I might be wrong, but I can't imagine a banjo being popular anywhere else.
April 7, 2011 11:11 PM Subscribe
Is bluegrass music a solely American phenomenon? Do people in other countries listen to bluegrass? If so, do they listen to American bluegrass, or are there similar genres throughout the world?
The banjo is very popular in traditional Irish music, and bluegrass itself is a hybrid of traditional Scotch, Irish, English, and Welsh musics mixed with African music.
posted by scody at 11:20 PM on April 7, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by scody at 11:20 PM on April 7, 2011 [3 favorites]
Oh, and there's also the cümbüş, an early-20th-century Turkish folk instrument with similarities to the banjo.
posted by scody at 11:31 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by scody at 11:31 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]
Bela Fleck did a tour of Africa (of sorts) and made a docu film about it - Throw Down Your Heart. I haven't seen it yet, but as I've heard, he plays proto-banjo with several natives.
posted by attercoppe at 11:48 PM on April 7, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by attercoppe at 11:48 PM on April 7, 2011 [2 favorites]
Actually, banjo is huge across the pond in the UK and in many other places outside of the US right now, at least partially thanks to the resurgence of folk music and the popularity of Americana and the nu-folk movement. In fact, I couldn't even name a London or Ireland, etc. based folk band that doesn't have a banjo in it.
I think the advent of the internet and music blogs has made it pretty easy for people in various countries to get their hands on whatever they want, and that has inspired bands and music fans. London's own Mumford & Sons are actually touring with Old Crow Medicine Show right now, who as mentioned are pretty bluegrassy themselves.
Bluegrass is considered an American roots music genre, but that was pretty well inspired by Irish and Scottish music anyway.
posted by mewithoutyou at 11:56 PM on April 7, 2011
I think the advent of the internet and music blogs has made it pretty easy for people in various countries to get their hands on whatever they want, and that has inspired bands and music fans. London's own Mumford & Sons are actually touring with Old Crow Medicine Show right now, who as mentioned are pretty bluegrassy themselves.
Bluegrass is considered an American roots music genre, but that was pretty well inspired by Irish and Scottish music anyway.
posted by mewithoutyou at 11:56 PM on April 7, 2011
I'm in the UK and I've got a couple of Bluegrass albums and mean to get more. Although one of them is a set of Bluegrass Pink Floyd covers ('Pickin' On Pink Floyd'). I'm not sure if that counts...
There's an excellent Japanese bluegrass track, played on traditional Japanese instruments, called "Appalachian Shemisen" by Takeharu Kunimoto. It's on the 'Rough Guide To Japan' CD.
posted by BinaryApe at 11:58 PM on April 7, 2011
There's an excellent Japanese bluegrass track, played on traditional Japanese instruments, called "Appalachian Shemisen" by Takeharu Kunimoto. It's on the 'Rough Guide To Japan' CD.
posted by BinaryApe at 11:58 PM on April 7, 2011
Never trust music databases to spell track titles correctly - that should have been "Appalachian-Shamisen" : http://www.amazon.com/Appalachian-Shamisen-Takeharu-Kunimoto/dp/B000JBXYEY
posted by BinaryApe at 12:01 AM on April 8, 2011
posted by BinaryApe at 12:01 AM on April 8, 2011
Mumford & Sons are actually touring with Old Crow Medicine Show right now, who as mentioned are pretty bluegrassy themselves.
oh, if Mumford & Sons count they're one of the biggest bands in Australia. they topped the Triple J Hottest 100, the biggest music poll in the world and a pretty reliable barometer of where we're at. we also have heaps of blues and folk festivals, so I'm guessing there's a place for more traditional bluegrass acts. you might want to check out the Bluesfest lineup and see if anyone fits.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 12:09 AM on April 8, 2011
oh, if Mumford & Sons count they're one of the biggest bands in Australia. they topped the Triple J Hottest 100, the biggest music poll in the world and a pretty reliable barometer of where we're at. we also have heaps of blues and folk festivals, so I'm guessing there's a place for more traditional bluegrass acts. you might want to check out the Bluesfest lineup and see if anyone fits.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 12:09 AM on April 8, 2011
Just so you know - Billy Connolly places a mean banjo.
posted by caliban at 12:09 AM on April 8, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by caliban at 12:09 AM on April 8, 2011 [1 favorite]
Yes people do listen to bluegrass although it's related to (British/Irish) folk music in the UK, since almost no one listens to country. I don't think there's a separate bluegrass tradition here so it will be American bluegrass, and then folk/nu-folk with banjos in it. With American bluegrass not nearly as popular as folk.
