Quote of the month

For [Joe] Mullins, bluegrass isn't defined by geography or genealogy. After all, the genre wouldn't ne what it is today without icons like Rhonda Vincent (Missouri), Alison Krauss (Illinois) or Tony Rice (California). Nor is it about exclusion or gate-keeping. For him - just as it was for his father and mother before him - bluegrass is about making a home for people who feel isolated. He's quick to point out that the genre is young, not even 80 years old yet. While many outside of the genre think of it as being as old as the Appalachian mountains themselves, that's not really true. In its earliest form, bluegrass was music made by the people who had left home, and now had to find a new way to build a life in a world that was different than the one they were born into.

Kara Kundert, in 'Joe Mullins: Let time ride', Bluegrass Unlimited, vol. 57, no. 12 (June 2023), pp 35-6