Hello;

it's a bit off-topic here, but I don't want to post it in a bar; let's say, there's something we can try to immitate with our arrangers (or not...)

anyway, Johan was actually my professor in college (an "institute" in Russia), he taught us English, he's American and now lives in Portland, but he also lived in Russia for a long time;

I currently discuss with him how national genres of music can influence music of other cultures; while he enjoys how Russians try to play blues, I express my idea that it's not enough to play a certain style and sing in certain language, it's also about the culture you live in and the language you speak on a regular basis, otherwise it's more of imitation than an actual thing.

Anyway, Johan sent me some videos of American Bluegrass, Blues and Gospel musicians; I thought I'd share it here.

This is an intersection of Cajun and zydeco genres in Louisiana: disk.yandex.ru/i/e7pIk6_upVzzsQ

And this is a hybrid of blues and gospel. I notice how rich the music sounds with only two guitars:



And this is a combination of bluegrass and gospel; Bill Jolliff, a literature professor at George Fox University, plays banjo here, and his young son Jake plays mandolin, Johan says that he's now a nationally famous mandolin player:



I wonder what would you think considering that it's much more common for you (for those of you who're in America).

Yes, I think there's much more to playing certain styles of music, especially the ones that you posted above. Yes, it helps knowing the chord structures, progressions, scales and the standard licks, but I'm sure those players live and breath those styles. It goes beyond the music itself and it is a way of life, a state of mind....