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Fox Bluegrass Festival: The past and Future of Acoustic Music
By Ross Rice
Sorry
folks, I have to start with a quick disclaimer: I like bluegrass
music. Always have. When my extended family gets together, usually
way up in the north part of the Adirondacks, we play it, usually
after a big meal and a few beers. Everyone, including the über-hip
teenagers, get into the act, and for at least an hour or two, we
are all doing something (other than eating) together, picking on
old family favorites. This seems to have a beneficial effect on
everyone, and afterwards, as everyone splits up to their respective
iPods and CD players, back to their personal musical tastes: indie,
nu rock, and hip-hop for the younger, pop, jazz, and R&B for
the mids, and folk and classical for the elders; everyone seems
to get along just a little bit better, and I’m pretty sure
it’s because of that brief moment of intergenerational harmony.
But some folks still don’t understand.
I bring up the subject of bluegrass music to certain worldly and
savvy folks, and their eyes glaze over; you can almost see the images
of hayseed cornpone fruit-jar likker and barefeet flit across their
conciousness, “Deliverance” and “Duelling Banjos,”
or more recently, the “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” caricature
of Southern-style hick-ery. Bluegrass, as a brand, generally just
can’t get a break in these moden times. The words “Banjo”
and “cutting edge” will never be seen in the same sentence,
except here.
So,
you have to wonder, where are all these people coming from, these
thousands from diverse walks of life, converging on a Dutchess County
hillside, despite minimal publicity, miniscule radio airplay, and
spotty distribution—to hear this apparently unpopular kind
of music? What gives?
CONTINUE....
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