monroe-sources · krakauer2018-experimental-bluegrass

Bluegrass music takes its name from Bill Monroe's band, the Blue Grass Boys. Monroe drew from a number of rural and urban styles in creating his band's sound, including the old-time fiddle music of his uncle Pen Vandiver; the country blues of his neighbor the African American guitarist and fiddler Arnold Schultz; the singing in the Baptist and Methodist churches in western Kentucky, where he grew up; and the popular music that he heard on the radio after moving to Chicago “around 1929.” ... Monroe was able to assemble one band that could singlehandedly perform the spectrum of entertainment found at a tent show, including old-time fiddling, show fiddling, novelty banjo tunes, comedy, exhibition dancing, brother duet singing, trio singing, gospel quartets, blues-influenced music