Guitar Gear Forum

It seems half of the jam scene is moving toward mountain banjo music from 1910.

I've tried, but it's not really my thing.

"HuR DUr, BiLlY StRiNgZ iS tHe ReInCarNayshuN oF JeRRy GaRcIa!!! jOHn MaYeER sUCkS!!!"

adding distortion and a phaser to a banjo doesn't make bluegrass psychedelic.

I'm not arguing whether those who partake are talented. I just don't see why it's "the thing" right now.

I'm definitely down with the whole Jamgrass thing. I feel like it's always been a big part of the jam scene, at least around here. Billy Strings has certainly been making huge waves though. I agree his fan base is fairly insufferable, but he goes pretty fuckin hard in the paint

Yonder Mountain String band (when jeff austin was still in the band), Jeff Austin Band (before he killed himself), Greensky Bluegrass, Kitchen Dwellers, Lil Smokies, Bela Fleck, etc. all good stuff

Then of course you got bands like String Cheese Incident who started out in the 90s more on the trad bluegrass side but now they've got dubstep breakdowns in the live show

Also Leftover Salmon fucks hard. Not exactly straight up bluegrass but there's plenty of it there, and a staple in the scene since the 80s.

Aside from sounding cool I think the reason it's big in the jam scene goes back to Jerry

Old and In the Way was an awesome side project of his

I've been in the jam scene since the early 90's. Hated country music growing up, so I was never really into the bluegrass. I dig the concept of sharing a mic, harmonizing lyrics, flatpicking, but could honestly only handle it in small doses, like half a Yonder Mountain set at a festival. Even bands like Leftover Salmon were just a bit too much. That said, I can appreciate all forms of music these days, as there's always something for me to learn. I have seen some sets of Billy Strings, and while not blown away, I respect what he's doing. I think it SHOULD be perfect for pulling a jamhead like me into the bluegrass scene even more, but I'd still rather listen to Phish or Dead.

Disclaimer: I do have tix to see Billy Strings in April, but we'll see if I can make it through the entire show.

I love me some modern Americana but am very picky about the particular bands. Some of it, like any genre I suppose, gets cheesy really fast.

Later when I can put some attention to it, I’ll make a list of artists that hit the right spots for me.

I just can't see being high on drugs and enjoying a shredding banjo.

I'm starting to think even true jam bands could be doing a better job making drug songs for doing drugs.

Kind of drifting hard back into post rock and dream pop right now.

BroSlinger wrote:I just can't see being high on drugs and enjoying a shredding banjo.

Bro it’s actually really amazing

OK here's my take on what's good in the wide world of Americana.

Not a big fan of jambands. Love the Dead but not a big fan of phish, panic, or most of that whole scene other than JRAD. JRAD is just too good. It wouldn't matter what they play, they'd do it very well with as much taste as intensity.

Bluegrass I'm kinda picky on and generally don't binge on it. Small doses work best. True bluegrass is about the songs and staying true to them. Here are a couple of great examples and some of the greatest artists at this are Sam Bush, Tony Rice, Doc Watson, etc.



I sat front row center for this show with my 6 week old daughter in my lap



Doc



I'll ad more about more modern country in later posts. Don't be surprised if I bump this thread often with some tasty gems

As for Newgrass you gotta start with the original crew. I'm guessing you're familiar but just in case....

And I'll start off my more modern country flavors with a couple of great tunes. There's soooo much great music going on!


You'll love this one




This band has their debut album coming out this month

Dude, I’m not familiar with much. (I do know some doc Watson fwiw) I’ve been trying to get further into the jam scene beyond old Grateful Dead , and I’m having trouble.

I hate phish, and I’m not a fan of bluegrass. I guess I like some of the blues traveler deeper cuts, but that’s about it.

It pushing me back into my good old ruts. I guess I’m just in a bad mood today. Tried listening to Billy strings today. It was cool for like 15 minutes, then I started getting anxious. Turned on some beach house, and it felt like I popped some Xanax.

Do you use spotify?

Gene, listen to the Red Headed Stranger or some old Waylon albums. The songwriting is stellar as are the tones and jams. But they do it without getting lost in all that jam band bullshit.

Red Headed Stranger is a fantastic album and much different than I thought it would be like before hearing it.

Ran across this song and artist recently.

https://youtu.be/lvJ8ykzg6lU

Some other names to check out in your leisure. Hopefully something in there leads to to more music that you dig. Some of them may fall outside of the country sphere but still qualify as Americana in my view.

Blaze Foley
The Little Willies
JJ Cale
Leo Kottke
David Bromberg
Buddy Miller
Downtown Church (album by Patty Griffin)
Sophie & the Broken Things
Quantic (this isn't Americana but there's a wide variety of cool styles he covers in his music and/or dj gigs)
Tommy Guerrero

Here's a Quantic vinyl set of some spanish/island flavored goodies, if you like that sort of thing. I find it highly enjoyable to have playing while tasking something else.

https://youtu.be/R8odhH-cNss

Great album: https://open.spotify.com/album/2CE5eeFL ... 0ZS-GZXgqw

Madison Cunningham is a tasty player and singer. https://open.spotify.com/album/1MDv9rob ... bMNDM8SZcQ

I have nothing but respect for the skills needed to play this kind of music, but I can only take 2 maybe 3 songs of this style at a time before suicide becomes a viable and attractive option.

GuitarBilly wrote:I have nothing but respect for the skills needed to play this kind of music, but I can only take 2 maybe 3 songs of this style at a time before suicide becomes a viable and attractive option.

Kinda with ya, man.

I've been trying since it's evidently Grateful Dead adjacent, but it's just not my cup of tea.

Jerry's style very much comes from the fact that he was first and foremost a banjo player

I have actual formal training in bluegrass - a major unit of my high school orchestra classes was bluegrass, and I learned mandolin and banjo; it is this training that prompted me to buy that banjo in October. I still can’t listen to that style for more than an hour at a time, and I really have to want to, which is very rarely.