Truegrass Vs. Newgrass

On Sunday, February 27, the Sunday Bluegrass Breakdown dove into the seemingly wide crevasse between "old time" bluegrass and its more liberal younger sibling newgrass/progressive bluegrass/jamgrass. The show played like a bi-polar nightmare, with truegrass tunes such as Alan Shelton's 35-second-long "Sourwood Mountain" paired off against David Grisman's expansive "Mondo Mando," which clocks in at 8:58.

Photo courtesy of David Grisman.

I guess I overthought it, or just worried about it too much, but by the time the show was over, I felt like it hadn't worked at all. There just wasn't a nice ebb and flow. It was structured too extremely, even though that extreme was exactly what I had hoped to explore.

In some ways, the dichotomy is a farce. Bands such as Flatt & Scruggs indicated early on that the structure of bluegrass could include a variety of chord changes and song structures. It was this more expansive framework that was later capitalized on by artists such as David Grisman and Bela Fleck (among many others), and today by the likes of Blueground Undergrass and Leftover Salmon.

Set List: Alan Shelton - Sourwood Mountain, Sam Bush - Clover Leaf Rag, Jay Farrar - Buffalo Jump, Carl Jackson - Foggy Mountain Breakdown, Laurel Canyon Ramblers - RU4 Reel, The Doc Watson Family - Fisher's Hornpipe, David Grier, That's Just Perfect, Blue Highway - Mountain of the Lord, Larry Rice - Strodes Creek, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder - Battle Cry, Vern & Ray - The Leather Britches, Benny Thomasson - Laughing Boy, Ralph Stanley - I'll Remember You Love In My Prayers, David Grisman - Mondo Mando, Nickel Creek - House Carpenter, Blue Highway - Whither Thou Go, Aubrey Haney - Maggie, The Doc Watson Family - Go Shoot Old Davey Dugger, Aaron O'Rourke Trio - Liza Jane (solo), Chatham County Line - Sun Up, Laurel Canyon Ramblers - The Weasel, Carolina Chocolate Drops - Dixie, Blueground Undergrass - Ole Love Ole Tune, Noam Pikelny - Souper Grouper, Paul Warren - Sally Goodin', Carl Jackson - Grey Eagle, Allison Krauss & Union Station - Little Liza Jane, Jason Titley - Jimmy's Barnyard Shuffle, Chris Thile - Ah Spring, Dry Branch Fire Squad - The Gospel Way, Paul Williams - Been A Hard Working Pilgrim, The Be Good Tanyas - Crow Waltz, David West - Maze, The Johnny Staats Project - Shafer's Reel, Vern & Ray - Hard Times, Benny Thomasson - Forked Deer, Merle Travis - 9 Lb. Hammer, Blue Highway - Some Day, Mark O'Conner - Dixie Breakdown, Ralph Stanley - Waiting For Me, IIIrd Tyme Out - Out of Sight Out of Mind, Cherryholmes - Makin' Time, New Grass Revival - Big Foot, Randy Howard - Houdini, Blue Highway - Three -inger Jack, Sam Bush - Crossing the Transippi, Jim & Jesse - Hard Hearted, Red Allen - Love Gone Cold, Steep Canyon Rangers - Feelin' Just a Little Like Dale, Byron Berline and John Hickman - Time Changes Everything, New Vintage - Old Chain Gang, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder - Pig in a Pen, The Meat Purveyors - The Madonna Trilogy, the Infamous Stringdusters - Moon Man, The Del McCoury Band - Loggin' Man, Flatt & Scruggs - Dixie Flyer, Don Reno & Red Smiley - A Dime Looks Like a Wagon Wheel, The Osborne Brothers & Mac Wiseman - Midnight Flyer, Steep Canyon Rangers - I'll Be Long Gone, The Grass Cats - Down the Road I Go, Arthur Smith & Don Reno - Feudin' Banjos, David Grisman - I Ain't Broke But I'm Badly Bent, Don Reno & Red Smiley - Buck Ryan Rag, Baucom Bibey & Blueridge - Shifting Sands, Dry Branch Fire Squad - I'll Be No Stranger, Carl Story - Buck Creek, Jim Mills - Pick Along