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Location: Flushing, MI | "Session-Killers" - that's supposedly the term used by bluegrass guitarists at their festival jam sessions. That's because of the Ovations tendency to be somewhat louder than their Martins, old Gibsons, etc...
I say "Take THAT you banjo twangers!" With all of that piercing banjo, mandolin, and fiddle (violins are INSANELY loud) it's nice to be able to cut through that stuff if we have to. Now we just have to practice some restraint when we're backin' ya up. But, if you don't give us a little bit o' room now and then - then LOOK OUT! - we'll clear our own path!
Having said that, I actually love bluegrass, and have the utmost respect for those players. I would hate to think that those guys would be rolling their eyes at the mere sight of an Ovation at one of their jams though.
It's nice to know that, if we HAVE to, we can be a "SESSION-KILLER"!
Doncha jus' love it!
Edited to add:
"ALRIGHT NOBODY MOVE! I HAVE A LEGEND AND I'M NOT AFRAID TO USE IT!" |
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Location: Illinois | Originally posted by tragocaster:
"...That's because of the Ovations tendency to be somewhat louder than their Martins, old Gibsons, etc...
not likely
... Now we just have to practice some restraint when we're backin' ya up. But, if you don't give us a little bit o' room now and then - then LOOK OUT! - we'll clear our own path!
I think I heard a banjo / Mando / dobro player say that once.
"ALRIGHT NOBODY MOVE! I HAVE A LEGEND AND I'M NOT AFRAID TO USE IT!" Yeah, What ever. :rolleyes: |
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Location: Flushing, MI | :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
I'm rolling my eyes right back at you...
... so THERE! |
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Location: NJ | Which raises the question:
If a CatFight broke out in the middle of a Bluegrass session . . . who would know?? |
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| A CatFight!? Hey, wait a minute there, I resemble that remark :) I've got a pop bluegrass arrangement I've written on my LEGEND, and their ain't a 'grass player in town that can touch it! Of course, they hear me playing 'their' music and all they want to hear is "Wildwood Flower" or something like that. There's a serious picker in our little town who does the more traditional Bill Monroe style, and there's some who like the Allison Kraus/Blue Highway/Rhonda Vincent styles. Bluegrass is about as diverse now as Jazz music is. |
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Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | Depends on the audience....Allison Krauss/Blue Highway/Rhonda Vincent is often considered "newgrass", and the traditionalists tend to look down their nose at them.
My fantasy is to get in a bluegrass jam with my 2005-ES....I'd love to see how it would compare to a D-18 or D-28. Of course, with my chops, I'd get my head handed to me...... :rolleyes:
Roger |
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Location: Flushing, MI | So are Ovations really louder than Martins or Gibsons? Has anyone A/B'd them for volume? I've also read that O's project more, and are actually louder out front to the listener than they are from the players perspective. Has this actually been proven? |
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | If the audience can hear your git better than the three guys standing next to you, you're git is - ipso facto - louder!
Yes, all O's (in my experience) are louder than any other guitar. period. |
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Location: NJ | ". . So are Ovations really louder than Martins or Gibsons? . ."
Depends (on the "model(s), and) if you're "playing" or "listening" . . . |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | It's like saying Canadians are taller than Americans. Dave |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | or like saying Americans are fatter than Canadians.... |
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Location: Cicero, NY | ...or Canadians make better beer.
Oh, wait...strike that. |
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Location: Toronto | :D ;) :D ;) and tomorrow is Canada Day - I'll crack a cold Canadian and toast all my short chubby friends south of the 49th! |
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Location: Flushing, MI | Man I wish I could. The doc say "NO". Happy Canada Day! Have a drink for me! |
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Location: Toronto | It would be my immense pleasure! |
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Location: Maryland, USA | Originally posted by Old Applause Owner:
Depends on the audience....Allison Krauss/Blue Highway/Rhonda Vincent is often considered "newgrass", and the traditionalists tend to look down their nose at them.
My fantasy is to get in a bluegrass jam with my 2005-ES....I'd love to see how it would compare to a D-18 or D-28. Of course, with my chops, I'd get my head handed to me...... :rolleyes:
Roger I actually really dig Allison Krauss when she's with Union Station...does that make me have an inferior taste in bluegrass music? |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | AKUS are amoung the finest musicians playing today. If they choose not to play tradtional Bluegrass, it's only because they have transcended the genre. Every member has hardcore Bluegrass Bona Fides in their past and all still can walk out on to a stage and pick/bow a BG tune with the best of them.
