Listen: Bluegrass, Americana scene and community thrive in Los Angeles
Third-year UCLA student Connor Vance plays the fiddle in The Dustbowl Revival.
The rising trend of Bluegrass, Americana and folk music is a nationwide phenomenon. As Billboard magazine reported in its Oct. 12 issue, Justin Bieber’s “Believe” was outsold by the neo-Americana band Mumford and Sons’ new record “Babel” with more than 600,000 sales in its first week.
UCLA has surprising roots in Los Angeles’ burgeoning folk music scene. A UCLA alumnus founded the legendary instrument shop, McCabe’s Guitar Shop, where folk musicians – established and up-and-coming alike – have performed for decades. Third-year music student Connor Vance moonlights as a fiddle player for the popular local band, The Dustbowl Revival, which infuses Bluegrass and Americana into New Orleans jazz.
