Bluegrass Nation

For a quick explanation of the etymology of the word “Bluegrass”, in terms of the genre, it should be noted that it is a word borrowed from something that was borrowed. In Kentucky, some of the grass grows with a blue hue to it, which led to the state’s nickname, “The Blue Grass State.” When Bill Monroe (“The Father of Bluegrass”) started up his country music group in the late 1930s, he named them after the nickname of his home state (Kentucky). Monroe’s band played a style that was similar to, but different from, country music. By the late ‘50s, Bluegrass had grown into a festival genre (like folk music), which was separate from country music. No one knew what to call the new genre, so they named it after the original great band, The Blue Grass Boys, and thus called it “Bluegrass.” So, the genre is named after a band, who is named after a state nickname, that was formed from color of grass that grew there.

Bluegrass has its own style and technique. There are two requirements for a bluegrass song: high and lonesome. The “high” portion contains somewhat of a dual meaning, where the music is usually high pitched, and also it seems as if the singer is high up in altitude, creating an echo. The “lonesome” aspect implies loneliness and distance from the outside world. If a bluegrass singer gives you the impression that he is standing on the top of a mountain and is the only man around (with exception for the rest of the band), then he has done his job. Furthermore, there has been, within the last fifteen years, a shift in the acoustics of bluegrass, which divide it. The split is between the traditional method of playing traditional acoustic string instruments (mandolin, fiddle, banjo, upright bass, guitar, and sometimes the dobro (steel guitar) or dulcimer), and a more electronic style, known as the “wall of sound”, where instruments are amplified to create the feel that the music is rushing at you in a wall that envelops you. But whatever method is used, it will always have two qualities–it will sound high and lonesome.

This style reflects the living conditions of those living in Appalachia, because they did not live in neighborhoods, as suburbs were nonexistent in that region of the United States , and they did not live in big cities. Try as you may, but you are not going to get a large urban area to sprout up atop hills and mountains. These people would live in cabins on respective hills. This was a popular theme, with songs such as, “Little Old Log Cabin on the Hill”, “Cabin on the Hill”, “Little Cabin Home on the Hill”, “Cabin on a Mountain”, and “Log Cabin in the Lane” (Do you notice a pattern here?). People lived in areas that were seemingly secluded, and would fall behind technologically. One reason there is a heavy emphasis on acoustic instruments is because many areas of Appalachia did not get electricity until after World War II. The high-pitched singing is just a matter of human thought. Deep sounding voices and tones tend to seem more personal (e.g. Barry White), while high sounding voices and tones tend to seem more impersonal and lonely. As neighbors were infrequent, one’s family would be the only people around with whom to socialize. So, often would a family learn to play musical instruments and play them in a circle. This would sometimes create a family band where, “Daddy sang bass, mama sang tenor, me and little brother would join right in.”

One family that was quite good at the family band business was the Carters. A.P. Carter, his wife Sara Carter, and sister-in-law Maybelle (who would later earn the nickname “Mother” Maybelle Carter) composed the first lineup of the legendary band that would later include June Carter Cash (Maybelle’s daughter). They began performing in 1927, as one of the first country music acts, and influenced many of their successors in country, bluegrass, and folk. Their songs would usually be about desperation, loss, joy, and love, all of which can be seen in the lyrics of one of their signature songs, Will the Circle Be Unbroken?

The song, which was originally written in 1907 and later revised by the Carters, opens with the listener finding out that the singer’s mother has just died (setting the tone for a depressing song). But, the chorus comes in with the singer asking, “Will the circle be unbroken?; By and by, Lord, by and by; There’s a better home awaiting; In the sky Lord, in the sky.” The circle, of course, being the family circle mentioned above. The second verse sends home the association with the mother with lines like “Undertaker, please drive slow,” and, “I hate to see her go.” The fourth verse speaks of returning home to mourning siblings, and commenting on how sad and lonesome the place is. At this point the listener, if they haven’t already, thinks of how it must feel to be in the singer’s position.

The four components of a Carter Family song, mentioned earlier, are evident in this piece. The love is the platonic love relationship between child and mother. The loss is evident, as the mother has just passed away. The Joy in the song, and this depends on how it is taken, is that the mother is now in heaven. Finally, the desperation is a mood set all throughout the song, as it sounds like the singer is on the verge of bursting into tears. But the desperation can be seen when one thinks of what will come of the family, and what they will do without their mother. The song gives no mention of a father, so it could be assumed that there is no father, and that the family now has no parents. And, with the line in the fourth verse, “All my brothers, sisters crying,” it sounds like there are at least five children (the singer, plural brother and plural sister), and probably more. The loss of a parent, and the outcomes, has been covered in our readings when we read My Antönia. Antönia’s situation got quite bleak, as she had to work rather than go to school.

