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ForeverAutumn
04-17-2008, 05:23 AM
My guitar teacher turned me on to Doc Watson recently and I'm really enjoying this style of music. Some of the songs are kind of cheesy, but overall I like the excellent guitar playing and foot stomping beat.

Are there any bluegrass fans here? Can anyone make a recommendation of where I should go from here?

nobody
04-17-2008, 07:03 AM
Depends of you're looking for just old time stuff or if you're interested in modern variations. Modern groups like Old Crow Medicine Show have a fresh take on Bluegrass that I like.

More traditional big names like Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs or Bill Monroe are excellent examples of the genre.

Then, if you wanna get real old timey, you could hunt down something like the Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk Music which is more folk and blues oriented but which kinda lays the groundwork for a lot of bluegrass stuff.

thereyet
04-17-2008, 07:38 AM
Also, for mandolin...Jethro Burns.

I am a big fan of Doc and the late Merle Watson.

Also, an electric twist on the theme from the '70s New Grass Revival.

thereyet

Davey
04-17-2008, 07:50 AM
Yeah, there's a bunch of gooduns, but one of my somewhat modern favorites is Tony Furtado "Roll My Blues Away", an acoustic blues and bluegrass combination with stellar string picking by all the players, and a great sounding album too. A little more than just banjo and slide guitar, but not too much. Kelly Joe Phelps also plays guitar and lends vocals to a few songs and does a very good job. Some great progressive bluegrass, to be sure.

Amazon.com
On Roll My Blues Away, Tony Furtado combines his bluegrass banjo past and his slide-guitar blues future with a haunting, spare elegance that marks this as a superior acoustic-instrumental. Like Fleck and Cooder, Furtado has learned that the liberation of acoustic music lies not in playing more notes faster but in playing fewer notes with more feeling. On this album's 10 original instrumentals and two traditional songs, the arrangements are stripped down to focus on the strong melodies. His guitar sounds weary but content on the lovely Tex-Mex ballad, "Song for Early"; his banjo evokes the prickly dissatisfaction of the slow blues, "Willow Tree"; he plays both guitar and banjo on the nervous, restless tune, "The Stark Raven." --Geoffrey Himes

Ex Lion Tamer
04-17-2008, 09:04 AM
My guitar teacher turned me on to Doc Watson recently and I'm really enjoying this style of music. Some of the songs are kind of cheesy, but overall I like the excellent guitar playing and foot stomping beat.

Are there any bluegrass fans here? Can anyone make a recommendation of where I should go from here?

I know nothing about Bluegrass, but one of my favorite Steve Earle albums; Train a Comin' is a bit of a bluegrass tribute and I love it.

Davey
04-17-2008, 09:44 AM
I know nothing about Bluegrass, but one of my favorite Steve Earle albums; Train a Comin' is a bit of a bluegrass tribute and I love it.

"This here's the 'Hometown Blues' with apologies to Thomas Wolfe and Doc Watson."

Yea, that is a great album, probably still my favorite one by Steve Earle. Too much smiley face EQ in places, but sounds pretty good overall, especially for a Steve Earle record, most of which sound like crap :)

oaqm
04-17-2008, 10:00 AM
You very much want to explore the Carter Family.

Here's a good place to start: http://www.carterfamilyfold.org/

N. Abstentia
04-17-2008, 06:32 PM
Get you some Tony Rice, Doyle Lawson, Flatt & Scruggs, JD Crowe....all the good 'old school' bluegrass guys that fit in with Doc.