Grassicana alive and well in Colorado

On 17 Nov. 2017 the BIB noted that Bluegrass Today and AirPlay Direct were setting up a chart for 'Grassicana', denoting a growing genre of music - a hybrid of progressive bluegrass and Americana. A few weeks later the trademark Grassicana™ was announced when Bluegrass Today launched its new chart.

The word and the concept had already appeared in print: four years earlier, on 23 Oct. 2013, photographer Dave Brainard of North Carolina launched his Grassicana as 'Raleigh's premier bluegrass / Americana photoblog'. It continued to April 2015 and included older bluegrass and country music as well as what is now covered by Grassicana™.

Last year the BIB also mentioned a bluegrass-cum-Americana/ indie-folk band from Colorado, Avenhart (above), who come well within the Grassicana™ tent. Thanks to 'Avenhart superfan' Armando Pares for the news that the band recently won a 2018 Westword Music Award in the bluegrass category. Armando explains: 'The Westword is a weekly newspaper in Denver, Colorado, that covers the local music scene and sponsors one of the bigger local music festivals.' On 23 June Avenhart played a showcase in the Golden Triangle district of Denver; an interview with them appeared on Westword on 16 June.