Email Taylor at:
trbennet@email.unc.edu

My Research of Bluegrass Music in NC...

Bluegrass music, to me, is a varied form of of country music. It seems to include a few more stringed instruments, such as the fiddle, banjo, violin and guitar. Bluegrass music tends to attract an older audience, but it is becoming more popular among college and high school students as well. North Carolina hosts one of the most entertaining bluegrass festivals each year at the Wilkes Community College campus. It is called MerleFest and it includes appearances from some of the most well-known bluegrass musicians and bands. Doc and Merle Watson are two of the leaders behind this event. The Fest begins on Thursday evening and lasts through Sunday. Thus, it gives a chance for several different performers to take the stage.

Bluegrass music does not typically use much electric or synthesized sounds, but rather, the music tends to be more acoutsic and pure sounding. This is something I like about such music. The musicians create enjoyable music directly from the instruments with little added effects. The twangy, country feel of bluegrass really offers a unique style of sound and creates a form of music that I will always enjoy.

The links and Web sites below will help to answer some important questions about bluegrass music in North Carolina. Some questions include: How did bluegrass music get its start in North Carolina? Who were the first musicians to bring this style of music to our area? Who are the most popular bluegrass artists of today and what does their music sound like? Finally, what other bluegrass events and festivals take place in North Carolina?

This research section is targeted at an audience that consists of bluegrass music lovers, as well as those who may wish to learn more about it. I feel that those individuals who enjoy bluegrass music would be interested in this topic because it will give them a chance to explore a subject they already enjoy. The audiences will have the ability to learn more about the musicians as well as the types of bluegrass events that may be occurring in North Carolina. This research will be helpful to those fans of bluegrass who are particularly educated and understand the historical basis of music, and who wish to better understand this field of music.

Web Sources For Research:
Title of Web page: "The North Carolina Bluegrass Network"
Web address: http://www.ncbluegrass.net
Brief description: This site offers a network for members to communicate with each other and discloses information on various bluegrass events. Because it is a member-driven Web page, the bluegrass information comes directly from the individuals who place them on the page. An extensive calendar of upcoming beluegrass concerts, festivals, picking sessions and lessons is displayed for each month.
Source of Web site: North Carolina Bluegrass Network

Title of Web page: "SEBA: SouthEastern Bluegrass Association"
Web address: http://www.sebabluegrass.org/
Brief description: The stie offers a link to a North Carolina page, which has numerous other links to bands, contacts, upcoming events and newletters. One can get information concerning what is happening in North Carolina's bluegrass music world. This site allows fans to read reviews of various artists and their albums, as well as newsletters that are sent out to everyone.
Source of Web site: SouthEastern Bluegrass Association

Title of Web page: "Roughstock's History of Country Music"
Web address: http: //www.roughstock.com/history/begin.html
Brief description: This stie approaches the broader field of country music, but includes a link to bluegrass music history. The site appears to be rather large and extensive, as it offers much information on the formation of country music and the roots of bluegrass. The site includes links to several different types of country music.
Source of Web site: The Roughstock Network

Title of Web page: "Bluegrass Connection"
Web address: http://www.gotech.com/homepg.htm
Brief description: This site is dedicated to supplying its audience with best information concerning bluegrass reviews, performers, vendors and festivals. Though the site includes bluegrass music information for the south eastern region of the U.S., there is sufficient data about North Carolina. Here, one can access links to the events that are coming to their area.
Source of Web site: The Bluegrass Connection

Title of Web page: "Blue Ridge Online"
Web address: http://www.blueridgeonline.com/musiclnk.htm
Brief description: This page of the Web site offers links to bluegrass music festivals and moutain music calendars. Featured Moutain Music is the classification given to bluegrass music on this page. It offers bluegrass band names and events that occur in the Blue Ridge Mountain region, in which the page appears to concentrate only on the North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains.
Source of Web site: Blue Ridge Association

UNC-CH Library Sources:
Cantwell, Robert. Bluegrass Breakdown: The Making of the Old Southern Sound. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1984.
Library call number: ML3520. C36

Rosenberg, Neil V. Bluegrass: A History. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1985.
Library call number: ML3520. R67

No author given. The Bluegrass Directory. Murphys, CA; BD Products. vol. III. 22
Library call number: ML18. B58

Brislin, Richard. Old-Timey, Bluegrass, Early Country and Western Music: A Selected Bibliography of Recent and Current Song Books. Washington, D.C: Library of Congress. Archive of Folk Song, 1979
Library call number: LC1.12/2:0 1

Rasof, Henry. The Folk, Country and Bluegrass Musician's Catalogue. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1982
Library call number: ML102. F66R4

Napster Community Gets Red Light

Nearly a year ago an online music resource, Napster, (www.napster.com) which allowed people to exchange high-quality music recordings, known as MP3s, was ordered to shut its site down, due to the growing disapproval from various companies.

The Recording Artists Industry Association of America, which represents a host of record companies, filed a federal lawsuit against Napster in 1999, arguing that the program robbed these companies of billions of dollars in record sales (3). Last July, U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel granted an injunction that blocked Napster from allowing its users to swap MP3s (3).

Judge Patel made the decision to require Napster to be 100 percent effective in its song-screening technology. Napster, and its legal team leader, David Boies, responded that it could provide 99 percent effectiveness, but that would not be enough to keep the program running. this decision was followed by the removal of all copyrighted music (1).

Napster cheif executive Hank Barry was not happy with the decision and said, "The court's ruling today that Napster must block all file transfers threatens all peer-to-peer file sharing over the Internet and is at direct odds with the Ninth Circuit's ruling" (1)

However, Hilary Rosen, president and chief executive of the Recording Artists Industry Association of America, which represented the music industry in the hearings, said, "This is a clear victory." She further noted that the court's decision ruled in the Association's favor on every legal issue presented (2).

Originally, the injunction issued by Judge Patel was declared too broad and was sent back to her for rephrasing. Nonetheless, the attacks on Napster were serious wake-up calls to the company, in that it revealed Napster's ability to be held liable if it continued to assist in the downloading of music it knows to be copyrighted (2). Despite its continued efforts, Napster was unable to maintain its status as a free site to trade music files.

Warner, Sony, EMI, BMG and Universal, which control about 90 percent of popular music worldwide, were the five largest record labels that helped to bring the action against Napster. These companies claimed that the unauthorized use of music was effectively theft and was causing the companies to lose billions of dollars in profits (2).

This controversy greatly demonstrates the problems that can be linked to the internet and porves how involved the economy truly is. The Web offers numerous ways for people to make and lose money, thus enabling our economy to thrive. However, when a company, such as Napster, begins to directly hurt the efforts of others, legal actions will undoubtedly arise. The termination of the free Napster Web site caused millions of people to lose their ability to exchange music files, but also ended the unnecessary loss of profits for various record companies.

Notes:

(1) No author available. "Court Bans Napster Return." The Advertiser, 13 July 2001, section: "Foreign," p.26.
Also available [Online]: Academic Universe: Lexis-Nexis [Accessed: 27 May 2002].

(2) Campbell, Duncan. "Napster Loses Court Fight to Supply Free Music on the Net." The Guardian, 13 February 2001.
Also available [Online]: Academic Universe: Lexis-Nexis [Accessed: 27 May 2002].

(3) Associated Press. "Court Says Injunction 'Overboard.'" 12 February 2001 [Online]
CNN.com/Law Center. http://www.cnn.com/2001/LAW/02/12/napster.decision/
[Accessed 28 May 2002].