My latest post for Virginia’s Travel Blog went up late last week! I hope you’ll click here and take a look — I offer a few suggestions for digging into the history of bluegrass in Virginia.

I was especially excited to write this one, in part because of how essential and elemental this state’s connection to bluegrass is. Forgive the expression, but it practically sprouts up out of the ground around here. Virginia has contributed so much to the genre throughout the last 70 years, and it really struck me while I was working on this post how those contributions comprise a kind of inheritance. Something we can all enjoy and engage with. Ralph Stanley, the gorgeous Lincoln Theatre in Marion, a museum exhibit on banjos, Bill Monroe’s mandolin… there’s so much to do, see, and hear, and I went ahead and included some recommended listening for the ride to each landmark.

One of those recommendations is Clippin’ the Grass, an album released in 1983 on a Virginia label called Outlet Records. (If you follow me on social media, you know I love posting pictures of records, and you’ll see a picture in the post of my copy of Clippin’ the Grass. Couldn’t resist.) Here’s the whole thing via YouTube:

The Bluegrass Clippers — Clippin’ the Grass [YouTube]