So with the end of the quarter coming up quickly I've been putting a lot of thought on how I'm going to get talk to some of the people I want to interview. I know some of the things I want to ask, such as their opinion on traditional playing vs fusions of styles or bringing in different influences from other music. I really want to tread carefully in this territory because I know that people will often have strong opinions about the subject and I really hope i don't step on any toes with my questions. I know I'll also have to ask about general background questions, such as what their musical influences are and how they came into the culture of bluegrass, but I feel like I might just be trying to put off the inevitable question of asking why they might feel one way or the other and seeing how musicians I've been playing with for the past few weeks actually see the culture, which might not be particularly friendly to people who don't see things the same way. I think that after having grown up a lot in the tradition of bluegrass music and meeting a lot of friendly people, I seem to find myself hesitant to actually go and find out what might be a more unpleasant side of the tradition and culture.
As I recall there was one such event that I read about several years ago between Bill Monroe, a mandolin player known as the 'Father' of Bluegrass, and a musician who asked if he, Monroe, would run a songwriting workshop. As the story goes, Monroe was less than enthusiastic at the idea, refusing and the musician said that it seemed as those Monroe looked at the other musicians as competition and to teach others the tradition would be breeding his own competition. I can understand that position, but for a music that often sells itself as being family friendly and generally welcoming on the surface, I think that perhaps the competitive nature that underlies the music, perhaps, has more sway than the average bluegrass musician might like to say. So, I might be a bit afraid of what I might find, but I do find this strange disconnect to be something I definitely want to look into further.
It's interesting that Bill Monroe was uncooperative toward teaching his art especially given you describe the environment as generally friendly and welcoming. Even in western art music which is extremely competitive, most of the really high level performers and/or conductors, composers etc. give masterclasses from time to time. The competition analysis does make sense, although he should be perhaps less worried about creating competition and more worried about alienating fans/fellow musicians even if he is not concerned about contributing to maintaining the art form himself. I'll be interested to see what else you find out!
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