# Music by Genre > Bluegrass, Newgrass, Country, Gospel Variants >  Bluegrass Towns/Cities List

## pursuitofwisdom

I am trying to compile a list of bluegrass towns, if you know what I mean, where there is a prominent bluegrass scene, lots of pickers. To start it off here are the obvious;

*Bluegrass Towns*
* Nederland, CO

* Flagstaff, AZ


(not sure if I would count large cities but I will leave 'em out for this purpose, looking for anything other than giant cities like Seattle, Portland, Chicago, New York, etc etc.)

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## greg_tsam

We have a fair share of BG pickers in Houston, TX but I don't know if you would call it a hotbed of BG mania or anything.  But there is so much music and musicians here it can all get lost in the vastness of the city which is huge.  There is Bay Area Bluegrass Association  http://bayareabluegrass.org/ with monthly shows and jams, yearly festival "Fire on the Strings" and the yearly Texas State Picking Championship.  

There are various other jams going on in the city but I love the weekly BG jam at a local BBQ joint, Hickory Hollow, hosted by Bobby Nichols, Chris Hirsch and Kelly Lancaster.   Randy Powell and Chris Bagley show up from time to time.  Several pickin' titles among them and all of them are great pickers and singers.  Lots of fun.

**On a side note, many of those mentioned above played with the late, great Dave Peters.  Kelly considers him one of his best friends and often speaks fondly, and highly,  of him.  Wish he were still around.

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## mandobassman

I have corresponded with Greg on this before.  I lived in Houston for 10 years  (1994 — 2004) and was blown away by the size of the bluegrass community when I was out there.  Every one of those people he listed are people I have either jammed with or played in a band with.  I played at Hickory Hollow once a month for nearly nine years and it has the best chicken fried steak EVER!  They have been great supporters of bluegrass.  The area had (when I was there) 4 bluegrass clubs that each had monthly jams.  I'm still playing here in the South Jersey and Philadelphia area but I do miss the Houston bluegrass scene.  

My wife and I have considered a move to the Maine coast and I was wondering about what bluegrass exists up there.  Anyone have any info on that?

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## mandobassman

> We have a fair share of BG pickers in Houston, TX but I don't know if you would call it a hotbed of BG mania or anything.  But there is so much music and musicians here it can all get lost in the vastness of the city which is huge.  There is Bay Area Bluegrass Association  http://bayareabluegrass.org/ with monthly shows and jams, yearly festival "Fire on the Strings" and the yearly Texas State Picking Championship.  
> 
> There are various other jams going on in the city but I love the weekly BG jam at a local BBQ joint, Hickory Hollow, hosted by Bobby Nichols, Chris Hirsch and Kelly Lancaster.  Bobby Powell and Chris Bagley show up from time to time.  Several pickin' titles among them and all of them are great pickers and singers.  Lots of fun.
> 
> **On a side note, many of those mentioned above played with the late, great Dave Peters.  Kelly considers him one of his best friends and often speaks fondly, and highly,  of him.  Wish he were still around.


Greg, Did you mean Randy Powell?  (Awesome bluegrass and swing fiddler)

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## Mandolin Mick

Well, I can tell you that Milwaukee is not one of them!  :Wink:

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## chhearn

I will vouch for Radford, VA...kudos to Ralph Berrier for his ten-year effort at building a great Monday night jam-now at the River City Grill...and thanks to Chris Burgoyne for starting up the Side-door sessions - small venue for local acts to try their hands at performing ...a small college-town in the heart of the Blue Ridge, on the New River with a friendly and enthusiastic bluegrass crowd...

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## farmerjones

might find a few pickers in Mtn. View, Ar.

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## greg_tsam

> Greg, Did you mean Randy Powell?  (Awesome bluegrass and swing fiddler)


Sure did.  I made an earlier correction that I guess got lost in the interwebz.  Thanks.  I fixed it.

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## f5loar

I was just through Flagstaff, AZ a few months ago and couldn't find much bluegrass going on locally.  One store downtown and it was not that much of a bluegrass store.
I can add Asheville, NC and Statesville, NC.   Both areas (within a 30 mile radius) are hot beds for pickers and bluegrass events.  I think North Carolina provided more Bluegrass Boys (and girls) for Bill Monroe then any other state in the Union.

