What is Bluegrass?

The question, “What is Bluegrass anyway?” or WIBA, has been argued over by “experts” for the last 80 years at least. Bluegrass music, so named after Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys band, began life as a distinct melding of musical styles that Monroe was inspired by and grew up with in rural Kentucky in the first half of the 20th century: old-time stringbands, both Black and white; early Western Swing; mostly-Baptist church singing; and other early rural music styles. Since then, every new generation of musicians drawn to the genre have added their own diverse influences and instruments into the mix. Now, it is an ever-evolving stew built on a roux of (mostly) acoustic three-finger-style banjo, fiddle, guitar, bass and mandolin with whatever else individuals want to add. It’s music we love. Opinions will vary.

~ Laurie Lewis