Breaking Down Bluegrass

“I had never flat picked before, which is the guitar style in Bluegrass. I was used to playing a lot of James Taylor-style stuff, so learning to play a super-specific role is what I’ve had to adjust to.”

For first-year student William Hall and many of his bandmates, Bluegrass music was a completely new experience. Across campus disciplines, students learn from and work side-by-side with world-renowned subject matter experts. And now, Bluegrass, a regionally rooted and internationally recognized musical form, is on that list of subjects.

Under the instruction of Russell Johnson—a Carolina graduate, award-winning songwriter and mandolinist and front man for the Grass Cats—Carolina Bluegrass Band members have gone from knowing a few folks songs to playing the breaks, solos and kickoffs that define the genre. The band even shared a stage with the Grammy-winning Steep Canyon Rangers.

Read the complete Carolina Story…

This is story number 27 in the Carolina Stories 225th Anniversary Edition magazine.

The Carolina Bluegrass Band is a part of the Carolina Bluegrass Initiative launched by music professor Jocelyn Neal and Mark Katz, the Ruel W. Tyson Jr. Distinguished Professor of Humanities. As part of the initiative, Neal teaches a History of Bluegrass course and organized the first Carolina Bluegrass Summit held in November 2015. The Carolina Bluegrass Initiative is made possible with a gift from alumnus John A. Powell.

Photo by York Wilson.

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