posted by plonkee at 12:20 AM on April 8, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by plonkee at 12:20 AM on April 8, 2011 [1 favorite]
There's apparently a substantial bluegrass scene in Japan and at least some kind of presence in Korea, and I'm gonna guess there's going to be nostalgic bluegrass fans in most any country that the US has occupied 1940s-1970s. It's not a completely new phenomenon anyways. I'm hoping someone who actually knows something about bluegrass history will follow up with more information about API bluegrass.
posted by ilk at 12:23 AM on April 8, 2011
posted by ilk at 12:23 AM on April 8, 2011
One way of seeing bluegrass is through its roots in the British and Irish settlers who ended up in the marginal land of Appalachia. British interest in bluegrass dovetailed with the folk revival: my dad has a couple of banjos, and his record collection from the 1960s includes Flatt & Scruggs alongside the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, the latter of whom were also an influence on the young Bob Dylan. It fits into the Mike Harding "roots" niche.
since almost no one listens to country
You'd be surprised: while twangy Nashville-style country is definitely a minority interest in the UK, it's there if you scratch the surface, and more than just this guy.
posted by holgate at 12:29 AM on April 8, 2011 [1 favorite]
since almost no one listens to country
You'd be surprised: while twangy Nashville-style country is definitely a minority interest in the UK, it's there if you scratch the surface, and more than just this guy.
posted by holgate at 12:29 AM on April 8, 2011 [1 favorite]
Follow the Cowboys in Glasgow to the Grand Ole Opry for country music needs. There are lots of cowboys in Govan so watch what ones you do follow.
And the Highland trail of bars on, and around, Argyle street have live music that includes bluegrass. Lismore, Park Bar, IslayInn , Snaffle bit and the Ben Nevis.
posted by stuartmm at 2:06 AM on April 8, 2011
And the Highland trail of bars on, and around, Argyle street have live music that includes bluegrass. Lismore, Park Bar, IslayInn , Snaffle bit and the Ben Nevis.
posted by stuartmm at 2:06 AM on April 8, 2011
Just popping in to agree that Bluegrass is really popular in Japan and has been for a long time. Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys Live in Japan is an amazing album that was recorded there in 1971. The audience completely freak out with excitement throughout the recording and are obviously familiar with every song.
Seriously, it's a great album. You should check it out.
posted by cilantro at 2:29 AM on April 8, 2011 [1 favorite]
Seriously, it's a great album. You should check it out.
posted by cilantro at 2:29 AM on April 8, 2011 [1 favorite]
Bluegrass used to be broadcast via US Army bases' radio station in Europe during the 1950s and 1960s, and created a subculture among Germans and especially Czechs for American country sounds. This dovetailed nicely with a German fascination with the Old West - based on the wildly popular novels of Karl May - that manifests itself in a strong subculture of "country" bars where people go dressed in "Cowboy" costume and a circuit for bluegrass and country bands. Writer Ruth Gruber has been researching this for years, and her blog Sauerkraut Cowboys is a treasure trove of info about the European vision of "wild America."
The Czechs, in particular, have deep bluegrass roots. In the 1930s the "tramp" subculture meant city dwellers hoisted backpacks and went "hoboing" for the weekend in the countryside, meeting at "tramp bars" and singing "tramp" songs of the road. Jimmy ROgers became the sound of the movement, which continued during communism and continues today. The Czechs have a very active Bluegrass scene (and country: Nashville stars sometimes used to record there because you could get the local dobro and banjo virtuosos in and out of the studio for a lot cheaper) Mandolinist Radim Zenkl is an example of one Czech bluegrasser who has gone on to success in the USA.
posted by zaelic at 2:48 AM on April 8, 2011 [9 favorites]
The Czechs, in particular, have deep bluegrass roots. In the 1930s the "tramp" subculture meant city dwellers hoisted backpacks and went "hoboing" for the weekend in the countryside, meeting at "tramp bars" and singing "tramp" songs of the road. Jimmy ROgers became the sound of the movement, which continued during communism and continues today. The Czechs have a very active Bluegrass scene (and country: Nashville stars sometimes used to record there because you could get the local dobro and banjo virtuosos in and out of the studio for a lot cheaper) Mandolinist Radim Zenkl is an example of one Czech bluegrasser who has gone on to success in the USA.
posted by zaelic at 2:48 AM on April 8, 2011 [9 favorites]
Mumford and Sons are NOT Bluegrass. they write POP music. MOR pop with a folk touch
posted by mary8nne at 3:18 AM on April 8, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by mary8nne at 3:18 AM on April 8, 2011 [1 favorite]
Americana UK might give you an insight into how this music is perceived in the UK. A look at their top 10 albums of 2010 lists shows several mentions of bluegrass albums.
posted by Infinite Jest at 3:21 AM on April 8, 2011
posted by Infinite Jest at 3:21 AM on April 8, 2011
I have a friend who lives in Japan who is a banjo player and has a couple of regular places he goes to listen to live bluegrass and occasionally play a set with the bands. This article mentions Rocky Top, which I think is his favorite bluegrass place. To listen to some bluegrass as played in Japan, a quick google search is your friend.
posted by sciencegeek at 4:01 AM on April 8, 2011
posted by sciencegeek at 4:01 AM on April 8, 2011
Japan was already mentioned, but as another mefite living in Japan, I've noticed you can find pockets of rabid connoisseurs for almost any style of music if you know where to look here, and bluegrass is no exception. Even in my rural/suburban home of Shiga prefecture, there's an annual "Bluegrass Camp" which is basically a two day show where the audience camps overnight (here's a clip from '09).
