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History of Music Festival in Fiddler’s Grove and The Bluegrass Music

History of Music Festival in Fiddler’s Grove and The Bluegrass Music – Fiddler’s Grove is one of the historical villages in Tennessee. What is interesting about the village is not just about its story and replicas and heritance from the past. There are more things to enjoy in Fiddler’s Grove, and one of them is about its music. Fiddler’s Grove is nice village and its name itself shows a nice musical instrument. It is the fiddle. Fiddle is like violin nowadays although it is more classical than what people play in current time. At that time, fiddle becomes something special for the village. There was Edward Jacobs who usually play fiddle from his cabin. At that time, people loved to listen how he played the music instruments and it became something interesting in the whole village. Edward Jacobs as the fiddler gave something special to the villagers and that is why his name inspired the naming of Fiddler’s Grove.

He is the one behind the name of the village, but he is not the one who makes the name of the village. Even, his name itself is not mentioned in the village. Yet, it is what he did that gave deep impression and later made people make what he did into a name of where he lived. Fiddler’s Grove was inspired by him and this is something interesting. Fiddle and banjo are two important music instruments for the old-time music in early area of folk music in area of North America. The music was combined with folk dance and these were great entertainment before there were radios and TVs at that time. People loved to listen fiddlers play the music and people danced by following the melody of the musical plays. Of course, most people may have forgotten about fiddle but they can remember by coming to the Fiddler’s Grove during the special music festival.

Old-time music festival becomes something iconic that is held regularly in Fiddler’s Grove. It started in 1924 and it made the music festival as one of the oldest in America. At that time, the festival was known as Union Grove Fiddlers Convention. It is more like convention and meetings of fiddlers so it is not like music festivals nowadays where there are big stages with various effects and decoration. However, the convention was only until 1969. It does not mean that it stops. In fact, it was continued with different concept. The continuation of the festival was managed by the founder’s son. He was also fiddler so he knew what he should do to make the festival continue for years. Then, the festival was made bigger in the area of Fiddler’s Grove campground and it was named as Ole Time Fiddler’s and Bluegrass Festival. Every time the festival happens, there will be excitement of those who want to see the old-time music. The vibes brought by the historical village of Fiddler’s Grove also play important part in bringing great atmosphere and vibes during the festivals.

The music festival is conducted every year and it has become nice continuation for those who love old time music and performances of fiddlers. There are always two musical genres to perform, and it is the old time fiddle and the bluegrass music. In 2020, the event could not happen because of the coronavirus pandemic but the event could resume in 2021. People come to the music festival to enjoy the musical performance. It is not like music festival with great sound effects with those beats. It is more like bringing back the memories of the past with the fiddles and bluegrass music at that time. It is also supported by the vibe brought by the Fiddler’s Grove. People can come to watch the musical performance, but they can also perform and even join the competitions with nice prizes.

As for the bluegrass music, some people may not know about it. It is music that appeared in 1940s and it has combination of some genres such as jazz, blues, and even tunes that make people want to dance when they hear the music. it is unique because the music may sound like it does not follow the beat so people who listen to the music is attracted to wait and anticipate what they are going to hear in next part of the notes. String instruments become the soul of bluegrass music and it is not just like country music. It is more like classical music with different tones. As for why it is called as bluegrass, it was actually related to one of the bands that brought the music to gain popularity. In the past, there was Monroe Brothers consisting of Charlie and Bill. Then, Bill made his own band called Bill Monroe and Blue Grass Boys. The bluegrass was picked as name because Bill was from Kentucky and it was called as bluegrass that time. After that, the music genre followed the trend and it is called as bluegrass until now.