While the Carter Family is not considered a bluegrass band, a lot of their music is in that style. They can be included in this discussion because their style comes out of the same style as Bluegrass. However, their contributions mainly lent to country more than Bluegrass. But, most of the Carter Family themes, discussed earlier, remained in bluegrass music. One such theme was the wish to be back to the childhood home, or the “old home.” This idea has been expressed in much of the bluegrass music since the 1960s. Some songs that have become popular with the old home are, “On My Way Back to the Old Home”, “Our Old Home”, “I wonder how the Old Folks Are at Home”, “My Old Home in Whitetop Mountain”, “The Old Hometown”, and two distinctly different songs titled “The Old Home Place.”

In 1975, J.D. Crowe and his band The New South (featuring one of the most talent-packed lineups in bluegrass history) put out a self-titled album (also known as Rounder 0044) with the song “Old Home Place” which laments about leaving to go to the big city, following a “girl from the town” and the promise of a nice job at a sawmill. Apparently, when he left the home and his “plow in the field,” the bank took the land, tore down the house, and it is all his fault. At the end of the song, the singer becomes almost suicidal, with the final verse line, “I lost my love, I lost my home, And now I wish that I was dead.” The band, included some of the top bluegrass names today, including J.D. Crowe (banjo, vocals), Ricky Skaggs (mandolin), Jerry Douglas (dobro), and Tony Rice (guitar, vocals). The album was an incredible piece of work, and is considered one of the greatest albums in the history of Bluegrass
Representing another version of the Old Home, nostalgic theme was “Rocky Top,” by the Osborne Brothers (Sonny and Bobby). Although the Osbornes did not write it, they first performed and recorded it in 1967. Opposed to “Old Home Place” this is a very upbeat and happy sounding song. The song opens up with the lines, “Wish that I was on ol’ Rocky Top, Down in the Tennessee Hills, Ain’t no smoggy smoke on Rocky Top, Ain’t no telephone bills.”, calling back to a simpler life atop the mountains. The song continues with tales of a lost love, who was “Wild as a mink, but sweet as soda pop”, the arability of the land (“The dirt’s too rocky, by far”), strangers looking for a moonshine still and never being heard from again. The third verse laments about having moved to the city, and being, “Trapped like a duck in a pen,” and pitying city life, preferring life on the mountain. The song became really popular, was made the official Tennessee state song, and is the unofficial fight song of the University of Tennessee. The song is part of Tennessean identity. For a song to be more popular as be played by the marching band of a school, than that school’s official fight song is a really big honor.

In 2006, Bobby Osborne (without his brother, Sonny) released a song called “The Hard Times”, with his band the Rocky Top X-Press, that is structured in much the same way as “Rocky Top”. It lampoons city life with such lyrics as, “I make twice the money that I made, In the Country, But it takes three times what I make supporting, a wife and family.” While the song’s main focus is that he can’t escape hardships of financial insecurity, the distaste for city life, and embrace of rural life is clearly evident in the song.

Religion is yet another aspect of Bluegrass. When people live far away from each other, it is increasingly difficult to have a consistent congregation at a church. Some would go to the “old country church house”, which was typically a one-room building, built for a small crowd. Others, perhaps living too far from a church to attend once a week, would have had to resort to being a type of personal preacher:
The most common form of religion among Appalachian people, fundamentalist Protestantism, stresses that church attendance is not necessary for salvation, which may be achieved through daily faith and reference to the Bible as well as through such expressions of religious faith and thought as gospel music.

Bluegrass was all over this concept, with old hymns like “Somebody Touched Me” and “What Would You Give (In Exchange For Your Soul)?”, and new gospel creations like “Just Over in the Gloryland” and “Walking in Jerusalem Just Like John”. While these songs did not take up a majority of a band or artist’s album (with the exception of specialty all-gospel albums), they did have their place in the pantheon of Bluegrass music. Not much more can really be said of Bluegrass and its ties to Appalachian religion, because there really is not that much to say. People were religious, so they sang music that reflected their piety.

Bluegrass represents a region of American society because it is able to reflect the values and ideals of a certain specialized group in that region (poor, white, rural, Southeasterners). Through an association with the family circle and old home, Bluegrass is able to demonstrate the region’s close ties with the family, friends, and loved ones. Through its music that almost seems to reminisce about the older times, Bluegrass is able to reflect the strong traditions of simplicity. Furthermore, Bluegrass’s gospel element is what reflects the deep religious beliefs of the people living in that region. Bluegrass is truly an American artform.

Works Cited:

Carter, Maybelle and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. “Will The Circle Be Unbroken?” EMI America: Will the Circle Be Unbroken?, 1972.
Cash, Johnny. “Daddy Sang Bass”. Columbia: The Holy Land, 1969.
Crowe, J.D. & The New South. “The Old Home Place”, Rounder: J.D. Crowe & The New South (Rounder 0044), 1975.
Osborne, Bobby & The Rocky Top X-Press. “The Hard Times”. Rounder: Try a Little Kindness, 2006.
Osborne Brothers, The. “Rocky Top”. RCA: Rocky Top, 1967.
Rosenberg, Neil V. Bluegrass: A History. University of Illinois Press: Chicago, 1993. (231-2).