J.D. Crowe and the New South

"J.D. Crowe and the New South" is the best bluegrass album according to u/qmb139boss on r/Bluegrass.

I honestly don't know enough about bluegrass to even have an opinion, but bold online opinions like this make me listen to an album and I enjoyed it.

J D Crowe died in 2021, so we're not talking an album hot off the press, but there's something timeless about internet opinions. 

He was born in Lexington Kentucky in 1937, when the Hindenburg crashed, on fire. Oh the humanity. Amelia Earhart had disappeared. 

Steve Martin was the first banjo player that entered my consciousness, and he was a comedian, wasn't focused exclusively on bluegrass music. 

The New South was founded in 1971. 

I went to a bluegrass festival sometime in my childhood with my father, stepmother and sisters. I don't think I've ever seen any other live bluegrass, but I think it's really cool.

I think music is always seeking authenticity and bluegrass seems to have the most easy access because you can't say you're trying to be really cool by choosing this genera, it's like putting on a bow tie for style. Of course the new hot thing isn't always the best thing. 

Closely allied to it is folk music, and country music. There's a well defined aesthetic even if most musicians don't like to be boxed in by genera.