http://www.thebluegrassblog.com/traditional-vs-progressive-with-russ-barenberg/ News at the speed of Bluegrass! Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:52:42 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 http://www.thebluegrassblog.com/traditional-vs-progressive-with-russ-barenberg/comment-page-1/#comment-48090 TedLehmann Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:29:44 +0000 http://www.thebluegrassblog.com/traditional-vs-progressive-with-russ-barenberg/#comment-48090 Back in the day when I was an undergraduate English major (early sixties), one of my professors defined greatness in literature, and by extension in other art forms, as contributing work that helped move the form to the next level. Everything else, he suggested, was merely slavish copying of previously successful forms. The continued insistence by bluegrass fans, particularly those at festivals, that they should only hear so-called hard driving traditional bluegrass acts as an anchor on the music. The best new bands find a way to honor the traditions of bluegrass while creating a sound that is unique and incorporates new sounds, content, lyrics, and so-on. That fans will walk out on a band whose sound is not quite what they expect shows both disrespect and rigidity. However, it's well to remember that Stravinsky's "Fire Bird" was booed by the first audience which heard it. - Ted Back in the day when I was an undergraduate English major (early sixties), one of my professors defined greatness in literature, and by extension in other art forms, as contributing work that helped move the form to the next level. Everything else, he suggested, was merely slavish copying of previously successful forms. The continued insistence by bluegrass fans, particularly those at festivals, that they should only hear so-called hard driving traditional bluegrass acts as an anchor on the music. The best new bands find a way to honor the traditions of bluegrass while creating a sound that is unique and incorporates new sounds, content, lyrics, and so-on. That fans will walk out on a band whose sound is not quite what they expect shows both disrespect and rigidity. However, it’s well to remember that Stravinsky’s “Fire Bird” was booed by the first audience which heard it. – Ted

]]>