One River, Two Branches

In “Can’t You Hear Me Callin’”, his award-winning biography of Bill Monroe (a must-read for anyone who seeks to understand bluegrass music), Richard D. Smith talks about how bluegrass music separated into two strains – one influenced by the pioneers of the genre, the other by the collegiate sensibilities of the late 50s-early 60s folk boom.

Mandolinist Chris Hillman, who would later become a founding member of The Byrds, was clearly in the latter camp with his bluegrass band, The Hillmen. There are precious few blue notes in this blues, but the driving rhythms of traditional bluegrass are here in abundance. Oh, and a tag respectfully lifted from first-generation bluegrassers, Flatt and Scruggs.

This is The Hillmen with a song they learned from Pete Seeger, who learned it from Leadbelly – “Winsborough Cotton Mill Blues”.