I feel like those 4 words really capture the spirit of IBMA. There’s a sense of excitement, openness, and humbleness that every musician I met at World Of Bluegrass shares, which can make even a first-timer like me feel like they’ve been going for years. I'm a 14-year old banjo player, and I got to go to IBMA this year to play in the kids award show band. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I hoped that I could find someone to welcome me in, show me around, and maybe even sneak me into a jam…
I feel like those 4 words really capture the spirit of IBMA. There’s a sense of excitement, openness, and humbleness that every musician I met at World Of Bluegrass shares, which can make even a first-timer like me feel like they’ve been going for years. I'm a 14-year old banjo player, and I got to go to IBMA this year to play in the kids award show band. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I hoped that I could find someone to welcome me in, show me around, and maybe even sneak me into a jam…
After the Momentum Awards Luncheon, where Kara Kundert won the Industry Involvement Award (woot woot!), I went off to the Exhibit Hall. That’s where things really started to kick into play. After checking out Bluegrass Pride’s booth and grabbing some stickers for my case, I found my way to Blue Chip’s station. Danny Roberts was trying one of their picks, so I freaked out and gawked over the reality that he was in front of me for a couple of minutes until he asked: “You wanna pick a tune?” Wow. I was shocked that standing there with a banjo case was all it took to be invited to play with a hero of mine. We played Lonesome Road Blues, and to be completely honest, it was enough—that was way more than I ever expected to happen, and I would have been perfectly content if we flew back right then. But it didn’t end there. By the end of the day, I’d played with Pete Wernick, Greg Cahill, and Eli Gilbert, all of whom are absolute legends to me.
I haven’t even gotten to the hotel jams yet. I’d tell you when I stayed up to, but my mom’s probably gonna read this*. These weren’t your normal jams either—I got to play with Tray Wellington, all the members of Fair Black Rose, Keith Billik, and tons of other incredible musicians whose demeanor suggested they were just another anonymous jammer, but whose playing revealed otherwise. I didn’t want to force my banjo playing on people, but every time anybody in a jam saw me with a banjo case, they eagerly invited me in and let me lead songs.
Kids On Bluegrass is an incredible opportunity for kids like me to meet other youth who share the same enthusiasm for bluegrass. Kimber Ludiker and Deanie Richardson are the masterminds behind the program that gives kids a chance to play with each other, and I owe them a huge thanks. Kimber and Deanie put together a group of kids to play at the award show reception, which included me (banjo), Nathan Beaumont (bass, though he’s great at every instrument there is), Malachi Freeman (mandolin), Amelia Freeman (mandolin), Mei Lin Heirendt (fiddle), and Ella Hennessee (guitar). We started practicing Thursday morning, and thanks to everyone involved in KOB, the set that night went really well! (We’ll forget about the moment when I kicked off Old Home Place though some of us thought the song was Little Cabin Home on the Hill…) I also got to see my teacher Kristin Scott Benson—who for two years I’ve only worked with over Skype—in person! She took Nathan (my KOB bandmate and new best friend) and I to the Exhibit Hall’s cafe, and we talked about Sonny Osborne licks over some banana pudding. That was pretty great. But really, it was amazing to meet other kids that could flip out over a Tony Rice solo—you don’t get that too often (ever) at New Jersey high schools.
I think that jamming in itself is one of the best things about bluegrass. You don’t go to a Taylor Swift concert and sing Shake It Off with her afterwards—but if you go to a Special Consensus concert at IBMA, you just might find yourself playing Groundspeed with Greg Cahill the next day. At the end of the day, though, it’s not about the bluegrass: it’s about the people. Greg Cahill didn’t have to nor did he probably want to play banjo with me. But the people in bluegrass have created a community where that's possible.
Til next year, IBMA!!
Nikolai Margulis
*30 minutes after 2:00. I know that probably doesn’t sound that scandalous to those of you who were there and jammed all night, but just to put this into perspective, my bedtime is 10:30.
Written by: Kara Kundert
BLUEGRASS PRIDE EXCLUSIVE: After the year we've had, there is an undeniable drive to reunite. Bluegrass, by its nature, is powered by community and togetherness. It's all about learning from each other, bonding over late night jam sessions in a festival parking lot, and laughing as the sun cracks over the horizon just as instrument cases are latching shut for the night. In the end, we're all just one big family band.
That is what makes Della Mae's newest release, Family Reunion, such a perfect album for the moment. As a band pieced together with members spanning the eastern seaboard, the album itself is infused with the excitement and warmth of that first reunion that we're all waiting for. It's vulnerable, it's upbeat, it's driving. Listening to it carries the exact same feeling of being in a jam with all your favorite picker friends.
No song on the album better encapsulates that feeling than their bluegrass-y, back beat heavy rendition of John Hartford's "You Don't Have to Do That". With lyrics slightly tweaked to remove some of the male gaze in Hartford's original composition and to instead highlight the pickers in Della Mae's all-star lineup, the song is an anthem to the breezy beauty regimens and elastic waistbands of the past 18 months. Woodsmith's smoky vocals encourage us all to embrace our natural beauty as humans, letting go of the insecurities we've been trained to feel and instead letting ourselves be lit from within by our own unique glow. Punctuated by playful riffs from the mandolin, fiddle, and guitar, the song grooves and glides with the energy of a group of friends jamming in a crammed hallway at a picking party, working each other's names into the words and tweaking the lyrics to celebrate their own lives and relationships.
Until we can safely gather again, blending our voices and instruments together into perfect harmony, Family Reunion is a close second. Turn on the record player, close your eyes, and allow yourself to be swept away by the energy and community of these incredible musicians.
Family Reunion is available now for pre-sale and will be released in full on Friday, August 27th. Order your copy here now!
]]>As distribute our inaugural set of mini-grants, we want to share with you, our broader community and membership, about what we're funding and how you can also help support these projects!
Up first, we're thrilled to have offered our very first mini-grant to Joe Troop! Best known as the founder of international supergroup, Che Apalache, Joe has spent this past year and change focusing on his activism and launching his solo career. In June, in addition to making a guest appearance at our in-person SF Porch Pride watch party, Joe traveled across the border to Nogales, Mexico to volunteer as an ESL instructor and music teacher to the asylum seekers living at La Casa de la Misericordia.
]]>Written by: Kara Kundert
We here at Bluegrass Pride are proud to support individuals of all backgrounds pursuing change and community within American traditional music. As part of that mission, we launched our Mini-Grant Program this past April -- a new tool for us to provide direct support to musicians, students, teachers, engineers, writers, festival organizers, and more. We'll be distributing $4,500 in mini-grants to folks all across the globe as they pursue excellence in music, compassion in education, and survival under a brutal system.
As we distribute these grants, we want to share with you, our broader community and membership, about what we're funding and how you can also help support these projects!
Up first, we're thrilled to have offered our very first mini-grant to Joe Troop! Best known as the founder of international supergroup, Che Apalache, Joe has spent this past year and change focusing on his activism and launching his solo career. In June, in addition to making a guest appearance at our in-person SF Porch Pride watch party, Joe traveled across the border to Nogales, Mexico to volunteer as an ESL instructor and music teacher to the asylum seekers living at La Casa de la Misericordia.
Joe requested funding from Bluegrass Pride to support his travel to the migrant shelter. In his own words:
Bluegrass Pride, a Bay Area-based non-profit whose mission is to uplift LGBTQ+ musicians and creators in roots music, is proud to announce the second year of their immensely popular virtual festival and fundraising event, Porch Pride, which will take place all month long during June 2021. Over the course of Pride month, Porch Pride will feature performances by folks like Lavender Country, Rainbow Girls, Gangstagrass, Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, Jake Blount, Sunny War, and many more, plus a virtual Bluegrass Pride Brunch and open house, a beginner-friendly jam-along, and so much more.
]]>May 3, 2021 - San Francisco, CA: Bluegrass Pride, a Bay Area-based non-profit whose mission is to uplift LGBTQ+ musicians and creators in roots music, is proud to announce the second year of their immensely popular virtual festival and fundraising event, Porch Pride, which will take place all month long during June 2021. Over the course of Pride month, Porch Pride will feature performances by folks like Lavender Country, Rainbow Girls, Gangstagrass, Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, Jake Blount, Sunny War, and many more, plus a virtual Bluegrass Pride Brunch and open house, a beginner-friendly jam-along, and so much more. See a full schedule of events below.
In 2020, after the pandemic forced Bluegrass Pride to cancel their in-person, Pride Parade programming, the organization made the pivot online, hosting a two day livestream festival featuring upwards of 12 hours of music that raised more than $23,000 for the LGBTQ+ and allied artists on the lineup. This year, the Bluegrass Pride Board of Directors has expanded that two-day festival into a month-long event, kicking off on June 6th with Lavender Country Live with Bluegrass Pride hosted by critically acclaimed musician, scholar, and Bluegrass Pride board member Jake Blount. On the weekend of June 12, join BGP for their ever-popular, informal brunch gathering, open house, and information session – followed by a beginner-friendly jam-along featuring protest songs and movement music led by Nashville based queer singer-songwriter Luisa Lopez on June 13.
The final two weekends of Porch Pride 2021 will feature two virtual festivals. On June 19, BGP will partner with Brandi Pace and Decolonizing the Music Room on Juneteenth: A Rainbow Revival, a three-hour series of performances highlighting the seminal, trailblazing contributions of Black queer folks and trans folks to the Pride movement – and to bluegrass, old-time, and roots music. Juneteenth: A Rainbow Revival is proud to be a recipient of the IBMA Foundation’s inaugural Arnold Schultz Fund grants.
June 26 and 27 will see a return of Porch Pride proper, this time celebrating Bluegrass Pride’s fifth anniversary and once again featuring two days of live music, performances, songs, and fellowship with our members and fans, culminating in sets from Gangstagrass (June 26) and Rainbow Girls (June 27). See the full lineup below.
