I don’t typically hear drums in bluegrass music. I recently became somewhat the fan of bluegrass following an invite to a “walnut harvest and bluegrass festival” party. Going just a bit farther back, I was blown away the first time I heard an album called Strummin’ with the Devil, the Southern Side of Van Halen. Last night, in a Seattle restaurant, I caught a wonderful bluegrass quartet. This genre is somewhat void of drum sounds. Perhaps the absence is most common among local acts, where finding a player with the proper style and discipline is challenging. It apparently does exist however. A search found the following site of interest.
Bluegrass Drum Workshop at OIBF
At my core I’m a rock and funk drummer, but I can totally hear drums in bluegrass music. Perhaps in another listen to Strummin’ with the Devel, I’ll find drums lurking in the mix.
R. Wag. | 12-Aug-08 at 10:52 pm | Permalink
Re Drums in Bluegrass: Check out Cliff Wagner & The Old #7. After years doing the traditional Bluegrass thing they added a drummer and started exploring alternative beats to add to play with Bluegrass instrumentation. They landed on TV on Next Great American band, and just released a new CD in this format. Steve Mugalian , the drummer, really helped arrange and transform their sound. It’s been good and bad. So much more dancable, but the die hard Bluegrassers in Souther California consider them “traitors.” If you can believe that in the land of Prog . Bluegrass…
Peter Wolf | 01-May-09 at 12:30 pm | Permalink
Hear is one approach: listen to a bluegrass band that later worked with a band in live settings—ex)The Earl Scruggs Revue in the ’70s–Jody Maphis on drums…Also check out THe Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in the ’70s. For newer examples listen to Robert Plant and Allison Krauss on “Raising Sand”…Good luck.