Did you watch the video of the Wildwood Flower??
Mother Maybelle and the Carter family preceded Bill Monroe. They were from South West Virginia
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Have seen it dozens of times before. Can play the song on the guitar, mandolin and working on the banjo (frailing for me). Not quite ready to rosin up the bow yet (or so my dogs tell me).
My point being simply that to suggest one location as the origin of bluegrass is not going to yield accurate results. Many strands from many locations led up to the development of bluegrass.
I love the story John Hartford told about how Bill Monroe developed his singing style - going into the woods and listening to the ww1 vets hooting and hollerin’ while presumably drinking.
Blue grass developed from Elizabethan music. Even the instruments such as banjo were present during that era.
Lots of Irish tunes and English ditties in those Applachian hills.
now we’re reaching consensus.
I envy your talent. In my younger days I didn’t ever play but my buddies did and I could drink lots of beer and sing.
As a point of interest, in near by Johnson City, at East Tennessee State University, they offer a bachelor’s degree in Blue Grass music. They come to Kingsport on the last week in August to our Down Town concert on Broad Street. They really put on a show