Contemporary Bluegrass Band: The Avett Brothers

The Seekers were formed in 1962 in Melbourne by Athol Guy on double bass (cello), Keith Potger on twelve-string guitar and Bruce Woodley on guitar. Guy, Potger and Woodley had all attended Melbourne Boys High School in Victoria. In the late 1950s, Potger led The Trinamics, a rock 'n' roll group, Guy led the Ramblers and, with Woodley, they decided to form a doo-wop music group, the Escorts. The Escorts had Ken Ray as the lead singer and in 1962 they became "The Seekers". Ray left the group to get married. His place was taken by Judith Durham, an established traditional jazz singer who added a distinctive female lead voice. She had earlier recorded an extended play disc on W&G Records with the Melbourne group, Frank Traynor's Jazz

Southern music known today as country music became popular in the 1920’s. This was music that was based on folk music of cowboys in the southeast (Collins English Dictionary, 2003). In most of the early music the artist played stringed instruments like fiddles, guitars, banjos and some were even playing harmonicas. When this type of music started some people called it

The Jakob’s Ferry Stragglers is a bluegrass band that consist of five people who all play different instruments. Gary Antol is a very passionate guitarist, vocalist, and a mandolin player, he sang most of the songs, when did sing it was full of dignity and confidence. Libby Eddy is a very talented fiddler and vocalist, when she sang she sang with a very classic almost country sound with her thick accent and her powerful voice. Joe Dep is the banjo player and he play the banjo with strong enthusiasm. Ed Croft is a vocalist and a very talented bass player, he played bass in such an uplifting way. They are all from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.

Rock and Roll comes from the mid-1950s and is a combination of a blues, country music, and gospel music. Bill Haley and The Comets are considered the driving force behind the start of rock and roll. In the summer of 1955 Bill Haley and The Comets, had the first Rock and Roll song to be placed on the top of the Billboard best sellers, most played song on jukeboxes, and the most played by disc jockeys. Rock around the clock is a very iconic song written and performed by Bill Haley and the Comets, and is recognized as a timeless Rock and Roll song and showcases the bands western and country roots. Even though Bill Haley and The Comets had started the Rock and Roll genre, the audience wasn’t there and shortly died out. As a result, there

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees the best rock and roll artists ever, but they forgot the Doobie Brothers. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame should induct the Doobie Brothers. The Doobie Brothers formed in San Jose, California in 1970. Patrick Simmons, John McFee, and Tom Johnston are the current band members. They are one of the few bands who successfully alternated their genre of music. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame should induct the Doobie Brothers.

Playing the guitar in ways never seen before, Clapton was hailed as a god, and the genre of blues was re-instated into the music industry. Clapton then went on to form the first ‘super group’. In 1966, Cream were formed, and by combining Clapton’s bluesy styles with the more rocky style of Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, Cream created a new genre of blues rock. Zepplin could also be credited for pioneering this genre. It was this genre that got Cream and Zeppelin noticed in the US.

Hood formed a Bluegrass band called Hard to Make a Living and played professionally for the next ten years in communities within the Texas hill country. John played the bass and cello along with singing in several folk, bluegrass, swing, and jazz ensembles. An advocate of the performing arts and a leader by talent and trade, John assumed the leadership of the Central Texas Bluegrass Association and spearheaded monthly publications, music productions, scholarships, and countless jam

Scott Joplin, commonly known as the "King of Ragtime" music, was born on November 24, 1868, in Bowie County, Texas near Linden. Joplin came from a large musical family. His father, Giles Joplin was a musician who had fiddled dance music while serving as a slave at his master's parties. His mother, Florence Givens Joplin, born free and out of slavery, sang and played the banjo, and four of his brothers and sisters either sang or played strings.

The country music group Exile had many changes in line-up during its first sixteen years, including the loss of their lead singer Jimmy Stokley around the release of their album All There Is. Despite this, the group managed to assess their abilities and turn Exile into a new and arguably more successful group as they went on in their career. This group proves that there’s a way to get around every obstacle, because they are still playing even now, 53 years after their original debut.

Billy Joel joined a total of 3 bands before becoming a solo artist. The first group he joined was called the Echoes, a cover band that quickly gained popularity and would later be known as the Lost Souls. While enjoying the success of his first band, Billy Joel saw the Beatles’ iconic performance on the Ed Sullivan Show and was inspired to pursue a career as a professional musician. As a result, he dropped out of high school at age 17 and devoted his life to a musical career.

The group was formed in 1965 by bluegrass - enthusiast Jerry Garcia on guitar and vocals, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan on vocals and organ, Bob Weir on guitar and vocals, classical music student Phil Lesh on bass and vocals, and Bill Kreutzmann on drums. From the beginning, they brought together a variety of influences, from Garcia's country background to Pigpen's feeling for blues (his father was an R&B radio DJ) and Lesh's education in contemporary serious" music. Add to that, the experimentation encouraged at some of the group's first performances at novelist Ken Kesey's

first high profile exposure was on a recording with the Illinois Jacquet band. In this

Mumford & Sons formed in the December of 2007 with the purpose of creating and writing music that mattered and fans could relate to. The group is made up of four West Londoners, Marcus Mumford, Country Winston, Ben Lovett, and Ted Dwane, all in their early twenties. Mumford & Son’s sound is commonly classified as folk and bluegrass, blended with traces of country. Their distinctive sound has been referred to as a “gutsy, old-time sound that marries the magic of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young with the might of Kings Of Leon,” (“Mumford & Sons: Biography” 1). The band is widely admired by fans and other leading musicians for not becoming just another over-produced, mainstream,

When early rock and roll began the major American record companies did not take the british invasion seriously. The Beatles first album had to be released through small independent music companies. The success of British bands began to get to large to ignore, it changed the styles of some American musicians as well. In 1965 Bob Dylan performed at a concert in which he used electrical instruments, this alienated many folk music purists in the process of changing music forever (Unterberger pg.165). The American band the byrds combined folk and rock which created a number one hit on the billboard music charts. A Band called Buffalo Springfield blended aspects of Rock, Country and western music to create country rock in 1966.

The fiddle had a high pitched sound that went along well with the “high lonesome” singing (Langrall, 1986). It is not certain when the banjo entered, but it was the next instrument added to strings for Appalachian music. The next stringed instrument was the guitar. Bands called String Bands came around and as they were reserved, they when out and entertained people, instead of just singing with a couple of people (Langrall, 1986). These String Band players played court days, political rallies, country fairs and at other social gatherings (langrall, 1986). Sting bands would play for dances such as the waltz (Olson). As the string bands started with the fiddle when the banjo gain popularity in the Appalachian music it was included in the sting bands followed by the guitar and the mandolin