Page "Bluegrass music" Paragraph 14

Originally Bluegrass style was included in the category of folk music and later changed to hillbilly and in 1948 bluegrass was placed under the country / western heading for radio airplay charting.

All four of the seminal bluegrass authors: Artis, Price, Canwell and Rosenburg described bluegrass music in detail as originating in style and form, in one form or another, between the 1930s and mid-1940s.

However, the term “ bluegrass ” did not appear formally to describe the music until the late 1950s, and did not appear in Music Index until 1965 ( Kretzschmar, 1970 ).

The first entry in Music Index mentioning “ bluegrass music ” directed the reader to “ see Country Music ; Hillbilly Music ” ( Kretzschmar, 1970, p. 91 ).

Music Index maintained this listing for bluegrass music until 1986.

The first time bluegrass music had its own entries in Music Index was 1987 ( Stratelak, 1988 ). There is no strict definition of bluegrass, although there are clear derivatives — the topical and narrative themes of many bluegrass songs are highly reminiscent of folk music.

In fact, many songs that are widely considered to be bluegrass are in reality older works legitimately classified as folk or old-time music that are performed in the bluegrass style.

Hence the interplay between bluegrass and folk forms has been academically studied.

Folklorist Dr. Neil Rosenberg, for example, shows that most devoted bluegrass fans and musicians are familiar with traditional folk songs and old-time music, and that these songs are often played at shows, festivals and jams.