Porch Pride is the headline fundraising event for Bluegrass Pride, raising more than $23,000 in its first year. All of the event’s virtual programs are free to view and attend – and will be available to view on our website and channels after air – but we encourage each and every one of our fans, followers, and listeners to donate to support the musicians on our lineups and the ongoing work of Bluegrass Pride. You can support Porch Pride here. You can become a member of Bluegrass Pride here.
June 6, 2021 at 1pm PDT / 4pm EDT – Lavender Country Live with Bluegrass Pride, hosted by Bluegrass Pride Board Member Jake Blount
June 12, 2021 at 1pm PDT / 4pm EDT – Bluegrass Pride Brunch & Information Session, an informal gathering and Q&A period hosted by Bluegrass Pride Board Members. Open to all members, fans, followers, and folks new to Bluegrass Pride, too.
June 13, 2021 at 1pm PDT / 4pm EDT – Beginner-Friendly Jam-Along with Luisa Lopez, “bring” your instruments and voice to play and sing along with protest songs and movement music. Lyrics and chord sheets provided
June 19, 2021 at 3pm PDT / 6pm EDT – Juneteenth: A Rainbow Revival, featuring Sunny War, Jake Blount, Yasmin Williams, Faith Nolan, Jackie & Resa, Stephanie Anne Johnson, and Lenworth O'neal. An evening of musical performances curated by Brandi Pace of non-profit Decolonizing the Music Room that will highlight the essential contributions of Black queer, trans, and non-binary folks to roots music and the Pride movement.
June 26 & 27, 2021 at 3pm PDT / 6pm EDT – Porch Pride: 5th Anniversary Festival. Our headline festival returns celebrating five years of Bluegrass Pride and featuring performances by:
More About Bluegrass Pride: Our mission is to recruit, encourage, and support LGBTQ+ bluegrassers of all levels, promoting their advancement and acceptance within all areas of the bluegrass music industry and musical community. We aim to uplift the genre of bluegrass as a whole to receive LGBTQ+ folks openly, and to promote allyship with all marginalized peoples within the industry and musical community. We do so by creating opportunities for community building and resources for musical skill development, such as concerts, jam sessions, showcases, festivals, parades, tutorials, recording, and more! Bluegrass Pride is a Section 501(c)(3) charitable organization, EIN 83-3224672. All donations are deemed tax-deductible absent any limitations on deductibility applicable to a particular taxpayer. More at https://bluegrasspride.net/
More About Decolonizing the Music Room: Decolonizing the Music Room is a nonprofit organization using research, training, and discourse to help music educators develop critical practices and center BBIA (Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Asian) voices, knowledge, and experiences in the field of music education. For more information, visit https://decolonizingthemusicroom.com/
]]>Written by: Kara Kundert
If there’s any single emotion that could have defined 2021, yearning would probably be pretty close to the top of the list. Lonely, isolated, and missing your loved ones — it was an experience that bound us together, even though we were all apart.
Which is what makes the recent release of Vivian Leva & Riley Calcagno’s self-titled debut album all the more prescient. Filled with bittersweet songs about love across a distance, each of the songs strikes a little truer now than it may have in another year. This particular track, “On the Line”, will hit home for anyone who has ever been in a long distance relationship for any length of time. With lyrics focusing on one point of view in the relationship — feeling insecure and on the outside of the life of the one they love the most — there is a quiet desperation and frenzied hope that runs through the song like ore in a mine. As Vivian says:
This song reflects the fragmented conversations that come with long distance relationships: getting a brief text about morning coffee plans or seeing an old friend, but not really knowing anything substantive. This song is ultimately about putting a relationship under pressure (or on the line) by giving one another space in a bid to preserve individuality, hopefully making the relationship more sustainable in the end.
Originally recorded by Vivian Leva for a college electronic music class, the version played in the music video is stripped back in its arrangement, with Vivian’s solo singing accompanied only by her steady rhythm guitar strumming and the understated elegance of Riley Calcagno’s clawhammer banjo picking. Surrounded by a gentle soundscape to carry you away into your own introspection, this song will make you feel at once lonely and completely understood.
Check out the full album by Vivian Leva & Riley Calcagno and download your copy of “On the Line” today! Now available everywhere.
]]>
Written by: Kara Kundert
Coming from a traditional bluegrass or old-time background, you may find yourself surprised or even taken aback by the presence of a tenor saxophone in a string band lineup. But for The Faux Paws, it was a completely natural fit.
The Faux Paws have been playing together for nearly ten years, ever since brothers Andrew and Noah VonNorstrand packed up a 1989 Volvo station wagon to go on a 5-week road trip across the American southeast with their new friend Chris Miller. Throughout the trip, they jammed on the beach, busked under a bridge, hung out at a festival on the Suwannee River, meticulously counted Cracker Barrel billboards and played some very, very strange little shows. They've been playing and touring together ever since, and are now in the process of releasing their first full-length album. Jam-packed with original tunes and songs, the album is a compelling blend of traditional music virtuosity and driving dancehall rhythms alongside progressive instrumentation and improvisation.
You can hear the synergy of these talented musicians' skills in bittersweet waltz, "Road from Winchester", written by fiddle player Noah VanNorstrand. Inspired by a friend's move away from her childhood home of Winchester, Virginia, this waltz evokes all the feelings of leaving home: sadness, hope, and even closure. AKA: all of the themes and emotions that make us love traditional American music so much.
If you're finding yourself craving more sax-string band music like "Road from Winchester", there's no better way to make it happen than by supporting their crowdfunding campaign! You can donate to support the release of their upcoming album on their website through March 15th. More info, including donation perks and tiers, can be found here.
]]>We wanted to highlight some of the best bluegrass releases this year, so we’ve put together a Spotify playlist; here you’ll find releases from artists who performed at Porch Pride earlier this year, friends who debuted their releases on our blog, and other bluegrassers who’ve put out new music this year. Streaming their music is a great, free way to support hard-working artists who managed to stay creative in the middle of a pandemic!
]]>We wanted to highlight some of the best bluegrass releases this year, so we’ve put together a Spotify playlist; here you’ll find releases from artists who performed at Porch Pride earlier this year, friends who debuted their releases on our blog, and other bluegrassers who’ve put out new music this year. Streaming their music is a great, free way to support hard-working artists who managed to stay creative in the middle of a pandemic!
If, however, you’re able to support queer bluegrass in a financial way, we’d like to remind you that end-of-year giving is incredibly important to Bluegrass Pride. In 2020, we brought you the first ever Porch Pride festival, which raised more than $22,000 for roots musicians like the ones featured on this playlist. We have so much more planned for 2021, but we need your help.
You can donate to Bluegrass Pride online, and enjoy the playlist for all your pickin’ and grinnin’ needs!
]]>Enter Noa Laniakea, a great friend to Bluegrass Pride and talented bass player who performed at this year’s first-ever Porch Pride Festival. Noa features heavily on Fog Holler’s 2018 release “Or Else the Sun,” and we love their distinctive bass style—more on where that developed in a second. We hope you’ll enjoy this deep dive into Noa’s inspirations, aspirations and appreciation for queer and inclusive bluegrass. Who knows, maybe their story will speak to an LGBTQ+ musician or bluegrass lover who has yet to feel welcome in the genre!
]]>Despite a really tough year, Bluegrass Pride was able to work with artists and showcase their work—largely due to your contributions—providing them with additional income. We’re really proud of that, and we’re doing just a little bit more by highlighting artists’ experiences in bluegrass and with our organization. We wanted to know what inspires musicians to keep playing and how they came to love the genre in the first place.
Enter Noa Laniakea, a great friend to Bluegrass Pride and talented bass player who performed at this year’s first-ever Porch Pride Festival. Noa features heavily on Fog Holler’s 2018 release “Or Else the Sun,” and we love their distinctive bass style—more on where that developed in a second. We hope you’ll enjoy this deep dive into Noa’s inspirations, aspirations and appreciation for queer and inclusive bluegrass. Who knows, maybe their story will speak to an LGBTQ+ musician or bluegrass lover who has yet to feel welcome in the genre!
After reading Noa’s story you might be moved to support Bluegrass Pride, and to make sure bluegrass stays as diverse as it always has been. You can donate to BGP any time, but year-end giving helps us plan for the coming year and continue to support musicians who need, more than ever, a little push in the middle of a months-long pandemic. In 2020 we brought new festivals and opportunities, and we’ve got so much more planned in 2021. We’ll need your help to get there.
But without further ado, let’s hear from Noa!
BGP: Where did your interest in bluegrass come from, and how did you come to love the music?
Noa: Oddly enough, my love for bluegrass originated from hearing Edgar Meyer play bass and just immediately deciding that that was what I wanted to do. I didn't know much about the genre but his playing was extremely compelling, and I just went searching for answers. I started branching out from classical music studies and I quickly became fascinated with the sound and style of bluegrass, especially as I started digging into the richness of the tradition. The overlap between incredible technical playing, song and tune writing, accessibility, and a dynamic live performance was too much to be ignored. It was then I knew that I was in love.
BGP: How has being a part of Bluegrass Pride impacted you personally?
Noa: Bluegrass Pride has given me a sense of community when I was initially terrified that there wasn't going to be any. Being a nonbinary trans musician can be deeply isolating, especially when considering the challenges of homophobia and transphobia that can affect queer musicans. It meant a lot to see some kind of safe haven and community through Bluegrass Pride. I feel even more dedicated to the style and to my playing and performance, and I feel even more inclined toward outreach and education so that more people can feel the warmth I felt.
BGP: How has Bluegrass Pride changed your opinion about bluegrass music and the people who create it?
Noa: It's made all the difference honestly. As I learned, genres aren't really indicative of acceptance of queerness when considering the polite, behind-closed-doors conservative values of classical music or the subtext of deep hatred that forms the popular narrative of the South. Queerness is both always disguised and ever-present. Having visible figures as opposed to masked or implied ones is powerful, so much so that it's led to visible worldwide changes in the status quo. That, alongside my personal experiences performing live, have really taught me you can't really assume anything about anyone and that you can find community in places you would never expect. Bluegrass really is for everyone, in ways that I don't see as palpably in other places.
