What is bluegrass music?

Bluegrass is an American acoustic style that emerged in the 1940s around Bill Monroe and his band, the Blue Grass Boys. It combines banjo, mandolin, guitar, fiddle and upright bass, with close vocal harmonies and fast instrumental breaks. Its roots lie in Appalachian music, gospel and the blues.

What is the difference between bluegrass and country?

Bluegrass is strictly acoustic and built around instrumental virtuosity, especially banjo and mandolin. Country is broader and took on electric guitar, pedal steel and eventually drums, with songs closer to mainstream pop. The two share common roots and many musicians have worked in both.

Which bluegrass record should I start with?

A Flatt & Scruggs compilation featuring "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" gives you the sound right away. Add a Bill Monroe record for the foundations, then the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack for an accessible overview. For the current scene, Billy Strings or Punch Brothers show where the genre is heading.

Newgrass is a movement that took off in the 1970s, keeping bluegrass instrumentation while opening up to rock, jazz and extended improvisation. Sam Bush, with New Grass Revival, is one of its central figures. Jamgrass, carried by bands such as Leftover Salmon, pushes that approach further on stage.

Bluegrass

Bluegrass is an American music genre derived from folk and country, characterized by its fast rhythms, vocal harmonies, and the use of acoustic instruments such as the banjo, mandolin, or fiddle.

On Vinyles.com, immerse yourself in the world of Bluegrass with available records that will thrill lovers of energetic traditional music.

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Bluegrass Vinyl Records: Banjo, Mandolin and the High Lonesome Sound

Bluegrass on vinyl: acoustic music with room to breathe

This page collects bluegrass vinyl records, the acoustic music that took shape in the 1940s around Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys, who gave the genre its name. The lineup is unmistakable: three-finger banjo, mandolin, guitar, fiddle and upright bass, with tight vocal harmonies on top. With no drums or amplification, everything rides on tone and speed, and a good pressing captures the attack of the banjo and the grain of the voices. The style draws on Appalachian ballads, gospel and rural blues.

Labels, reissues and used copies: buying bluegrass LPs

Bluegrass has long been sustained by specialist labels whose catalogs are still the backbone of the genre: Rounder Records, Sugar Hill Records, Rebel Records, and Smithsonian Folkways for field recordings and traditional players such as Roscoe Holcomb. The earliest Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs sides come from the 78 rpm era, so on LP you will mostly find them as compilations.

Used American pressings from the 1960s and 1970s still turn up, often at fair prices. Check the playing surfaces carefully, since crackle is easy to hear in such sparse music. New releases are usually pressed in modest runs, sometimes on colored vinyl, and they tend to go out of print quickly.

Bluegrass artists and albums worth knowing

The genre spans several generations, from the postwar founders to bands that blend it with rock or jazz today. Several of these names are in the catalog, which makes it easy to move from traditional bluegrass to newgrass and jamgrass. Here are a few simple landmarks to get your bearings:

The founders: Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, The Stanley Brothers
Flatt & Scruggs' "Foggy Mountain Breakdown", made famous by the film "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967)
The next wave: Doc Watson, Sam Bush and newgrass, Tony Trischka on banjo
The "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack, which revived wide interest in the music