Why do we call it ‘bluegrass’?

The word “bluegrass,” whether referring to music genre or Kentucky meadows, is so engrained in our vocabulary that we rarely think about its origin.

While there’s no blue grass in the Commonwealth, the common genus Poa sports bluish-purple blooms in the springtime – visible in longer, unmown grass. Early settlers noticed this, began asking for seeds of “blue grass from Kentucky,” and the name stuck.

Almost 200 years later Bill Monroe invented the high-energy sound combo of mandolin, fiddle, guitar, banjo and upright bass, named his band “Blue Grass Boys” after his home state, and the rest is Appalachian music history.

– Kristie Coggins, The 100 Companies