Bluegrass

John Reischman and the Jaybirds, one of our favourites.

The month is September and it is time for corn. On Saturday night we drove to Chilliwack and picked up some amazing Jubilee Chilliwack Sweet Corn and then just down the road took in the Blue Grass Music Festival which, in the world of music genres, is corn. I am sure that most of my readers have never been to one of these so let me set the scene.

The Heritage Museum complex has a huge parking lot and it was mostly filled with monster RV's. These Bluegrass festivals have a loyal following and what better way to take in the whole weekend than by camping right next to it. When you observe the people attending, you would never know that these are the same people who own these expensive houses on wheels. In the crowd of 800 or so, we counted maybe ten people under the age of fifty the whole afternoon and evening. Bluegrass people are almost all very old and many of them decrepit. They are dressed in shabby clothing, overalls, denim, sneakers, and straw hats. There are electric scooters, walkers, canes, and oxygen tanks. The die hard fans come early and place their fancy lawn chairs in the choicest spots on the auditorium floor and the uninitiated, who did not bring comfortable seating, are relegated to the hard and backless bleachers. That would be us. There is a continual stream of people going back and forth to the concession stands, bring back with them french fries and ice-cream cones. Did I mention that most of these folks are quite overweight, as in knee replacement overweight? 

The bands come in 45 minute spurts with a small break for 'supper' and an entertaining corn husking competition. There were seven bands that rotated the schedule and you knew who the favourites were when the concessions had no lineups. 

Now, for the music itself. Bluegrass is not for everyone, at least not in large doses. The typical band will consist of at least four members, usually men, although four of these bands had a female member who, strangely enough, played the biggest instrument, the bass, and did vocals. The really good bands will have some connection to the Ozarks, Tennessee, or Kentucky, the home of Bluegrass. The other instruments are mandatory, mandolin, six string guitar, and banjo. (The banjo is a difficult instrument to keep tuned. A banjo player spends half his time tuning the thing and the other half of his time playing out of tune. It has four strings so that at any given time at least one of them will be in tune.) There may also be a fiddle and or a slide guitar. Every instrumentalist in the band has to be very good because every number has a series of rotating solos. This is because of the great amount of repetition in the music and they have to somehow make it interesting. Six of the seven bands we heard were very good and these fellows really knew how to play. They are very polished and well practised. The sound is crisp and very intricate. The most amazing thing to see is the speed at which some of these tunes, such as "The Margurita Breakdown" are played. The fingers on the frets as well as the strings are a blur. (Or do I need new glasses?) 

What really separates the bands are the vocals. It must be rare to find a musician who can write, play and sing, and it seems that all of them did just that. Most of what was being played was original music. I use the term lightly because most of the songs sound the same. So it boils down to who can play and sing the best, and who has the catchiest lyrics. One nice thing about both Country and Western and Bluegrass music is that you can actually hear the lyrics. While Country and Western songs are mostly about pick-up trucks and lost dogs, Bluegrass tunes are a little more heart grabbing. Indeed, every 'set' had an obligatory gospel song almost always sung acappella with those nice tight Bluegrass harmonies. There are typical phrases and themes that punctuate a Bluegrass tune. The Romantic songs will talk about:

darlin'

layin' there beside me (usually in the past tense)

 a ribbon in her hair (usually red)

aint no use in cryin' (them big old tears)

smilin' through the tears (of either joy or sorrow)

Then there are the songs about Mama and Papa

Mama's grave (what do we do about it because the bank took the farm away)

Mama's grits and gravy (how we miss 'em)

Papa planned it that way ( the trees that shade Mama's grave in the hot noon day sun)

Sure gonna' miss her

What I learned at Mama's knee

Then there are the songs about work:

Papa was a miner

Granpappy laid track, Papa was an engineer and I'm a'workin' on the railroad

Workin' for to earn my pay

Don't need no job when I got you

Workin' in the corn (cotton or hay) fields

Then there are the jilted lover songs:

Didn' wanna' leave her but I had to

Couldn't get away too soon

Takin' a fast train away from you

Can't see through these tears of joy since I left you

Mama wouldn't approve

Your memory keeps on huntin' me down

And last but not least, the prison songs:

Workin' on the chain gang

Only three more years to go

Got those lonesome prison blues

Breakin' these stones aint easy

Done did my time, now I'm comin' back for you

After 8 hours of this, apart from the skill of playing a banjo, I too could be a Bluegrass musician. But, I guess you have to be a fan first. I have had my 'Bluegrass fix' to last me for a long time to come. Besides, I have never been too keen on buying one of those big ol' motor homes.