Look for videos with Steve Martin and Alison Brown on YouTube…

I've played clawhammer banjo on bluegrass songs and tunes much like the renowned Mark "Clawgrass" Johnson. Back when I played bluegrass banjo I used to clawhammer some fiddle tunes and get a big hand from audiences. If you play in time and tune, keeping the rhythm and pulse of the music, important to both, genre's you will be ok. In the real old time world, both styles are played together. Look up recordings of Larry Richardson and Happy Smith. Great stuff, two banjos one in each style.

I second Bob: Mark Johnson combines the right hand of clawhammer with the left hand of bluegrass like no other.
And few are better at slow-tempo clawhammer tunes.

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Originally posted by rkdjones

But when I am comping while others take their breaks, I basically don't know my role. 

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I would think background basic rhythm (bum-diddy, e.g., maybe slides and hammer-ons in addition) would work in most bluegrass settings. You just have to be careful to play at an appropriate volume depending on the instrument taking a break. Confident fiddler? You could play pretty loud. Guitar or mandolin, might want to scale back a lot.

For the audience (rather than other proficient banjo players), I think that bluegrass banjo needs the support of some rhythm instrument or instruments. So, I think that your comping is playing an essential role.

I used to jam with a lady that played clawhammer in our bluegrass jam. She also played tenor guitar. Both instruments fit just fine in our group. Our group played bluegrass, gospel, old time country, some blues and jazz and whatever else came up. All the instruments fit in to all the genres played.

Music is music and most instruments can "adjust" or fit in to whatever style is being played. Just my thoughts.

Our Country/Bluegrass jam left tradition behind a long time ago. I'm working on my clawhammer right now so I can keep up with all the different flavors that we are doing. Just rolling every song isn't going to do it aanymore.

Thanks for all the tips and encouragement. My first love is old time, but I find the bluegrass session to have so many positive aspects that I think it would be hard to find an old time jam that pleased me as much. And there are challenges with going around the circle and changing keys all the time. When I lead I try to keep within the bluegrass genre, but it is only loosely observed.

This is two things I remember from Kathy Fink at a class on "How to fit your clawhammer into a bluegrass jam." Don't double thumb, use bum-ditty rhythm. Don't stuff your banjo if it's quiet, but let it be crisp in tone.

Let me add to that from my years of playing dobro or clawhammer at a bluegrass jam. There are a lot of songs and tunes that are in the overlap of bluegrass and oldtime: Blackberry Blossoms, Cripple Creek, Old Joe Clark, Home Sweet Home, Lonesome Road Blues ,etc. Use those.

Learn to play some melodies of bluegrass songs. This is actually easier than playing oldtime fiddle tunes, for there are pauses in the melody. Think of: I Wonder How the Old Folks Are at Home, What Have They Done to The Old Home Place, Love Please Come Home. etc. Its easy even on new grass songs like White Freightliner to claw the melody.

Learn or develop a few filler licks to fill in those pauses in the melody. Here are two videos I posted ages ago on clawing some filler licks. I'm not a dynamic explainer, but you. might get the point.