Folk/bluegrass songs that get you so chill you could nap on a hammock in a hurricane!

[the_mango55]

Why should metal fans have all the fun?

My #1 chill out feel good song: Good Times Around the Bend by String Cheese Incident





It does not matter what kind of mood I'm in, this song will chill me out instantly.

[Roma_Victrix]

Glad you asked, Mango!

"Victory," Trampled by Turtles



"Freeborn Man," Tony Rice and Mark O'Connor (kicking some ass together, skip to about 3:00 if you want O'Connor to knock your socks off)



I'm more of a metalhead than anything else, but if there's any music that competes in the department of technical complexity and mastership of instruments, it's definitely classical music, jazz, and bluegrass without exception. Well, I suppose the blues is sometimes the exception:

[Sphere]

[Roma_Victrix]

You're not supposed to put the entire URL into the brackets.

[the_mango55]

Ha, I started that video and I thought "Those guys are really pale, I wonder if they are Scandinavian?"

Then it panned over to the dude in the mesh shirt and yellow cap and I'm like "Yep, definitely Scandinavian"

@Roma_Victrix, Victory is one of my favorites. Going to see Trampled By Turtles in April at Merlefest, a huge bluegrass/country music festival near me.

[Roma_Victrix]

@Roma_Victrix, Victory is one of my favorites. Going to see Trampled By Turtles in April at Merlefest, a huge bluegrass/country music festival near me.

Lucky you!

[classical_hero]

Does this count, even though it's a cover?

[Logios]

[the_mango55]

Lucky you!

Yeah here's the full lineup:


Most excited about the Avett Brothers






Also like Old Crow Medicine Show. They were actually "discovered" at Merlefest (actually they were discovered while playing on the street in Boone, NC by bluegrass legend Doc Watson and his daughter and invited to play at merlefest, which is Doc's festival)



Don't even get me started about Hootie's... I mean Darius Rucker's cover of this song.

[Halie Satanus]

My favorite by far is the Sandy Denny era 'Fairport Convention.' I just love folk song that tells a tale, especially a tragic one...

She moved through the fair a 'traditional' (Irish/Scots) melody, which generally means it's so old no one knows who wrote it (Hendrix 'Hey Joe' being another example).. Anyway, I've always loved this melody which has been covered and converted by many artists. These would be my favorite versions, in no particular order.











''My young love said to me,
My mother won't mind
And my father won't slight you
For your lack of kind.
And she stepped away from me
And this she did say:
It will not be long, Love,
'Til our wedding day.

Verse 2
She stepped away from me
And she moved through the fair
And fondly I watched her
Move here and move there.
And then she made her way homeward,
With one star awake,
As the swan in the evening
Moved over the lake.


Verse 3
The people were saying,
No two e'er were wed
But one had a sorrow
That never was said.
And I smiled as she passed
With her goods and her gear,
And that was the last
That I saw of my dear

Verse 4
Last night she came to me,
My dead love came in.
So softly she came
That her feet made no din.
As she laid her hand on me,
And this she did say:
It will not be long, love,
'Til our wedding day.''

And a reworking.

[Roma_Victrix]

@Halie Satanus, that was all very nice, and I've always loved Belfast Child, but I don't think you quite understand what "bluegrass" music is, strictly speaking. For instance, Simple Minds can be pigeonholed into various genres of music, including alternative rock, new wave, and synthpop, but bluegrass they are not.

Bluegrass is considered a sub-genre of American country music, not folk music, although it could be said to be rooted in traditional English, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh folk music. However, it is more an American creation of the Appalachian region, eventually with some elements of African-American blues and jazz thrown in just for fun.

If not the videos mango_55 and I have posted, take a listen to the video Logios posted, "Corn Liquor" by Hayseed Dixie, for a good example of what bluegrass actually sounds like.

[Halie Satanus]

Isn't the thread title Folk/Bluegrass which I took as folk and bluegrass otherwise shouldn't it just be 'bluegrass?'

Sorry if I got that wrong, I was mislead by thread title..

Not to argue the point, but the sub genre's of folk have become more blurred than ever before in the last few years especially with groups like Mumford and Son. The only difference between a lot of their music and typical bluegrass is the accent. Imagine this with a good old boy on the vocals..



Or Fleet Foxes, stick a Banjo in here and..... The change at 2.15 would sound great in a bluegrass version.



Or Ed Sheeran taking a bluegrass song and doing this..



with this...



which also became this...



And there's very little difference between bluegrass and traditional Irish music. A Banjo, a Violin an acoustic guitar and it's all pretty much the same..





Any way, sorry for the hijack..

[Logios]

Edit:

Or Ed Sheeran taking a bluegrass song and doing this..

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

with this...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

We need this version:


There are quite a lot of versions of it. I was not that impressed by the one by Joan Baez, but she recorded a highly similar one on her 1960 eponymous album:

I can't seem to dig up the original root of these, but perhaps someone with more clues and Google-fu than me could figure that out.

[the_mango55]

[Wulfburk]

[Roma_Victrix]

Of all the threads you chose to revive, you chose the right one, Mango. I love Trampled by Turtles!

I've never heard the Lonesome Ace Stringband before, though, so thanks for sharing Wulfburk.

[Logios]

Maybe not fully within gengre, but I just feel this thread really needs Dr. Hook

[Roma_Victrix]

One of my absolute favorite songs from New Grass Revival:

[sumskilz]

Bluegrass is considered a sub-genre of American country music, not folk music, although it could be said to be rooted in traditional English, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh folk music. However, it is more an American creation of the Appalachian region, eventually with some elements of African-American blues and jazz thrown in just for fun.

It's interesting that this doesn't show up on the Wiki page, but a big part of the bluegrass sound came from minstrel show music. By that, I mean American minstrel shows in which white people, usually Irish immigrants would put on blackface and do variety acts making fun of black people. This was tremendously popular in the 19th Century. This music actually borrowed a lot from the music the slaves played, but was interpreted by musicians more comfortable with British folk styles.

In fact, the banjo was created by slaves using tambourine and guitar parts in an attempt recreate various West African instruments like the ngoni. The minstrel musicians played the banjo with the African-style techniques, but sped up the music to make it more comical.

Here's an example of African ngoni, first instrument to play:



A video about what I was just writing about:



The akonting, another banjo precursor, with another common banjo technique:



EDIT: This guy demonstrates the development of banjo construction and playing styles and plays a minstrel song, so you can hear how much bluegrass owes to it:

[Roma_Victrix]

That's cool! I didn't know about any of that. I wouldn't go as far as to say bluegrass was (indirectly) invented by African Americans by way of minstrels making fun of them, but it's safe to say blues, R & B, rock n roll, jazz, soul, and hip hop are all African American creations. They didn't invent metal, though! That was arguably an English thing (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Motorhead, Judas Priest, etc.).