PLAIN FOLK

by Les Pearson
Bluegrass Roots Are Deep, Not Long!

Bluegrass music has been around a mite longer than my lifetime. While this may feel like forever, the fact is that bluegrass has existed only since 1938. Even in that short time, this American music style has smudged up enough controversy to cloud the skies of several folk music genres.

First, there is the question of where bluegrass fits. Is it folk music? Country? Or is it gospel? Each label has been applied at specific times. But still the issue is as smoky as an autumnal Ozark sky. There is good cause for this confusion. Alberta's Jerusalem Ridge bluegrass band provides a firsthand illustration.

Check out the play list on any one of their many CD's. There are plenty of meeting house gospel songs like Standing in the Need of Prayer, March Around the Throne, and Just A Little Talk With Jesus. Standing tall and proud in the midst of a these gospel songs are traditional folk favorites such as John Henry, Ghost Riders in the Sky and The House of the Rising Sun. There's more than a little country to boot! There is Hank Williams Sr. and Roy Acuff's A House of Gold and Jesse Winchester's Brand New Tennessee Waltz. Yes, old country tunes and even some new country.

Then there is the instrumentation issue. Nearly everyone will agree that bluegrass is synonymous with banjo picking. Most would agree that mandolins also fill the bluegrass bill. And there is small argument over guitar or dobro and even stand-up bass as the basic bluegrass strings. But what about accordions or jugs and spoons? And surely a traditional fiddle has its place too! Well, not always.

In 1938 Bill Monroe's band, the Kentuckians, recorded the Mule Skinner Blues and bluegrass music was on its way. Monroe's first band featured a jug player instead of a bass. By 1940 this band had morphed into Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. This first group featured a female accordionist, Dave (Stringbean) Akeman on the banjo, and Monroe on guitar.

Later, Monroe's band adopted two hillbilly upstarts. The first was a singer and guitar picker, Lester Flatt. The second was Snuffy Jenkens' banjo protégé, Earl Scruggs. Earl had mastered Jenkens' 3-finger banjo-picking style and added a few original picking tricks of his own. When Monroe added a mandolin and fiddle to his group, the style of music wasn't quite folk and only a rooster call from country. It became the sound we now recognize as bluegrass.

Despite the controversies, bluegrass is music we can all appreciate. Its tight harmonies, finger-blurring speed, and old familiar lyrics feel as comfortable as a warm lawn on summer Sundays. It has that echo of home. And it is catching on in Canada. JR's Keith Burgess notes that Canadian bluegrass is fifty years behind the States. Their grass is old; ours is new. Still I know that summer bluegrass festivals like the one in Spruce Grove will continue to provide the good seed and our lawn will grow!

Information on Bill Monroe came from a series of essays on bluegrass by Bob Cherry (nospam@banjo.com).

You're in for a Bluegrass treat this Friday when Jerusalem Ridge plays at the Moose Lodge beginning at 8:00 p.m.
Tickets at the door or at Java Bytes, JD Color, or at the Mall's Customer Service desk