This is usually "American" style bluegrass, and I'd imagine anything labelled bluegrass nowadays should be some form of the American stuff from which the name was born. But I'd also guess that in other countries you could also find similar local folk music incorporating the pairing of bowed and picked stringed instruments with simple melodies. Those types of instruments can even be hand made. Not as easy to make a piano or a tuba out in the woodshop!
posted by p3t3 at 4:26 AM on April 8, 2011
This is usually "American" style bluegrass, and I'd imagine anything labelled bluegrass nowadays should be some form of the American stuff from which the name was born. But I'd also guess that in other countries you could also find similar local folk music incorporating the pairing of bowed and picked stringed instruments with simple melodies. Those types of instruments can even be hand made. Not as easy to make a piano or a tuba out in the woodshop!
posted by p3t3 at 4:26 AM on April 8, 2011
Bluegrass in Belgium.
Don't know what it is about Belgium and the Netherlands, but, back when I was active in the twang scene, it seemed like every band I talked to had a review published in Belgian or Dutch and not a few CD sales. Incidentally, this is why I know that "jankijzer" is Dutch for pedal steel guitar.
posted by stet at 7:11 AM on April 8, 2011
Don't know what it is about Belgium and the Netherlands, but, back when I was active in the twang scene, it seemed like every band I talked to had a review published in Belgian or Dutch and not a few CD sales. Incidentally, this is why I know that "jankijzer" is Dutch for pedal steel guitar.
posted by stet at 7:11 AM on April 8, 2011
Posting from the Bluegrass State! :)
I grew up in central Kentucky, so of course bluegrass music is pretty much everywhere here. In Berea, where I'm from, folks used to come from all over to hear and learn from the McLain Family Band, and to visit Renfro Valley. Folks from Scotland and Ireland we pretty much expected, but eastern Europe? Africa? Japan?
I grew up in the '70s, so I sort of wrote off the international interest in bluegrass as being part of the whole folk music thing that was going on at the time. But that interest has never truly abated. Some bluegrass organization had a big conference here in Louisville last year, and I turned on the morning news to see a somewhat stunned local reporter interviewing musicians from Czechoslovakia, who were patiently explaining their interest in bluegrass (so I can vouch for zaelic's post).
It's kind of neat, to see the way bluegrass has taken off globally. Seeing how people have adapted the music and the instruments to their own local cultures is really cool.
Anyway, to sum up: yes, bluegrass music is an American phenomenon (a Kentucky one, to be specific, dadgumit!), but people from all over the world have been showing up here in Kentucky to learn about it for thirty-odd years, so I guess it makes sense that it would eventually be popular elsewhere!
('Course, here at home it seems some African-Americans are reclaiming the banjo (aka the American akonting), and that's cool, too.)
posted by magstheaxe at 7:42 AM on April 8, 2011 [1 favorite]
I grew up in central Kentucky, so of course bluegrass music is pretty much everywhere here. In Berea, where I'm from, folks used to come from all over to hear and learn from the McLain Family Band, and to visit Renfro Valley. Folks from Scotland and Ireland we pretty much expected, but eastern Europe? Africa? Japan?
I grew up in the '70s, so I sort of wrote off the international interest in bluegrass as being part of the whole folk music thing that was going on at the time. But that interest has never truly abated. Some bluegrass organization had a big conference here in Louisville last year, and I turned on the morning news to see a somewhat stunned local reporter interviewing musicians from Czechoslovakia, who were patiently explaining their interest in bluegrass (so I can vouch for zaelic's post).
It's kind of neat, to see the way bluegrass has taken off globally. Seeing how people have adapted the music and the instruments to their own local cultures is really cool.
Anyway, to sum up: yes, bluegrass music is an American phenomenon (a Kentucky one, to be specific, dadgumit!), but people from all over the world have been showing up here in Kentucky to learn about it for thirty-odd years, so I guess it makes sense that it would eventually be popular elsewhere!
('Course, here at home it seems some African-Americans are reclaiming the banjo (aka the American akonting), and that's cool, too.)
posted by magstheaxe at 7:42 AM on April 8, 2011 [1 favorite]
for the record, the roots of banjo are originally from Africa AFAIN. 4 string banjo is really popular in Irish music. Which bluegrass sort of has some roots in.
posted by sully75 at 8:33 AM on April 8, 2011
posted by sully75 at 8:33 AM on April 8, 2011
John Peel used to play Jawbone a lot, who is a little bluegrassy. Also, Hayseed Dixie were big for a little while here although they are pretty novelty.
