BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?

Subject: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: GospelPicker (inactive)
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 09:40 AM

Of course there is great songwriting in the history and tradition of bluegrass... but how many players do you know who don't call it "authentic" if you can't shred ala Mr. Scruggs? How many "snobs" have you met who won't pay a bit of attention to your music in the bluegrass style if you don't mimic the masters? I have gotten increasingly fed up with players (mostly men) who are so anal about "the RIGHT way to pick it" that I get steamed just thinking how yet another person is going to give me grief because I don't pick the 'ol "mannalin" just like Beel Mownrow.

ON, YE MUDCATTERS! ONWARD TO THE FRAY!

GospelPicker

@:()>[+]

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: GUEST,The Invisible Blazoona
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 10:06 AM

I agree. At local sessions that I attend, Bluegrass purists are called "Bluegrasssholes", and "Bluegrass Free Zones" are declared, where people can play Blues, Gospel, Old-Time Country, Swing, etc.

Ironically, when Bill Monroe and Earl Scruggs were new artists, they were considered iconoclasts, with no respect for tradition, because they were breaking new ground musically.

Too bad that their followers aren't as creative and open-mnded.

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: Midchuck
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 10:10 AM

No argument with the initial premise, except with the implication that it's unique to Bluegrass.

Take out a guitar in a circle of people that are singing interminable unaccompanied ballads sometime. Sing Stan's "The House of Orange" in a Irish session. Try to take a lead break on guitar at an old-timey session. Sing a long ballad about Indian massacres amongst sensitive singer-songwriters.

You can get beat up on almost anywhere you go, if you go about it properly.

Peter.

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: WyoWoman
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 10:47 AM

I agree that bluegrass often seems to devolve into a "pickier than thou" competition. I've run into less of that syndrome at other types of gatherings, but it's still rampant in the world of music -- as it is in practically any other gathering of human beans. We just seem to need to draw circles that close people out while they're surrounding us. Territorial imperative, I suppose. I certainly see it all the time in faith communities, BP, since you brought up in a different thread that that is your milieu. We all have "means tests" to make certain others don't encroach on OUR territory, group, community, etc.

But you have hit the nail on the head of what keeps me from being very interested in bluegrass, at least compared to other genres, and especially as a singer, it's just not very interesting to hang around a group of musicians who seem to think the goal is to pick faster and faster and to get more and more Baroque until someone drops over in a heap or their fingers fly off. No, thenkyew. I'll go find an unaccompanied ballad circle...

(I was so utterly clueless a few years back when I first started doing music circles that I took a tambourine and shakey egg to a circle that turned out to be mostly bluegrass. I didn't even realize until after I'd been to a lot more singarounds, etc. -- different ones because that one was absolutely chock full of not-fun anal pickin-but-no-grinnin' types -- just how much of a faux pas I'd committed. Doh!)

ww

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 10:52 AM

If it IS an athletic event, so far no one's been busted for steroids.

Bluegrassholeaholic

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: catspaw49
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 11:00 AM

Midchuck, I think you hit it. Sessions seem to be becoming more focused.......I'd like to see more of the old open coffehouse, relaxed kinda' thing. But I understand too the need and fun for those who want to concentrate on their own thing. It'd be nice if everyone was a bit more open in the process though.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: bbelle
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 11:00 AM

I personally correspond with several bluegrass pickers and luthiers ... some quite well-known ... and none of them display the kind of attitude you describe. Perhaps it's the bluegrass pickers in your "circle."

If nimble fingers is considered a sport, I suppose bluegrass picking could be considered an athletic event.

AnotherBLUEGRASSholeaholic

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: WyoWoman
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 11:13 AM

Nah-- I've seen this in multiple bluegrass circles. And, I don't think this is always a bad thing. We need the purists to keep the different genres distinct -- we have chamber music and "classical" music these days because there have been music snobs for generations protecting the genre from encroachment. And, hebn to Betsy, if I could pick like that, I'd certainly want to match licks with other lightning-fast pickers.

But the point about Monroe and Scuggs, etc. being seen as iconoclasts when they first started is well-taken. If people are SO unwilling to hear a different way of doing things, they might discourage people who have a great deal to offer. BUT ... the joy of this big wide world is that there's always a different group just over the hill, if we don't find this one to our liking...

ww

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: Lady McMoo
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 11:20 AM

I agree Picker although I'm not a bluegrasser myself. I've seen countless Irish sessions however where things have degenerated into time trials or the playing by some flashier or louder players of the latest "de rigeur" set of tunes unknown to the majority. I neither play flashy nor fast myself but have grown up "in the tradition" and have been playing for 40+ years, yet often find myself "pushed out". There have been many threads (e.g. session etiquette) on this subject which are worth perusing.