BGP: Why were you inspired to run for the board of Bluegrass Pride? What would that leadership opportunity mean to you?
Noa: I feel like my experiences as a nonbinary transfemme bassist are a unique perspective that would help strengthen the vision of Bluegrass Pride. It would mean giving back and continuing to advocate and create space for people who are continuously underrepresented.
BGP: Talk a little about upcoming projects you're working on if you can. Any good music in the works?
Noa: I'm currently composing a Concerto for Bass and Orchestra, working out a long distance album with my bluegrass band Fog Holler, arranging some trad tunes and writing some new ones for bass fiddle for an EP, and branching out into some more experimental stuff with pedals. I think there's a lot of unexplored territory with this instrument and I'm very excited to find out what else is out there.
BGP: What would you say to someone who is feeling a little left out of the music industry and thinking about getting involved in Bluegrass Pride?
Noa: Reach out to a member, post in the Facebook group, follow the Instagram, learn some tunes if you feel so inclined, whatever you do in the ways that work for you to reach out. The community has been so warm and supportive and present, speaking of my own experiences, and if you're in doubt Kara Kundert can point you in the right direction. She is an unbelievable organizer, writer, and community member who is also incredibly kind and considerate, and I've really enjoyed getting to know her.
BGP: What do you hope to accomplish in the next few years through Bluegrass Pride? What are your personal goals for contributing to the organization?
Noa: I would like to find ways to just keep Bluegrass Pride growing, not only in size and advocacy power, but also diversity. I don't know many nonbinary folks, although I know they're out there, and I just hope more of them might see the community and feel welcomed. I think I can offer a lot in terms of perspective, but honestly I'm just curious to see what else I can do. I'm sure there's tons of kinds of work that I don't know anything about and I'd like to help out as much as I can. I also think making more queer albums, either through or with Bluegrass Pride, would be awesome.
BGP: Is there anything about your love for bluegrass, Bluegrass Pride or other projects you'd like to tell folks?
Noa: One of the coolest things about bluegrass is that as a genre there are so many powerful ways it can intersect with other kinds of music, leading it to end up in people's lives in unexpected and amazing ways. On top of that it's a tradition with a deep and important history that informs a lot of our culture and a lot of our stories, things that are still being unpacked and navigated with a lot of thought and care. It's still continuing to blossom in all these beautiful ways and I'm personally really excited to see how the players, the songs, and the sounds change over time while still being part of the same bluegrass family.
*****
Let’s just revisit that last bit—that bluegrass is continuing to blossom. That means there’s a place for you, and every person who loves bluegrass, and it’s up to us to shape this music for generations to come. That’s our mission: to make sure you know that bluegrass is for everybody.
To help us reach that goal, donate to Bluegrass Pride online. We appreciate each and every gift.
We look forward to making 2021 our most impactful year yet with your help!
]]>Here at BGP, we’d like to feel like we accomplished a lot this year. In spite of a global pandemic, political unrest and so much more, we were still able to work with artists and showcase their work, plus provide them with a few checks to plug the gaps left by an eviscerated music industry.
Yes, this year has been hard, but it’s not been all bad. We’re really proud of the work we’ve done and we hope it’s left even a small impact on you. In that spirit, we’ll be sharing a few stories from our team and artists who were impacted positively by Bluegrass Pride’s work this year.
To kick things off, we chatted with our very own Executive Director Kara Kundert, a young leader in this genre if ever there was one. We hope you’ll be inspired by her words and moved to give, if you can.
]]>Here at BGP, we’d like to feel like we accomplished a lot this year. In spite of a global pandemic, political unrest and so much more, we were still able to work with artists and showcase their work, plus provide them with a few checks to plug the gaps left by an eviscerated music industry.
Yes, this year has been hard, but it’s not been all bad. We’re really proud of the work we’ve done and we hope it’s left even a small impact on you. In that spirit, we’ll be sharing a few stories from our team and artists who were impacted positively by Bluegrass Pride’s work this year.
We hope you’ll take a moment to listen to their experiences and hear about how we continue to make bluegrass more inclusive and diverse this year, and every year since we started. To kick things off, we chatted with our very own Executive Director Kara Kundert, a young leader in this genre if ever there was one.
After listening to Kara, you might be moved to consider what you can do to get involved, and to make sure bluegrass stays as queer as it always has been. Remember that you can donate to Bluegrass Pride any time of year, but especially as 2020 draws to a close, year-end giving helps us so much to keep pushing onward—to keep up the forward roll, if you will. We hope you’ll be inspired by her words and moved to give, if you can.
Let’s hear from Kara!
BGP: Can you talk a little about your personal love for bluegrass? How did you come to love the music?
Kara: I fell in love with bluegrass as a kid, though I didn't have the words for it then. I really wanted to learn how to fiddle, and my parents got me a violin and put me into classical lessons and I hated it. Bluegrass and American traditional music didn't become a big part of my life until I was 20 and my friend introduced me to the Punch Brothers during a really dark and challenging time. That beautiful, bright mandolin melody of "This Girl" just sunk its teeth into me.
BGP: What inspired you to be the youngest person in the room at the first BGP planning meeting, and why did you step up to take on a huge social media project?
Kara: When I started getting involved with the Bay Area bluegrass scene, I signed up for this pickers listserv that sent out information to folks about local shows and jams. One day I got an email invitation cluing folks into the fact that this project was happening. The email gave a date, time, and address, and also said that there would be pizza. For a grad student at Berkeley at the time, I was like, "Yes, this is perfect! I'm gay, I play bluegrass, and I live for free food. Where do I sign?"
Eventually someone brought up that we should start a Facebook page, and I was like, "Oh, I can do that!" I didn't fit in anywhere else, I didn't have other useful experience, but I was pretty sure I could figure out how to start a Facebook page and put content up about the project.
BGP: Talk a little about that historic social project and how it won Best Overall Contingent Award at SF Pride. How did you make it happen, and how did it feel?
Kara: Winning Best Overall Contingent is still something that I can't really explain. Bluegrass Pride had a small but mighty audience behind it. SF Pride didn't really tell us about the nomination or how to campaign for the prize. I think I realized that the poll was open for votes less than a week before it was going to close, so I just frantically sent the word out to everyone I could think of: I posted to our socials about the nomination, I sent out a newsletter with the poll link, I emailed it my coworkers and family and friends.
It was exciting and very haphazard -- present-day me would have handled it much differently, but it worked! We were nominated against huge contingents like Glide Memorial Church and Planned Parenthood of Northern California. Small but mighty won the day!
BGP: Talk about creating the first LGBTQ+ Musicians' Showcase at IBMA's World of Bluegrass festival. How did it feel to see queer bluegrassers represented at WOB for the first time?
Kara: It was a really emotional experience. That first year, we partnered with The Handsome Ladies in order to share costs, and we booked three bands to play: Lonely Heartstring Band, Che Apalache, and Justin Hiltner & Jon Weisberger. Unfortunately, Justin had recently been diagnosed with cancer and had to cancel his trip to Raleigh to start treatment. So we ended up swapping out Justin & Jon with a classic IBMA-style super jam featuring Brandon Godman, Ben Garnett, Tristan Scroggins, Molly Tuttle, and more. So the music was incredible.
More than that, the energy was just out of this world. Everyone who was playing was so happy and grateful to have a specifically queer and inclusive platform to celebrate and play this music. The audience kept growing and growing until we had a completely full house -- standing room only. At IBMA! For gay bluegrass! Everyone in the audience could feel it was a special show, and everyone on stage was feeling loved and supported in that moment. It was incredible.
BGP: How has being a part of Bluegrass Pride impacted you? What are some things that have changed about your life?
Kara: Well, my whole career changed so that's one (laughs)! During the first two years of Bluegrass Pride, I was pursuing a PhD in astrophysics. Now I'm out of academia and I live and breathe nonprofits all day every day.
But more than that it has taught me a great deal: about myself, what matters to me, how to manage projects and operate with professionalism, how to really multitask and juggle priorities. It introduced me to my absolute favorite people in the world and has allowed me to explore and appreciate my queerness in ways that I didn't have access to before.
I am so grateful that my path took me here.
BGP: How has Bluegrass Pride changed your opinion about bluegrass music and the people who create it?
Kara: I've always had tremendous respect for musicians and all of the people who make the music industry work, and that hasn't changed.
But this experience has introduced me to a much broader and deeper level of appreciation. I have discovered so many incredibly talented artists that I really doubt I would have stumbled on without the connections I have made through Pride, and have met so many creative and innovative writers, engineers, festival organizers, and event planners. It has given me a great deal of gratitude for the full community.
BGP: As Executive Director, what are your big picture goals for the next 3-5 years?
Kara: Oh this is a big question! A lot of it isn't up to me -- the Board of Directors really sets the big picture of the organization, I just pitch them ideas and carry things out.
But there are some things that I'm very excited about, including the forthcoming Safe Venue Directory and its partner, the Home Stay Network. Both of these projects will have a big impact on the Bluegrass Pride community: giving artists the tools and resources they need to safely get back on the road, while empowering our audience with knowledge of venues they can be proud to support. Those will be very impactful to the folks that we work with, especially as we climb out of the pandemic.
BGP: What would you say to someone who is feeling a little left out of the music industry and thinking about getting involved in Bluegrass Pride?
Kara: We want you and we need you! Our motto as an organization is that bluegrass is for everyone. So for the folks out there who love the sound of a banjo or a fiddle but you don't see a place for yourself yet, we want you to know you're welcome at our table. If you want to strum a guitar but don't know how, or if you're a music industry professional looking for paid work and assistance with career and professional development, we will be there for you!
And if you have questions about Bluegrass Pride or an idea for a new program that you'd like to see us offer, shoot me an email and we can start making it happen.
