I like the high & lonesome sound there, Dak, but I'd call that clawhammer banjo Old Time rather than Bluegrass.
Bill Monroe would have been 100 years old this Tuesday, September 13.
Uncle Penn:
UNCLE PENN Recorded by : Doug Kershaw; Bill Monroe; Buck Owens; Elvis Presley; Ricky Scaggs; The Flying Burrito Brothers; Hank Williams
Oh, the people would come from far away They'd dance all night till the break of day When the caller hollered ""Do-se-do"" He knew Uncle Penn was ready to go.
CHORUS: Late in the evenin' about sundown High on the hill and above the town Uncle Penn played the fiddle, oh how it would ring You can hear it talk, you can hear it sing.
He played an old piece he called ""Soldier's Joy"" And the one called ""The Boston Boy"" The greatest of all was ""Jenny Lynn"" To me that's where the fiddle begins.
REPEAT CHORUS
I'll never forget that mournful day When Uncle Penn was called away They hung up his fiddle, hung up his bow They knew it was time for him to go.
Yeah, boy. I've got an electronic keyboard and a little grand pye-a-no that I've just put new bass strings on.
You can do all kind of nonsense with digitized sound, but there's nothing like live strings resonating through spruce & mahogany. It just fills the atmosphere in a different way.