Big Blog #1- American Roots Music

Hello! Today we will be discussing Blue Grass music. As I've grown up I have been to many Blue Grass music festivals but never has it crossed my mind where the genre or festivals came from. But I am very excited to share with you all what I have learned about this amazing American Root. 

Bluegrass music first became known in America in the1600s but was developed in the late 1940s by people who migrated from Ireland, Scotland, and England. These people began to migrate to the Appalachian region and wrote songs about their day to day lives. These individuals migrated to rural areas and because of this, the topics of their songs were widely based on working on farms and such. It was often referred to as mountain or country music. And thanks to the invention of the phonograph this music was able to reach the homes of many after the 1900s. 

One of the bands that was known for started this genre is The Bluegrass Boys. The Blue Grass boys played with many different instruments including the violin, fiddle, base, banjo, and mandilion. Since they were from Kentucky you can hear that there is a country undertone to it; not only in the instrumentals but also in Bill Moore's dialect. The band also displays a lot of harmonization. 

Another group that heavily influenced that Blue Grass evolution is a band called the Foggy Mountain Boys, and their own sound by adding the Dobro. The Dobro is an instrument that has a slide bar, which adds a lot of depth to the music. They also use the violin differently making it have basically only finger picking unless it has a solo again to add more depth to the sound. 

In the 1960s the concept on Blue Grass festivals came around. This was a way for competing artist on the same bill to be able to show their stuff with a live audience. One reporter that fell in love with festivals was Carlton Haney. Below is a video of Carlton after a festival telling what these festivals mean to him.