Bluegrass: Underrated Music?

in music •  8 years ago 

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I feel like with country music getting more and more popular here in the US lately it is also unsurprisingly getting a bit more... poppy sounding. While plenty of people do like this I am definitely not a big fan of the "Bro Country" and find myself really gravitating to anything that sounds a bit more old school. If that is what you are looking for then look no further than Bluegrass.

Wikipedia defines bluegrass music as -

 a form of American roots music, and a related genre of country music. Influenced by the music of Appalachia,[1] bluegrass has mixed roots in Irish, Scottish and English[2] traditional music, and was also later influenced by the music of African-Americans[3] through incorporation of jazz elements. 

I feel like bluegrass doesn't nearly get the respect it deserves so I wanted to shine a light on a number of bands I like. Keeping that in mind, not all of the bands I am about to share are strictly bluegrass but definitely close enough and they are most certainly worth a listen. So without further ado, here are a couple Bluegrass bands that I highly recommend giving at least a try. 

Trampled by Turtles

Trampled by Turtles is a bluegrass band that I stumbled across a number of years ago and I felt that their name alone warranted at least a listen. I am glad I gave them a chance because I really do like a number of their songs. Besides the one linked above I also really liked their songs Codeine and Victory


The Dead South

The Dead South is a canadian bluegrass band that formed in 2012. They have had some success recently ranking #2 on the US bluegrass charts with their latest album. If you like this song I would also suggest Honey You, Those 2 are probably my personal favorites.


The Steeldrivers

When I mentioned that I thought country had gone downhill lately there are still a few bright spots and one of those bright spots is Chris Stapleton. He has blown up the last year or so and for good reason, he is absolutely phenomenal. Before he was a solo country artist, he fronted the Steeldrivers and they almost have too many songs I like to just pick one to share. I recommend If it hadn't been for love (interestingly enough covered by Adele), Midnight Train to Memphis, and Angel of the Night. If you want to see what they sound like after Stapleton departed, Long Way Down is a nice one as well. 


Punch Brothers

The Punch Brothers are a bluegrass band out of, surprisingly, Brooklyn NY. They are grammy nominated and have been around for a little over a decade now. I would list a few other of their songs but this is the only one that really stands out to me. 


Thoughts?

I know there are plenty of bands I left out but I didn't want this post to be too long. If anyone out there likes these songs already, hates them, has any suggestions of other bands I might like, feel free to let me know in the comments.


 

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Check out some of the older 1970s bluegrass...John Hartford's album Steam Powered Aeroplane bridged traditional bluegrass with more modern styles and ideas...great stuff. Also if you're into that check out Tony Rice and Doc Watson...two of the best!

I'm not really a country music fan (I'm more in to the blues and jazz... ) but I agree with you. I'm really surprise that many country lovers don't notice how less country have in common with country music! Thanks for sharing and putting this topic out here!

Yeah, thankfully there are a few artists now (Chris Stapleton at the forefront in my mind) that are putting out non-pop sounding country.

Sturgill Simpson is also one of the true country artists worth mentioning.

I agree, you can see as much on this also older post :) https://steemit.com/music/@fingolfin/country-music-that-doesn-t-suck

I love folk/bluegrass. Thanks for sharing..

Yeah, I tried to keep it to bluegrass despite liking plenty of folk as well. Even though it was later covered by Darius Rucker you can't go wrong with this one by Old Crow Medicine Show for a great americana/folk song

lol. I was just going to mention OCMS! Great band!

Yeah, there are number of bands that are right on the line of which genre they are in. One of my favorites is The Civil Wars, they won a country grammy but I think they are more folk than anything else. If you aren't familiar with them then this song is a good place to start

I liked it! I will see what else they have. Thanks for the heads up!

No problem, they have plenty of other good songs as well

You're right, at the very least I enjoyed the songs you selected. Nice to hear music that isn't blasted on a radio 24/7

My homestead is in the Appalachian Mountains..The home/roots of folk and bluegrass. It seems to be making a comeback for good reason! Thanks for sharing!

No problem, always nice to be able to share the music I like with someone else. Its nice to be able to find a band that is new to you and get to really dig into it for the first time.

There are many bands in my area. I love attending concerts! No fighting or craziness.. Just good ole fun and love all around!

Thanks :)