It’s kind of like having to try everything on your plate. At our house, you didn't have to ask for seconds but you did have to try whatever mom served. That’s the way I feel about bluegrass music. We ought to try it all out and then you can make a better decision. I’ve generally avoided bluegrass music because I didn’t think I liked it. I was wrong; I just didn’t get it.

Bluegrass music is pure American and that means a little of everywhere. It came from the Appalachian Mountain settlers who came from England, Scotland, and Ireland. They were isolated in the mountains and this music was a way for them to protect their language and stories from home. If you really want to preserve something, then sing it all day. That’s what they did and why traditional bluegrass is so pure.

Women weren’t allowed to play instruments and so they learned to sing. Most of the vocals in bluegrass are for women who sang the ballads in a high voice. The fiddle came from the Scotch-Irish. The banjo came from Africa and the slaves. American’s tweaked the mandolin which originated from Germany and Italy. What a cultural mixed bag we are.

Jug playing and washtub bases came from a blues background. The guitar came along later in the game for bluegrass. It was used as a rhythm instrument. Once the mountain folks could order from the Montgomery Wards catalogue, instruments became much more widely used.

During the Depression, bluegrass groups played in school houses to help raise money for them. This was where the tradition of mingling gospel music and bluegrass begun. Radio brought bluegrass music out of the mountains.

The late ’50s and ’60s brought change to everything, including bluegrass music. This is when progressive bluegrass was developed and the music became much more widely played and accepted. Wouldn’t you know, by the ’70s it was known as California bluegrass and the West Coast originated a lot of the current changes in the genre.

Around here, the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame boasts possession of Byron Berline's fiddle. He was inducted in 1999. Mr. Berline is a three time national fiddle champion and hosts Oklahoma’s Bluegrass Festival in Guthrie for Oct. 1 to 3.

You don’t have to wait until October or drive to Guthrie. Bluegrass on the Square happens regularly and next on June 27 at Muskogee Civic Center. It’s a great family time with kids and lawn chairs. I won’t let another chance to enjoy get by me. Mike Williams deserves our thanks for keeping the passion alive in Muskogee.

Muskogee offers a full plate of musical history and performances. Don’t be silly, like me, and miss the enjoyment of a specific kind of music just because you think you don’t like it. Try it. As always, if we want great performances, then we have to take responsibility for providing great audiences.