As long as kids are pummeling pots in basements and snatching vintage amps from Goodwill, there will be musical genres that challenge, if not completely subvert, all acceptable notions of aural pleasure. Even bluegrass was one back in the day, and though the lifestyle surrounding it isn't as instantly seditious as mohawk-and-safety-pin-circa-'77, the music itself is just as belligerent-- particularly when it's taken out of its historically benign porch-and-moonshine context. Fiercely cacophonous, often percussionless, and defiantly lurching toward a flurried, volatile climax, proper bluegrass is hardly the most palatable stuff. Sam Bush may be more badass than he gets credit for. |