The Villèle concerts

My grass is blue

Sunday 27 November 2022, 15:30 - Chapelle Pointue - free entrance

Since 2006, the Cercle des Muséophiles de Villèle has been organising "Les musicales" at the Chapelle Pointue, with four to six concerts a year featuring all types of music: classical, jazz, gospel, maloya, sega, and music from all continents.

What is “Bluegrass” music?

Bluegrass Music originated in the Appalachian Mountains in the United States.  Its name comes from the first band creating this style of music, called the Bluegrass-boys (1938), a name which itself comes from the nickname given to the state of Kentucky (the bluegrass state), where the grass growing on the prairies has bluish tints.

It draws its sources from different styles of American music: old-time, ragtime, western-swing, honky-tonk, gospel, country, blues and jazz, all having American, Afro-American and Anglo-Irish roots. 

Bluegrass is usually played by people from white rural backgrounds, small landowners and farmers. It is a popular form of music playing traditional tunes, but which has continued to evolve and be renewed to this day, notably through its more contemporary forms (newgrass). 

A bluegrass group is an acoustic band consisting almost exclusively of string instruments, but which can have vocals or be solely instrumental. The music is characterised by a fast and lively tempo, as well as slower ballads.  The lyrics often concern topics linked to work, religion or dramatic events that have marked the lives of the inhabitants.

Just like gospel music, the rhythms of bluegrass are marked by counterpoint. The various instruments can improvise each in turn during a particular piece of music.  The lyrics, organised in verses with a refrain, make use of different vocal harmonies.

My Grass Is Blue was born in Reunion in 2016. The band consists of: Xavier (vocals, guitar, Irish bouzouki); Richard (vocals, American mandolin, dobro guitar, guitar, banjo); Thibault (vocals, five string banjo, guitar, dobro guitar, mandolin, double bass); Angélique (vocals, double bass, harmonica); Stéphane (fiddle or violin); Yannick (double bass, harmonica).