Man Severely Bitten By Bluegrass/Acoustic Music Bug...

[jumpnblues]

...I went to work one morning about a month ago and couldn't have cared less about playing acoustic music. I was deeply into electric straight blues/swing/ jump/blues/jazz and had been for the last 20 years or so. Then, by the time the day was over I was intensely interested in acoustic music, acoustic guitars, and bluegrass/bluegrass gospel in particular. It was just that sudden. What the heck happened to me??!! I've never experienced such a sudden change in my 49 years of playing guitar. I hadn't even owned an acoustic guitar for over 10 years and had no need for or interest in one.
I now own a Collings D-1A, have a Collings DS3MhA on custom order, started working on flat picking, and was asked to join a bluegrass/acoustic music band. What a strange ride this thing called life is?!! Whoo'da'thunk it???


Tom

[tonewoods]

Go hit Winfield or Weiser next year, and you be like a pig in poop...

[JimmyJam]

Sometimes life is just that quirky when moving on to the next stage of your life.
Perhaps you have had your fill of "electric straight blues/swing/ jump/blues/jazz ".

[garymaddox]

It's very cool music. You will meet some of the nicest people in the world. I love flat picking in general but I can only take so much bluegrass. Have fun and hit some festivals.

[jumpnblues]

Originally Posted by garymaddox

It's very cool music. You will meet some of the nicest people in the world. I love flat picking in general but I can only take so much bluegrass. Have fun and hit some festivals.

Not to mention the considerable challenge of being a really good flat picker. I'm gettin' there, slowly but surely. Picking up speed that I had and lost years back when I was into fusion (70's and early 80's). But, fast and accurate flat picking is an a** kicker. I LOVE it though.


Tom

[Headshot]

I sometimes listen to a station on iTunes radio that plays NewGrass...a real nice modern interpretation of bluegrass...check it out

[ROADMAN]

been there done that....got the banjo to prove it

[jumpnblues]

Originally Posted by Headshot

I sometimes listen to a station on iTunes radio that plays NewGrass...a real nice modern interpretation of bluegrass...check it out

Frank,


Thanks. I'll have to check that out.


Tom

[PK]

I'll venture a guess: Did you finally have the opportunity to play alongside a hot fiddler and a decent mandolin player? That's what got me! Plus, my son took up the fiddle and took to it like a fish to water :) A bluegrass circle, rotating the solo around the circle, is as good as it gets IMHO. Also, when you look at the chord structure of those songs, and considering the "solo" aspect, Bluegrass has heavily influenced Rock N Roll, Country & Western, & Pop!! Take a 1,4,5 chord progression, splice in a bridge, add a turnaround, Bluegrass is/was the front runner to most modern music :) Glad to hear another man bitten by the bug!

PK

[jumpnblues]

Originally Posted by PK

I'll venture a guess: Did you finally have the opportunity to play alongside a hot fiddler and a decent mandolin player? That's what got me! Plus, my son took up the fiddle and took to it like a fish to water :) A bluegrass circle, rotating the solo around the circle, is as good as it gets IMHO. Also, when you look at the chord structure of those songs, and considering the "solo" aspect, Bluegrass has heavily influenced Rock N Roll, Country & Western, & Pop!! Take a 1,4,5 chord progression, splice in a bridge, add a turnaround, Bluegrass is/was the front runner to most modern music :) Glad to hear another man bitten by the bug!

PK

PK,


You must have that STD or whatever they call it! As a matter of fact, I did have the opportunity to play with a good fiddle, banjo, bass, and mandolin player just last Sunday night. And it did really flip my switch. I'm finding that I really love the sound/tone of well played acoustic instruments, and not just guitar...all of them. But I have to admit I adore the sound of a truly fine acoustic guitar. Can't get enough of it. I also like traditional, acoustic country and country-folk music...especially "bluegrassified". Great stuff.


