First off, a shameless plug for the Big Horn Mountain Festival, which I attended with the man this past weekend in Buffalo, WY. It’s always more fun to tear down than build up (as any construction worker can attest) but I have nothing bad to say about this outdoor festival. And I wouldn’t consider myself an afficionado, either. I always thought bluegrass was a kissing cousin to country music (or, as they say in Appalachia: Mommy and Daddy).
Which brings me to my quandry du jour: what the heck is the difference between bluegrass and country music, anyway? Judging by the audiences at the two events I attended this weekend, it’s the difference between mushrooms and Coors.
Country music blared from the speakers at the rodeo, both before and after the group prayer. Later on, the announcer strongly suggested we stand in our seats “if we support the troops.” While I was thinking on that one (eeney, meanie, miney, mo….) the man dragged me up by the elbow. Apparently, he was in no mood to see his fiance lynched by a blindly patriotic crowd. Good call. If I remain alive through rodeo weekend, I can cancel at least one redneck vote, come November.
The audience at the bluegrass festival was pretty much at the opposite end of the spectrum. People were drinking, sure, but the little kids were barefoot and their moms wore braids and straw hats and didn’t shave their legs. They were as close to hippies as you see in rural Wyoming. Of course there were Obama stickers on the cars in the parking lot.
So who decided that country music went to McCain, and bluegrass to Obama? Why are Republicans rodeo folk, while bluegrass music goes to the peace-and-loving Democrats? All I know is that people danced and sang along to “Trailer Park Fire” at the music festival, while the other end of the spectrum ostensibly went home to set theirs ablaze after the rodeo.
I enjoyed stopping by both camps this weekend, and I was even more pleased to fall asleep without either Coors or mushrooms (or corn dogs, natch) in my system. In a house. With a foundation. And just enough of a sunburn to remind me that, on occasion, there are genuine good times to be had outside of its walls.
oh and me. supporter of Ron Paul and lover of bluegrass.
I think it’s a very interesting question.
Bluegrass is acoustic. Country is very industry-driven, over-produced, false-sounding.
But sometimes the two blend so closely. Dolly Parton, for instance, would once surely have been considered a country singer, but now she is all-out bluegrass.
I don’t know. I suspect bluegrass musicians and country music people don’t hang out together much. Shania Twain and Alison Krauss having drinks– I’m not seein’ it.
I can’t believe those stupid hippie bluegrass posers won’t allow guns at the show, has anyone ever heard of the 2nd amendment?
I think the two were very closely related until the 60’s. Country started becoming more produced and star-driven to compete with rock while bluegrass began to have festivals to promote its popularity and its new fans were mainly young hippie-types attracted to its ‘pure’ sound. Jerry Garcia’s involvement in the early 70’s certainly nailed that transformation. So when Dolly Parton is doing BG, I think she’s just giving a nod to her old-time roots rather than the slick machine that is today’s country.