The public face of Bluegrass in North Carolina has long been male and white, but the genre is now undergoing a transformation. The star-power of Rhiannon Giddens has drawn new attention to the music and the history behind it. And legacy organizations like theInternational Bluegrass Music Awards have started to pay more attention to women’s contributions.
As the music evolves and grows, Garret Woodward is there to document it all. He is the arts and entertainment editor for Smoky Mountain News and the music editor for Smoky Mountain Living magazine.
His book is called “If You Can’t Play Get Off the Stage: Bluegrass in Western North Carolina and Beyond” (Smoky Mountain News/2017). Host Frank Stasio speaks with Woodward about his own discovery of bluegrass and about the many bluegrass characters he has interviewed over the years.