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John Hartford
John Cowan Hartford (December 30, 1937 – June 4, 2001) was an American folk, country, and bluegrass composer and musician known for his mastery of the fiddle and banjo, as well as for his witty lyrics, unique vocal style, and extensive knowledge of Mississippi River lore. His most successful song is " Gentle on My Mind", which won three Grammy Awards and was listed in "BMI's Top 100 Songs of the Century". Hartford performed with a variety of ensembles throughout his career, and is perhaps best known for his solo performances where he would interchange the guitar, banjo, and fiddle from song to song. He also invented his own shuffle tap dance move, and clogged on an amplified piece of plywood while he played and sang. He was posthumously inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2010. Early life Harford (he changed his name to Hartford later in life on the advice of Chet Atkins) was born on December 30, 1937, in New York City to parents Carl and Mary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
MerleFest
MerleFest is an annual "traditional plus" music festival held in Wilkesboro, North Carolina on the campus of Wilkes Community College. The festival, which is held the last weekend in April, was hosted by Grammy Award winner Doc Watson prior to his death and is named in memory and honor of his son, Merle Watson, Eddy Merle Watson, who died in a farm tractor accident in 1985. History Originally, the festival was an annual homecoming event in memory of Merle Watson. It is believed the festival got its name when a woman called asking for tickets to "Merlefest". The festival, founded in 1988 by Doc Watson, is the primary fundraising event for Wilkes Community College and attracts crowds consistently exceeding 75,000 in number, making it one of the largest music festivals in the United States. It is estimated that the festival brings over $10 million in business and tourist revenue to Wilkes County and surrounding areas each year. The music is spread across 13 different sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Down From The Mountain
''Down from the Mountain'' is a 2000 documentary and concert film featuring a live performance by country and traditional music artists who participated in the Grammy-winning soundtrack recording for the Joel and Ethan Coen film, '' O Brother, Where Art Thou?'' The concert, held at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee on May 24, 2000, was a benefit for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The documentary was directed by Nick Doob, Chris Hegedus and D. A. Pennebaker. The artists in the concert also participated in a ''Down from the Mountain'' concert tour. Summary The concert portion of the film is preceded by a 30-minute section in which the various artists are seen rehearsing for the show, doing soundchecks, and talking backstage at the Ryman Auditorium. Time is spent with bluegrass star Ralph Stanley, who rides in a limousine to Nashville, Tennessee, and is interviewed on radio station WSM, whose DJ introduces him as "the newest member of WSM's Grand Ole ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Earl Scruggs
Earl Eugene Scruggs (January 6, 1924 – March 28, 2012) was an American musician noted for popularizing a three-finger banjo picking style, now called "Scruggs style", which is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music. His three-finger style of playing was radically different from the traditional way the five-string banjo had previously been played. This new style of playing became popular and elevated the banjo from its previous role as a background rhythm instrument to featured solo status. He popularized the instrument across several genres of music. Scruggs played in Bill Monroe's band, the Blue Grass Boys. "Bluegrass" eventually became the name for an entire genre of country music. Despite considerable success with Monroe, performing on the Grand Ole Opry and recording classic hits such as "Blue Moon of Kentucky", Scruggs resigned from the group in 1948 because of their exhausting touring schedule. Fellow band member Lester Flatt resigned as well, and he and Scrug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Grand Ole Opry
The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the time of year. It was founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as the ''WSM Barn Dance'', taking its current name in 1927. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a joint venture between NBCUniversal, Atairos and majority shareholder Ryman Hospitality Properties), it is the longest-running radio broadcast in U.S. history. Dedicated to honoring country music and its history, the Opry showcases a mix of famous singers and contemporary Record chart, chart-toppers performing country, Bluegrass music, bluegrass, Americana (music), Americana, folk music, folk, and gospel music, gospel music as well as comedy, comedic performances and Sketch comedy, skits. It attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world and mil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), also known as "Mister Guitar" and "the Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson (musician), Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music style which expanded its appeal to adult pop music fans. He was primarily a guitarist, but he also played the mandolin, fiddle, banjo, and ukulele, and occasionally sang. Atkins's signature picking style was inspired by Merle Travis. Other major guitar influences were Django Reinhardt, George Barnes (musician), George Barnes, Les Paul, and, later, Jerry Reed. His distinctive picking style and musicianship brought him admirers inside and outside the country scene, both in the United States and abroad. Atkins spent most of his career at RCA Victor and produced records for The Browns, the Browns, Hank Snow, Porter Wagoner, Norma Jean (singer), Norma Jean, Dolly Parton, Dottie West, Perry Como, Floyd Cramer, Elvi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
International Bluegrass Music Hall Of Fame
