Not Seldom Heard or Scene (1977–1991)

This chapter focuses on the era when bluegrass was most popular in and around Washington, DC. Several dozen venues, ranging from Tiffany Tavern in Old Town Alexandria to Lucketts Bluegrass in Loudon County, offered live bluegrass performances at least once a week and dozens of bands formed to meet this interest. In the early 1980s WAMU-FM offered up to forty hours of bluegrass weekly and much of the station’s income derived from contributions by bluegrass fans. For many months in 1980 the Birchmere booked nothing but bluegrass. Bluegrass reached its height of popularity around the DMV starting in the late 1970s through the early 1980s but by the early 1990s, signs were developing that this halcyon era was coming to an end.