Thursday, March 24, 2011

Important Individuals in the History of the Mandolin #2 Bill Monroe



Inspired by the great book Can't You Hear Me Callin- the life of Bill Monroe, Father of Bluegrass by Richard D. Smith. While I agree with Sam Mghee that "bluegrass is just old time music played too fast", I really enjoy Monroe's bluesy mandolin style especially on the tracks Tennessee Blues, Rotation Blues, Heavy Traffic Ahead, Muleskinner Blues, The Blue Yodels, and Wayfaring Stranger. This is due to the fact that Monroe, at a young age played with and was inspired by a Kentucky blues musician named Arnold Schultz who played the guitar and the fiddle. Sadly, Schultz was never recorded. Monroe is also responsible for the enormous popularity of the F Style mandolin.

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