From Heather to High Lonesome:
The Story of Bluegrass
Few cultural alloys are better documented but more poorly understood than bluegrass music. Most listeners have a vague notion that bluegrass music originated in the Appalachian region of the United States. But the music’s path from the wind blown heather of the British Isles to the high lonesome sound of the Appalachians remains unknown to many listeners.
The tale of bluegrass music involves an English music publisher, immigrants, a king from Holland, kidnapped Africans, a French dance craze, a Broadway star, and a handful of hot musicians from the 1940s.
The bluegrass music story begins in 1618 at Jamestown when the first fiddler arrived.
There is no account of the music he played, but it is a safe bet his tunes were in John Playford’s 1651 book The English Dancing Master. Playford printed music and dance steps of tunes that were already a century old. The highly influential Playford collection was published in three volumes, the first of which was printed in eighteen editions through 1728.
Kidnapped Africans first arrived in the colonies during the 1640s to be slave labor doing the work of agriculture. They brought with them a rich African musical tradition that included driving rhythms, syncopation and instruments made of gourds and strings variously called the mbanza, akonting, and bandore.
An eighteenth century French dance called “cotillion” swept across Britain and quickly over washed the colonies. Cotillion translates to “ball gown.” That describes the scene in which young women and men in elaborate attire used dance as part of their courtship rituals. Although the music of cotillion was mostly English, the musicians were often slaves who introduced African rhythmic sensibilities to their performances. The African interpretation of European music, carried by the voice of the banjo, spread across the U.S. and back to Europe on the vector of the minstrel show.
Joel Sweeny of Appomattox Court House, Virginia was, in the 1840s, a major star of the minstrel show. He is credited with replacing the gourd of the mbanza with a drum-like body and adding a fifth string to produce bass tones. The antebellum banjo had gut strings, an open back and a thumpy, mellow voice. Steel strings were added to the instrument during the 1880s and gave the instrument its modern bright sound. The resonator on the back of the banjo was added during the early jazz era to increase the volume of the instrument. It took three centuries to complete the evolution of mbanza to banjar to banjo to bluegrass banjo.
By 1923 the music made by ensembles of banjo, fiddle, guitar and mandolin became known as old time, mountain or string band music. These string bands were the nurseries of the musicians who created bluegrass music. Historians date the birth of bluegrass music from 1938 when Bill Monroe of Kentucky formed “Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys.” The band included an upright bass and defined for all time the bluegrass ensemble. Monroe’s high, plaintive voice gave bluegrass its “high lonesome” identity. His energetic orchestrations merged black and white music, borrowed heavily from Celtic dance music, offered gospel songs and love ballads. In 1945, Earl Scruggs introduced his up-picking banjo rolls and all of the basic elements of bluegrass were in place. As fan allegiance to the music spread throughout the nation, detractors began to disparage bluegrass by calling it “hillbilly music.”
The term “hill-billies” first appeared in documents dating from seventeenth century Ireland. Many scholars believe its origins lie with William of Orange, the Dutch nobleman who lead the coup d'état that displaced James II of England. The victorious William III became monarch over England, Ireland and Scotland. He is still known as “King Billy” by many in the British Isles.
“Hillbilly” was coined by southern Irish Catholic supporters of James II to describe Northern Ireland Protestants who supported King William III. Eighteenth century British soldiers stationed in the American colonies recognized the protestant, Scotch-Irish traditions of the peoples of the Appalachians and called them by the familiar term “hillbilly.”
The United States is something like a supercollider. Instead of smashing atoms together to create particles for scientists to study, our nation smashes ideas together to create new art, new economic opportunity, new possibilities for everyone. The link between Celtic music and bluegrass music is among the most entertaining outcomes of the ongoing collision of ideas that defines the United States.
The tale of bluegrass music involves an English music publisher, immigrants, a king from Holland, kidnapped Africans, a French dance craze, a Broadway star, and a handful of hot musicians from the 1940s.
The bluegrass music story begins in 1618 at Jamestown when the first fiddler arrived.
There is no account of the music he played, but it is a safe bet his tunes were in John Playford’s 1651 book The English Dancing Master. Playford printed music and dance steps of tunes that were already a century old. The highly influential Playford collection was published in three volumes, the first of which was printed in eighteen editions through 1728.
Kidnapped Africans first arrived in the colonies during the 1640s to be slave labor doing the work of agriculture. They brought with them a rich African musical tradition that included driving rhythms, syncopation and instruments made of gourds and strings variously called the mbanza, akonting, and bandore.
An eighteenth century French dance called “cotillion” swept across Britain and quickly over washed the colonies. Cotillion translates to “ball gown.” That describes the scene in which young women and men in elaborate attire used dance as part of their courtship rituals. Although the music of cotillion was mostly English, the musicians were often slaves who introduced African rhythmic sensibilities to their performances. The African interpretation of European music, carried by the voice of the banjo, spread across the U.S. and back to Europe on the vector of the minstrel show.
Joel Sweeny of Appomattox Court House, Virginia was, in the 1840s, a major star of the minstrel show. He is credited with replacing the gourd of the mbanza with a drum-like body and adding a fifth string to produce bass tones. The antebellum banjo had gut strings, an open back and a thumpy, mellow voice. Steel strings were added to the instrument during the 1880s and gave the instrument its modern bright sound. The resonator on the back of the banjo was added during the early jazz era to increase the volume of the instrument. It took three centuries to complete the evolution of mbanza to banjar to banjo to bluegrass banjo.
By 1923 the music made by ensembles of banjo, fiddle, guitar and mandolin became known as old time, mountain or string band music. These string bands were the nurseries of the musicians who created bluegrass music. Historians date the birth of bluegrass music from 1938 when Bill Monroe of Kentucky formed “Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys.” The band included an upright bass and defined for all time the bluegrass ensemble. Monroe’s high, plaintive voice gave bluegrass its “high lonesome” identity. His energetic orchestrations merged black and white music, borrowed heavily from Celtic dance music, offered gospel songs and love ballads. In 1945, Earl Scruggs introduced his up-picking banjo rolls and all of the basic elements of bluegrass were in place. As fan allegiance to the music spread throughout the nation, detractors began to disparage bluegrass by calling it “hillbilly music.”
The term “hill-billies” first appeared in documents dating from seventeenth century Ireland. Many scholars believe its origins lie with William of Orange, the Dutch nobleman who lead the coup d'état that displaced James II of England. The victorious William III became monarch over England, Ireland and Scotland. He is still known as “King Billy” by many in the British Isles.
“Hillbilly” was coined by southern Irish Catholic supporters of James II to describe Northern Ireland Protestants who supported King William III. Eighteenth century British soldiers stationed in the American colonies recognized the protestant, Scotch-Irish traditions of the peoples of the Appalachians and called them by the familiar term “hillbilly.”
The United States is something like a supercollider. Instead of smashing atoms together to create particles for scientists to study, our nation smashes ideas together to create new art, new economic opportunity, new possibilities for everyone. The link between Celtic music and bluegrass music is among the most entertaining outcomes of the ongoing collision of ideas that defines the United States.