Sonic Youth was one of the most unlikely success stories of underground American rock in the '80s. Where contemporaries R.E.M. and Husker Du were fairly conventional in terms of song structure and melody, Sonic Youth began their career by abandoning any pretense of traditional rock & roll conventions

Atmospheric, Composed, Contemplative, Cool, Deconstructive, Dissonant, Distorted, Dreamy, Eclectic, Elegant, Expansive, Experimental, Fuzzy, Hallucinatory, Intense, Layered, Lyrical, Pioneering, Political, Pop, Psychedelic, Punk, Quirky, Rhythmic, Rough, Sensual, Slangy, Smart, Sophisticated, Sprawling, Subtle, Tense, Trippy, Urban

Self-taught and having no knowledge of conventional guitar tunings (e.g. standard 'EADGBE' tuning or any established open tunings), Cotten developed her own original style. Her unique approach to left-handed guitar playing involved keeping the guitar in standard tuning but to hold it upside down. Thi

Pioneering, Rhythmic

Bill Monroe was born in 1911 in Rosine, Kentucky, the youngest of eight children who worked their family's 655-acre farm and helped with mining and timber operations. His family was also musical: his mother sang and played harmonica, button accordian, and fiddle; his brother Charlie played the guitar

Improvised, Pastoral, Pioneering, Playful, Slangy

Percussion drums, those essential and heavenly instruments of Latin rhythm, cover the stage: they emit an unexpected presence, like silent band members waiting to come alive. The buzzing current in the air tastes sweet like brown sugar, but also hints at crackling spice. The crowd awaits a genius, a

Bright, Charming, Ebullient, Pioneering, Rhythmic