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## Earl Gamage

How about some links or something that tells us why they are bg cities.

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## mandobassman

Houston

http://bayareabluegrass.org/

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## Willie Poole

At one time Washington D.C, was called the Capital City of Bluegrass, we had way too many bands here and now it seems that its hard to find a real good place to listen and or play....There is always the jam sessions but I`m speaking of pro bands, at one time we had some real good ones...Country Gents, Cliff Waldron, Seldom Scene, Johnson Mtn Boys, Bluegrass Cardinals, Reno and Smiley, Bill Harrell,Yates Bros, Buzz Busby...and then we had some that did venture in from Baltimore now and then until the "feuds" started between the bands from both cities, like Walter Hensley, and even The Stanley Bros worked out of Baltimore for a while....Also in those days we had bluegrass on WAMU radio for six hours evey day and all afternoon on Sat. and Sunday....NNow that gone also unless you have a "HD" Radio.....

   Now it seems that interest has gone down as far as bluegrass is concerned, some of us do still have our loyal fans and have our regular places to play but even that is dwindling down, my band lost three yearly gigs that we have been playing for about 10 years, but we did pick up a few othrs so I guess it balances out......

      Willie

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## allenhopkins

Don't know about "prominent" and "lots of pickers," but there's a constant level of BG activity in central NY, Syracuse area.  Bill Knowlton's _Bluegrass Ramble_ show has been on public radio since forever, and the *Central NY Bluegrass Association* keeps a pretty busy calendar.

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## Barefoot Bud

> I will vouch for Radford, VA...kudos to Ralph Berrier for his ten-year effort at building a great Monday night jam-now at the River City Grill...and thanks to Chris Burgoyne for starting up the Side-door sessions - small venue for local acts to try their hands at performing ...a small college-town in the heart of the Blue Ridge, on the New River with a friendly and enthusiastic bluegrass crowd...


I've heard a lot of good things about the pickin' up there. With that in mind, I'd definitely add Floyd to the list. Apart from the famed, "Floydfest", they have the friday night jam at the Floyd Country Store. I believe they air that on the radio.

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## wellvis@well.com

There certainly seems to be a bit of bluegrass going on in the San Francisco bay area.  The Northern California Bluegrass Society and the California Bluegrass Association both hold regular festivals.  The Redwood Bluegrass Associates hosts many concerts on the SF Peninsula.

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## Spruce

> ...not sure if I would count large cities but I will leave 'em out for this purpose...


Darrington, WA...
Population 1354

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## Dan Johnson

a prominent bluegrass scene - kind of a contradiction in terms? :Smile:

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## mandopete

Well, Darrington aside, I'll put in a plug for the greater *Puget Sound* area.  We have quite a number of jam sessions going on in places like Snohomish (Maltby), Seattle, North Bend and Kent.  There's a little music festival that goes on every February called Wintergrass.  And then there's all sorts of great bluegrass festivals all summer log throughout the state.  We even have a weekly bluegrass music program on public radio called *Bluegrass Ramble* (91.3FM or www.kbcs.fm) on Sunday at noon.

One can find all sorts of information at the Washington Bluegrass Association website.

Links, links and more links!

P.S. - I as I reread the OP I see he was looking for "small" cities.  Sorry 'bout dat!  I guess one could call towns like Snohomish, North Bend and Kent a small town.

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## barney 59

Maybe it's not a town at all that is the center of bluegrass activity. Maybe it's a back porch somewhere in South West Virginia not far from Bristol (and a stones throw from Kentucky,Tennessee,North Carolina and West Virginia) that is the geographic center of Bluegrass activity. I kind of hope so. That's kind of where it has always been. If it's not there then and unless someone pops up with some evidence to the contrary the winner so far seems to be San Francisco,with Seattle as another left coast runner up.

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## Spruce

> If it's not there then and unless someone pops up with some evidence to the contrary the winner so far seems to be San Francisco,with Seattle as another left coast runner up.