End of discussion. |
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Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | NO, Stephen P, that does NOT mean you have inferior taste....I like AKUS and "newgrass" myself(Allison is from my home area in Illinois). Just stating what I've seen.
Roger |
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Location: Illinois | Originally posted by tragocaster:
:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
I'm rolling my eyes right back at you...
... so THERE! Time to put up or shut up... citiboy. :cool:
Yes, there are those 'traditionalists' who think bluegrass should be all cordless acoustic, but even Bill Monroe stepped up to a mic once in a while. More commonly there are those who desparage bluegrass. But bluegrass is uniquely American. American born and American bred. Bluegrass, for the most part, is part-time musicians gettin' together to jam on American heritage tunes and others. Back in the olden days, and to some extent today, this was a week-end event to blow off steam. Musicians would schlep their instruments over hill and holler to get to someone's front porch and just play. Schleppin' is much easier when you don't have to drag all the accoutriments of electrified instruments. How many times have you heard someone say, "..I really love playing music, but I hate draggin' all this 'stuff' with me."
AKUS et. al. have been able to make a living' doin' what they love. When the fans stop buyin' tickets or CDs, they'll be back in a holler some wheres pickin' a tune, 'cause it's fun.. sans electricity. |
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Location: south east Michigan | To paraphrase Mr. Darling..
If you don't have a passion for something in your life, there is no use to breathing. |
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Location: NJ | ". . American born and American bred . ."
. . . and based on old English/Irish fiddle tunes . . . |
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Location: East Tennessee | Originally posted by Jeff W.:
AKUS are amoung the finest musicians playing today. If they choose not to play tradtional Bluegrass, it's only because they have transcended the genre. Every member has hardcore Bluegrass Bona Fides in their past and all still can walk out on to a stage and pick/bow a BG tune with the best of them.
End of discussion. I agree. They are some of the finest musicians around.
I don't know of a bluegrass band who wouldn't love to any one of them sit in and play with them. :cool: |
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Location: SoCal | I just bought a new cd by Bryon Sutton where he goes to a number of his guitar playing heros and does duets with them. It's some of the best guitar playing I've heard in a long time.
To play bluegrass today, you've got to be an all around player. Just listen to Bryon Sutton, or Tony Rice, or Jerry Douglas, or any number of people. There's some great music out there. And there's still the tradional bluegrass being played for those that just want to listen to that and nothing else.
The days of bluegrass being 5 guys in pinched cowboy hats is gone forever. Keep in mind that Clarence White started and was always a bluegrass player. |
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Location: Illinois | Originally posted by cliff:
". . American born and American bred . ."
. . . and based on old English/Irish fiddle tunes . . . 'zactly! as is Country and Western, with a little Blues and Tex-Mex to add flavor, and it's Godless progeny Rock and Roll.
"Don't it just cut yeh?"
Uh, that last quote wasn't Brisco, it was Andy Taylor. |
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Location: Illinois | Originally posted by Slipkid:
To paraphrase Mr. Darling..
If you don't have a passion for something in your life, there is no use to breathing. Now you git his meanin'. Briscoe was a man of few words. "Just a bed and a bible." |
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January 2006
Posts: 208
Location: Illinois | Originally posted by moody, p.i.:
...The days of bluegrass being 5 guys in pinched cowboy hats is gone forever. ... Yup, now is 4 guys in pinched hats and a gal in a purty dress. |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | I've been listening to lots of bluegrass lately. Alecia Nugent is really good, but I think she'd be new grass. Bluegrass junction is the first preset on my XFM station.
Are Ovations louder than Martins? Depends on who is playing. Often times the loudest player at a session is the biggest a$$hole at the session. The purpose is to make music right? not steamroll everyboidy else.
Now how many bluegrass guys does it take to change a light bulb?
It takes all 5 (guitar, fiddle, mando, bass, and banjer). One to change it and the others to complain about it being electric.
I tell that to be funny but also to point out that the hard core bluegrassers can be some of the most inflexable opinionated people out there. Not only about instruments (all the tupperware remarks) but about what is true bleugrass and what isn't, and if it isn't they dump on it pretty quickly and completely. In all my years in the biz they are the number 1 snobs, closely followed by the classical guys. What really bothers me about this is that they, in their search for purity, are shooting themselves in the feet. Music needs to evolve over time, it's part of the growth process, and by doing so it continues to bring in new fans which keeps the cycle going. Stop the cycle and you become history. |
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We're all "Session-Killers"!