Best regards

mcmoo

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 11:36 AM

"We need the purists to keep the different genres distinct" - that can in a way be true. Though I prefer it when you have musicians who effortlessly and with good will switch between say Irish and old-timey or whatever or take a break if it's something they don't feel they can play (like in the session I was in last night).

But the real problem GospelPicker hones in on here isn't so much purism, it's cliquey competitivness, which is something different.

A purist might have strict views about which instruments belong together in an ensemble, and what their roles might be, buty a purist with musical taste would also know that there's no merit in playing things faster than feels right. And that playing slow and still getting it right is a lot harder.

And as has been said, it's not just in bluegrass you get this kind of thing.

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: Little Neophyte
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 12:17 PM

If you find a bluegrass session is 'cliquey & competitivness', who cares? If that is what they are into, let them enjoy themselves.
If you don't like it, I am quite sure you can find other bluegrass players who are not cliquey or competitive.
I would love to learn some bluegrass, I really like the tunes. When I was at The Woods music camp this summer I met very open, friendly bluegrass players encouraging me at every step and accepting me at whatever speed I could play and slowing down so I could play along with them.

I think it comes down to what you are willing to see. If you think all bluegrass sessions are cliquey and competitive, well then that is what you will only see.
I would rather look at them as people who love to play bluegrass music and are interested in helping me learn to play it too.

Bonnie

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 01:10 PM

"If you think all bluegrass sessions are cliquey and competitive, well then that is what you will only see." No, I didn't say that, and I don't read Gospelpicker as saying it either. Cliquey competitiveness is a virus that can screw up any kind of music. And it can be very hard to counter.

It can have one good effect - musicians who don't like it can drop out and start up another session somewhere else which is free from it - until the process starts all over. So it can be a way of spreading the music around more widely.

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: Little Neophyte
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 01:29 PM

Oh I understand now what you are saying McGrath, sorry about that, weak on comprehension I am.

Within the bluegrass seesions, maybe when they are amongst other pickers at the same skill level it is fun for them to see who can pick the fastest. But if you pulled these individuals out of that situation, they may not always want to play at such competitive speeds and that you may find them sharing more in other sessions.

I don't mind the purists. You find lots of those in old-time music too. I would like to learn what I can from them. With respect, I would work on doing it their way and then I would go off and blend their style into doing it my own way.

Bonnie

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: Barbara Shaw
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 01:34 PM

My first reaction to this thread title was: oh no, not another bluegrass-flaming diatribe by people who don't like it. Not another incendiary story about this or that group that acted this or that way or played this fast or that fast.

That's also my second reaction.

My third reaction is to confirm that I love bluegrass, however I can get it. I don't play fast, can't, don't want to. I'm not very athletic. I may be a bluegrasshole, but I don't care. And I'm also not very concerned about what is "Folk" and what is "the RIGHT way" and what is "anal" even. I've been called all three. But I still love bluegrass (and other kinds, but especially bluegrass) music.

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: kendall
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 01:46 PM

There are some who wont listen to FOGGY MINDED BREAKDOWN if its played different from the way Earl did it, on the other hand, I've told this true story at Bluegrass gatherings, and, not only do they laugh, but, there are those who ask me to repeat it.
When I was in Scotland, I was doing a gig in a hotel pub of American traditional songs. One guy kept asking for Country & Western, so, I fianlly did a Hank Williams song. He said thats what he likes, so, I told him that was what I was raised on before I switched to folk and traditional stuff. He asked "Why did you shift over?" Before I could answer, a guy at the bar said "He learned two more chords!" Absolutely true story.
If you want to drive the hard core bluegrass pickers away, do something with a Dm or an F#m in it. If it is in 6/8 time, even better!

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: Art Thieme
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 01:50 PM

Bluegrass has been blessed by having all of it's instruments be fretted ones. Frets on those instruments act as "SPEED BUMPS". Thats why I've been pushing for higher standard frets on all instruments.

If those could slow down the faster pickers (in favor of their developing some real and actual TASTE in their music), that would be a great big step forward.

That even ought to apply to certain OLD TIMEY bands---like The Freighthoppers.

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: mousethief
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 01:58 PM

Art, are there no fiddles in bluegrass? I don't know much about bluegrass except I like how it sounds.

