Bluegrass The Only True American Music ?

Ralph Stanley, bluegrass legend, passed on this week at the age of 89.

This week as a tribute to Ralph we will talk about Bluegrass, what is it, what has been it's impact.

Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a related genre of country music. Influenced by the music of Appalachia, Bluegrass has mixed roots in Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and English traditional music, and was also later influenced by the music of African-Americans through incorporation of jazz elements.

Unlike mainstream country music, bluegrass is traditionally played on acoustic stringed instruments. The fiddle, five-string banjo, guitar, mandolin, and upright bass (string bass) are often joined by the resonator guitar (also referred to as a Dobro) and (occasionally) harmonica or jaw harp. This instrumentation originated in rural dance bands and is the basis on which the earliest bluegrass bands were formed