Need Help Guys! Goin Bluegrass...Help Me.....

[jmbstudios]

There is a local restaurant that wants me to put together a Bluegrass, Acoustic Trio....

No Problem... Now here is where you come in..

I need about 30 tunes to put together the set I feel would take care of it... I want to do mostly Bluegrass. Up tempo stuff, some ballads.. I have an incredible female singer. So all gender stuff is great.

Aside from the Bluegrass, we want to do some acoustic songs... James Taylor, Buffet, stuff like that.. Popular stuff..

PLEASE put more than your 2 cents in! Lets Have it!

I know that I can count on this discussion to help out. And if anyone is in Yuma, AZ. when we start playing there, come on by and I'll buy you a nice Micro Brew!
Thanks
Jeff

[d28mikeip]

Hey! Bluegrass rules. You can always do some classic tunes like "Memphis, Tennessee" or "Mountain Dew." You can do more contemporary things like Tony Rice or Del McCoury. You can do popular stuff like "Blue Moon of Kentucky" or "Man of Constant Sorrow".

[Wally]

Bluegrass eh? Well here are some of my favorites

Rocky Top
Uncle Penn
Ole Slew Foot
Rollin' in my sweet baby's arms

Go Rest High on that Mountain

You say you have a great female singer, then how about a little
Allison Krauss and Union Station or
Emmy Lou Harris or
Linda Ronstadt (for a little more contemporary flavor)

On the more acoustic folk side how about John Denver classics to go along with those great Buffet and JT Tunes

Sounds like a lot of fun to come.

[trpullen]

This is a tough one. What instrumentation are you going with?

Banjo? - A Must Really
Mando - Important too
Bass...well, you know. I am partial.
Guitar helps too.
Fiddle or Dobro are optional

So, what you gonna do man? I need details and I will send you lists and lists and lyric sheets with chords and stuff...hehe.

[RL]

Hello Jeff,

This past weekend, I, along with my son, attended the Minnesota Folk Music Festival held in St. Paul, MN.

One of the the featured groups (bluegrass I might add) featured the Becky Schlagel band. Becky is recognized in the upper midwest as an up and comer with a voice to compete with Alison Kraus.

Anyway, the band consisted of a banjo, Becky playing acoustic guitar and singing and a third member who played mandolin, fiddle and(would you believe it in this bluegrass traditional part of the country) a Taylor 414.

The crowd loved it and songs included old time, traditional and some more recent tunes including U2 as well done to a bluegrass twist.

Seems bluegrass isn't necessarily bluegrass anymore. It's a new sound with traditional instruments...well sort of traditional.

Best of luck.

RL

[Dutch66]

I myself have been in this situation, since the "o brother where out thou" phenom everyone in every audience seems to be a bluegrass buff. Here is what we have thrown in our sets that seem to work.

Old Home Place - The Dilliards
Nellie Kane - oops i forget who does this one
Old & in the Way - Old & in the Way
Midnight Moonlight - Old & in the Way
Steam Powered Airplane - John Hartford

All these songs you can squeak by w/ a trio set up although a mandolin helps.

If they are expecting "O Brother" throw in "Man of Constant Sorrow" or "You are my Sunshine"

This is my first post hope it helps

[stratokatsu]

Get yourself some Dolly Parton music. Allison Krauss would be another good one. Ricky Skaggs...

[ehautama]

Gibson makes a 6 string mando in standard guitar tuning!

It sounds awesome and you don't have to relearn shapes.

[jmbstudios]

We will have the big Stand up Bass. I will be on guitar and mandolin, and there will be another guitar player, and a female singer.

Thanks guys I am writing all this down and searching for mp3's.

Keep them coming..... This is great stuff.....

There has to be more acoustic stuff too.... aside from bluegrass, that is....................

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE TUNES TO PLAY ON YOUR TAYLOR?????

[trpullen]

Originally posted by Dutch66
Steam Powered Airplane - John Hartford

All these songs you can squeak by w/ a trio set up although a mandolin helps.

To be technical, It is Steam Powered Aereo Plane and it HAS to have a Banjo. GOD I MISS JOHN HARTFORD!!!!!

[trpullen]

Here is an average setlist for us:

1. Old Home Place (A) - Dillards
2. It Won't Work This Time (A) - AKUS (Allison Krauss)
3. You Ain't Going Nowhere (G) - Bob Dylan
4. Sittin' on Top of the World (G) - Trad.
5. Nashville Cats (D) - Lovin' Spoonful/Del McCoury
6. Humours of Green Mount (D) - Original
7. Mississippi Dew (D) - John Hartford
8. This Heart of Mine (A) - New Grass Revival
9. One More Dollar (A) - Gillian Welch
10. Steel Rails (A) - AKUS
11. The Only Thing I Wanted (G) - Original
12. I've Just Seen A Face (G) - Beatles
13. Norwegian Wood (G) - Beatles
14. Redwing (G) - Trad.
15. Glendale Train (G) - New Riders of the Purple Sage
16. Salty Dog Blues (G) - Flatt and Scruggs
17. Black Beauty (G) - Original
18. Dooley (A) - Dillards
19. Got Me On The Run (A) - Original
20. How Mtn. Girls Can Love/Old Joe Clark (A) - Trad.
21. Old Train (E) - Dillards/Tony Rice
22. December Wind (B) - Original
23. I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight (E) - Bob Dylan
24. Waitin' for the Train (Dm) - Original
25. Change Coming Down (G) - Rice, Rice, Hillman and Petersen
26. Goin’ Down the Road (G) - Trad/Grateful Dead
27. Light Thru the Window (G) - Original
28. Little Maggie (G) - Trad
29. Great Central (G) - Trad
30. I Still Miss Someone (D) - Johnny Cash
31. Whiskey Before Breakfast (D) - Trad.
32. Wichita (A) - Gillian Welch
33. Goldrush (A) - Trad.
34. Carpathian (A) - Original

That is about 2.5 hours with a break and some witty humor from stage. We keep about 90 songs fresh just in case.

[jmbstudios]

AWESOME!

You weren't kidding.

That is a huge help for me..........

Thanks
Jeff

[lmn50]

Get some Seldom Scene, my favorite bluegrass group of all times and their stuff is good acoustically just about any way you do it. Check out "Rider" for a no holds barred "take a break" tune.

ps-Everything off the Nashville Skyline/Dylan album is a crowd pleaser. (Lay Lady Lay/Girl From the North Country/etc.) Also you Ain't Goin Nowhere big crowd pleaser.
City of New Orleans
Fire On the Mountain
The Weight
Carolina in the Pines
Ginseng Sullivan
Make me a Pallet
Jesus Rock My Baby
In My Father's House

If you truly want strict bluegrass check out the AZ bluegrass assoc. to find out where the jams are and go jam with the groups. You will be most welcome and it is a real learning experience. Let me know when and where in Yuma, I will try to make it sometime.

[JimC]

One of my favorites....

http://www.mamarocks.com/i_am_my_own_grandpa.htm

[Jim]

If you want to learn about and listen to bluegrass, here are a couple of good websites:

http://www.bluegrasscountry.org/

http://www.wamu.org/bgovernight/index.html