Bluegrass music is one of the popular genres of native American music consisting of jazz and pop cultured notes of stringed instruments. Seemingly similar to country music, this genre is usually referred to as its subset. Check out here some of the famous songs and albums of all time that were actually bluegrass music!
Early songs:
Starting from the 1940s, bluegrass music gained a lot of popularity through radio and solo recordings. The early music composers and singers formed the early bands to propagate the music worldwide.
- Molly and Tenbrokes –Composed and performed by Stanley Brothers, this album is one of the earliest recorded songs released in 1982. It was the most popular song of the Stanley Series, which comprised 16 songs performed around 1960, prominent with banjo and guitar notes.
- East Tennessee Blues- This song was performed in 1926 by the earliest bluegrass artists, Bill Monroe and Doc Watson. It was regarded as the all-time favorite of many bluegrass lovers as its major part has fiddle notes. Years later, other artists like Tommy Jackson and Sierra Hull also performed this song with their variations.
- Appalachian Coal Mine-This album dates back to 2007, performed by several renowned bluegrass artists, including the Stanley Brothers, covering the coal miner’s history of Virginia’s region. It was released as a composed album available for sale as CDs and DVDs. The album primarily highlighted the lung hazards and the breathing problems of Appalachian coal miners.
Featured in movies:
Apart from the singles and albums, bluegrass music also gained good recognition across the western world by contributing prominently to various movies.
- Dueling Banjos-Recorded in 1972 by the artist Steve Mandell and Eric Weissberg, this piece has noticeable notes of guitar and banjo. It was also featured in the 1972s adventure drama, Deliverance.
- The broken circle breakdown album- 2012’s Dutch movie, The broken circle breakdown is a drama set around the band with the same name to promote bluegrass music and the artists’ lives. The movie has a soundtrack collection of more than 10 songs, all of which were performed by the acting artists themselves.
- 2001 Maniac’s album– Released in 2005, the American horror comedy film, 2001 Maniacs also has a lot of bluegrass music to match the movie’s drama.
- Brother, Where Art Thou? –With the same name of the soundtrack and the movie, this 2000’s bluegrass song was composed and performed by Mike Compton, one of the guided followers of Bill Monroe. The soundtrack has prominent notes of stringed mandolin.
Latest songs:
Bluegrass music has received worldwide fame and recognition after the post-World War 2’s reconstruction and the bluegrass festival of the 1960s. Current artists like Billy Strings, Rhonda Vincent, Sturgill Simpson, and Larry Sparks are now famous for modern bluegrass music, still following the classic native principles.
With the development of online resources, these artists got quick recognition and hugely positive response. Along with this popularity, the bluegrass music genre also hosts annual programs for nominations and award distributions, highlighting the best artists.
