Fascinating responses! I was especially interested in the black banjo, then and now. There's a very interesting book by Paul Oliver titled Songsters & Saints: Vocal Traditions on Race Records which covers the whole range of black music, from blues to medicine shows and a little bit of string band music. And then, there was DeFord Bailey who was a black harmonica player, and the first black regular on the Grand Ole Opry, during the time of Uncle Dave Macon.

One of the unusual directions I've been able to take my quartet is into areas where people aren't often exposed to black gospel. And, we've always received a very warm welcome. Bringing a bluegrass band into a black church sounds like fun to me (although the church where we're doing the concert has more white than black members, a lot of the audience that is coming are from black churches.)

My experience is that people generally respond to good music, even if it's unfamiliar to them.

Jerry