Prague.

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## barney 59

> Prague.


Humm...let's hope the polka influence doesn't catch on!

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## John Ritchhart

Asheville, N.C.

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## Brett Byers

Boulder, CO for sure.  Not sure if you consider that too close to Nederland though.  A strong bluegrass scene in Boulder, with a bunch of hot pickers who like to take bluegrass to outerspace.

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## Mandobike

State College, PA, is not a bluegrass town (although, sadly, it has gained notoriety recently for other reasons).  I have lived here for 36 years, and the number of pickers has always been small, and the demand for bluegrass entertainment equally small.  You have to leave town to play and to listen.  I'm retired now, and my husband can retire in three years.  At that point, we'll likely move south--probably to western NC or eastern TN, where we think we'll find a HECK of a lot more bluegrass.

Celia

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## greg_tsam

Winner?  When did this become a contest?

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## JeffD

I am beginning to think it easier to mke a list of places where it would be hard to find a bluegrass picker.

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## Elliot Luber

I wouldn't call New York City a Bluegrass Town yet, but it is growing. There are a few clubs around that feature BlueGrass, and some active pickers. I think a lot of former Grateful Dead fans ("Dead Heads") have discovered bluegrass through Jerry Garcia and Mr. Grisman, and iphone apps and XM Radio are making the music more accessible here in... "Oooooold Brooklyn!"

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## mandopete

> ...looking for anything other than giant cities like Seattle, Portland, Chicago, New York, etc etc.


Funny, I never think of Seattle or Portland as a "giant" city on par with New York.

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## mandopete

> I am beginning to think it easier to mke a list of places where it would be hard to find a bluegrass picker.


Tierra Del Fuego?

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## Scotti Adams

Although not so much anymore...Dayton,Ohio was a hot bed for grass. We had the Osbornes, Red Allen, Frank Wakefield, the Allen Bros, Hot Mud Family, Dry Branch Fire Squad and alot more . Just to the south there was alot of action in Cincy/Ky area with Earl Taylor, Katie Laur etc. There are still venues in both towns that have grass. The  Canal Street Tavern  in Dayton and in Cincy?Ky there is the Richwood Opry which is ran by Gary Strong. Both of these places have top named acts on a regular bases.

http://richwoodopry.com/ http://www.canalstreettavern.com/

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## jim simpson

Scotti,
Speaking of Dayton's former glory made me think of Wheeling's Jamboree. This photo includes a lot of bluegrass greats like Jimmy Martin, Norman Blake, The Osborne Bros., J.D. Crowe, etc.
Fortunately there are still venues for bluegrass around the valley, wish there were more.

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## surfnut

I live in the Santa Cruz area of California, there is a large music scene here
with bluegrass being a large part of it.

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## John McGann

Boston/Cambridge has had a very healthy scene for a long time, and gets better all the time...home base for a lot of bands, and many young mandolinists from Sierra Hull, Sarah Jarosz, Eric Robertson, Dominick Leslie, Jacob Jolliff have spent time here at Berklee...the Cantab Lounge in Central Square, Cambridge, has had live bluegrass every Tuesday night for close to 20 years now, with open mic time as well as featured bands and jam sessions in the basement...Boston Bluegrass Union puts on shows; the Joe Val Festival; not far from Grey Fox Festival...

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## chubakkah

I would agree with Brett...the Boulder, Colorado area as a whole is a great scene... Boulder, Lyons, and to some extent, Nederland.  Great music all around the Boulder area.

Asheville, NC as well.

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## good_ol_al_61

We have to throw in a plug for Jacksonville, FL. If you are anywhere around Jax there is a jam going on at least 1 or 2 places each week. If you spread out for about 25 miles around, then 2 or 3 more each month. Many retired NAS folks here that love to jam. I just returned from the Puget Sound area of Washington where I completed an 8 month job there. Yes, we played Darrington, Maltby, Anacortes and others with Kevin Miller and many other great bluegrass friends. Southern Hospitality at it's best out west! Now I am doing a job in Southern New Jersey (Westville) accross the river from Philly. I haven't ventured out yet to find pickers, but I will start that here shortly.

