I drive around blaring banjo music.

I'm pretty sure the title of this post is a statement not heard nearly as often as it should be.

Like homeschooling, certain TV shows, and pretty much everything else I will or have talked about in this blog, banjo music is severely misunderstood.
Lets be honest for just about 2 minutes. Close your eyes and picture someone playing a banjo. Now, unless you grew up around them, or you play one, or you have a good grasp on how complicated and beautiful they are, the thought that crossed your mind was of a toothless, barefoot hillbilly in overalls and no shirt sitting on the porch of a shack playing a banjo. Am I right?
If so, don't be embarrassed. This is what we call a stereotype. I'm not saying there aren't banjo players like that out there, but they are much......much.....the minority.
If that wasn't what you pictured. congratulations! You may someday be a bluegrass enthusiast like me.

My delight and love of this instrument hasn't always been, but has grown very slowly over time.

As a very young girl, my parents house was always blasting bluegrass music at me. A sound I detested at the time, but could do nothing about. After all, I was just a little girl, and my dad has to be the most bluegrass loving man I have ever had the privilege to know. Not just any old bluegrass, though. Traditional Bluegrass.  If I were to try and explain dad's definition of traditional, it would have to be this;
You only use guitars, banjos, mandolins, fiddles, and an bass......but it has to be an upright......nothing is plugged in to amplification, and ABSOLUTELY NO DRUMS!

If you were to ask me what caused my hatred of bluegrass, I would have to say I didn't really know. That I can remember, I had no good explanation. It was probably because my dad loved it so much and it was an opportunity to rebel.
My sense of musical taste was very limited when I was young, and I can understand why to a degree. Dad loved bluegrass so much that he just wanted me to love it too, and since I was home-schooled, I was in a controlled listening environment and at least they knew bluegrass was clean. Well, as clean as bluegrass can get. They still have stories about ending up in jail and killing your wife because she cheated on you.......but that's part of it's charm.
So, I had strictly bluegrass at home, and if I was out somewhere, it was normally with my brother and/or sister-in-law (both 17+ years my senior), who loved country music. 90's country music. Lots or Reba McEntire, Billy Ray Cyrus, Tim McGraw.......etc. Feeling the way I did about bluegrass, I went the country direction. Plus, I thought it would score me some cool points with the sis-in-law. I mean, let's face it. I was a home-schooled, sheltered, over-protected loser (in her opinion). I needed all the points I could get!

If you would have told me at age 13 that there was a genre out there called Experimental Jazz Fusion, I probably would have given you a questioning look and asked  "What is a Gen....er.....e?" I could have sworn to you at that time there were only 2 kinds of music, and the queen of both was none other than the great Dolly Parton. She was, and always will be one of my favorite artists. Her talent has never ceased to blow my mind. When I was around 9 or 10, I had lots of cassette tapes of Dolly and I listened to them almost non-stop. Then, when I was about 12, I got my first CD player for Christmas and my first CD was a used "Best Of Dolly" that my mom found in a pawn shop. I still have it, and sometimes when I'm in a real good mood, I'll play the first track, which is "Mule Skinner Blues" and sing with her at the top of my lungs. It brings back memories of when I first learned all the words to that song and would (I'm sure) drive mom crazy by playing it while working in my history book. Many other artists entered my life after my "Dolly phase", but none can ever replace her in my heart.

As I grew older, I constantly battled my growing tolerance of bluegrass. I can remember not wanting to like it, but I can't remember why. Perhaps my mind was full of stereotypes, thus making it not "cool" enough. But this annoying, un-cool music was starting to creep into my head, and that upset me. It was a couple of years after this time before I actually let my dad know that I liked "his music". I mean, I couldn't let him know. He might want me to........listen to some with him, or something.

When I was about 17, I met a man who was more music minded than anyone I have ever met. He liked many, many different types of music.......more than I'd ever thought of knowing, and could tell you about all of them. He was amazing. So amazing in fact, that I married him 4 years later. (We'll talk about our relationship some other time. Although, it is very music oriented.)
When we first started dating, he introduced me not only to bluegrass like I'd never known, but Newgrass, Jazz, Celtic, Folk, Rock, Contemporary Christian, and countless others. I was quite literally shocked and amazed by what I had missed out on all those years. It was as if those bands had just been sitting there waiting on me. I was eternally, hopelessly, completely in love with music.

A band that struck a particular "chord" with me, was the New Grass Revival. Now, there were a couple formations of this band, so I linked to the one I liked the best. If you haven't heard these guys, I strongly suggest that you give them a listen. My favorite line up involved Sam Bush, John Cowan, Pat Flynn, and Bela Fleck. These four men aren't just fabulous as a group, they will individually blow your mind.
They were instantly added to my "favorites forever" list. And trust me, it's not easy getting on that list.

After hearing NGR and some other genres of music, the stereotypes that had been formed in my mind, either by me or someone else, began to fade away and I started to appreciate talent from all forms of music in the world. (Except Rap. I don't think I'll ever understand that one). I had opened up my mind and began to find beauty in the misunderstood.

I am now proud to say that I not only listen to music with banjos in it, but I play one as well..........in fact, I play with a bluegrass band. That music that I thought was so awful as a child, is now at the top of my list. Amazing how time changes you, isn't it? No, I don't like everything......and probably never will. But I do give it a chance.
I hope that some of you are going to leave this blog after reading this, and look for a type of music that you don't normally listen to. Who knows? You might just grow to love it.