Tom

[babalooga]

Hi Jumpnblues, I was playing bluegrass locally for the last 25 years, but I'm heading in the opposite direction. I got back into electric after all those years of grass, and I'm having a blast. I still play bluegrass at a jam now and then, but I just don't have the time anymore. As a matter of fact as soon as I finish typing this I'm off to pick some grass with some of my old pickin' buddies that I haven't seen for a while. It's more fun since I'm not in a bluegrass band anymore, I can enjoy it more (I don't have to worry about my screw-ups). Have fun with it, you will meet a lot of really great people,and if you ever get a chance to go to a bluegrass festival by all means GO! You won't get a lot of sleep because you'll be up all night pickin', but hey you can sleep when you're dead. Good luck with it and have fun, I sure do!

[Smokin OP]

Know exactly where you're coming from. About 6 years ago I got into flatpicking as a way of improving my technique & then I heard David Grier's "I've Got The House To Myself" cd...game, point, match I was sold. I now play way more mandolin & dobro than guitar but it's all good! I'm still not a big fan of listening to bluegrass but would rather play it than anything else. Have fun!!!

[jumpnblues]

Originally Posted by Smokin OP

Know exactly where you're coming from. About 6 years ago I got into flatpicking as a way of improving my technique & then I heard David Grier's "I've Got The House To Myself" cd...game, point, match I was sold. I now play way more mandolin & dobro than guitar but it's all good! I'm still not a big fan of listening to bluegrass but would rather play it than anything else. Have fun!!!

Yep indeed. I can't wait to get my chores done today and go downstairs and blast away on my new Collings D-1A. BTW, that thing just kicks my a*# with tone. Gorgeous sounding acoustic.


Tom

[P Thought]

. . .wish I could afford a Collings. What a wonderful instrument. Maybe someday. . . .

[Smokin OP]

The D1A is a great guitar. My flatpicking guitar is a Santa Cruz Tony Rice Professional. Would love to have a mahagoney dread to go along with it.

[OutlawSteph1975]

That's really head first.. good for you! I wish I had some hardcore bluegrass pickers around me.. because I'd be playing my banjo and flatpicking a lot more.. but they all seem to venture off into the old time and ethnic music which is way outside of what I like to play. I'm more into trad. bluegrass and the California hybrid/newgrass stuff.

[Don Miller]

I played in an acoustic comedy band for about 6 years...parodies and such, everything for bluegrass to cajun to rocknroll...at least sort of superficially...I used to go to bluegrass and old time music jams...but it was not always a positive experience for me, or for the other attendees because I didnt know any of the tunes...and the generic Carter rolls and G runs only get you so far....particularly with those who have worked on and studied the tunes for years....some of those folks are pretty serious dont take kindly to "improvising..."

Last spring I decided to learn some fiddle tunes and such..I figured it would be a good way to learn some precision, and the various scales and melody things I avoided for years... I almost have the A section of "Whiskey Before Breakfast" down...and my wife gives me the look when I break out into "Wildwood Flower" again...

I started my venture into fiddle tunes with an old, cheap epiphoine acoustic that had the tonal quality of a wet cardboard box...and in September I worked up the gumption and the scratch to drag home a NOS D-18GE from our local guitar store...subscribed to "Flatpicking Guitar Magazine "..a pretty good resource by the way.....and Im hooked...the other guitar player band in my band is bugging me to work on the harmony lead line to "Ramblin Man"...or all the fills to "All Along the Watchtower" but screw 'em....I'm playing "Cherokee Shuffle"....

[jumpnblues]

Originally Posted by Smokin OP

The D1A is a great guitar. My flatpicking guitar is a Santa Cruz Tony Rice Professional. Would love to have a mahagoney dread to go along with it.

Wow, an SC Tony Rice Pro!! Superb guitar! You have great taste in guitars.


And, Don, those Martin D-18GEs are sweetness too.


Tom

[DNestler]

I got bit about 9 years ago, after playing rock for 20 years.
Got me a SCGC dreadnought too. Great flatpicking guitar.
Then I wandered over to mandolin where I have found a home and even returned to the rock world (with the electric mando).

Best thing about Bluegrass is the jamming with people in your own general skill level or a little above. The structure of the music allows for quick assimilation of new tunes and lively improvisation. I've been to numerous BG festival where I didn't bother seeing the performers, I stuck to the jams! Much more fun t play than watch someone else play.