Alex
O..O
=o=

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: Jim the Bart
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 02:02 PM

It's fine to gripe; it gets the bad energy off your chest. But it's always been that way, to some degree or another. It's always "the hard core" of folkies, blues aficionados, bluegrass pickers, traditionalists, jazz buffs or what have you versus the eclectic types who like to throw it all into that blender between their ears to see what will come out.

At most sessions, you get the dominant personality types (not always male) setting the agenda, the regulars falling in line and a bunch of people out on the fringe. As a long time fringe guy, I always like to pay attention to the hard core. You can usually learn the most about a specific style from those who are focused on it and have really studied it's nuances. Hang around until you "can't stands no more" and then go somewhere else. Or better yet, start your own party! You can usually find a kindred soul or two who would rather just relax and play than go for the platinum medal.

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: kendall
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 02:16 PM

I did a bluegrass festival in upstate NY years ago. They wanted me for "tragic relief" I guess. Suddenly this very attractive woman collared me and said "I cant believe it, another folk singer! come with me." She led me out behind a cattle barn (Washington County Fairgrounds) and all the while my mind was going wild, and I ended up in a nest of folkies! We played all night. They were there for the festival, but, not necessarily for the Bluegrass music. She said she wanted to take me home. I told her I couldnt do that because I was married. She said "I dont want to own you, I just want to borrow you for a while.!"

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: Mark Clark
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 02:31 PM

Forty-odd years ago, when I began developing an interest in folk singing, we held weekly "hootenannies" in people's homes. There were some songs we all sang together and some that each of performed as a solo while the others listened. These were very informal, always great fun and never competitive. As I think back now, it strikes me that one of the reasons was that we didn't think of ourselves as musicians. That was the very last thing we wanted to be. We were just trying to relate a song we'd discovered and learned or just wanting to get lost in wonderful cacophony of a roomful of voices raised in spontaneous song. I loved those get-togethers and I miss them yet today. Much of the singing was unaccompanied and an occasional hammer-on was an advanced guitar technique. Although our group included some exellent singers, no one thought of it as a performance and no one felt they needed to be "best."

The thing that made those hootenannies work was the bond that grew between the people who came. That bond was at least as important as the music. The same group of folks could stay up all night discussing philosophy or reading poetry together. (Does this sound a lot like Mudcat?) The operative principle was that making informal music together didn't have to turn us into "musicians."

Had I been suddenly taken out of that situation and dropped into a modern bluegrass festival, I'm sure I'd have felt excluded and bitter. What happened instead was that I grew, slowly, to appreciate (and sometimes play) many forms of music from Child ballads to old-timey and blugrass to blues and jazz. As I delved more deeply into the commercial forms I discovered that musicianship became a more prominent aspect of the total picture. Professional class musicians, it seemed, had two fundamental modes in which they operated: public performance and competitive jam. This was true in Dixieland, Beebop, blues, bluegrass, rock 'n' roll, country music, and, I suspect, would be true of polka bands and African ground drum jams (well, okay I made up that last one). My point is that competition seems to be the natural human condition and has never been excluded from the musical arena.

In lieu of actual experience, think of the film record. In "Amadeus" we saw a fictional competition between the young Mozart and the established Salieri. Other historically based examples in film include the story of Scott Joplin with Billy Dee, Clint Eastwood's masterpiece "Bird," or "Kansas City" and of course the great duel scene from "Crossroads." Wherever you turn, accomplished musicians seem to get off on outdoing each other in the name of having a good time. Writers and historians are trying to paint a picture for us here.

I remember the blues sessions Bob Koester used to run in Chicago c. 1963. A long list of the best known bluesmen would show up to play and you never saw a more competitive bunch, each one constantly trying to outdo the others.

We also had a "Friends of Sing Out!" group in Chicago for a while. This was a group of people who shared a love of folk singing were willing to organize an occasional benefit concert for that struggling publication. That group was much more like the hootenannies of old in that the members formed a close bond and (almost) never competed. Still, members of that group enjoyed other musical situations, such as bluegrass festivals, at which a certain amount of competition was the norm.

At bluegrass festival jams, everyone is always welcome to listen to the music. Most players at festivals are more than willing to sit down with strangers, when there is no jam in progress, and patiently teach them as much as they can absorb. And, if the newcomer can contribute, at something approaching a professional level, to a jam in progress, he or she will always be welcome. At least that's what I've always found.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: GospelPicker (inactive)
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 02:50 PM

Sheesh... I did not mean that EVERY player in EVERY bluegrass band acted like I described... I just mean that there is a proliferation in TODAY'S scene of young bucks who live to shred... just like I'd rather hear Rev. Gary Davis than Eddie VanShredHead, I'd also like to remind the world what our dear departed folkie brother Mr. Monroe said:

"Learn the music right; get the timing of it. You don't want it so fast that there's nothing left but just the speeding of the music, but learn your timing and practice so's you get it sounding just right."

