I want to explore bluegrass music. Where should I start?

[ALago1]

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Viking12]

1. Bill Monroe.

[Ghetto_Boy]

2. Start with...BUSH SUCKS!!!!

[Zomby Woof]

3. After Monroe...

Ralph Stanley for one of the last old-timers, and Alison Krauss for someone more contemporary.

[aintitfunny]

4. Earl Scruggs, Allison Kraus

The "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" CD. Lotsa possibilities. Enjoy

[LearnedHand]

5. (strange reply)

Have you seen the film, "O' Brother, Where Art Thou?" Its soundtrack is a WONDERFUL compilation of some of the best bluegrass music you could ever hear. Also, what kind of blugrass might you be interested in? Old timey fiddle? Guitar picking? Roots (folksy) music?

Try some anthologies, nevertheless. They will give you a broad taste of the different styles.

On the internet, tune to WDVX, a tiny public access radio station broadcast out of a trailer park in Tennessee. They play some of the BEST bluegrass tunes out there!!!!!

[ALago1]

13. Well, what got me interested...

...was hearing the band the String Cheese Incident. They are a jam band who is heavily influenced by bluegrass music. Yet it would be wrong to say that they are pure bluegrass. Thus, I wanted to explore the true bluegrass music that inspired the music I'm enjoying now.

[ET Awful]

16. Considering your frame of reference. . .

I'd recommend picking up any of the 3 Old and In The Way CD's that are available (all featuring Jerry Garcia and David Grisman). Excellent bluegrass music and maintain the jamband crossover feeling (along with some interesting old pop/r&B songs set to bluegrass).

From there, I'd recommend anything in which Tony Rice participated (one of, if not THE best flatpicking guitarists of all time).

Then work back to the old standards like Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, Stanley Bros., etc.

Along the way, you can pick up some of the newer stuff like Allison Krauss and Union Station, etc.

I'd definitely start with Old and In the Way though. Very approachable and great "entry level" bluegrass :)

[ALago1]

14. self delete

wrong thread reply

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

6. Check out local bluegrass festivals

this is the time of year they are around. Nothing better than hearing bluegrass live.

[Bonhomme Richard]

7. The album "Will the circle be unbroken"..........

A great album and it has it all.

[Elwood P Dowd]

15. You got it!

A classic 3-LP and 2-CD set with some of the greats recorded with the tape running in the studio. I bought the LP when it came out in 1972.
It's listed under Nitty Gritty Dirt Band "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" and included Vassar Clements, Jimmy Martin, Merle Travis, Roy Acuff, Mother Maybelle Carter, Junior Huskey, Oswald Kirby, Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, Norman Blake, along with the Dirt Band members.

[Poiuyt]

23. Will the Circle Be Unbroken should absolutely be the first

A classic. The ONLY way to start. OK, maybe not the only way, but it is great.

[Dudley_DUright]

8. Also google

Earl Scruggs and Lester Flat.

[jukes]

9. i was intro'd to bluegrass

through the film "oh, brother, where art thou?" coen bros, george clooney, torturro, many other lib's.

excellent soundtrack, lot's of bluegrass & spinoff. highly recommend film & CD.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

10. Here's a great site

Rounder Records specializes in classic Americana music genres..there are many links to listen to and many of the best current bluegrass artists record with them.

I'd buy a compilation to start:

http://www.rounder.com/index.php?musical_group=&album_title=&song=&label_name=&release_date=&genre_id=2&identifier=&id=search.php&new_target=catalog&user_display_amount=20&submit=Results

[brainshrub]

11. Come to Asheville, NC

We eat and breath the stuff.

[LearnedHand]

19. Or listen to WDVX

They are TOTALLY amazing:

http://www.wdvx.com/webcast.htm

[morningglory]

12. Sorry, a lot of bluegrass fans can't abide Bill Monroe.

Caterwauling screeching high notes, but that is just me. I like Nashville Bluegrass Band, Mountain Heart, Lonesome River Band, Peter Rowan and many others. Go to website: www.countysales.com, one of the biggest purveyors of BG CD's. If you tell me what area you live in, I can tell you where the nearest festival will be. Bring a lawn chair and don't plan on sleeping. After a weekend of wallowing in a campfire, yelling WhoooooooHaaaaaw! You will be completely hooked like a crack addict.There is nothing like live bluegrass and the picking in the campsites it beyond belief. More fun than the stage shows, many times.

[Magrittes Pipe]

17. It's more expensive, but it's the best all-around introduction...

...to traditional American music:

Run, don't walk, to buy the Anthology of American Folk Music.

It's 6 CDs of folk blues, old time country, and proto-bluegrass. It is the foundation for everything that came later.

[pmbryant]

18. Stanley Brothers, Nashville Bluegrass Band, Kentucky Colonels, Hot Rize

Lots of good ones. Get a compilation of a variety of artists to find out what particular flavor you like best.

Looks like the other responses have lots of good ideas, too, so I'll have to peruse them myself.

Good luck!
Peter

[timtom]

24. Kentucky Colonels!

Of course! I've got one of their albums live at the Ash Grove ca. 1965. They are announced to the house audience by....wait for it....


Jerry Garcia.

1965.

[peacefreak]

20. For contemporary stuff

Try Nickel Creek and Dolly Parton (yes, really) "The Grass is Blue" & "Little Sparrow". Also Emmylou Harris "Roses in the Snow".

[Bridget Burke]

21. "Appalachian Stomp" is a good compilation from Rhino

It's got stuff from Bill Monroe Himself, The Stanley Brothers, Flatt & Scruggs--plus some newer artists like Alison Krauss. Not expensive, & I believe there's a follow-up as well. Listen & see who you like--there's much more available.

Many of the musicians featured on the "O Brother" soundtrack are considered Bluegrass artists. But the actual soundtrack contains mostly "pre-Bluegrass"--the blues, old-timey & religious tunes that Bill Monroe fused into Bluegrass. Highly recommended, anyway--both the movie & the CD.

Steve Earle recorded "The Mountain" with the Del McCoury Band. His sometimes ragged vocal style made an interesting combination with the McCoury band--one of the best on the contemporary Bluegrass scene. And Steve wrote all the tunes, as well.

[No Mandate Here.]

22. To see an alternate path over the past ten or so years,

Check out Bela Fleck. Not your old timey stuff, here.

[tridim]

25. Nickel Creek and Yonder Mountain String Band

For some modern bluegrass. You'll be amazed with Nickel Creek's mandolin player.

[Tom_Foolery]

26. Try the IBMA site...

http://www.ibma.org

[Bundbuster]

27. Doc Watson, Vassar Clements, Merle Travis

Sometimes it's hard to distinguish the line between Bluegrass and "Country Blues," but I like 'em both.

Ricky Scaggs has been doing some very good work, and if you like Dobro Jerry Douglas is the King. John Hartford had a great career, with a huge range of material.

Can't say enough about Alison Krauss, EmmyLou Harris, and Rory Block.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

28. I love Del McCoury.

He has a fantastic band.

[mdmc]

29. beck