The melodies, harmonies and instrumentation of bluegrass music are influenced by traditional European folk music as well as the African-American jazz and blues styles. These influences were carried into the hills of the rural south by the farmers and workers who settled the land, and intermingled to form the country and "mountain" music sound from which bluegrass springs. Bluegrass lyrics reflect the rural life experiences of these musicians.
Although the influences that formed bluegrass music have a long history in European and African traditional music, the term "bluegrass" was first coined in the 1940s. The moniker originated when musician Bill Monroe named his band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys after their native Kentucky, known as the Bluegrass State. As their sound gained popularity, the name stuck and their style became widely known as bluegrass.
Bluegrass is performed on acoustic instruments. Several instruments are of European origin, including guitar, mandolin, fiddle (violin) and bass fiddle (contrabass). Additionally, both banjo and resonator guitar--instruments developed in America--lend a distinctive, semi-percussive sound to the bluegrass ensemble.
The most influential early bluegrass players contributed the earmark virtuosity to the style. Singer and mandolin player Bill Monroe (founder of the Blue Grass Boys band) was joined by banjo master Earl Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt who together set the bar for bluegrass players of their instruments. Burkett H. "Uncle Josh" Graves introduced the sound of the resonator guitar to Bluegrass music, one of the few instruments added to the ensemble after Bluegrass's inception. In 2007, Led Zeppelin front-man Robert Plant joined bluegrass/country singer Alison Krauss on the album "Raising Sand." Produced by country music legend T-Bone Burnett, the album won a Grammy award for "Album of the Year" in 2009.
Although Bluegrass music has always had a dedicated "grassroots" following, the style occasionally makes a splash in pop culture, particularly through bluegrass songs featured in successful movies. In 1967, the film "Bonnie and Clyde" featured Earl Scruggs's "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," first bringing the bluegrass sound to a wider audience. In the 1972 film "Deliverance," the song "Dueling Banjos" was featured prominently. More recently, the Bluegrass song "Man of Constant Sorrow" from the 2000 film "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou" became a hit, pushing the soundtrack to multi-platinum status, and winning a Grammy award for "Best Country Collaboration."