Bluegrass in the Bay

This story aired in the July 1 2024 episode of Crosscurrents.

Bluegrass is typically associated with the South, but its “high lonesome sound” resonates with many listeners, whether or not they’ve spent time there. Between Hardly Strictly in Golden Gate Park and the much beloved bluegrass night at Amnesia in San Francisco, the Bay Area has helped shift the stereotype of what bluegrass sounds like.

From a block away, I can see that people are excited to enter the festival. Toting their own instruments, and already tapping their toes...

But even these super fans can’t quite describe what the bluegrass sound is. 

"Oh, you can’t define it. It can’t be defined. You just gotta hear it."

"You’re asking the wrong person."

"I don’t know how you would describe it, but, um…"

"It’s probably a merger of country and … I don’t know what else."

Musician Laurie Lewis is used to people not knowing what type of music she plays. "People go, 'Oh! I’ve heard of that,' or 'I like that,' and it may be something completely other from the music that I play, but at least they have some sort of inkling."

Laurie has been playing bluegrass in the Bay professionally for decades. By now, she has a pretty good definition of how to best describe it.

She says, "It’s basically a singer-songwriter with a string band."

But even that doesn’t quite capture the type of music filling up the next three days of the festival. And attendees aren’t just here to listen — they’re making music, too.

"Well, welcome to the Harmony Singing workshop," Laurie says. "So, let’s talk about harmony singing. We’re approaching it from the bluegrass perspective."

There are hands-on workshops — like the harmony-singing one Laurie’s leading. Or concerts, where the audience is invited to participate.

That’s something else about bluegrass: it’s accessible. And that accessibility is a part of the music’s appeal.

"You can actually learn enough of the repertoire that you can jump into a jam session anywhere and name, 'I wonder where you are tonight,' or 'Little Cabin Home on the Hill' and people say, ‘Oh yeah. What key?’" Laurie says.

Bluegrass is associated with rural southern Appalachia — states like Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. Bill Monroe is credited with coining the term “bluegrass” in the 1940s. When he sang songs about the longing for home in his signature falsetto, the “high lonesome sound” was born. That yearning is universal, and it helped the music spread.

In the 70s, bluegrass started to enter pop culture through Hollywood: think Deliverance and the Beverly Hillbillies.

In the early aughts, it was the Cohen Brothers movie “Oh Brother Where Art Thou.”

Now, it’s Rhiannon Giddeons — the banjo player whose licks were featured on Beyoncé’s country album.

For some, bluegrass may seem like it’s bound by tradition, like only certain chords or certain rhythms are the ‘real’ bluegrass sound. But, bluegrass is a music that’s prone to breaking its own rules. And the Bay Area has always been a place where musicians push the boundaries of bluegrass even further.

In the 70s, iconic bluegrass musicians like David Grisman and Tony Rice started experimenting with the genre.

Here's Laurie again: "That music was just taking off in all these different directions where it had never gone before … and it was exhilarating."

And that experimental style still resonates. Today, the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Parks is called “hardly strictly” for a reason — it’s known for bending the rules of the genre.

From the outside, bluegrass is still largely seen as a white southern tradition. But, it’s always been a blend of multiple music styles. Standard bluegrass instruments include both the fiddle — popular with Scottish and Irish immigrants to rural Appalachia — and the banjo, which originated in Africa.

Leah Wallenberg is also helping to lead a workshop at the Berkeley Bluegrass Festival. She says, "This is a music that is associated with whiteness that would not exist without Black musicians. It’s in the name: there’s blues there. Bill Monroe learned from Black musicians. It’s been there from the very start."

Arnold Schultz was a black fiddler who mentored Monroe, a white musician. Together they created many — now signature — sounds. That kind of meshing is inherently American. But, with racial segregation and more Black people leaving the rural South for big cities, it’s like the music became segregated too.

Leah says people are starting to honor the true origins of bluegrass." It in itself is an innovation of multiple styles of music. And that’s just how new, good things come about."

Lately, in the bluegrass world, there’s been discussion about the “big tent.” Meaning everyone is welcome to learn, play, and listen to this music.

And that’s what’s helped Bay Area bluegrass evolve to include younger musicians … like the band “Salty Sally.”

Lucy Khadder plays the fiddle, MK Martinez-Griffith is on cello, Naima Nascimento does guitar and vocals, and Sophia Sparks plays the mandolin. Salty Sally formed when they met as high school students at Oakland School for the Arts a few years ago. I got the chance to hang out with them in the green room before their set.

Naima says, "There’s lots of different ways to play bluegrass. The reason I like bluegrass a lot is that everyone kind of does it differently. People think of bluegrass like, 'Oh, it’s strict, and only this type of people can play it.' Yeah, like, only old people play it. But there’s actually a lot of young people like us playing bluegrass. And it’s still bluegrass, but it’s turning into this new thing as time goes on. 

The members of Salty Sally grab their instruments, and make their way to the stage. And their very presence up there is a sign that there’s a new generation of bluegrass-lovers who will keep this music alive and evolving.