> I agree with you about Union Station, all of them are talented on their own, > and are something really special when they get together. Another > interesting note, Dan Taminski is actually from Vermont, but with his voice, > youd think he was from KY or TN somehwere. I watched him perform several > times while he was playing with the Lonesome River Band. Ron Block being > from California, it makes you wonder how he not only took up the banjo, but > became one of the best at it, He's also an excellent mandolinist and > guitarist. Jerry Douglas is perhaps the best Dobro player on the planet, in > fact, Im sure he's earned that title already and If not mistaking, He comes > from Columbus Ohio.
One doesn't have to be "from the mountains" to play bluegrass with authority, let alone hear it & recognize something in the music, and/or want to learn how to play it. Some of the best players of the genre, some of whom are listed above, are from the west coast, northeast or the mid-west. As Texas Bryant reminded us in an earlier post, bluegrass itself isn't "traditional," it's a 20th Century modernization of string band & parlor music styles, folk, & blues, all of which itself can be traced to the British Isles, Europe, West Indies, & Africa. You can trace it even farther back than that...I saw a Jewish friend married a few years ago in a synagogue & the prayer that the cantor sang from the pulpit sounded very similar to some of the old, old mountain songs that cats like Dillard Chandler & Roscoe Holcome were singing. So really it all comes from one big old root, if you go back far enough. Also, you certainly can't discount the fact that so many southern & mid-western people migrated to the four corners of the country during the 30's to find work. The WLS National Barn Dance rivaled The Grand Ole Opry for popularity all during the 40's, & they were based out of Chicago, The Louisiana Hayride is a long way from the hills, & lets not forget all the folks that came out of Texas where it's as flat as can be....all the folks that moved to California to work in the aerospace & oil industries, Michigan to work for auto manufacturers...all the Carolina tobacco farmers who relocated to places in south-east Canada who took their music with 'em...the list goes on & on. So you have whole generations of people that descended from these migrants who grew up with "traditional" music in some form or another. Some of 'em went into bluegrass, others were country singers, or rock & roll, or folk music, or rhythm & blues. But you can hear echoes of their musical heritage in all of it, even if they were born in San Diego or Dearborn, Michigan. Bluegrass & country music (they were once one in the same thing) is essentially, for lack of a better term, "white blues." Anyone who's baby left them, or ever lost their job, been down on their luck, behind in their bills, lonesome, tired, or homesick, can appreciate & relate to the sentiments expressed in the music. The same way I can love & relate to the music Muddy Waters or John Lee Hooker, even though I didn't grow up in a one-room shack on an Alabama cotton plantation. Anyone who appreciates a good story about a historical figure or a made up legend, ghost stories, tales of battles won & lost, or local gossip, can appreciate it. The fall-out from O Brother should prove that if you get the music out there, there's a whole of folks, who might never have heard it before, that would find something in the music that touches them. "Music is music," as the Dillards said. I can appreciate that Ralph prefers to hire his Clinch Mtn Boys from his own part of the country -- that's his right & you can't fault him for it, the proof of his vision is in the grooves -- but man there are some great pickers & singers out there that are tuned into the soul of the music & really know how to do it right who were raised up a long, long way from Dickenson County. bw ****************************************************************** BUDDY WOODWARD - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - - - - - - THE DIXIE BEE LINERS - bluegrass with a buzz http://www.dixiebeeliners.com - - - - - - BUDDY WOODWARD & THE NITRO EXPRESS http://www.buddywoodward.net ****************************************************************** Bluegrass Bulletin Board brought to you by the fan club of Dr Ralph Stanley & His Clinch Mountain Boys subscribe or unsubscribe at http://drralphstanley.com/
