Next weekend, The Gospel Messengers and Shoregrass will be doing a concert together. I've been to a ton of black gospel programs, but never heard any bluegrass there. Been to bluegrass festivals and didn't see a lot of black gospel quartets. It seems ironic that there seems to be more musical segregation now than there was when there was such restrictive racial segregation in the past. From what I've read over the years, there was more of an interchange between blues musicians, country singers, string bands and perhaps even gospel in the twenties and thirties. I wonder why there appears to be less awareness and appreciation betwen different ethnic groups now.
Or perhaps, my perception is wrong.

Frankie and Joe, in my quartet grew up in South Carolina and Virginia, respectively. They're both 80, so when they were kids, they still had living relatives who were freed slaves, and there were still signs of slavery in their towns... a place where slaves were chained before auction. And yet they both grew up listening to Uncle Dave Macon and the Grand Ole 'Opry as much as they did to blues and black gospel. Frankie can do a white hillbilly accent that would put Bobert to shame and loves to jump in on a Carter Family song, completely in style. They both love bluegrass and we're looking forward with great anticipation to the concert. So are our family on my wife's side.

I know that there were black string band musicians (The Dallas String Band being the most famous) as well as black fiddlers and banjo players(most obviously.) I wonder how the separation came about, and if there are any black musicians in bluegrass, or old-time music that people have heard. There have always been a few blacks in country music, and I just saw a video of a country band with a black lead singer.

There was a time when all this music must have been familiar to most people in the South. Maybe it's the radio programming that segregates music to increase product sales.

Any thoughts?

Hey, Aizi... know and blackgrass bands?

Jerry