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: M. Ted (inactive)
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 02:55 PM

Guitarists always come out on the short end in Bluegrass sessions, because you don't get to solo much, and when you do it is more work than fun, and never comes across as well as the other solos. I think that this accounts for a bit of the bitterness here(or at least for my bitterness;-)), and since we allegedly hold the bottom together, we also get blamed when things fall apart.

However, bluegrass tends to be so tightly defined that it doesn't leave a lot of possibilities for creativity. The problem is that if you add anything new, it doesn't sound like bluegrass anymore--Some performers get around this by tightening up the arrangements, and adding various sorts of theatrics, but this doesn't work without a lot of rehearsal. So it ends up being niche music for a hardcore of players and listeners.

If you like the songs but not the drill, you can gather kindred spirits and play it as old timey, country, or whatever--I used to get together with a couple of other guitarists and a fiddler, and the stuff came out with a ragtime kind of feel, with a lot of room for guitar solos. It wasn't bluegrass, though--

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: Barbara Shaw
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 07:51 PM

Our jams at festivals often have 3 guitars, with me doing rhythm and two good friends who often camp with us playing lead. One plays in the cross-picking style of Norman Blake and George Shuffler, and the other is a madman up and down the neck playing whatever inspires him and sounding like 3 people in one. After every verse, there's a break by whomever in the circle is willing and interested. It's awesome to hear these two fine guitarists, especially since their styles are so different from each other.

Whaddaya mean guitarists don't get to solo much, M. Ted? Sounds like the folks in your session don't know how to do it "the RIGHT way" to not coin a phrase.

And the creativity is phenomenal. We've done old traditional bluegrass, new progressive, old-timey (my husband plays wicked clawhammer), gospel, Beatles, even some home-grown stuff. Whatever we damn well please, and it often draws a crowd. They're not hanging around because the music is boring, or just like it's always been done.

Maybe the tone of our sessions is very different from the ones I hear described above. If you don't like the way they do it, don't play with them! (But don't blame it on bluegrass.)

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: M. Ted (inactive)
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 11:41 PM

As long as you enjoy yourselves--that is the important thing!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: Gypsy
Date: 05 Oct 00 - 01:17 AM

Yes, yes, yes! Create the group to play with, and that is where you will be comfortable! We don't play with showboats who must have center stage, and egos/attitudes are checked at the front door. You can have (insert adjective here) at any session, of any breed. The trick is to create a session where everyone can have fun and participate.

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: kendall
Date: 05 Oct 00 - 08:53 AM

Barbara speaks truth

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: JedMarum
Date: 05 Oct 00 - 09:16 AM

... don't keep us in suspense, Kendall! Tell us the rest of the story!

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: JedMarum
Date: 05 Oct 00 - 09:18 AM

I also agree exactly with Barbara's perspective.

I love bluegrass, and bluegrass players ... I've never really tried to play bluegrass seriously, but people have accused me of it. I take it as a compliment!

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: Peter T.
Date: 05 Oct 00 - 12:49 PM

I wonder how many other people here have this syndrome: I love the music that bluegrass came out of, but as soon as I hear real bluegrass I lose interest. Come 1946 or whenever, and nothing. It is very odd. I have listened to tons of it, and except for the occasional piece (Monroe's Scotland) it just does nothing for me. It must be like the feeling some folkies have listening to electric Dylan. It just does nothing for them.
On the other hand, I am going to see Alison Kraus and Union Station and Saturday, so maybe there is hope for me.

yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: Barbara Shaw
Date: 05 Oct 00 - 09:43 PM

Jed, I wouldn't encourage Kendall to tell stories about me! He's the guy who walked up to our jam at Thomas Point Beach with Harpgirl (great meeting her!) and proceeded to sing "She Thinks I Steal Cars" to great acclaim. Some of the diehards even sang along on the refrain. Ya call that BLUEGRASS??

I guess the bluegrass I like best is the music we make ourselves. I particularly like old traditional stuff from people like the Carter Family and Stanley Brothers, and newer older stuff like Stecher & Brislin and others, but I can listen to Kendall anytime.

