I don’t know about you but when I listen to a local bluegrass band for the first time, my expectation is that they will entertain me with the classic bluegrass I have become accustomed to. If they do it anywhere close to as well as Bill or Lester & Earl or Ralph, I’m as entertained as the next person. Maybe sometimes the band puts a nice twist on an old standard and I’m even more impressed. That’s a band to watch, i say.
But when a local band tries to float a song that they wrote themselves, they’d better be prepared to flop. I’m skeptical because I didn’t come to hear that. Give me the good stuff! Well, sometimes, despite my prejudice against new music, the no name band pulls it off and I am entertained even more than what I had expected.
I know a lot of hard core bluegrass fans are disappointed if the new band they are listening to fails to produce the bluegrass standards they love and are accustomed to. A cover band is what is expected because the music we love is so great, why would anybody play anything other than what we already love? I feel the same way a lot of times. Old familiar music is comfort food and new music requires that you think as hard as you did when you got hooked on the older original stuff in the first place.
It’s the same in any form of music. I used to listen to classical and jazz much more than bluegrass and I found that a new tune I didn’t like on the first hearing often became one of my favorites once I had the opportunity to digest it with multiple listenings.
All of the big name bluegrass bands produce original material. That’s where the music goes. Some of it goes into the dust bin and a little of it becomes bluegrass standard repertoire. But your local bands and your local jams produce original material too. Your newest regional original song might not find a large audience but it might be a real treat for those lucky enough to hear it.
A few years ago I went to one of the CBA campouts and there was a special event posted. A local band was playing for free. I figured, what the heck I have nothing better to do. That was the first time I heard Red Dog Ash. What impressed me most about their act was that they played mostly original stuff and, despite that, I liked it. A bit later i heard Cliff Compton’s band at Tres Pinos and it was manna from heaven as far as new material. I could go on and on. There are a lot of talented bands without record contracts that produce some really fine new music.
Occasionally, I’ll be sitting at a campsite jam and somebody wants to call a song that they wrote themselves. I know many of you have been in this same situation and as a good guest you politely smile and under your breath think “OK let’s get it over with”. I have learned by experience that when this happens some others in the group are often familiar with the new tune. It will not be a train wreck and it will usually be worth listening to. Let me tell you, there a lot of great songs out there that most people have never heard. Some people at a jam would much rather play another Bill Cheatham but I say, let me hear your new song! Maybe we should have a songwriter’s guild so bands could cover new songs written by the common person because there are certainly some good ones out there..
New music is good. That’s what bluegrass was when it was created and that’s what it still can and should be. If you have an interest maybe you should try writing some new music yourself. It may catch on and get performed, it may be an ear worm on the internet or it may fade into the shadows and be an amusement only for you and a small group of like minded jammers.
We need new music, that’s for sure. We need to play new cuts of the latest CD from our favorite artists at our camp-side jams. And we need to create new music ourselves. Let me hear your new song!
