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Double Bass Why isn't Bluegrass more popular?

Tom Lane

Tom Lane

Gold Supporting Member
Apr 28, 2011
3,594
5,175
Southwest Los Angeles, CA, USA
#1
Someone commented that you can make *tens of dollars a month playing Bluegrass*. I suppose that from a CD sales perspective, Bluegrass is similarly popular as jazz and classical, but frankly, I'm surprised. It's rhythmic music with strong melodies, lot's of pentatonics. Honestly, I expect it to have a better following. What's your theory?
 
#2
As a non-bluegrass fan raised in the south I can give you my reason: The vocals. If it's just instrumental, I love hearing some good banjos and fiddles goin' to town. It's when the high and whiny vocals kick in that I stop listening. Granted not all bluegrass singers are this way, but there's a lot that are. So that's my reason.
 
#3
Thats the way i feel about a lot of music, all good until the whiny vocals kick in eg Alanis Morisette, Sinead O`Connor, Neil Young etc, they all sound like wounded cats. The same can be said for musicals, how to spoil a good movie ?, break into song !, Sax can have the same effect too:hiding:, I like a lot of contemporary Jazz, good solid grooves and slick production.....until the Sax starts then its just department store/porno style music
 
#6
Makatak said:
Thats the way i feel about a lot of music, all good until the whiny vocals kick in eg Alanis Morisette, Sinead O`Connor, Neil Young etc, they all sound like wounded cats. The same can be said for musicals, how to spoil a good movie ?, break into song !, Sax can have the same effect too:hiding:, I like a lot of contemporary Jazz, good solid grooves and slick production.....until the Sax starts then its just department store/porno style music
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That's the way I feel about Rush, a lot of pretentious noodling and when the vocals start I want to block my ears with toothpicks.

But as for Bluegrass, same basic problem as Jazz, takes too much for the average person to listen to. Much easier to listen to a song with a catchy hook, adequate vocals and only lasts 2:36.
 
#8
petrus61 said:
Perhaps it's regional? It's enormously popular in my neck of the woods in upstate NY, albeit not readily visible at a cursory glance. We have the the Greyfox and Falcon Ridge fests that both feature bluegrass.
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That's an interesting idea. I know that folk is very popular in Seattle. I don't know if the folk musicians make any money, however, so, that is, I suppose, a delineation.
Do you make a decent amount of money playing Bluegrass in Upstate New York?
Right now, my hypothesis is that it's not put forward by the record producers and their immediate consumers - TV shows, Hollywood films, etc, because, the difference between pop and Bluegrass seems to be the caliber of the musicians and non-techno honesly. Bluegrass = better, IMO.
Tell me where I'm wrong because, foolishly, I'm seeking the truth.
 
#9
Bluegrass has a large following and there is no denying the amount of talent that goes into it.

This is my opinion only, but as a whole, traditional bluegrass takes itself very seriously... Sometimes too much so. A perfect example is the late, great Bill Monroe... Incredibly talented? Absolutely. Willing to put up with anyone would would dare stray from playing Bluegrass as God & Bill intended? Aw Hell No!

I've been to Bluegrass competitions where the were young kids playing their behinds off... Amazingly talented, but not a smile to be found. I have also attended Bluegrass events (both local & national) where when one attempts to join a Bluegrass circle, the players that are already in the circle will "tighten" the circle so the newer player cannot join in...

I'm more of a Newgrass guy... They seem to be enjoying themselves a bit more.

If it's not fun, why do it?

Again, just my humble opinion.


Moonshine :bassist:
 
#10
moonshinegtrs said:
Bluegrass has a large following and there is no denying the amount of talent that goes into it.

This is my opinion only, but as a whole, traditional bluegrass takes itself very seriously... Sometimes too much so. A perfect example is the late, great Bill Monroe... Incredibly talented? Absolutely. Willing to put up with anyone would would dare stray from playing Bluegrass as God & Bill intended? Aw Hell No!

I've been to Bluegrass competitions where the were young kids playing their behinds off... Amazingly talented, but not a smile to be found. I have also attended Bluegrass events (both local & national) where when one attempts to join a Bluegrass circle, the players that are already in the circle will "tighten" the circle so the newer player cannot join in...

I'm more of a Newgrass guy... They seem to be enjoying themselves a bit more.

If it's not fun, why do it?

Again, just my humble opinion.