Daniel

[DocG]

As Louis Armstrong said, there are only two kinds of music, good and bad. You just found another style of "good". Congrats!

The Collings D1A is an amazing instrument, maybe the best purchase I've ever made. Glad you're enjoying yours.

[Muddslide]

I've been through this same sort of thing. I was into mostly early rock and roll and punk rock for years. Then, in the early 90s I bought this CD called Are You from Dixie?: Great Country Brother Teams of the 1930s for like $3.00 in the cutout bin at some record store.

I bought it as a joke, thinking it'd be a hoot to have some old hillbilly music to crack up over.

The joke was over as soon as I put in in the player and began listening.

The Monroe Bros. (Bill Monroe pre- Bluegrass Boys), the Allen Bros. The Blue Sky Boys, The Dixon Bros., etc.

I was absolutely floored...just blown away by the musicianship, the vocal harmonies, the general feel and sound of the songs and music. It moved me in ways I never expected.

By a weird coincidence, my best friend who lived in another state was getting into old rural blues of the 20s and 30s at the same time and started sending me cassette compilations of that sort of material.

I spent most of the next several years playing banjo, fiddle, mandolin and pretty much strictly acoustic guitar. Even played in a few jug bands and other old-time acoustic bands.

I collected tons and tons of that music and still do.

I have gone through phases of several types in the intervening years. These days I am mostly into electric playing and play a lot of early rock and roll, rockabilly, garage rock, surf/instro stuff, etc.

But I have often thought I could go acoustic-only and in fact even limit myself to listening to and playing only music made prior to WW2 and be perfectly happy.

Bluegrass itself has never been a huge thing for me. I love some of the early stuff--Bluegrass Boys, Flatt & Scruggs, etc. but I am much more moved by the pre-bluegrass country stringband stuff of the 20s and 30s as well as other music from that era--blues, hot jazz, Hawaiian, etc.

[jumpnblues]

I think 2 of the main things that drew me back to acoustic music and bluegrass in particular was 1. the musicianship, and 2. I love the sound of fine acoustic guitars and other acoustic instruments.
I want to be able to play like the top bluegrass flat pickers. And I think with a little time and effort, I can. I'm not a beginning player by a long shot and I've played technically demanding music before. It's just been awhile since I've played anything as demanding as bluegrass (flat picking). I'll get there. It'll take time and practice, practice, practice. But I will get there. And the journey's half the fun.


Tom

[MickM]

Originally Posted by jumpnblues

I think 2 of the main things that drew me back to acoustic music and bluegrass in particular was 1. the musicianship, and 2. I love the sound of fine acoustic guitars and other acoustic instruments.
I want to be able to play like the top bluegrass flat pickers. And I think with a little time and effort, I can. I'm not a beginning player by a long shot and I've played technically demanding music before. It's just been awhile since I've played anything as demanding as bluegrass (flat picking). I'll get there. It'll take time and practice, practice, practice. But I will get there. And the journey's half the fun.


Tom

Want another habit to support? Buy a mandolin!!!

[Smokin OP]

Want another habit to support? Buy a mandolin!!!

You're right about that...makes guitar collecting look cheap.

[eddiewagner]

Originally Posted by jumpnblues

I want to be able to play like the top bluegrass flat pickers. And I think with a little time and effort, I can.

can i borrow some of your optimismus? eddie

[jumpnblues]

Originally Posted by eddiewagner

can i borrow some of your optimismus? eddie

LOL!! Wellllll, my "optimismus" becomes just a little "pessimismus" when I hear people like Cody Kilby or Bryan Sutton. But I know if I keep at it I'll be able to "see them on the horizon". And by the time you get that far you're already pretty darn good, because that's about where most of the "name" players are. It's just that people like the ones I mentioned are so far out in the ozone. They're the cream of the cream. But you don't have to play quite that fast and accurately to be really good and really believable. As I said most of the big names are not at that level either. But you still need to be fast and accurate, not to mention other things like use good phrasing, touch, dynamics, etc. I'll get there with practice.


Tom