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Y’all heard that, right? Kara’s personal invite to get involved with Bluegrass Pride, whatever that looks like for you! If that means giving, and if you’re able, we’d be grateful for your support.
You can donate to Bluegrass Pride online, and we appreciate each and every gift.
We look forward to making 2021 our most impactful year yet with your help!
]]>We here at Bluegrass Pride have been big fans of the Happy Heartaches since we first heard their version of the traditional old-time song, "Cindy" back in 2018. So you can imagine how excited we were to hear that they released an EP, titled "Over There", at the end of May!
We sat down with the talented Alicia Jardine, who alternately sings, picks mandolin, and strums the banjo for the Happy Heartaches, to learn more about band and get a sneak peak into the creation of the WLW anthem "Annie on My Mind".
]]>Written by: Kara Kundert
We here at Bluegrass Pride have been big fans of the Happy Heartaches since we first heard their version of the traditional old-time song, "Cindy" back in 2018. So you can imagine how excited we were to hear that they released an EP, titled "Over There", at the end of May!
We sat down with the talented Alicia Jardine, who alternately sings, picks mandolin, and strums the banjo for the Happy Heartaches, to learn more about band and get a sneak peak into the creation of the WLW anthem "Annie on My Mind".
Answers edited for length and clarity.
We don't see a lot of bluegrass and old-time bands coming from Scandinavia! Can you tell me a little bit about how the Happy Heartaches came to be? How did you discover bluegrass and old-time music?
The bluegrass and old time community is pretty small in Sweden and Scandinavia, and every festival always has room for cajun, traditional jazz, honky tonk and country blues acts because we all have to sort of stick together. Everyone seems to know each other one way or the other and our fiddle player, Albin, was the link between me and Max (Guitar) and Brita (bass). We met up at Grenna Bluegrass Festival two years ago and it was love at first jam!
Personally, I discovered bluegrass and old-time music through the magic of internet. I remember being 13 and surfing around on YouTube and clicked my way to a clip with the Dixie Chicks performing Darrel Scott's song “Long Time Gone”. and was immediately hooked. I bought my first banjo and it was like a new world, and especially as a female string instrumentalist, I found so many role models to look up to such as Rhiannon Giddens, Sierra Hull and Maybelle Carter.
The band plays a mix of original and traditional songs. How do you choose songs for the band? How did you discover the voice and style of the Happy Heartaches?
We started out, like I presume many bands in the genre, playing traditional songs or covers. However, we had an early outspoken goal to incorporate our own material into the repertoire so that was a chance for me to bust out all the songs I’d written and challenge us to write. Over There, the first track on our EP, was Max and Brita’s first ever co-written song. The song is about a young, naïve couple dreaming of crossing the pond because everything (seemingly) will be better over there.
Me, Brita, and Albin are also active within the Swedish and Scandinavian traditional music scene, either as performers, dancers, or teachers. There is an ever-on-going discussion surrounding the balance between maintaining and evolving the tradition, and that tradition actually craves renewal to stay alive and relevant. I think we as a band have that approach to bluegrass and old-time music as well. How we as a group of Swedes can play traditional music from North America, how we hopefully add something while still staying true and respectful to the tradition. Like poking fun of the glorified image we Swedes have of the US…
Also, our fiddle player Albin, the son of a Choir conductor, always talks about how we are a perfect four-part SATB choir, and how we use it to our advantage to add our own flair to harmonizing.
This song, "Annie on my Mind", tells a beautiful and tender story about being a woman-loving woman. It also specifically addresses the idea that a higher power created you (and all LGBTQ+ people) to be just as you are. Where did you find inspiration for this song? What message are you hoping to spread?
"Annie on my mind" was a phrase -- I believe it’s a title of a youth novel -- that got stuck in my head a few years ago. It started a train of thought; why was she on my mind? And why couldn’t I stop thinking about her? Who was hearing the thoughts of this girl? Was there someone out there listening?
I believe that embracing your identity and sexuality as something natural, normal, even special and divine can liberate you and make you see that all these norms telling you that you are wrong are just socially constructed. Whether you believe in an higher power or not, the power to believe in yourself, that you are worthy of safety and love regardless of what you identify as or who you love is a very, if not the most powerful tool we people within the LGBTQ+ community have. That is the message I am hoping to spread.
You sometimes describe your songs as being "gaygrass". Tell me: what does "gaygrass" mean to you?
We started joking around in the band how all my songs were “gay” and that we should call it Gaygrass. I mean hey, the 80’s and 90’s we’re all about Newgrass so I guess the next step is just to queer it up? We’re seeing a new era of openly queer artists who are genre- and gender-bending mainstream music, so why not in bluegrass, old time and traditional genres?
I think what made me want to really start exploring non-straight love stories in songwriting was Harlan Howard definition of a good country song: “Three chords and the truth”. Well this is my truth. This is the truth of many people that due to stigmatization and homophobia hasn’t been told. As a queer artist granted the privilege of a platform, a stage to share my music, I think I need to do my part by adding more lgbtq+ art into the world. Otherwise I’m silencing myself, and what kind of fun would that be?
What are your hopes for the Happy Heartaches and how they might fit into the broader Bluegrass Pride and international bluegrass communities?
Our hope is to, as soon as it’s possible again of course, to head out and play live shows all over Scandinavia and Europe. We won Grenna Bluegrass Awards last year where the prize was a trip to DelFest, which sadly but understandably got cancelled this year. We hope to travel to next years edition and of course be able to play some more in the US. I personally also would like to see us collaborate with other musicians within the bluegrass, old-time and folk scene locally and internationally, and with other artists within the LGBTQ+ community!
May 27, 2020 - San Francisco, CA - Today, Bluegrass Pride announced Porch Pride: A Bluegrass Pride Queer-antine Festival. Airing over the weekend of June 27th and 28th, Porch Pride is a streaming festival featuring more than ten hours of live music over what would’ve been Pride weekend in San Francisco. Started as a side project of the California Bluegrass Association in 2017, Bluegrass Pride is now an internationally-recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit organization devoted to letting the world know that bluegrass and old-time music are for everyone, regardless of age, race, gender, orientation, nationality, upbringing, or politics. The goal of Porch Pride is to highlight and showcase LGBTQ+ Roots musicians while also generating financial support as they navigate a new, nearly non-existent performance landscape. Performances include—among many, many talented musicians, singers, and songwriters—the fierce, neo-folk stylings of Amythyst Kiah and Molly Tuttle’s brand of sweet songs and flat-picking acrobatics. “[Bluegrass Pride’s] hard work has created so much positive change for LGBTQ+ musicians and fans, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be a part of Porch Pride 2020!” says Tuttle. “When I walked alongside their float in the San Francisco Pride Parade in 2018, I saw first hand the effect that they were having on the community by giving a voice to marginalized people and letting people who weren’t familiar with bluegrass know that this music is for everyone.” Every donation goes right back into the community, creating opportunities for LGBTQ+ roots artists throughout the pandemic and beyond. Porch Pride is suggesting a $10 donation, but fans are encouraged to donate more if they’re enjoying the show! A full weekend schedule can be found below and fans can find more info and donate to the cause at bluegrasspride.net/porchpride.
In their first year, Bluegrass Pride marched through San Francisco with hundreds of enthusiastic supporters, their picket-fenced float home to three bands proudly representing the local traditional American music scene. The impression they left on Pride and the bluegrass scene as a whole that year—winning, ahem, Best of the Best at SF Pride 2017 out of 270 marching contingents, the first year a first-time entrant had won the accolade—merely set the stage for Bluegrass Pride to grow into what it is today. “Since that first march in SF Pride in 2017, Bluegrass Pride has been working year-round to support LGBTQ+ roots music artists and fans in as many ways as we can,” says Kara Kundert, the organization’s Executive Director. “So when the COVID crisis forced us to cancel our in-person Pride celebrations in San Francisco, Portland, and Nashville, we knew we had to find another way to support our community with financial relief for vulnerable artists in need and with an uplifting event for our community to safely share from home. We are proud to be able to bring Bluegrass Pride to where it is most needed right now: your front porch.”
“Porch Pride reinforces that our mission is about people first and foremost and that Bluegrass Pride exists everywhere—from the Bay Area to Appalachia to New England and beyond!” adds Justin Hiltner, IBMA-nominated banjo player and chair of Bluegrass Pride’s Board of Directors. “What better way to spotlight this diverse array of LGBTQ+ musicians, artists, and creators than highlighting them exactly where they happen to be in this moment?”
All times listed in Pacific Daylight Time.
Saturday, June 27 |
Sunday, June 28 |
1:00 PM: Rachel Eddy |
1:00 PM: Noa Laniakea |
1:30 PM: Karen Pittelman |
1:30 PM: Sam Armstrong-Zickefoose |
2:00 PM: Rachel Baiman & George Jackson |
2:00 PM: Brandon Godman |
2:30 PM: Tyler Hughes |
2:30 PM: Grace van't Hof |
3:00 PM: Cameron DeWhitt |
3:00 PM: Tatiana Hargreaves & Reed Stutz |
3:30 PM: Jake Blount & The Vox Hunters |
3:30 PM: Justin Hiltner |
4:00 PM: Nic Gareiss |
4:00 PM: Maddie Witler |
4:30 PM: Joe Troop |
4:30 PM: Sam Gleaves |
5:00 PM: Alice Gerrard |
5:00 PM: Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer |
5:30 PM: Allison de Groot & Patrick M'Gonigle |
5:30 PM: Kimber Ludiker & Avril Smith (of Della Mae) |
6:00 PM: Front Country |
6:00 PM: Amythyst Kiah |
6:30 PM: Molly Tuttle |
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More About Bluegrass Pride: Our mission is to recruit, encourage, and support LGBTQ+ bluegrassers of all levels, promoting their advancement and acceptance within all areas of the bluegrass music industry and musical community. We aim to uplift the genre of bluegrass as a whole to receive LGBTQ+ folks openly, and to promote allyship with all marginalized peoples within the industry and musical community. We do so by creating opportunities for community building and resources for musical skill development, such as concerts, jam sessions, showcases, festivals, parades, tutorials, recording, and more! Bluegrass Pride is a Section 501(c)(3) charitable organization, EIN 83-3224672. All donations are deemed tax-deductible absent any limitations on deductibility applicable to a particular taxpayer.
