"Hi, my name is Brian and I am a former Rock 'n Roll Addict....I had it bad too...." That's how my own "Hooked on Bluegrass" story begins. Yours may begin a lot differently. Chris Stapleton (formerly with the SteelDrivers) starts his with: "... I kind of dropped out of school, was looking for a life direction, and started playing bluegrass..." And Dan Tyminski (Man of Constant Sorrow and Alison Krauss and Union Station) says: "...I was very fortunate to have parents who were music enthusiasts and loved to go to fiddle contests, square dances and bluegrass festivals."
For the past ten years, the California Bluegrass Association has been collecting stories from it’s members and from the broader national bluegrass community.The tales, which range in length from a paragraph to several, answer the simple question...how did you get hooked on bluegrass?
From CBA member pickers to national icons like Doyle Lawson and Rob Ickes to rank and file ‘grinners’, the hooked series present a rich and textured snap shot of the magnetism our music has and the influence it can exert on the lives of those who fall in love with it. Will you share your story and have it added to the Association’s close to 300 hooked on bluegrass tales?
GUIDELINES:
Each post is meant to tell the unique story of one person's relationship with their music, whether as a fan or as a musician. It’s OK to write about your authorship, your band, or your YouTube channel, etc. but remember that the goal is to share a historical story of becoming "HOOKED," rather than a focus on your current activities.
Also, you’ll want to submit a photo of yourself. A photo in some sort of bluegrass setting might be best - if you have an instrument or perhaps at a festival.
Click here to read the stories. To submit your own “Hooked-On-Bluegrass” story, write to: rickcornish7777@hotmail.com.
2 comments:
I grew up in the Mississippi Delta, in northwest Mississippi, center of the state right on the banks of the Mississippi River. In those days, the 40s and 50s, we had not TV, and I listened to the radio as a child. Most of the stations were country; I remember listening to Bill Monroe on the Grand Ole Opry and liked the energy of his music as well as his high tenor voice. However, in the mid-fifties, when I heard Elvis, I left country music behind and was deeply attached to his music and the ensuing Rock and Rock music. I grew to detest any thing "country."
But during my later years when I heard pure bluegrass music, I always had a "warm and fuzzy" feeling for it. I loved the fast paced timing and the energy it brought. A few years back, I began to listen to more bluegrass music and realized that the genre had changed considerably since the old days. Bluegrass can be appreciated by anyone with a love for music due to it's almost classical and jazz-like qualities. I began to appreciate the fact that bluegrass, like literature (my other love), has a canon of music, something that few other genres, except classical, can claim. One can do the canonical music or even launch out into new territory and be really off the wall. Bluegrass music makes me happy and feel secure, like an old friend; and, as an adult, is almost the only music that will allow me an opportunity to hang out for two or three days and listen to live performances all day and into the night.
Great story Charlie. I hope you also sent this to the California Bluegrass Assoc. so they can publish it in their archives. Here's the address again: rickcornish7777@hotmail.com.
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