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Ive been playing guitar since I was 9, I turn 40 in a month.  Have played a variety of styles from country to rock to metal.  

I played in bands and all that starting out in the garages of friends in HS.  As I got older I slowed down and actually sold off all my gear minus a cheap beater Yamaha acoustic.  It sounds like shit and plays just as bad.  So I started to chat with an old band buddy a little while ago and got the yearning for a new guitar.  SO I ended up with two actually.  A couple of Martins.  I posted here about them already so I wont rehash it again.  Anyway, I had always regretted not working harder to develope my playing further than being a rhythm player.  So I set out to expand my bag-of-tricks.  

Now I bought this D35 Martin that sounds like no other dread I have ever played.  So I begin to really look for stuff that is gonna challenge me and make me better.  I polish up on scales, etc.  And I start listening to some country and come across a few youtube videos of Bluegrass demos.

Bluegrass is something I have heard very little.  Never gave it much thought, assumed it was just some underground country stuff.  Then I realized O Brother Where Art Thou? featured lots of BG.  So I explored that and of course Dan Tyminski and AK led me to another arena altogether.  Next Im listening to Earl Scruggs, Tony Rice, etc.  BTW, Does AK have one of the most angelic voices in music you ever heard!

When I was a kid I worshipped all the rock guitar gods, EVH, Hendrix, etc.  But these BG players can really play a guitar!  So now Im completely engrossed in learning this stuff.  Dont get me wrong, I like to jam along with the classic rock stuff and all but a good BG breakdown is a guitar players holy grail.  It has to be one of the most technically demanding styles out there.  And there is such wide interpretation of the same progressions that it can go on forever.  I think I have found at least 30 varieties of Foggy Mountain Breakdown alone.


So here I am driving my GF nuts playing these runs over and over to learn the riffs and all of that.  I really thought that my age would prevent me from learning new stuff.  I assumed that my brain and muscles wouldnt be able to form new stuff because of my age, I was wrong.  Im picking this up pretty quick.  And I couldnt be happier about playing seriously again.  

And where I was salivating over a new Les Paul this summer, Im considering another Martin dread, an HD28..  But the LP or a PRS is still on the list..  Nothing satisfies the ear like a rectifier cranked to the limit and a big heavy humbucker.

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Sweet...good to hear you're getting back in it.  .I love all kinds of rock, too, but I really wish I was quick enough to play good bluegrass.  I could listen to just Alison Krauss, Dan Tyminski, and Union Station most every day for the rest of my life and stay musically satisfied..and I so agree Alison has the voice of an angel...she's an amazing a fiddle player as well.

If you're a yerning for an LP (or the everyone has one PRS), please consider the Heritage LP types, too.  The Heritage LPs are hand made slowly by seasoned American craftsman, and they use the plek machine in fret finishing so they are so spot on..also, more than a few learned folks in the business believe the Heritages are tomorrow's collectibles today, because sadly it looks like the older gents that run it and build them may be the last of that line.

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If you haven't already, check out Bryan Sutton. He is one of the better modern bluegrass players.

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Will do.  Guitars are a more expensive hobby than shooting these days.  Lol.  I found a couple nice D28's and Im so tempted..

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check out bill monroe,I love playing bluegrass, on ocassion I do toos in some yngwie licks in the jam,they get a kick out of it