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Media Inquiries: IVPR/Maria Ivey, maria@ivpr.co
]]>BLUEGRASS PRIDE EXCLUSIVE: There’s good news and there’s bad news.
The good news is that Sinner Friends are releasing a single, “Rita,” off their highly-anticipated full-length album that is out today via Bristol, Virginia’s Bigtone Records.
Alright, there is no bad news. But, if you consider that the heart of country music is just bad news gospel music, then press play and hand me your best bad news any day of the week.
Multi-instrumentalists Grace van’t Hof and Conner Vlietstra—better known as Sinner Friends—launch their album, Bad News Gospel out into the world.
Sinner Friends crafted an album that stands out not only as an homage to the power of the past but also to the testament of two very talented tunesmiths, present tense. Sinner Friends stand on the shoulders of the forebears of early American music to release this collection of songs.
“Rita” waltzes out of a memory as van’t Hof captures the embarrassment and rush of complex emotions after an encounter with a beautiful pedicurist. After sharing the experience with her fellow human, the bubble pops and van’t Hof is left with longing from a chance meeting so seemingly inconsequential—yet, so hard to leave behind.
Written by: Kara Kundert
Today, we are thrilled to announce that Bluegrass Pride has won a grant from the Music Home Project. This grant will be used in three ways:
Our mission is to support bluegrass, old-time, and traditional American musicians of all backgrounds and levels. In support of that mission, our priorities for 2020 are to create new local celebrations of Bluegrass Pride and to book more artists. As part of those processes, we hope to generate new materials and create opportunities for mentorship and professional development, both for community leadership and musicianship.
Our goal is to ensure that no one feels that they are unable to pursue a career in traditional American music simply due to who they love. In order to do that, we must make sure that LGBT+ musicians are able to have stable careers in the scene. We aim to begin tackling this on two fronts: fair pay for all Bluegrass Pride-sponsored events, and the creation of resources to support LGBT musicians.
As we are a very young organization, we have so far had a hard time guaranteeing fair pay to all the bands we have worked with while also bringing in enough funds to cover our programming needs. While many musicians are passionate about the cause and willing to donate their time to our organization, we don’t think that’s something we should be asking of musicians as policy. Rather, we want to uplift musicians by providing them the money they’ll need to make ends meet as professional performers. We aim to guarantee all bands that we hire a minimum rate of $75/person for a concert performance, and $40/person for a showcase slot (e.g. our LGBT Musician Showcase at IBMA). Providing these guaranteed funds will help us to fulfill our mission to advance LGBT musicians in their careers, and help to create a pipeline of opportunity for talented LGBT musicians to grow in their careers and establish audiences of their own.
Additionally, our board has decided how new branches of Bluegrass Pride should be structured and organized in relation to the national organization, but we need to get that information out to the local leaders who want to take on that mantle. We hope to create instructional guides to make sure that the process for establishing a new branch of Bluegrass Pride is streamlined, accessible, and transparent. We also intend to connect new local leaders with peer-to-peer mentoring opportunities with our veteran organizers in San Francisco and Portland so that they can develop the skills needed to maximize their impact in their communities.
Finally, given that we do not own a performance space, we believe the best way we can support artists is to connect them to opportunities that will help them build their careers and reach out to new audiences. While we have many future plans for connecting artists with grants, foundations, and more, our intended first step is to create a directory of vetted venues amenable to hosting our artists. This directory would be hosted directly on our website, creating an open access tool for diverse artists to use when booking tours while maintaining their safety and connecting with friendly audiences.
We are so grateful to the Music Home Project and its leadership for believing in our mission. This grant will be a powerful tool in helping continue to make bluegrass, old-time, and American roots music overall a more welcoming and inclusive place for all.
]]>BLUEGRASS PRIDE EXCLUSIVE: Today is Juneteenth, a day which commemorates the liberation of the black enslaved populations throughout the former Confederate states on June 19, 1865. So we thought it would only be fitting to use this day to highlight and celebrate new music from Tui, featuring Bluegrass Pride's very own board member Jake Blount.
This particular song includes all of our favorite things: the preservation and promotion of diverse histories in string band music, queered lyrics, and (of course), beautiful acoustic instrumentation from these talented young old-time musicians. When asked about this particular tune, the band told us,
We're so proud of these musicians, and of all the black roots musicians working to preserve and uplift this vital history. Be sure to support Tui by buying their album Pretty Little Mister when it's released on June 28 and go see one of their shows while they're on tour!
]]>I fell in love with bluegrass music the night before I decided to hide that I was gay.
]]>Written by: Joe Troop
I fell in love with bluegrass music the night before I decided to hide that I was gay.
In the fall of 1997, my 9th-grade class took a field trip to Camp Eagle’s Nest in Pisgah Forest, western North Carolina. I’d spent a lot of time running around the woods in the Piedmont, but I had never been in such a mystical forest. The air was damp and lush, thick moss covered the tree trunks, mist meandered along the canopy. Each breath was pleasure.
The trip started with a hike. A half-dozen camp counselors in their twenties guided us down a ridge and through a ravine. We trekked several hours through intermittent rain, wet and yet comfortably warm, blissfully mud-laden.
The rain let up by late afternoon as we reached our campsite. We set up tents and put on dry clothes while the counselors prepared supper and lit a bonfire. As darkness fell we circled around, and they entertained us with jokes and stories. The whole of the day’s experience had an unusual electricity, moments that change the course of a body's life:
At the end of the night, two of the counselors brought out a banjo and guitar. I don’t recall what they played, probably a couple of standards. But the music sent a surge of psychedelic lightning bolts crystal-fracturing across my imagination. The cosmos had erupted through the earth! Fireside bluegrass upon a night sky was the biggest sound I had ever heard.
The next morning, up and at ‘em. Off to the actual camp. We were in need of a shower.
The bathrooms in the boys’ cabins had two individual showers with white plastic curtains. There wasn’t much space in there, so it made sense to de-robe before stepping in. Gazing in from the doorway, enchantment seized me. I was hypnotized, adrift in the visions of my classmates’ nakedness. I hadn’t yet processed the fact that what I felt towards them was sexual attraction; I had no idea how to frame what I was feeling.
Suddenly, another kid caught me gawking and said directly, “No peeking, Joey!” I felt discovered and alarmed — I slunk over to my bunk bed with racing thoughts, hiding.
Twenty-two years have passed since that trip. I’m currently at home in Buenos Aires during a break in Che Apalache’s touring schedule, all nestled up in my 8th-story apartment with my partner and our Siamese cat. And y’all, did I ever just have the most inspiring phone conversation!
Today was my niece’s last day of 7th grade. She heard I was writing this piece and consented to an interview. When I told her about Bluegrass Pride she exclaimed, “That’s so cool!” Being able to bask in the light of younger generations is a true blessing: in 2019 there is a diversity club at her Weaverville, NC middle school, where students can dialogue about gender and sexual identity in a safe space with adult counselors. When I asked her what she liked about it, she said, “It’s really nice to have friends that you can just talk to about anything.” I am proud to see her explore her own identity so openly at such a young age, and I am really proud of her school for making this a possibility.
While I had been out to myself since that school trip in 1997, I stayed in the closet until 2002, my freshman year of college, which was probably a smart decision. Being gay meant social death in my society, so I had to be patient. Closeted adolescence was absolutely miserable, but it was my only real option. Music quickly became my way of coping.
My bluegrass teachers encouraged me to attend all kinds of jams, festivals and fiddlers conventions, where I made lifelong friends and found a real sense of community. Unfortunately, all things LGBTQ+ were taboo. I wouldn't say that the bluegrass community was much more homophobic than society at large back then. But nowadays, people’s views on the subject are polarized along socioeconomic lines, and bluegrass is by and large blue collar.
Curiously though, bluegrass musicians have the rare possibility of forming friendships across divergent worldviews. There aren’t many spaces in the United States that allow people from radically different backgrounds to make meaningful connections. Festival-goers run the gamut from religious fundamentalists to queer anarchists, but everyone is dead set on hanging out together for a week in some muddy field, picking tunes by firelight and howling at the moon. Shared music is the focal point.
I’ve been privileged to live in foreign societies (Spain, Japan, Argentina) for 14 years, which has allowed me to question my identity and cultivate self-acceptance without being subjected to the status quo of where I was raised. I am acutely aware, though, that not everyone in bluegrass has been so fortunate. Sadly, many remain in the closet, frustrated and lonely, scared to death of losing community.
Back when I was a teenager in NC, there was no such thing as a middle school diversity club, but there is today. We’re a lot closer than we might think to cracking the class conundrum, but we have to engage, and that takes courage. Our support and activism is key right now. These days it’s easy for young people to get online and find community and acceptance, but it’s not the same as finding them in their own communities, like at fiddlers conventions down South. Presence is essential! The more of us there are at these bluegrass gatherings, the more humanized the issue will become.
Anyway, happy pride month, y’all! I hope to see you at Galax in August. Let’s pick one! Just look for the rainbow flag.
]]>Written by: Kara Kundert
We've talked a lot on here about the history of Pride and LGBT culture. But a lot of folks here know that part -- they came to Bluegrass Pride from the Pride side of the equation. So what about bluegrass? Where did this driving, lonesome music come from?
While the roots of bluegrass are much older, the musical form known as "bluegrass" has only existed for, at most, 80 years. It all started with Bill Monroe. In the 1920s and 30s, he and his brother Charlie formed one of the most popular acts of the time, The Monroe Brothers. Together, they played as a guitar-mandolin duo and sang in harmony. When the brothers split up in 1938, they both went on to form their own bands. Bill Monroe formed a band he titled "Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys", a reference to his beloved home state of Kentucky.
