Chattanooga Pulse

As I was sitting on the porch last week, I found myself dipping into music I hadn’t heard in forever. I’m talking old-school rap and R&B, and while “old school” may be termed differently by different ages, as a mid-twenty-something I am describing groups such as En Vogue, BoyzIIMen, Bone Thugs and Harmony, Keith Sweat, Tupac, even Montell Jordan.

I could go on forever, but will stop there and say that these links in my musical past have given me a lot of soul. This soul has given me an excuse to karaoke on my porch to these great jams and for that, neighbors, I am sorry. Soul is all around us and is usually connected to genres such as blues, jazz, R&B, and gospel. But how many times does the average person connect it to bluegrass?

I know what I think of when I picture bluegrass: old white men nestled in the Smoky Mountains playing banjos, wearing overalls and drinking moonshine. Luckily, this stereotype has been altered a few degrees with events such as the 3 Sisters Music Festival and local bands such as Slim Pickens and more »