Banjo Jamboree, Caslav, CZ, 2007. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen GruberHere's my article Bluegrass Thrives, Far from Home, which appeared in the print edition of the International Herald Tribune and the online edition of the New York Times.
PRAGUE — A recent concert in Prague demonstrated the far-flung reach of an infectious musical genre that spells “Americana” from the first ringing twang of a finger-picked string.
It was a concert of bluegrass music — but the event was a far cry from the high lonesome hills of Appalachia.
Lilly of the West, a bluegrass band from Bulgaria, was joined by Czech musicians for a performance hosted by the Bulgarian Culture Institute at its premises in the heart of the capital.
“The music is very sincere, it’s about the lyrics, about the songs; every song tells a story,” said Lilly Drumeva, the singer who founded the band more than a dozen years ago. She had first heard bluegrass in Vienna, she said, when she studied there in the early 1990s.
Famed for its close harmony singing and lightning-fast fingerwork on the banjo, mandolin and fiddle, bluegrass music has an international following among a passionate niche of devotees.
In Europe, dozens of bluegrass concerts, festivals, workshops and jam sessions take place throughout the year. Homegrown bands take center stage, but American musicians also often tour. And local bluegrass associations, Web sites, blogs and publications promote the music and chronicle events. Scotland, the Czech Republic, Norway and other locations have even had bluegrass programs in public schools.
The scene is small but intensely active, said Dennis Schut, a Dutch musician who has been involved in bluegrass since the 1970s.
“I see it as a sort of religion or something,” he said. “You get addicted to bluegrass. The first time you hear it, you’re hooked.”
Mr. Schut’s 26-year-old son, Ralph, is a case in point. He moved to the Czech Republic — home to the liveliest bluegrass scene in Europe — for the music and now plays in a number of bands, including Roll’s Boys and G-runs ’n Roses.
Bluegrass in Czech lands grew out of a long, widespread acoustic music tradition. In 1964, concerts in Prague and Brno by Pete Seeger galvanized fans, who made their own five-string banjos based on photographs of Seeger performing.
Today, devotees claim that there are more bluegrass bands per capita in the Czech Republic than in any other country in the world.
By now, the music practically forms a local idiom — so much so that it was the country’s premier bluegrass band, Druha Trava, that was chosen to perform at Prague Castle before U.S. President Barack Obama’s speech there last Sunday.
Hard-core bluegrass fans, said Dennis Schut, do “everything they can to get people to play, hear and enjoy the music.”
In February, these aims underscored a meeting in Germany sponsored by the European Bluegrass Music Association, a coordinating group founded in 2001 and modeled on the Nashville-based International Bluegrass Music Association.
Billed as the first European Bluegrass Summit, it grouped about 30 people from a dozen countries, including concert and festival organizers, representatives of national bluegrass associations, music writers and even a few musicians.
“To present music, to make it grow, to further musical structures there has to be an organization of some sort,” said Olaf Glaesman, one of the participants, who organizes a bluegrass festival in Germany.
One major annual initiative comes each May — the whole month is designated by the Nashville association as Worldwide Bluegrass Music Month, and this year more than 145 events, ranging from big festivals to one-off concerts, are planned in Europe. (See the full schedule at www.ebma.org/101.0.html)
The highlight is the annual European World of Bluegrass Festival in Voorthuizen in the Netherlands. It will take place this year from May 21 to 23, and combines concerts with workshops, a band competition and a trade show with instrument makers, artists and others. This year’s line-up features more than three dozen bands.
Other major festivals during May include:
May 1-2. The Bluegrass Festival in Bühl, Germany. The lineup includes the American bluegrass artists Randy Waller and the Country Gentlemen, Wayne Henderson and Helen White, plus the Austrian group Nugget, among other bands from the United States and Germany.
May 9. The Spring Bluegrass Festival in Willisau, Switzerland. In addition to Bulgaria’s Lilly of the West and bands from Northern Ireland, Germany and Switzerland, the lineup features American groups including Randy Waller and the Country Gentlemen.
May 29-30. The Strakonice Jamboree, Strakonice, Czech Republic. The festival highlights more than two dozen top Czech groups as well as acts from Sweden and Austria.
May 30-31. The GrevenGrass Festival in Greven, Germany. Concerts and jam sessions feature groups from the Czech Republic, Germany, Great Britain and the United States.
Bluegrass Month in May, however, only begins the summer season of bluegrass festivals and tours. Top dates include:
June 19-20. Banjo Jamboree, Caslav, Czech Republic. Founded in 1973, the Banjo Jamboree is the oldest bluegrass festival in Europe. It features mainly Czech artists — but Czech bands rank among the top bluegrass performers in Europe. Most fans camp out, and there are jam sessions round the clock.
July 29-Aug. 2. La Roche International Bluegrass Festival, La Roche-sur-Foron, France (near Geneva). Entrance is free to this five-day festival of non-stop music by some 30 bands. The biggest bluegrass event in France, last year’s edition drew 12,000 fans.
Sept. 4-6. Didmarton Bluegrass Festival, Kemble Air Field, Gloucestershire, England. One of the biggest festivals, Didmarton features international bands, jam sessions and more.
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