Banks of the Ohio: A Visual Survey of Bluegrass Music Culture in the Ohio Valley

My performance will present a short film, documentary photographs, and an interactive website of content from bluegrass musicians in the Ohio River Valley. The Ohio River Valley has a deep-seated tradition of bluegrass music, a form of community expression that has long been a symbol of Appalachia and its people. Arising from a mix of Irish folk, English and Scottish ballads, western swing, southern gospel, blues, and old-time mountain music, bluegrass still thrives today in the hills around the Ohio River. This work, entitled “Banks of the Ohio: A Visual Survey of Bluegrass Music Culture in the Ohio River Valley,” focuses on photographically documenting Appalachian bluegrass musicians at home and in performance spaces, using both posed and candid portraiture. The project also integrates other forms of media—audio recordings, video, collected photographs and ephemera—to create a multimedia narrative experience. The resulting photographs and interactive website act as a living archive of the current state of bluegrass music culture. This will show, despite popular perception, that bluegrass is still thriving in both the older and younger generations through festivals, personal musical dedication, family heritage, and newly-formed bands that fuse traditional music with other genres. The work can be seen at www.banksoftheohio.com