I apologize for the lack of mandolin content, but figured this group might be able to help.
I feel in love with all things bluegrass in the '90s and spent most of the next 15 years in a bluegrass bubble, playing mandolin in a traditional band, hitting multiple festivals each year, and consuming every recording I could get my hands on. Though my tastes moved away from bluegrass and into jazz and, well all other music, really, I still feel rooted in bluegrass, Americana, and the mando, guitar, fiddle, banjo, bass, sometimes resonator world.
As my life and tastes moved away from 'that world of bluegrass', I found myself pining for good old fiddle and banjo. Looking back, it seems this was a fairly rare occurrence. Maybe one cut on every tenth album and maybe one brief stint on stage at a festival. For example, I have probably seen the Del McCoury band 25 times but only recall seeing Jason Carter and Rob M doing a duet once. But something about a fiddle and a banjo - with no other instrumentation or vocals - playing a traditional, and often basic, tune really creates something magical. The interplay of finger picking vs bowing, the staccato vs droning. . . The cognitive dissonance that somehow seems so. . . perfect.
And now that I am searching the streaming services and the YouTube, I struggle to find a few definitive recordings that feature the fiddle banjo duets. And I ask, what have ye for me to consume? I realize a lot of it is probably old time and not bluegrass, and maybe this is a sign from the universe that I need to spend more time there?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience,
Chris
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