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## Pchorney

I am trying to find some new spots in the Baltimore scene any recommendations?

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## hellindc

Several excellent bands around St. Louis.  Good bluegrass jams every Sunday, 3 to 6, at Schlaffly's Bottleworks in Maplewood.  If you're passing through, find Keith Dudding's Calendar on KDHX.org, or check out his show on Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 1. Great hall here too:  Sheldon, much like the Ryman.

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## Kbone

M.B.O.T.M.A - Minnesota bluegrass old time music association for us northerners, some good festivals winter and summer, a good bluegrass store, jams all over the cities. :Mandosmiley:

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## critter

Greensboro NC has got to be the center of the bluegrass world,well to me anyway cause there is a jam every nite of the week within short driving range.The biggest around here is Clydes pottery barn in carthage which can be seen on utube with soletimes 500 peoople but it averages prolly 2 to 3 hundred every tue nite. :Mandosmiley:

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## Brian Ray

I'll second that... Madison is okay for 'Grass but Cream City, not so much... sadly, there's some great players there but the scene just isn't happening. 




> Well, I can tell you that Milwaukee is not one of them!

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## barney 59

So everywhere but Milwaukee and St.College Pa? Someone said that NYC isn't but I think they are probably wrong. Ultimately everyone plays in NY somewhere. If you think about how many people that base out of NY or nearby and can or do play bluegrass(Statman, Mitteroff, Punch Bros. etc) + if you look at the NYC Bluegrass website there is some bluegrass event somewhere more nights in the month of December, for example, than not. Then of course you got yer Mandolin Bros.

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## Mark Hudson

www.hvbluegrass.com
Hudson Valley Bluegrass Association here in, yes, Poughkeepsie NY. Twice a month bluegrass jams, a fair number of active local bands (some of whom have gotten together from the jams), and sponsored concerts.

In two weeks we host Blue Highway :-)

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## tr6drvr

> Boston/Cambridge has had a very healthy scene for a long time, and gets better all the time...home base for a lot of bands, and many young mandolinists from Sierra Hull, Sarah Jarosz, Eric Robertson, Dominick Leslie, Jacob Jolliff have spent time here at Berklee...the Cantab Lounge in Central Square, Cambridge, has had live bluegrass every Tuesday night for close to 20 years now, with open mic time as well as featured bands and jam sessions in the basement...Boston Bluegrass Union puts on shows; the Joe Val Festival; not far from Grey Fox Festival...


Boston Big on Bluegrass alright. I can consistently jam 3 or more nights/days a week year round in Boston area if I want. ( uh, I mean if my wife let me....). IIIrd Tyme Out concert next month here.

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## kateinport

Hi,
Portland is full of great bluegrass musicians..,,new generation coming up....

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## Phil Goodson

Anybody mention Floyd, VA?

How about Mocksville, NC?

Galax?

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## Big Joe

Minneapolis, Minnesota and surrounding area
Nashville, Tennessee and surrounding area

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## Willie Poole

There was a time when every night of the week there was bluegrass jams or shows some where in the DC/Baltimore areas but for some reason it has really lessened in the past couple of years....I know we have lost some of the great bands that came from this area due to desths but people just come out to play or listen like they used to to...The economy may be causing it, I dunno...

   In Laurel Md. there was a stretch of highway once that had three or four clubs in a quarter of a mile distance that featured country and bluegrass music every weekend and now they are just beer joints with TV and a DJ ....My band tried to get bluegrass started in one club and we played there one night a week for three months and not one night did we ever have more than 20 people listening at any given time...Might not be saying much for my band but we are popular at all of the other places we play....There are a few "open mic" nights and that cuts down on bands getting gigs as those are freebies for the club owners...

   We never get it on the radio any more either except a short program on Sat mornings that comes from Hanover Pa and I can pick it up where I live...BUT there is satallite radio.....

    Sad but true.....Willie

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## kyblue

Louisville, KY.  Lots of great pickers!

Paula  :Mandosmiley:

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