The Blue Grass Boys played music like nobody had ever heard before. Featuring driving beats, high lonesome vocal harmonies, and powerful instrumentation, they played music that was made for listening rather than dancing -- something that the recent development and popularization of the radio in America enabled. It had influences from old-time string bands, black churches, Dixie work fields, and country and blues musicians. And at the center of it all was Bill Monroe.
While the band first formed 80 years ago in 1939, arguably what we think of as "bluegrass" music wasn't invented until 1945, when Earl Scruggs first joined the band playing the banjo. His unique three-finger style on the banjo has since become one of the hallmark sounds of bluegrass music, and the 1945 makeup of Bill Monroe and The Blue Grass Boys has since become the touchstone of all bluegrass.
Three years later, Earl Scruggs left the band with the guitar player, Lester Flatt, to form their own group, The Foggy Mountain Boys, more commonly known as Flatt & Scruggs. Flatt and Scruggs were immensely influential, helping to bring bluegrass music to a much broader audience through appearances on national television, radio, and at venues such as schoolhouses, concert halls, and universities. Throughout the 40s and 50s, the genre began to grow. Bands began to form all over the country, and Bill Monroe officially gained the folk title, "The Father of Bluegrass".
Shortly thereafter, the first bluegrass festivals started appearing on the map. Carlton Haney is credited with creating the first ever weekend bluegrass festival, which took place in Fincastle, Virginia in 1965. With the creation of these specialized festivals, artists that had previously been thought of as competing for gigs were able to share the stage with each other and a musical community was given a new avenue through which to grow. Thus began a fruitful legacy of late-night jams, broken down barriers between stars and fans, and dusty campsites beloved by bluegrass fans of all ages.
Bluegrass music has been heavily featured throughout American pop culture over the decades. Flatt & Scruggs helped to introduce the genre to a nationwide audience through playing The Beverly Hillbillies theme (fan favorite "The Ballad of Jed Clampett") and the Bonnie and Clyde movie soundtrack. The soundtrack to the movie Deliverance also famously featured bluegrass music through the song "Dueling Banjos", which ironically featured a banjo dueling a guitar. In 1972, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band released their triple LP set Will the Circle Be Unbroken, helping to introduce bluegrass music to fans of pop music and other genres. And more recently, the 2001 release of the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? and its triple-platinum, GRAMMY Award-winning soundtrack helped to revive the genre, introducing an entire generation of music fans to this storied style of American traditional music.
Bluegrass music is now performed and enjoyed all over the world, though it hasn't remained totally the same. There are musicians that love that traditional sound and seek to emulate the performances of Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt, and Earl Scruggs, and then there are those that push the genre to new limits, borrowing influences from classical symphonies, avant-garde jazz artists, grandstanding pop musicians, and traditional music from around the world.
While the music will continue to change and grow with the influences of the musicians that play it, at its heart bluegrass will always be a music defined by the intersection of revolution and tradition. It wouldn't exist without the hundreds of years of traditional music that came before it, nor would it have thrived without the modern technology that allowed it to reach its audience. Even if everything else changes, that touch of magic and zeitgeist will always be what bluegrass sounds like.
]]>Written by: Kara Kundert
Bluegrass Pride has only existed since 2017, but Pride as a movement has existed for much longer. Arisha White of Refinery 29 has written an excellent history of the radical roots of Pride, from the Stonewall Riots in 1969 to today. Check it out below.
It’s said that a stoned drag queen throwing punches or a cross-dressing dyke named Storme DeLarverie, who was hit with a nightstick, may have started it all. But pushback grew and a tactical patrol force was brought in. Over the course of five days, riots, protests, and fires ensued. These events would become known as the Stonewall Riots...
]]>Every year, we commemorate our seasons by making playlists featuring all the artists who supported us along the way. It's our way of honoring them and remembering all the amazing times we've had celebrating Bluegrass Pride throughout the years.
This year is no different! We've already hosted some amazing artists, and there are even more amazing musicians who'll be pitching in during Pride Month. Give our 2019 soundtrack a listen and get ready to feel the love! Even better, give us a follow on Spotify and you'll never miss one of our jam playlists or season soundtracks!
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Written by: Kara Kundert
It's been a big year for Bluegrass Pride. We started three years ago as the little project that could -- a CBA adventure that went from a controversial board meeting to Best Contingent Award winners in less than six months. Since then, we've celebrated Pride in three new cities, made a music video, started a jam series, and more.
Bluegrass Pride continues to grow because of people like you, who love and support it. Your passion is what keeps us going, and what keeps us coming back year after year with bigger and bolder ideas.
This year, we had the idea to strike off on our own and become a standalone organization. It's not because we don't love the CBA; it's because we love Nashville and Raleigh and Portland and Vancouver and everywhere else! Being our own organization has been exciting, scary, rewarding, and exhilarating all at once and all the time. This freedom has opened us up to all kinds of new opportunities for growth and change. But at the same time, we don't have the safety net of an established nonprofit and their decades of experience to fall back on. We are the agents of our own destiny. In the words of Harry Truman: the buck stops here.
So we need you now more than ever. If you love Bluegrass Pride and what we stand for, we need you by our side. Come to our events! Buy a shirt! Ask your local radio DJ to spin our single on their show! Listen to our 2019 season playlist! March in the parade!
Even better, please toss us a couple of bucks if you can. We're 100% supported by our community, so everything we do comes from your financial generosity. Our big ticket event of the year, the SF Pride Parade, is right around the corner. We need to rent the trailer that will carry the live band, print the banners, hire the sound techs, and get snacks and water for use on the parade route. It adds up. If you can find some extra cash to kick in, it’ll be enormously appreciated. Just click here and give what you can. Small donations are fine! Every dollar helps.
It can be intimidating to be a beginner in bluegrass. Part of the joy of a folk tradition is that it is largely passed down through people rather than prose. We learn our songs by ear, we sit together around campfires and share tunes that we know, we teach each other the chords and the rhythms of this music that we all love.
But as someone just starting out? That can be straight up terrifying.
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Written by: Kara Kundert
It can be intimidating to be a beginner in bluegrass. Part of the joy of a folk tradition is that it is largely passed down through people rather than prose. We learn our songs by ear, we sit together around campfires and share tunes that we know, we teach each other the chords and the rhythms of this music that we all love.
But as someone just starting out? That can be straight up terrifying.
That’s how I remember my first jam. Just five or so years ago, my teacher recommended I try going to the Stork Club’s famous Monday night bluegrass jam and try picking with people. I walked in feeling woefully underprepared. I only knew a couple of two-finger chords; I couldn’t quite stretch my fingers to make the Monroe chords yet. I had a couple of tunes that I could play really slow, and my fingers were easily spooked into making mistakes they didn’t yet know how to recover from. I had no idea what people meant when they said “1-4-1-5” or “1-4-5-1”. As someone who likes feeling in control, it was petrifying to walk into a new environment and feel like I was sinking a ship that had been just fine until I came aboard.
But fortunately, there were some friendly folks there who saw the wide-eyed beginner and offered guidance rather than rejection or ridicule. They whispered chord progressions in my ear, showed me their hands as they played, and gave me tips along the way.
What I know now is that this is how everyone learns to play bluegrass. Somewhere in everyone’s history, there’s a kindly stranger with words of wisdom guiding you into this wonderful community. But imagine how many people there are out there who are too scared to make that first leap of faith. How many bluegrassers are out there who simply don’t know where to look to get the kind of mentorship that has been the foundation of our entire musical tradition?
That is where The Root comes in. The Root is a brand-new education initiative out of Bluegrass Pride, dedicated to providing general guidance to all bluegrass and old-time pickers out there who are just getting started out. Named for the foundational note in a chord, The Root will be covering the essential topics that beginners may be too scared or too lost to ask, such as how to find a teacher who’s right for you, what the Nashville number system is, and how not to be a jam buster. The goal is that these videos will help folks get up to speed and give them the tools they need to start jamming offline, thus bringing new folks into local jam scenes and festival grounds all over the country.
New videos for The Root will be released each month, and will be featuring the wisdom of all-star instructors such as Nate Lee, Megan Lynch-Chowning, Jake Blount, Bill Evans, and more. The first video, “How to Find a Teacher”, is now live on the Bluegrass Pride YouTube channel. You can also watch all episodes of The Root in the new section on our website. Check out the link in the menu bar!
]]>This song was written in honor of Bluegrass Pride during our first season and almost immediately became our unofficial anthem here in San Francisco. Its message of inclusion and unqualified acceptance speaks to the exact mission of Bluegrass Pride and the way we want the world to be. Making this music video was a way for us to show people what Bluegrass Pride is really about.
When you watch this video and listen to this song, you can truly feel the community that made it and all the love that makes Bluegrass Pride so special. As we continue to grow, we hope that folks can take this message with them, and maybe, in the end, we can spread a little more unconditional love throughout the world and make tomorrow a little bit better.
Now available everywhere!
Bandcamp: https://bluegrasspride.bandcamp.com/t...
iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/album/id14528...
Apple Music: http://itunes.apple.com/album/id/1452...
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/3MyTnW...
Amazon: https://amazon.com/Justin-Hiltner-Lau...
