The Venue

Nearly half a century ago the late Bob (1929-2019) and Jean (1929-2015) Cornett started Festival of the Bluegrass in Lexington, Kentucky.  It has become one of Kentucky’s most heralded bluegrass gatherings and it is championed around the world.  Over the years it has become as much of a bluegrass tradition as the genre itself.  Some…

Joanne Gardner, John Lowell, and the Virtual 2020 IBMA Bluegrass Awards Show The performance centerpiece of the annual IBMA conference is the IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards show, where – selected by the membership – the IBMA showcases and celebrates the best performers of the year. In a year of social distancing and facemasks, Paul Schiminger…

If you look at any photo of Bill Monroe holding his mandolin taken between 1950 and 1980, you will notice that the company name, which usually graces the instrument’s headstock, is noticeably missing.  Most die-hard bluegrass fans will know that very early in the 1950s, Bill Monroe shipped his mandolin to the Gibson company for…

Taking Us Back to 1971 For those in the bluegrass community who have been unable to attend live festivals since February  because of COVID-19, a trip back to Carlton Haney’s Blue Grass Park in Camp Springs, North Carolina on Labor Day weekend, 1971, might be just the ticket.  The remastered, boxed set version of the…

Photos By Jamie Alexander So says the song that Bill Monroe wrote about his fiddle playing Uncle Pendleton Vandiver, brother to his mother, Malissa.  Speaking of his Uncle Pen in a 1966 radio interview, Monroe said, “He played for a lot of square dances in Kentucky….There wasn’t many musicians around and back in the early…

Celebrating 25 Years of Success Photos By A. Pierce Bounds As early as 1802, Pennsylvania was referred to as the Keystone State. This designation was placed on Pennsylvania due to its location and providing stability in holding the original 13 states together, architecturally speaking, similar to that of the function of a keystone in an…