 2001, bluegrass enjoyed tremendous popularity with the movie and soundtrack O, Brother
Where Art Thou (starring George Clooney), a 1930s-era southern setting of Homers
Odyssey. The films integration of delta blues, gospel, work songs, and early country folk
music into the atmosphere of the film suddenly made the Old South and its music chic. The
soundtrack swept the 2001 CMA awards, taking the Album and Single of the Year awards, and
two nominations for Best Vocal Event. Credited with propelling bluegrass music beyond its core
audience, O, Brother Where Art Thou sold nearly 3 million copies and held the number-one
position on the Billboard Country Album Charts for 21 weeks.
Country into the Millennium
Country music rose to unprecedented heights in the 1990s. The industry and its artists were more
sophisticated than ever, as were the songs. Female country artists were dominant figures that
reflected the modern woman. Country music saw its first billionaire artist in Garth Brooks, the
pioneer of the country/pop crossover. Other significant country artists of the 1990s included Alan
Jackson who preserved strong honky tonk traditions in his music.
The SUN Records label, which rose to prominence when it signed Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley
and Jerry Lee Lewis, was just as successful in the 1990s.

Listening example: I Walk the Line

Artist: Johnny Cash

Pioneering female artists in country music provided an offering of a variety of images, topics,
and expressions within the country realm. In the mid-1990s women country artists became a
commercial phenomenon that could almost rival the success of Garth Brooks. One such artist is
Shania Twain. Her biggest innovation, and the greatest blow to the traditional country
establishment, was her image in concerts and music videos. Staggeringly beautiful and sexy,
Twain bared her midriff and presented herself in an MTV-like way, competing for top pop diva
along side Madonna.

Listening example: Youre Still the One

Artist: Shania Twain

Equally successful has been Faith Hill (featured below with Keith Urban), who was also one of
the new country females in the early 1990s. By the end of the 1990s, she had overtaken Shania
Twain as the most successful female country crossover artist.
Country female vocal group, the Dixie Chicks, had also garnered much acclaim and success. The
group began as a neo-western cowgirl and bluegrass group, which eventually decided to go with
an edgier, more contemporary sound and youthful look.

Listening example: Not Ready to Make Nice

Artist: The Dixie Chicks

Country Music and the War

September 11, 2001, deeply affected the United States and the world. This event inspired country
music to cater to the military, the patriotic, and religious themes. A big hit in country music in
this vain was from rising star Toby Keith, who had already scored an award-winning hit with his
defiant, class-conscious anthem How Do You Like Me Now? in 1999. His song Courtesy of
the Red, White, and Blue, subtitled The Angry American, was released on his Unleashed
CD in 2002. Because of that song alone, the CD debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 and
created a patriotic subgenre of country music almost entirely dominated by Keith.

Listening example: Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue

Artist: Toby Keith

Fresh Faces in Country Music

In the midst of the war, it was time for good-looking, young, new talent to take the stage.
A new country heartthrob came from an unlikely place. Keith Urban was born in New Zealand
and grew up in Australia where he was winning local country music contests by age six. He
eventually moved to Nashville in 1997 and formed a trio called The Ranch, prominently
featuring his dazzling guitar work. By 2006, he had won Top Male Vocalist from the ACM for
the second year in a row. The success of this country artist from the other side of the world is
certainly an indication of how the idea of country culture and its identity had expanded.

Listening example: Youll Think of Me and The Lucky One

Artists: Keith Urban and Faith Hill