Color me Bluegrass
So, Amazon recently launched their Amazon Music Prime promotion thing. If you happen to already be a Prime member, there's a whole bunch of songs you can add free to your purchased/stored music. (I've been using Amazon MP3/Cloud music for a few years now, instead of iTunes, because I already have an investment there, and it seemed ridiculous to have tons of disparate segregated pockets of tech solutions. I'm sure at some point that's going to bite me in the ass, but seemed like a good thought at the time.) So, you know, I have to try it out, and it works essentially the same as buying so no big deal. Might as well browse to see if there are any albums or artists I'd been meaning to purchase but hadn't had the spare cash for. (Most of my music is my own CDs I owned and burned up so I can access on the cloud.)
Well, I ran across this selection: Bluegrass Tribute to Classic Rock
Yeah, that's right, classic rock songs turned into Bluegrass tunes. Color me intrigued. First song: Come Sail Away by Styx. Sold. (Which, in this case just means I clicked on add to library, so not really costing me anything.) Styx. Journey. Kansas. Steppenwolf. Queen & Bowie. It's totally a blast. I am not, by any stretch a Bluegrass expert, though I do like Banjo, and keep meaning to get around to learning to play, but that's a whole nother thing. So I can't tell you if this is quality bluegrass for the true fans, or just a gimmicky way to enjoy some familiar songs. But, in my opinion, they are doing a good job here, so I snagged a few others from the series. Might turn it into my new writing jam.
In particular, I'm a big fan of people who take an existing song and make it into their own style, and for me, I think that's why this works. (Though I will admit to a little cognitave dissonance for the chorus of Joan Jett's I Love Rock and Roll with a bluegrass sound.) Check it out if you're a fan of Bluegrass, or just like listening to different takes on songs you're totally familiar with.