For a professional in the bluegrass music field, election to the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame is the highest honor the genre can bestow. An invitation can be extended to performers, songwriters, promoters, broadcasters, musicians, and executives in recognition of their contributions to the development of bluegrass music worldwide. The hall of fame honor was created in 1991 by the International Bluegrass Music Association and the inductees are honored annually at the International Bluegrass Music Awards ceremony. The Hall's first inductees were Bill Monroe, widely considered as the founder of the genre, and Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, two of bluegrass music's most pioneering and influential artists. The most recent inductees (class of 2024) are Katy Daley, Jerry Douglas, and Alan Munde. The Hall itself is maintained at the International Bluegrass Music Museum, Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky. The institution received its current name in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Clogging
Clogging, buck dancing, or flatfoot dancing is a type of folk dance practiced in the United States, in which the dancer's footwear is used percussively by striking the heel, the toe, or both against a floor or each other to create audible rhythms, usually to the downbeat with the heel keeping the rhythm. Clogging can be found at various Old-Time and Bluegrass Music festivals. Clogging is the official state dance of Kentucky and North Carolina. Antecedents In the United States, team clogging originated from square dance teams in Asheville, North Carolina's Mountain Dance and Folk Festival (1928), organized by Bascom Lamar Lunsford in the Appalachian region. The Soco Gap Dancers performed at the White House in 1939, which caused an uptick in the popularity of team clogging. American Clogging is associated with the predecessor to bluegrass— "old-time" music, which is based on English, and Irish fiddle tunes as well as African American banjo tunes. Clogging primarily develo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Grammy Awards
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious and significant awards in the music industry in the United States, and thus the show is frequently called "music's biggest night". The trophy depicts a gilded gramophone, and the original idea was to call them the "Gramophone Awards". The Grammys are the first of the Big Three networks' major music awards held annually, and are considered one of the four major annual American entertainment awards with the Academy Awards (for films), the Emmy Awards (for television), and the Tony Awards (for theater). The first Grammy Awards ceremony was held on May 4, 1959, to honor the musical accomplishments of performers for the year 1958. After the 2011 ceremony, the Recording Academy overhauled many Grammy Award categories for 2012. The 67th Annua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Gentle On My Mind
"Gentle on My Mind" is a song that was written and originally recorded by John Hartford, and released on his second studio album, '' Earthwords & Music'' (1967). Hartford wrote the song after watching '' Doctor Zhivago'' in 1966, as he was inspired by the film and his own personal experiences. The lyrics describe the reminiscences of lost love of a man as he travels through the country. An obituary for Hartford indicated that the lyrics are "about a hobo reminiscing about a lost love". The following year, Hartford released the song as a single on RCA Records. It then caught the attention of Glen Campbell, who recorded his version with a group of session musicians known as the Wrecking Crew, of which he had been a part. Campbell's recording of "Gentle on My Mind" peaked in the top 30 on '' Billboard's'' Hot Country Singles chart. In 1968, between Campbell's and Hartford's recordings, the song earned four Grammy Awards. "Gentle on My Mind" was later recorded by other singers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it flows generally south for to the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's Drainage basin, watershed drains all or parts of 32 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces between the Rocky Mountains, Rocky and Appalachian Mountains, Appalachian mountains. The river either borders or passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The main stem is entirely within the United States; the total drainage basin is , of which only about one percent is in Canada. The Mississippi ranks as the world's List of rivers by discharge, tenth-largest river by discharge flow, and the largest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashioned by African Americans and had African antecedents. In the 19th century, interest in the instrument was spread across the United States and United Kingdom by traveling shows of the 19th-century minstrel show fad, followed by mass production and mail-order sales, including instructional books. The inexpensive or home-made banjo remained part of rural folk culture, but five-string and four-string banjos also became popular for home parlor music entertainment, college music clubs, and early 20th century jazz bands. By the early 20th century, the banjo was most frequently associated with folk, cowboy music, and country music. By mid-century it had come to be strongly associated with bluegrass. Eventu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Bluegrass Music
Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Bluegrass has roots in African American genres like blues and jazz and North European genres, such as Irish ballads and dance tunes. Unlike country, it is traditionally played exclusively on acoustic instruments such as the fiddle, mandolin, banjo, guitar and upright bass. It was further developed by musicians who played with Monroe, including 5-string banjo player Earl Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt. Bill Monroe once described bluegrass music as, "It's a part of Methodist, Holiness and Baptist traditions. It's blues and jazz, and it has a high lonesome sound." Bluegrass features acoustic stringed instruments and emphasizes the off-beat. The off-beat can be "driven" (played close to the previous bass note) or "swung" (played farther from the previous bass note). N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
