"Hillbilly" refers to supporters of William (billy) the Orange (Irish) who settled in the Applachian mountains, or hills.
So, yea, there is a very direct link between bluegrass and irish folk music.
For that matter, some argue that the blues is a melding of african traditional music, hymns, and Irish chanties that slaves heard along the coast of South USA. The Irish sailors would hang out, do sailor-type things, unload...uh... docks... I don't know what sailors do, really. But they'd sing traditional songs with working rhythms to pace themselves, and this was absorbed by the slaves, internalized, and then turned into the Blues.
Because, you know, no other culture has songs about getting drunk, fighting, and being disapointed in love.
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So, yea, there is a very direct link between bluegrass and irish folk music.
For that matter, some argue that the blues is a melding of african traditional music, hymns, and Irish chanties that slaves heard along the coast of South USA. The Irish sailors would hang out, do sailor-type things, unload...uh... docks... I don't know what sailors do, really. But they'd sing traditional songs with working rhythms to pace themselves, and this was absorbed by the slaves, internalized, and then turned into the Blues.
Because, you know, no other culture has songs about getting drunk, fighting, and being disapointed in love.