By Andrew Somerville
How much of modern bluegrass music would be familiar to early Prescott pioneers? Bluegrass is a modern style of stringed instrument music, but its main roots come from older Celtic music played by the settlers in Appalachia plus African-American traditions of gospel music, blues and the banjo. The genre also contains other smaller, but important, influences. 

Amber Johnson, who authored her master’s thesis titled “A Most Enjoyable Evening”: Music in Early Prescott and Flagstaff, Arizona Territory, ca. 1865-ca. 1890 for Arizona State University, points out that stringed instruments were available for purchase in Prescott by 1869, therefore the necessary stringed element of bluegrass was present in early Prescott. However, Johnson's thesis indicates Prescott’s town brass band and Fort Whipple's brass band were very influential in Prescott’s early 1860s’ music culture because of their involvement in balls, dances and other social events.