I remember seeing Alison Krauss at Strawberry Park in CT several years ago. She and Alison Brown were changing clothes in the campground's ladies room. This was before they had fancy buses and things were typically very informal. I've lost track of her since she got to be so big, and haven't even heard of any festivals on the East coast where she was appearing. What I've seen of her is on TNN doing good stuff, but more country than bluegrass. She used to play breathtaking fiddle and had an amazing voice. Could still be true, but I haven't seen her lately. The last time she performed at Winterhawk (now Grey Fox) she did one short set of slow songs and then vanished. No coming out to meet the folks at the record booth, as is typical of bluegrass artists. So Peter T, enjoy the show, she's so good, but don't base it all on her. The music that bluegrass came out of is still happening in the fields and parking lots.

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: Rich(bodhránai gan ciall)
Date: 05 Oct 00 - 10:11 PM

In a word: Yes!

It was not ready for the Sydney Games this year, but in the 2004 Summer Olympics it will be inaugerated as an official sport. Word has it the Czechs play fastest, but they have a habit of throwing in a 4th chord every now and then and that's a .1 point deduction each time. The Mexican and Spanish teams are both suspected of overdubbing with tiples on their audition tape but that remains to be seen. The American team looks promising but they're liable to get cocky and that could cost them. Also, the controversial "Ricky Scaggs" rule that allows for a penalty of .1 to .25 point penalty for corny jokes on stage could kill us. Interestingly enough, this reporter has learned that the Bluegrass event will take place in the parking lot, outside of the stadium. No word as to if the Gospel a cappela contest will be held indoors or outside as well.

Well, that's the news for now. More details to follow when they break. Remember you heard it here first on the WCAT news

Rich

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: Rich(bodhránai gan ciall)
Date: 06 Oct 00 - 06:36 PM

The Mexican Olympic Bluegrass Team has been completly exonerated of alleged tiple use. Sorry for reporting without indepth investigation. Interestingly enough, the Italian 5 mandolin team seems to be the team to beat. I hate to wish my life away but 4 years is a long time to wait!

Rich

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: mousethief
Date: 06 Oct 00 - 06:47 PM

Wasn't there a scandal with the Italian team, one of the mandolin players (the bass mandolin player, if I'm not wrong) was caught playing an electric guitar at a night club near Sperlonga? It was all over the Italian tabloids about 2 months ago. He apologized and it was all covered up pretty quickly; some wags in the press thought that hush money was paid.

Alex
O..O
=o=

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: Rich(bodhránai gan ciall)
Date: 06 Oct 00 - 07:33 PM

Well, they actually pay people to play electric instruments, so that could endanger his amateur status.


Rich ;)

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: Bill D
Date: 06 Oct 00 - 08:05 PM

the committee is voting whether playing "Fox on the Run" gets a deduction, disqualification, or a requirement to play their NEXT set on the javelin practice field.

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: GUEST,The Invisible Blazoona
Date: 06 Oct 00 - 09:08 PM

We can't continue ridiculing bluegrass any further, without paying a visit to the "random bad bluegrass band name generator" at

[http://www.mandolincafe.com/archives/bandnames/]

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: GUEST,The Invisible Blazoona
Date: 06 Oct 00 - 09:10 PM

please excuse the brackets in the previous post. They are not part of the url.

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: catspaw49
Date: 06 Oct 00 - 09:50 PM

Well Blazoona, I cranked through about 50 til I stopped at "Happy Grass Grass." Now that's one to be reckoned with.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: GUEST, Banjo Johnny
Date: 07 Oct 00 - 02:41 AM

Yes it's getting to be like the Olympics -- higher, faster, LOUDER. The same thing that killed Dixieland.

I'd like to think of music as an art, rather than a sport or competition. == Johnny in Oklahoma City

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: The Shambles
Date: 07 Oct 00 - 07:15 AM

If music evolves over time, like natural selection, certain types of music will become distinct from others.

In life, there are species which become very specialised and need very exact conditions to survive. When conditions do change, it is the species with the less specialised requirements that adapt and survive.

I do not think that bluegrass, with its strong identity and limited intstrumentation will not be a successful species, but a very interesting Dodo.

As for the Oylimpics, just watch out for the Chinese Bluegrass Team.

Subject: RE: BS: Is BLUEGRASS simply an athletic event?
From: Rich(bodhránai gan ciall)
Date: 07 Oct 00 - 10:53 PM

"I do not think that Bluegrass...will not be a sucessful species...."
What are you trying to say? You don't thing it will survive? You think it won't survive? You don't think it won't survive but will survive?

At any rate, I'ts been going for long enough that I think it's a little late to think of it as a fad. Disco was an interesting dodo

And the Chinese team has got nothing on the Indian team, now that the rules committee has voted to allow the sitar to take the place of the bass fiddle.

Rich