Yes people do listen to bluegrass although it's related to (British/Irish) folk music in the UK, since almost no one listens to country.
Except for, y'know, listeners to the most popular station in the country. It's obviously not as big as it is in the States - the non-fan will know Tammy Wynnette and Dolly but not Garth Brooks - but there is an audience here. King Creosote used to be in a Scots bluegrass band for one.
posted by mippy at 8:54 AM on April 8, 2011 [1 favorite]
Yes people do listen to bluegrass although it's related to (British/Irish) folk music in the UK, since almost no one listens to country.
Except for, y'know, listeners to the most popular station in the country. It's obviously not as big as it is in the States - the non-fan will know Tammy Wynnette and Dolly but not Garth Brooks - but there is an audience here. King Creosote used to be in a Scots bluegrass band for one.
posted by mippy at 8:54 AM on April 8, 2011 [1 favorite]
I was listening to Terno Chelipe with a guy from South Carolina, he was all "yee-haw!". He was astonished to learn that Taraf de Haïdouks is actually a gypsy band from Romania...
posted by Tom-B at 9:08 AM on April 8, 2011
posted by Tom-B at 9:08 AM on April 8, 2011
Also, regarding your title, the banjo is one of the most characteristic instruments of pagode, a genre of samba. Nothing to do with bluegrass though.
posted by Tom-B at 9:15 AM on April 8, 2011
posted by Tom-B at 9:15 AM on April 8, 2011
Just ducking in to say that bluegrass certainly originated in the U.S. but enthusiasts can be found all over the world... also to point out that banjo does not automatically equal bluegrass. Irish folk music (four-string banjo played with a plectrum rather than picked in the 3-finger Earl Scruggs style) has already been mentioned. 4-string plectrum banjos were very also popular in jazz orchestras in the early 20th century. 5-string, open-back banjos played in the frailing/clawhammer style are what you usually hear in old-time music (which is what evolved into bluegrass.) And of course, banjo first rose to popularity in the US as one of the main components of minstrel music.
(And then there's the people who fake it by playing those six stringed guitar-banjos.)
posted by usonian at 10:12 AM on April 8, 2011
(And then there's the people who fake it by playing those six stringed guitar-banjos.)
posted by usonian at 10:12 AM on April 8, 2011
I would point to the The Kruger Brothers. Two brothers born and raised in Switzerland that play wonderful bluegrass music.
posted by tman99 at 11:03 AM on April 8, 2011
posted by tman99 at 11:03 AM on April 8, 2011
There's an excellent Japanese bluegrass track, played on traditional Japanese instruments, called "Appalachian Shemisen" by Takeharu Kunimoto. It's on the 'Rough Guide To Japan' CD.
And if you like that, you'll probably also like Bourbon Lassi, a similar take on bluegrass with South Asian influences. Hearing it I originally assumed it was Indian, though the link suggests that the band itself is Malaysian. I'm pretty sure they're unrelated to the British band of the same name.
posted by Sara C. at 11:14 AM on April 8, 2011
And if you like that, you'll probably also like Bourbon Lassi, a similar take on bluegrass with South Asian influences. Hearing it I originally assumed it was Indian, though the link suggests that the band itself is Malaysian. I'm pretty sure they're unrelated to the British band of the same name.
posted by Sara C. at 11:14 AM on April 8, 2011
Just a quick (foot)note: the term "Bluegrass music" was coined so people could refer to music similar to Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys
posted by Tuesday After Lunch at 11:38 AM on April 8, 2011
posted by Tuesday After Lunch at 11:38 AM on April 8, 2011
Boiled in Lead describe themselves as "We play country music... from lots of different countries!" (Linking to the Wikipedia entry, not their website, because on the website they seem to be doing that "let's pretend we've never had a lineup change and that the current members are the only ones and not mention anybody who's left" thing, which annoys me.)
posted by Lexica at 2:27 PM on April 8, 2011
posted by Lexica at 2:27 PM on April 8, 2011
Just Google for bluegrass [name of country]. You'll be surprised at what shows up!
posted by exphysicist345 at 6:08 PM on April 8, 2011
posted by exphysicist345 at 6:08 PM on April 8, 2011
Yeah, I didn't actually say Mumfords are bluegrass, I said they have a banjo in the band. However, there's enough bluegrass influence there. And I'm more inclined to say they write FOLK music with a pop touch. :)
posted by mewithoutyou at 2:13 AM on April 9, 2011
posted by mewithoutyou at 2:13 AM on April 9, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 11:17 PM on April 7, 2011