It seems the debate over what constitues ‘traditional bluegrass’ and what should be labeled ‘progressive bluegrass’ has no end. Stack on top of that, the debate over how much ‘progressive’ bluegrass should be allowed at a certain festival or event, and you’ll have a lively discussion for sure.

Popmatters.com posted a story yesterday about this very topic. Guitarist Russ Barenberg is the center point of the piece. Barenberg has recently returned to music full time, after a number of years working behind the scenes at the Saturn car company.

My favorite quote from the article follows.

…people talk about `traditional bluegrass.’ You hear that term a lot. Well, in 1946, bluegrass was brand-new. It wasn’t traditional music. It was just as much of an experiment from what came before it as anything we’re doing now. It’s a continuous process for musicians and creative people. They discover new things but appreciate music from the past at the same time.

I think he’s right. I love the ‘traditional’ stuff as much as anybody, but if I never heard anything new, I’d get bored after a while. As it is, I enjoy the new artists, like Punch Brothers, pushing the boundries of what we call bluegrass, and that just enhances my enjoyment of The Stanley Brothers all the more.

Sorry for the last minute notice on this…

Flatpicker supreme Russ Barenberg will be the guest on today’s (8/21) edition of Live in Studio C on Nashville’s WPLN FM. The show airs each Tuesday at 11:06 a.m. Nashville time (noon eastern), and Russ will perform music from his new CD, When At Last, with Stuart Duncan on fiddle, Viktor Krauss on bass and Todd Lombardo on second guitar.

Listeners in Nashville can catch the show at 90.3 FM, and it is also streamed live on the WPLN web site. The show will be rebroadcast later today at 8:06 p.m. (CT).

It also appears that audio from each show can be accessed from the Live in Studio C site for a week after each broadcast.

Fans of the eclectic string music scene that emanated from New England in the 1970s and 80s will surely recall being enthralled by the acoustic guitar work of Russ Barenberg. He was a member of Country Cooking with Tony Trischka, Fiddle Fever with Jay Ungar and Matt Glaser, and Laughing Hands with Andy Statman.

He recorded a number of popular instructional packages for Homespun Tapes - back when they were released as audio cassettes. Most are still available, though now in audio CD format.

His 1980 solo project, Cowboy Calypso, was hugely influential on a generation of young string musicians, both for his bluegrass-inspired technical prowess and the lyrical, playful nature of his compositions. Russ released another solo project, Moving Pictures in 1988, and was a part of the fabulous Skip, Hop & Wobble CD with Jerry Douglas and Edgar Meyer in 1993.

Since that time, though not invisible on the music scene, Barenberg has not been a prominent performer or recording artist. Russ now lives and works in Nashville, focusing on a career outside of the music business. Fortunately, he has kept his hands on his guitar, writing new tunes all along.

And thanks to the good folks at Compass Records, we’ll all be able to hear them later this month when his first solo project in nearly 20 years is released. Aptly titled, When At Last, it features 11 new Barenberg compositions with guest contributions from Jerry Douglas, Dennis Crouch, Stuart Duncan, Viktor Krauss and Kenny Malone.

The CD’s imminent release is the occasion for a celebration tonight at The Station Inn in Nashville. Most of the guest artists from the CD will perform with Barenberg starting at 9:00 p.m. Don’t miss it if you’re in da’ville tonight.

When At Last is set for a June 26 release on Compass. Audio samples and pre-orders are available on the Compass web site.