Anyone here like Bluegrass/ New Acoustic music?

[jwhiskercut]

At the risk of being flamed for self promotion....

One of my other hobbies is music (I'm primarily a guitarist). I use the money I make from that to fund my multiple ADs. Lately, I've been sharing my new found DE shaving adventures with my music pals, so I figured I'd reverse it and share some of my music adventures here.

I released a CD of Bluegrass and New Acoustic music late last year. I'm a big Tony Rice fan so you can definitely hear some of his influence on me, but I think I have mine own thing going as well.

I'm not asking anyone to buy anything (though you are welcome to ). If you are bored, give the samples a listen and let me know what you think. Honest opinions are always welcome. I've have a few full songs up on MySpace also.

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/JoshWilson

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/last-man-in-the-county/id345446008

http://www.myspace.com/joshwilsonbluegrass


I promise, I will not regularly spam B&B with gig updates, etc!!!! I just thought maybe others would like a glimpse at my other hobbies. I also drag race, but I'll save that for another day.

 

[raisindot]

Josh, in spite of being a northern, Yankee liberal, I really do like instrumental bluegrass and am probably one of the few people north of the Mason Dixon line who likes to listen to banjo-picking instead of running away in horror.

Since you are looking for reactions, here are mine. Keep in mind that I am reviewing it as objectively as possible.

Good points: Very good playing, nice and tight. Do you do all the instruments or just some? The banjo playing in particular is quite fine. My favorite track if "Fireball," since it seems the most energetic and rockabilly sounding of all of them.

Criticisms: One of the limitations of bluegrass is that the genre has such a fixed set of conventions (1-2, 1-2 beat, hi/lo bass, 4 down 2 up 1 down melody structure nasal yodelling vocals, etc.) that many of the songs end up sounding the same. Unfortunately, this happens on your CD, where, after awhile it gets very hard to tell one song from another, since most use either a slow, mid, or fast 1-2 beat and the 4-2-1 structure are don't vary much in key signatures. So, in the end, what really matters is the quality of the picking (which is very good), but it gets a bit monotonous after awhile. I'm not quite sure why it's categorized as "progressive bluegrass," since the sound is very traditional. Very nice, but not particularly innovative.

If I didn't know this was your album and heard it in a store, I wouldn't be thinking "wow, this is an amazing bluegrass album that breaks the mold." However, if I saw it in my local library, I'd probably borrow it.

Hope this doesn't sound too harsh.

Now, I really want to know about the drag racing. Is it true that it's really hard running fast wearing high heels, blond wigs and mini-skirts?




Jeff in Boston

 

[jwhiskercut]

Jeff, I appreciate you taking the time to listen. I'll try to address you points as you did take time to analyze the entire thing.

I played guitar, bass and wrote 7-8 of the songs. Yes the banjo player is phenomenal and a nice guy to boot. He has toured Europe, etc. I feel extremely lucky to call him a friend.

As far as the 'progressive' bluegrass classification, most people would not hear the difference between what I do and 'traditional' bluegrass, as some of my songs are traditional/standard material. It's more in how we play those tunes and the composition of my original pieces. Bluegrass fanatics would hear a difference (no insult intended. I'll clarify).

One of my other adventures in music was a brief stint in a Death Metal band. We shared billing with Progressive Metal, New Metal, Industrial Metal, Classic Metal, and Heavy Metal bands. To the layman, most of that would sound exactly the same... screaming and distortion at high volumes. It did to me when I first started! As I was around it more and immersed myself in that music, I began to hear subtle difference in the styles.

The same goes for sub-genres in bluegrass. The differences are small and lines blur, because even though I like newer material, I still enjoy playing standards that were wrote in the 40's and 50's. Trust when I say the guy who ONLY likes Bill Monroe or Flatt & Scruggs (aka traditional bluegrass), will not appreciate my tune EGA. I've seen it first hands at gigs with an older fan base.

Bluegrass is definitely an 'aquired taste'. I was well into my 20's before I would admit to liking it. Admittedly, it is a fairly structured format. I think one of the cool things about it is being able to see how far you can stretch the edges of the mold without breaking it. As musician, I may not always accomplish that, but it's always a goal to work towards.

By the way, there is ZERO yodelling on my CD!!

Re: ....Drag Racing...... Blond wigs are optional now. This is a new age of acceptance. Even Brunettes can drag race.

 

[Edcculus]

I absolutely LOVE bluegrass. While I generally appreciate traditional bluegrass, my tastes gravitate more toward new age, or "new grass", hence my Hartford avatar. I'll give your music a listen tonight at work .

