Anyone here into bluegrass music?

I am actually interested in researching the relationship between LGBT folks and the bluegrass world. Most of my focus has been so far in trying to find professional musicians who might be LGBT. So far I know of one trans person who used to play bluegrass professionally.

I know that a huge proportion of the audience is made up of old rural conservative white dudes, but there are a huge number of folks who are in the bluegrass world who do not fit in.

My main reason for doing this is that at some point in the future I would like to discuss these things with the professional bodies for this music, and try to get them to realise that they have to change their image of being closed and conservative in order to survive. I know that a lot of the professionals in the bluegrass world are very open minded and progressive, but they are still a minority sadly.

I like instrumental Bluegrass.

Who do you like listening to?

I love listening to Bluegrass.  Back in the day, I use to go to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival.  I met Guy Clark and Taj Mahal there

Telluride always seems to be on the very, very progressive side!

Maybe a tad too much so for my taste. Would be awesome to go just for the house band with Jerry, Bela, Sam etc

my friends and I always wanted to make a windmill that when it worked would be a wood cutout of Sam Bush rocking back and forth strumming his mandolin.

I don't tie myself to any one particular style of music, I like a nice balanced array of music which includes various blueass tunes as well as rock and other styles of music

Quote from: Inarasarah on January 29, 2017, 10:37:13 PM
my friends and I always wanted to make a windmill that when it worked would be a wood cutout of Sam Bush rocking back and forth strumming his mandolin.

If it were for Sammy wouldn't have to be weed powered?

I assume that was implied

Tony Rice seems to also have done a lot of weed. Ever read his biography? SO many herbs.
He denies ever having snorted coke, though I have been told this is BS, and he got his collapsed septum repaired by John Starling of the Seldom Scene.

I have not read it, but I am not surprised by much anymore

Having said that, it is not right for me to perpetuate the story without evidence.

I'm living outside Asheville NC where there is a lot of bluegrass (typically played by forward thinking hotties lol). I've grown to like it.

Seriously? That's great. Do you know of Billy Cardine, the dobro player?

A friend just introduced me to him via an NPR show!

I love me some bluegrass. In Minnesota the crowds at shows tend to be hippies in their 20s and 30s. We have a good local scene. Not sure about any performers in the genre that are LGBT though.

Quote from: Lily.Arwen on December 08, 2016, 04:05:24 PM
Anyone here into bluegrass music?

I am actually interested in researching the relationship between LGBT folks and the bluegrass world. Most of my focus has been so far in trying to find professional musicians who might be LGBT. So far I know of one trans person who used to play bluegrass professionally.

I know that a huge proportion of the audience is made up of old rural conservative white dudes, but there are a huge number of folks who are in the bluegrass world who do not fit in.

My main reason for doing this is that at some point in the future I would like to discuss these things with the professional bodies for this music, and try to get them to realise that they have to change their image of being closed and conservative in order to survive. I know that a lot of the professionals in the bluegrass world are very open minded and progressive, but they are still a minority sadly.

I remember a group called 'Snake Root'...  They were a local band and I don't think they produced any music that would have been recorded in large amounts, but it had a good place in the locality.  As I remember the lead singers were at some point a lesbian couple, but that was just a rumor...  One tune I remember was 'The Alligator Stomp' which was very fun to dance to...  For your research try out the Northern Appalachian range and New England.