Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Like mainstream country music, it largely developed out of old-time music, though in contrast to country, it is traditionally played exclusively on acoustic instruments and also kept its roots in traditional English, Scottish and Irish ballads and dance tunes, as well as incorporating blues and jazz. It was further developed by musicians who played with Monroe, including 5-string banjo player Earl Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt. It's a part of Methodist, Holiness and Baptist traditions. It's blues and jazz, and it has a high lonesome sound."
Kent was a Swedish alternative rock band formed in Eskilstuna in 1990. With members Joakim Berg, Martin Sköld, Sami Sirviö and Markus Mustonen, the band had numerous radio hits throughout Sweden and Scandinavia and consecutive number-one studio albums on the Sweden top list (Sverigetopplistan) beginning with the release of Verkligen (1996) and led by the single "Kräm ". With origins rooted in distorted rock, they found mainstream success through their alternative rock albums of the mid-1990s, 2000s and 2010s, the latter decades during which they adopted elements of synthpop.
Béla Anton Leoš Fleck is an American banjo player. An acclaimed virtuoso, he is an innovative and technically proficient pioneer and ambassador of the banjo, playing music from bluegrass, jazz, classical, rock and various world music genres. He is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. Fleck has won 17 Grammy Awards and been nominated 39 times.
Marie Eleonor Serneholt is a Swedish singer and model. She was a member of the Swedish pop band A*Teens from 1998 to 2004, and briefly pursued a solo recording career after the band dissolved.
Hayseed Dixie is an American band formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2000. Their first album was A Hillbilly Tribute to AC/DC. The band performs bluegrass cover versions of hard rock songs and also original songs of a mostly satirical or absurdist nature in a self-created musical genre which the band calls "rockgrass." The band's name is a linguistic play on the name of the band AC/DC.
Attaque 77, sometimes stylized as A77aque, is an Argentine punk rock group. The band was formed in 1987 as a group of friends who got together to play their favorite songs, most of them by The Ramones, their favorite band and the one that influenced them the most. They started writing songs in the same punk rock style, with lyrics with proletarian content, and wore denim jackets, which became one of their hallmarks in their beginnings. Currently, only three members continue performing and recording.
Baccara was a Spanish female vocal duo formed in 1977 by Spanish artists Mayte Mateos and María Mendiola. The duo rapidly achieved international success with their debut single "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie", which reached number one across much of Europe and became the best-selling single of all time by a female group, eventually selling more than 16 million copies worldwide. A successful follow-up single and European tour led to a number of album releases, numerous television appearances and the duo's selection to represent Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest 1978.
The Poodles were a glam metal/heavy metal band from Sweden formed by the singer Jakob Samuel, bass guitarist Pontus Egberg, guitarist Pontus Norgren and drummer Christian Lundqvist.
Arvingarna is a Swedish dansband formed in Gothenburg in 1989. The group consists of Casper Janebrink, Lars Larsson, Kim Carlsson and Tommy Carlsson. At Melodifestivalen 1993, they performed the song '"Eloise", which won, allowing Arvingarna to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest in Millstreet Co.Cork in May that year, where the song finished 7th.
Idol is a Swedish reality-competition talent show broadcast on TV4. It first appeared in August 2004, and became one of the most popular shows on Swedish television. Part of the Idols franchise, it originated from the reality program Pop Idol created by British entertainment executive Simon Fuller, which was first aired in 2001 in the United Kingdom.
Doyle Wayne Lawson is an American traditional bluegrass and Southern gospel musician. He is best known as a mandolin player, vocalist, producer, and leader of the 6-man group Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. Lawson was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2012.
Mats Erik Segerstedt is a Swedish singer.
E.M.D. was a Swedish boyband consisting of Erik Segerstedt, Mattias Andréasson and Danny Saucedo. All three members had participated on the Swedish version of Idol, with Erik as a finalist and Danny at 6th place on Idol 2006. Mattias was eliminated as the fourth runner-up on Idol 2007.
Monica Kristina Ingeborg Törnell is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She was discovered by Cornelis Vreeswijk in 1971, triggering a career spanning several decades in various genres, mainly folk and rock music. With Lasse Holm, she represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1986 in Bergen, Norway.
Eva Gladys del Pilar Werner is an Ecuadorian-born Swedish singer and dancer. She is best known for being a member of the pop group Afro-dite, with which she represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002.
David Seisay is a Swedish-American songwriter, musician and entrepreneur who became known as a rapper in Rob'n'Raz but is also known for his career as a personal trainer. He is the founder and CEO of D-Flex House of Fitness, a company that provides health and wellness services.
Robin James Olof Stjernberg is a Swedish pop singer, songwriter and producer. He represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 on home soil on 18 May 2013 with the song "You". Stjernberg started his career in the boyband What's Up!, and became a contestant in Idol 2011, placing as first runner up in the final. He participated in Eurovision Song Contest 2017 as the songwriter for the song "I Can't Go On" performed by Robin Bengtsson, which ended up in fifth place.
Foghorn Stringband is an old-time string band from Portland, Oregon, United States. They are considered one of the finest old-time string bands on the West Coast. They are noted for "intense dedication to the sources" of the old time tradition. Their music is billed as "a blend of high-spirited Appalachian dance music tying in sounds of traditional mountain fiddle tunes." Their interpretation of old time is played with the energy and edginess of punk rock, while at the same time showing a tremendous degree of technical finesse.
Neograss is a progressive rock band from Norway, formed in 2010 with members Emil Bekkevold, Tore Morten Andreassen, Benjamin Mørk (mellotron/piano/keyboards) Åsmund Wilter Eriksson and Aleksander Kostopoulos (drums). The latter two are also known from the Sami group Adjágas. Neograss released their debut album "The Sea of Tranquility" in August 2010, where they try to blend two very seemingly so different genres: bluegrass and prog rock.
Gerald Richard "Gerry" Hale is an English-born, Australian-based multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. He has worked as a session musician for the Soft Boys (1978–80) and was a band member of Bouncing Czecks before relocating to Australia in 1987. He has provided violin and mandolin for Colin Hay Band and Broderick Smith Band. Hale formed a bluegrass group, Uncle Bill, in 1996 which has had a variable line up. The group worked with Paul Kelly and together they released an album, Smoke, which peaked at No. 36 on the ARIA Albums Chart. On that album, Hale provided guitar, mandolin, fiddle, dobro, lap steel, vocals and he co-produced it with Kelly.
