We have bluegrass here in NYC, too. In fact, it appears that bluegrass and country are making a comeback in the city with a number of venues featuring it, such as the Baggot Inn, the Parkside Lounge, Barbes, Freddys and Hank’s Saloon in Brooklyn, the Rodeo Bar, Joe’s Pub, The Ear Inn, etc. It may come as a surprise that country and bluegrass would have a following in the city, but frequently, people seek out antidotes to the stresses and complexity of living in such an intense urban environment. Music can be a great release, and complete immersion in a genre like bluegrass, where the lyrics hearken back to a simpler time, can really have a therapeutic effect. Country and bluegrass have had an image stigma , but in many ways, things don’t change that much as far as interpersonal relationships, and perhaps this is why these music genres, with their stories and lyrics, still resonate and find an audience, even among the “sophisticated.”
The event in the photo was the annual Bluegrass Reunion in Washington Square Park, which was organized by Jeannie (see website here) and draws hundreds, some coming from afar. It’s a true reunion, too; some of the participants have not seen each other for years. The music and weather was great, with numerous little jam sessions happening spontaneously. There were music world luminaries such as Izzy Young and Art D’Lugoff. There were guitars, mandolins, fiddles, double basses, banjos, washtub basses, and the amazing Bob Gurland playing mouth trumpet…
where Philippe is interviewed and “is the spiritual heart of the film,” according to Burns.