Moonshine :bassist:
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I find the parallels with jazz and classical very interesting. There seems to be a *traditionalist* versus *experimenter* class divide in all camps.
Regardless, though, every musical genre I can think of has it's conventions and they get old if you listen to enough of it. Some sooner than others, IMO, but I think that's subjective.
So, there's conventions to dislike about Bluegrass, but I think that's true of any musical style.
So then the question remains - why isn't Bluegrass more popular today? Has it ever been mainstream? Or only an influencer, like less popular forms of rock - say, heavy metal or prog-rock?
 
#12
tcl said:
That's an interesting idea. I know that folk is very popular in Seattle. I don't know if the folk musicians make any money, however, so, that is, I suppose, a delineation.
Do you make a decent amount of money playing Bluegrass in Upstate New York?
Right now, my hypothesis is that it's not put forward by the record producers and their immediate consumers - TV shows, Hollywood films, etc, because, the difference between pop and Bluegrass seems to be the caliber of the musicians and non-techno honesly. Bluegrass = better, IMO.
Tell me where I'm wrong because, foolishly, I'm seeking the truth.
Click to expand...

Don't know if you're wrong or not. Just hypothesizing really. I did a total of 5 bluegrass gigs and was well paid, but that was a fluke if I were to measure it in the grand scheme of my musical "career".

The majority of money in bluegrass comes from touring and live performance, much like jam bands and aging rock and r&b acts from the 60's I'd imagine.
 
#13
Personally I think bluegrass is at one of its most popular levels in decades. I love it and actually play in a bluegrass side project. I believe that in this time of "fake" music. Autotune and everything else the reason bluegrass is gaining popularity is because people get sick of the fluff and want real stripped down music with substance. Kinda like when grunge music got big after the 80s. People were tired of overly produced generic junk.
 
#16
Well, I live in snooty coastal Southern California...and bluegrass is tremendously popular in a quiet way. Lots of people listen to it, lots of festivals. Good bands around, though I don't know whether they make much money. Up in Northern California it's even more popular than it is here.

I think the OP is conflating "popular" with "listened to by teenagers and all over Twitter." Bluegrass certainly is not popular in that way. But a lot of adult contemporary listeners like it because it had a revival in the late 60s/70s, and a lot of 20 somethings like it because of the "O Brother Where Art Though" bump in the early 2000s. (I am in the latter camp.)

I think the vocals are what drive people away. They tend to be either really traditional and too twangy, or not quite country enough to be country, not quite rock enough to be rock and not quite jazz enough to be jazz. The acts that try to fuse traditional with current (Alison Krauss, Chris Thile, etc) end up stranded in the no-mans land of the "adult contemporary" moniker, where the holy grail is weekend NPR shows. (Which I listen to!)
 
#17
Bluegrass is more poular in rural areas. Record companies are located in urban metropolitan cities. Not as much exposure for those musicians. I do think bluegrass is more popular now than in a very long time. My last band played bluegrass and it is very upbeat and fun to play.
 
#18
Another upstate NYer, I work part time at an independent guit shop. We're selling twice as many banjos as teles, and half as many banjos as ukuleles. When a single or group of under-21's stroll in, it's an 80% guarantee that I'll hear either "do you have any banjos?" or "BANJOS!" and then, at the mandos, "what's that?". All but one of my students are into something 'grassy flavored at the very least. Most of the over-21ers who've gone 'grass are dentists, accountants and such- I feel like they're keeping the pay pretty low from the stories they tell of playing shows just for fun. Back to the under-21ers, my baby sister moved to Asheville NC a couple of years ago and has been telling me of this grand hillbilly-hippy scene down there where if you're under 35 and you don't drag a djembe or conga around everywhere, you've got a banjo, mando or uke and you are jamming all day long.
 
#20
MattZilla said:
Another upstate NYer, I work part time at an independent guit shop. We're selling twice as many banjos as teles, and half as many banjos as ukuleles. When a single or group of under-21's stroll in, it's an 80% guarantee that I'll hear either "do you have any banjos?" or "BANJOS!" and then, at the mandos, "what's that?". All but one of my students are into something 'grassy flavored at the very least. Most of the over-21ers who've gone 'grass are dentists, accountants and such- I feel like they're keeping the pay pretty low from the stories they tell of playing shows just for fun. Back to the under-21ers, my baby sister moved to Asheville NC a couple of years ago and has been telling me of this grand hillbilly-hippy scene down there where if you're under 35 and you don't drag a djembe or conga around everywhere, you've got a banjo, mando or uke and you are jamming all day long.
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Yep. Playing a gig next week at a venue where I can bet there will be at least two banjos there for both supporting acts. Unfortunately, the music being played will be more of the 'college kid inspired by Mumford&Son' than actual bluegrass pickin'. Its very fashionable to dress like a pre civil war farmer but sound like Dave Matthews these days...
 

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