Bob Perilla is the leader and founder of Big Hillbilly Bluegrass, a band that performs regularly at venues in the D.C. area and other parts of the country. The group has also been tapped by the State Department to travel all over the world in the role of cultural ambassadors. Their month-long tours include stops in many countries of central Asia. The group will perform a free concert at the Kennedy Center in D.C. on Dec. 19.
What is bluegrass music?
It’s a form of country based on the music of Bill Monroe. It started in 1946 and it comprises a fusion of blues, Scots-Irish string band music along with elements of swing. When Monroe combined those elements in a musical form, it became very popular. Monroe spawned so many emulators it started a whole new genre of music, which has grown tremendously in popularity from 1946 until today. Most people consider bluegrass music to be older than that because it is a combination of older musical styles.
Who listens to bluegrass?
If you attend a bluegrass festival, you are going to find seasoned fans of the genre. But when we play in Washington, D.C., we play for a very broad socioeconomic cross section of people, many of whom have broad musical tastes beyond bluegrass.
Why was your group picked by the State Department?
We are playing as goodwill ambassadors to foreign cultures. Bluegrass is exclusively an American art form. Twenty years ago, the State Department would have been much more likely to send jazz bands abroad, but that form of music has become much more international. So bluegrass is the more exclusive representation of American culture.
Name some of the countries you’ve toured.
We’ve played in the Republic of Georgia three times, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, the Dominican Republic and interestingly, we’ve played in some break-away countries including Abkhazia and Transneistria.
How’s the reception?
The reception is universally enthusiastic.