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/music/a... ===========================================
LYRICS:
When I was a child my mama said to me
That she would love me no matter who I grew up to be
She held me in her arms and kissed me one two three
And said she hoped that I would marry someone who loved me
Let the rainbow fly, let the banjo sing
Go on and grab you a partner and give 'em a swing
Let the fiddle play, let the people be
When we live and let live, we let freedom ring
My daddy always talked about honesty
And how a person better practice if they're lookin' to preach
So when I fell in love we didn't disagree
He said he'd never want to change a single thing about me
Let the rainbow fly, let the banjo sing
Go on and grab you a partner and give 'em a swing
Let the fiddle play, let the people be
When we live and let live, we let freedom ring
Well if I have a child, I'll set her on my knee
And I would pass along the wisdom that was given to me
I would sing this song of how the world could be
If we would love all our neighbors unconditionally
Let the rainbow fly, let the banjo sing
Go on and grab you a partner and give 'em a swing
Let the fiddle play, let the people be
When we live and let live, we let freedom ring
Let the rainbow fly, let the banjo sing
Go on and grab you a partner and give 'em a swing
Let the fiddle play, let the people be
When we live and let live, we let freedom ring
===========================================
CREDITS:
Vocals: Justin Hiltner, Melody Walker, Laurie Lewis
Banjo: Justin Hiltner
Fiddle: Brandon Godman, Kimber Ludiker, Laurie Lewis
Guitar: Melody Walker
Mandolin: Tom Rozum
Bass: Missy Raines
Songwriter: Justin Hiltner, Melody Walker
Mixing: Ben Surratt, Laurie Lewis, Gabriel Shepard
Mastering: Anna Frick
Producer: Kara Kundert
Cover Design: Tyler Stegall
Cinematography: Nestor Romero
Video Editing: Caroline Sears
Written by: Kara Kundert
The past two years have been an absolute whirlwind. From that first living room meeting brainstorming what a Bluegrass Pride celebration would look like all the way to where we are now, we've had quite the journey. And that is why I am so thrilled to be here today: announcing the start of Bluegrass Pride as its own nonprofit organization, devoted full-time to the advancement of LGBT musicianship and inclusion within the global bluegrass community.
We started as a side project of the largest bluegrass association in the world, a little regional whisper about our lofty principles. We knew we were making a statement, but at least at first, we didn't think about how far our voices might travel. After seeing the initial responses to our project — both positive and negative — we quickly realized that we had struck a chord. We were resonating well beyond the confines of California.
In that first year, we celebrated Pride with hundreds of marchers and three float bands, representing the best of the local traditional American music scene: one youth band, one old-time band, and one traditional bluegrass band. Our picket fence float, live music, and enthusiastic marchers made a big impression, within the bluegrass scene and on Pride. We were named the Best of the Best at SF Pride 2017 — bringing home the top prize out of 270 marching contingents. It was the first time that a first-time entrant to Pride had won the accolade.
We were being seen and recognized and appreciated, and it motivated us to keep pushing. From there, two new Bluegrass Pride celebrations popped up: one in Portland, Oregon and one in Vancouver, British Columbia. (That's right, we're international!) We were sponsored by the International Bluegrass Music Association, the premier professional bluegrass music association worldwide, and traveled with The Handsome Ladies to the World of Bluegrass Business Conference & Wide Open Bluegrass Music Festival in September of 2018. While there, we celebrated Pride with Raleigh, North Carolina, participating in their annual NC Pride @ Night street festival. We also hosted the first ever LGBT Musician Showcase in IBMA history, an event that drew a packed house of bluegrass fans and local LGBT folks celebrating Pride.
We are so, so proud of all that we've accomplished so far, and so thankful to the California Bluegrass Association for taking a chance on us two years ago. But most of all, we are so excited for this new chapter. Being our own organization allows us to really begin to focus on a broad, international mission, pointedly expanding our focus beyond just California and the Bay Area. It allows us to develop new projects and tools for our audience, to grow our base and speak to new audiences, and to provide hands-on guidance to folks looking to start their own Bluegrass Pride celebrations.
It allows us to be bold, to shine bright, and to have pride.
I hope you will join us on this new adventure. We'll be posting information soon about how to contribute to Bluegrass Pride, including new donation tools, merchandise, and volunteer opportunities. See you out there!
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BLUEGRASS PRIDE EXCLUSIVE – A driving old-time flavored tune composed by Brandon Godman, "General Kuster" is the sole instrumental on the album, shining a spotlight on the true picking talent of all of the musicians featured. It was written in honor of Bluegrass Pride and the leader of the 2017 Bluegrass Pride season, Ted Kuster.
]]>Watch It Burn is both modern and classic. Rooted in the shared deep love of the genre of both Weisberger and Hiltner and their desire for true emotional honesty in their art, the composition of the songs hew closely to tradition but the songwriting explores bold new themes for the genre.
We here at Bluegrass Pride are thrilled to share with you one such song off of the album. A driving old-time flavored tune composed by Brandon Godman, "General Kuster" is the sole instrumental on the album, shining a spotlight on the true picking talent of all of the musicians featured. It was written in honor of Bluegrass Pride and the leader of the 2017 Bluegrass Pride season, Ted Kuster. Both Weisberger and Hiltner are supporters of BGP and have been since day one, both having performed in our 2017 Pride Week Diversity Showcase and marched in the award-winning 2017 BGP SF Pride Parade contingent.
Says Justin Hiltner, "Having our little nod to Bluegrass Pride and Ted Kuster on our album means the world to me, not only because of mine and Jon's connection to Bluegrass Pride but also our friendship with and love for Brandon Godman – and his playing and writing! I'm so proud to be a member of this growing, vibrant, open community in bluegrass and so thankful for the support we've received from all of you."
]]>We here at Bluegrass Pride didn't set out this year with a carefully thought out plan for how to grow, or what new things we wanted to accomplish. Honestly, most of the plans we did make got thrown out or updated along the way to parade day.
The growth and gains we have made all came about organically as we pushed ourselves to do the best we could for this family we have built over the past 18 months. The love we have for each other and for all of you drives us to work harder and do more, every day.
]]>Written by: Kara Kundert
Wow. Another Pride season in the bag. Every year, we at Bluegrass Pride headquarters find ourselves in this rapid-fire maelstrom of preparations and events in June, and then wake up on June 30th wondering where the time went.
I know I came into this year thinking things would be easier the second time around -- we knew what we were doing, we had already figured out the path to follow, all that we had to do was walk along it. What I hadn't anticipated was the fact that we weren't crossing the same river twice. Not really, at least.
When we marched last year, we were a brand-new CBA project that was just finding its footing. We had raised money due to our novelty and the controversy that swirled around us. We held just about three events total in 2017, and our public profile was mostly generated from comment wars on the CBA message boards.
And somehow, our rag-tag team of friends and family made a huge splash. We won the SF Pride Best Overall Contingent Award of 2017 -- first prize out of more than 270 contingents; the first time ever that a first-time entrant has won.
So when we came back to SF Pride this year, we didn't come back as the same group. Between last year's parade and this season, we didn't just pause and hibernate. We grew. We evolved.
One became two -- our celebrations here in California were headed off by the folks of Oregon Bluegrass Pride up in Portland the weekend prior. Two became three -- as this Pride month comes to a close, we pass off the baton to Vancouver to carry us through the end of the summer. Della Mae, an internationally touring virtuosic bluegrass band, reached out to us to make sure that they could be on our float. We hosted events just about once a fortnight for months leading into Pride month, spreading the good word about Bluegrass Pride, and were invited to collaborate with new venues and festivals. Hell, we're making a music video that we're going to share with the world in September!
And, of course, a week before the parade, we received a sponsorship from the International Bluegrass Music Association, the professional bluegrass music association, honoring us for our commitment and capacity to bring bluegrass to fresh audiences and increase diversity and inclusion within the genre.
We here at Bluegrass Pride didn't set out this year with a carefully thought out plan for how to grow, or what new things we wanted to accomplish. Honestly, most of the plans we did make got thrown out or updated along the way to parade day.
The growth and gains we have made all came about organically as we pushed ourselves to do the best we could for this family we have built over the past 18 months. The love we have for each other and for all of you drives us to work harder and do more, every day.
I'm now coming to realize that this little group project I stumbled into 18 months ago is no longer just a project that I do every spring, throwing in a couple of hours after work and on the weekends.
This is my home. This is my life.
So this Pride month may be over, but we are not done. There's still work to do. There are still people out there who are waiting to be a part of this wonderful, loving, uplifting community.
Let us not rest now, nor grow weary. There is so much road ahead.
Onwards!
]]>And what an incredible team it is! Watching this project unfold has been one of the greatest joys of my adult life. I remember carpooling home with General Ted Kuster after a gig and we were talking about how we could grow bluegrass to new audiences. We talked about the Sunday Streets campaign, farmer’s market picks, etc... Then Ted said, “What do you think about a float in the Pride parade?” And whoa! That was it! That was absolutely it. The rest is history. The Bluegrass Pride family built and presented a float to over a million viewers and came back with the grand prize its very first year! It is definitely going down in history.
Not only did Bluegrass Pride forge a whole new path for bluegrass to explore last year, it took that momentum and continued blazing the trail and leading us all forward. It inspired our picking peers in Portland to start Oregon Bluegrass Pride! Bluegrass Pride has been asked to participate in World Pride in New York City in 2019! There are folks in Seattle, Vancouver, Nashville, and Texas that want to organize! Just prior to this year’s parade, IBMA announced its full support for BGP (alongside The Handsome Ladies) for bringing the “spirit of inclusivity” to the genre. “We want those who are part of our community to know they are supported, and we want those are not yet a part of our community to know that they are always welcome,” IBMA’s Convention Services Director Eddie Huffman said in a press release announcing the partnerships. “We are excited to partner with Bluegrass Pride and the Handsome Ladies to support their efforts to bring bluegrass music to new audiences, celebrating our music’s open and inclusive nature.”
This beautiful and inspiring journey is chock full of hardworking individuals and organizations. Each time I’d hear of another component of the project, I’d just get that warm and fuzzy feeling in my heart. This is what communities do for each other. This is what family and neighbors do for each other. They lift one another up, support one another. They build strong foundations, knowing that a strong base can only create a strong future.
Though I haven’t been intimately involved in the many layers of BGP, I wanted to write about this beautiful community of folks working together. It’s inspiring and on behalf of many folks out there, I’d like to share with you some of the incredible contributions
To the hundreds of folks who donated money, helped organize the event, walked the parade, organize fundraisers and events: thank you.
To Yennie Brecheisen for your creative eye and heart that produced beautiful branding images: thank you.
