Rubylox, I agree with Rabbi-Sol. There is no reason not to attend the festivals and enjoy the music and the camaraderie. You both might enjoy the new book I linked in the footnote to my post above. Wald does a good job of addressing the issue Rabbi-Sol raises and reminds us that without African Americans, there would be no bluegrass music. Probably no southern string band music either. American fiddling is quite different from Anglo-Celtic fiddling and Wald makes a good case that the African American influence accounts for the difference.

I got my copy from the local library but, if you'd rather buy it, the link I made above will also help Mudcat.

      - Mark