Bluegrass is Making a Comeback & Coming Back to Canton

In the 1940’s, Bill Monroe bumped into Earl Scruggs and bluegrass music was born. Although the genre can trace its roots back to Scotland and Ireland, what Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys were doing on the mandolin, fiddle, guitar and banjo had never been heard before. The fast playing and the high and lonesome sound found its niche and took its place within American music.

Fast forward 70 or 80 years, and bluegrass music has begun to see a resurrection across the country. Artists such as The Avett Brothers, Nickle Creek, The Punch Brothers, Old Crow Medicine Show, Billy Strings and many others have brought bluegrass out of the shadows and into the limelight, giving many listeners that nostalgic feeling that only mountain music can offer.

It has been more than a decade and a half since the last Bluegrass Festival was held in Canton, Texas. Jim Fuller held bluegrass festivals on the First Monday grounds from 1977 to 2006. Although this new event isn’t associated with Mr. Fuller, he is glad to see bluegrass music come back to Canton. Kevin Richards is the new promoter of the Van Zandt County Bluegrass Festival which features eight different bluegrass artists. Guests will listen to the sounds of Kenny Stinson & Perfect Tym’n, Hillbilly Fever, Algerita Hill, That Dalton Gang, The Kody Norris Show, Acoustic Sound Hounds, Springstreet, Bobby Giles and Texas Gales. Catch these acts and other events March 17-19 in the Canton Civic Center. For more information on the festival visit www.krlivemusic.com.