To Jess Poteralski who conceptualized the floats: thank you.
To Charlotte Wheeler of California Shakespeare Theater set builders who built a float that can be dismantled easily and put back together for any float we need: thank you.
To 47 Hills Brewery for letting us use space to put the float together: thank you.
To Mike Pegram and Jay Keller for so many beautiful images of the event: thank you.
To Dan Foldes and Nils Erickson for amazing post-parade sound: thank you.
To Katie Balestreti and the entire crew from SoMa StrEat Food Park: thank you.
To Amnesia for your continuing support for bluegrass music: thank you.
To Shawn McGee, former owner of Amnesia, for providing a home for this music in San Francisco for so long: thank you.
To the amazing musicians who lent their passion, voices and musicianship, and who continue to do so: thank you.
To Kara Kundert for being such an incredible leader: thank you.
To Ted Kuster for the vision: thank you.
To The Bluegrass Situation for your support and efforts to keep the music out there: thank you.
To The Hellman Foundation for everything you continue to do for the music and your encouragement and support of this project: thank you.
To the California Bluegrass Association for having the faith and confidence in what this project is about: thank you.
To the International Bluegrass Music Association for your support, and unwavering commitment to preserving bluegrass music: thank you.
And finally, thank you to bluegrass communities throughout this country and the world. This music has become home to many weary souls. Some were born into it, some had to find it, and some that got lucky because the music found them. This music connects us all. And together we can do amazing things.
]]>I sit here writing this at the airport, flying home after spending Pride week in San Francisco — five days, three marches, and lots of tunes. (I bet 1920s Tennessee fiddler John Dykes never thought his music would be played at the San Francisco dyke march.) Last year, as a recently-out queer, I watched Bluegrass Pride from a distance. This year, I walked along the float, celebrating my queerness and my love for old-time and bluegrass. As a queer old-time and bluegrass musician, I support Bluegrass Pride. I am invested in this community and I plan to be a part of it for the rest of my life. I am thrilled to see bluegrass musicians finally taking a stand on something I care about outside of traditional music. Because of this, I want to take this opportunity to mention some concerns I have. Before I continue, I want to say that this is as much a critique of myself as of Bluegrass Pride. To me this week was a call to action — a reminder to keep fighting.
As Pride, in general, becomes more mainstream (Bluegrass Pride marched between Netflix and eBay…), I want to make sure that we acknowledge and understand that Pride started as a revolt led by trans women of color against transphobic laws and police violence. Pride is a protest, not just a celebration. If we say we’re celebrating Pride, then we’re celebrating all queer people, trans people, and especially those who have had their voices silenced.
I want to be sure that Bluegrass Pride is not about being proud to be a bluegrass musician, but about supporting people who need to be supported. If we are supporting queers in bluegrass, then we have to show that support in our daily lives as well. Bluegrass Pride should recognize that we are aligning ourselves against injustices inside AND outside of the bluegrass community. Discrimination within the bluegrass community reflects the issues in our local communities as well.
As Black lesbian feminist author Audre Lorde said, “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” If we truly want to make bluegrass more inclusive and diverse, then we need to take steps in our daily lives to act against the reasons why it isn’t. Bluegrass music comes from poor, rural America and yet our festivals and camps are too expensive for many people to attend. We are often nostalgic for the golden age of American music; an era filled with genocide, slavery, lynching and sexual violence. We idolize figures of power who are amazing musicians, yes, but also racist, homophobic, and sexist. I’m not saying that we need to disregard the musicians that have come before us, but we need to start looking at them in a multidimensional way. We can’t move forward if we don’t reckon with the past. If we say we’re a part of Bluegrass Pride, then we need to have open community dialogues about homophobia, racism, and sexism and not be afraid to call out members of our community. I’m sure there are plenty of women to say #MeToo about someone in the bluegrass community. I know I certainly can.
If you’re wondering, how do I start working on all of this? A simple first step could be educating yourself. Read books and articles by people of color, trans people. Support indigenous communities, people of color, immigrants, trans and queer people. All of these struggles are connected, from the struggle of working-class white people to Brown, Black and Queer liberation. Support your local chapter of Black Lives Matter, join Showing Up for Racial Justice (aka SURJ, a racial justice organization for white people who want to be more actively anti-racist). Don’t question people’s gender and sexual identity. Don’t ask a Black or Brown person “where are you really from?” Don’t call the cops on that person you think is “suspicious” who just happens to not be white and living their daily lives. As the South African anti-apartheid activist Desmond Tutu famously stated, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the Oppressor.”
Bluegrass Pride is a chance for us as a community to no longer be neutral in these situations. And this is just the beginning. If we really want to celebrate PRIDE then we have to step up and work hard. Bluegrass Pride is about taking bluegrass music into the future, so are we going to hold up to it? Bluegrass Pride is an incredible first step, but we still have a long way to go. Just this year, I realized that all of my closest friends within the music world (old-time and bluegrass) are queer. Perhaps that says more about me than anything else, but I do believe that we are the future.
I know a lot of the terminology is confusing and new! Here are some resources that can help!
For definitions of “queer,” “transgender,” “cisgender,” etc..., check out:
http://www.transstudent.org/definitions/
Also, check out the “genderbread person” for ideas on how to think about the difference between gender identity, gender expression, sexuality, and attraction.
https://www.genderbread.org/resource/genderbread-person-minimal-3-3
Here are some organizations to check out!
https://transgenderlawcenter.org
https://www.splcenter.org
https://blacklivesmatter.com
http://www.showingupforracialjustice.org
https://www.queerappalachia.com
Also, here are some books I’ve read recently, or want to read that can be a good starting place for a lot of this stuff. Below are some links to more in-depth reading lists.
https://decolonization.wordpress.com/decolonization-readings/
https://readinglisthumanthreepointo.wordpress.com
https://www.bustle.com/articles/143803-12-books-to-keep-your-feminism-intersectional
https://squareup.com/market/bluestockings-bookstore
https://queeraslife.wordpress.com/resources/reading-list/
https://native-land.ca
As the second season of Bluegrass Pride draws to a close, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be a gay teenager, or any teenager who doesn’t quite fit the stereotypical bluegrass kid mold. It’s hard enough just being a bluegrass musician or fan as a teen – I am the only one of my non-bluegrass friend group who regularly listens to or even enjoys bluegrass. I am working on changing that, but my friends (who mostly live in Berkeley or Oakland) have their own stereotyped view of the bluegrass world, and it ain’t pretty. And in California, it isn’t even particularly true.
I have to say that the bluegrass community has generally been incredibly welcoming and accepting of me, even though, as a half-Jewish young woman, I don’t quite fit the classic bluegrass “mold.” Luckily, there are some role models for me right here in my neighborhood with whom I share some characteristics – Kathy Kallick and Suzy Thompson for starters – and so I have never felt too much out of place. However, growing up in the scene, there were still norms and traditions that felt too powerful to push back against. In my family band (in which I played until I was 9), I would sometimes change the lyrics of certain songs to preserve the hetero content – “that gal of mine” became “that guy of mine,” Curly instead of Pearly Blue, The Guy I Left Behind Me, My Buffalo Bro, etc... But I think a lot of kids do that to some extent – I’ve seen boys change the gender of a character in a song when it made them more comfortable – although one of my brothers did once sing an awesome version of “You Ain’t Woman Enough to Take My Man” at a festival.
I sure hope that bluegrass’s history and some of its culture don’t scare off queer teens or any teens who look or feel different. Organizations like Bluegrass Pride are vital because they connect communities that otherwise might never learn to love and appreciate each other, and demonstrate to the community-at-large that bluegrass is there for everyone. I was SO proud to participate in the first Bluegrass Pride event last year in San Francisco (with my grandmother, aunt, and father beside me, and my mother cheering me on by text). It was an incredibly meaningful and emotional day for me. I would have been there this year but I was still at an arts camp near Yosemite – where I got to work on some stand-up comedy about my relationship with bluegrass! You see, I’m making the most of this...
To any bluegrass kids and teens questioning your sexuality, gender, or favorite genre of music, I want you to know that whatever you decide you are or what or whom you like, it doesn’t matter. Surround yourself with people who love and accept you as you are, and with people who you love and accept in return. Or, in the words of Dr. Seuss, “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”
]]>Y’all, I haven’t always been out. Even now I’m out in a tenuous kind of way - if you know, you know. I’m not putting myself out there so much, for strangers.
Bluegrass music found its way into my life in school, when I was studying classical piano at a small liberal arts college in New York. I played a little guitar. I had some friends who were dedicated members of the music department’s bluegrass ensemble. I joined up for fun.
I wasn’t out then -- I’m not out to a lot of those people, still. I connected with the music because of its feeling of otherness: I was a bit of a hick at a private school; I was gay and years away from admitting it to anyone; even in a group of people who loved me, I was desperately lonely. The first time somebody characterized bluegrass music to me as “a high, lonesome sound,” I understood why it’d hooked me. It was mountain music, acres of space music. Music for small communities, townships, places where the personal was often political.
So I played, first guitar, later mandolin. I sang -- a thing I am, to paraphrase a professor, unteachably bad at. At a time in my life when every choice I made seemed to dig me deeper into a self-destructive trench, I had fun, pure and simple, playing reels with my friends.
Pride, for me, is somewhat of a self-contained thing: it’s more important where I am now to be proud of myself, of the fact that I’m gay and that I survived long enough to feel okay writing that phrase and publishing it, than it is to be proud in defiance of someone else. Bluegrass is an interior thing, too: I can jam in a community, I can have a wonderful time, but the joy I feel spools back into that high lonesome sound. That loneliness, that otherness. Playing with other people shows me it’s better to be lonely together.
As this pride month comes to a close -- always too soon -- be loud, if you can. Play your tunes, change the pronouns, make them gay. Laugh a lot. Sing so people can hear you, even if you’re an unteachably bad singer. There might be some lonesome somebody who needs to hear it.
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