 

[wilsonent]

I live in Barren County. If you are a fan of New Grass Revival, you may have heard of the place, as it is a title of one of their early albums. Haven't had a chance to listen to your music yet, but I will as soon as I can. I am a huge fan of Tony Rice, Sam Bush, Bela Fleck and the like. As far as I am concerned, you can post your gigs here all you want.

Jeff

 

[Phog Allen]

Hi Josh. I went to the first link and listened to the preview of EGA. Most assuredly this is not an old school bluegrass song. I immediatlely picked up a slightly electric sounding/blues/Celtic/almost early 70's Eagles type sound to the strings. I don't know if that is the proper way to describe it but it hit me like that. If I am thinking correctly, trad bluegrass would be just a banjo, fiddle, and possibly acoustic guitar. Yes/no? Your song sounded a little more edgy than that. It was really quite nice. I am very uneducated in general with music and even less so with bluegrass. I love trad Celtic and it is easy to see where those of Scots and Irish descent landed in the U.S. However the sounds are not the same and as you point out, afficianados can tell differences. Unfortunately I cannot discern "types" of bluegrass unless like EGA they really have their own sound.

Regards, Todd

 

[jwhiskercut]

Thanks for the replies! I'm willing to take all comments, criticism or compliments you have.

Edcculus- Hartford was the man. I didn't realize that for a long time. I kept wondering why Rice, et. al would always sing his praises. One night I was watch PBS and he was on doing his version of "I Wonder Where you are Tonight". It was sonically, one of the most perfect things I've ever heard. The timing and groove were so perfect, I almost cried. I'd never had such a 'simple' song move me so much. I've had a great respect for him since then. Let me know what you think of the tunes.

Wilsonent - My first exposure to newgrass/bluegrass was a Christmas gift from my dad: "New Grass Revival: On the Boulevard" on vinyl. I was maybe 12-13. It took me another 10 years to really appreciate what he had given me. He also had Grisman's Hot Dawg album, as well as some Rice stuff. I have some live stuff of NGR from teh pre-Cowan days, probably right after the Bluegrass Alliance reformed as NGR. Really different sound than the Cowan NGR. If you like Fleck, go to my MySpace page and listen to the full version of Chromatose. When we worked up that tune, my only instruction to the Banjo player was: "you do anything you want on the 2nd banjo break. The crazier, the better". I think he succeeded. BTW, strong username to my actual name correlation.

Phog Allen/Todd- There are definate correlations between Celtic music and bluegrass in terms of it's origin. A lot of fiddle tunes are direct descendants of irish jigs. If you listen 'Good Deal Buddy', the banjo really introduces the jig feel when he comes in. It made for a really fun tune. EGA is probably the most 'far-out' tune that I did. The rest definitely fall more in line with a common bluegrass format.

 

[raisindot]

.
Trust when I say the guy who ONLY likes Bill Monroe or Flatt & Scruggs (aka traditional bluegrass), will not appreciate my tune EGA. I've seen it first hands at gigs with an older fan base.

While I'm fine with all kinds of bluegrass, I tend to like modern bluegrass records better, if only because they have better audio quality and sometimes the players show a willingness to deviate from formula. One of my favorites is the "Rounder Banjo" anthology which mixes in some really excellent traditional and what you'd probably call "progressive" bluegrass songs with some more 'out there' jazzy material from people like Bela Flack.

EDIT: I must also confess that, several years ago, living out a particular fantasy that I was gonna become a bluegrass musician, I gave in to GAS and bought me a nice entry level Goldtone banjo, which I quickly discovered would be far too difficult for me to even come close to playing in public without years and years of lessons and practice. Like most banjos, it sits in its case, gathering dust, awaiting the inevitable gulag to the flea market circuit.

Jeff in Boston

 

[wilsonent]

Oh yeah Josh. Love what I have heard so far. Like the Gospel preview I listened to on Itunes as well.

 

[The Knize]

I will give you music a listen later. I am a big fan of folks like Gillian Welch/David Rawlings and mountain type music that seems to have inspired them. Not so much a big fan of Bluegrass per se. Maybe too many blue grass festival one summer.

 

[Uncle Erik]

I'm on the mobile and can't listen now, but I absolutely will when I get to the laptop.

I'm a huge fan of bluegrass and can't wait to give you a listen!

 

[jwhiskercut]

Oh yeah Josh. Love what I have heard so far. Like the Gospel preview I listened to on Itunes as well.

Thanks for the comments. Just to clarify, I am not the same guy that records contemporary Christian music. Itunes puts us together because we have the same name. From what I hear he's pretty talented in that type of music though.

Keep 'em coming guys. I know bluegrass isn't for everyone, so I won't be mad if it's not your thing.