Progressive bluegrass, also known as newgrass (a term attributed to New Grass Revival member Ebo Walker), is one of two major subgenres of bluegrass music. Progressive bluegrass came to widespread attention in the late 1960s and 1970s, as some groups began using electric instruments and importing songs from other genres (particularly rock & roll). Important musicians from that period include John Hartford, New Grass Revival, J.D. Crowe and the New South, The Dillards, Boone Creek, Country Gazette, and the Seldom Scene.
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Progressive bluegrass, also known as newgrass (a term attributed to New Grass Revival member Ebo Walker), is one of two major subgenres of bluegrass music. Progressive bluegrass came to widespread attention in the late 1960s and 1970s, as some groups began using electric instruments and importing songs from other genres (particularly rock & roll). Important musicians from that period include John Hartford, New Grass Revival, J.D. Crowe and the New South, The Dillards, Boone Creek, Country Gazette, and the Seldom Scene. However, progressive bluegrass can be traced back to one of the earliest bluegrass bands. A brief listen to the banjo and bass duets Earl Scruggs played even in the earliest days of the Foggy Mountain Boys give a hint of wild chord progressions to come. The four key distinguishing elements (not always all present) of progressive bluegrass are instrumentation (frequently including electric instruments, drums, piano, and more), songs imported or styles imitated from other musical genres (like jazz, rock and others), non-traditional chord progressions, and lengthy "jam band"-style improvisation.
Currently performing progressive bluegrass bands and musicians include The Infamous Stringdusters, Mountain Heart, Carrie Hassler & Hard Rain, the Czech band Druhá Tráva, the Yonder Mountain String Band, Old Crow Medicine Show, Railroad Earth, Hot Buttered Rum, Leftover Salmon, Darol Anger, Trampled By Turtles, bassist Missy Raines, and Alison Krauss and her band Union Station. Others who play (or have played) progressive bluegrass include Tony Trischka, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, Sam Bush, John Cowan, Tony Rice, David Grisman, Peter Rowan, Dillard & Clark, Chris Hillman & Herb Pedersen, Nickel Creek, The Paperboys, The Greencards, the Jazz Mandolin Project, and occasionally The String Cheese Incident.
