The Venue

How One Girl Ended up Down at the Bluegrass Crossroads (and got her soul back….) On the morning of Saturday, May 25 I had a rude awakening. My weather obsessed daughter made a 6 a.m. appearance at my bedroom door. I knew as soon as I saw her face that we would be having tornados for breakfast…

Earlier this summer, the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky launched a new exhibition honoring the current International Bluegrass Music Association award winners.  The organizations already collaborate with the museum’s exhibition of the Hall of Fame inductees, chosen by IBMA.  In 2022, former IBMA chairman Mike Simpson pitched the idea to…

Earlier this summer, the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum collaborated with Billy Strings to create a pop-up store in its gift shop.  The museum collaborated with the artist’s team to create a unique display that features Billy Strings merchandise which includes apparel, vinyl records, and CDs.  The museum store is located near the…

At the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum New Years Eve 2021, I was walking down the hallway at the Jekyll Island Bluegrass Festival when I heard someone say, “Hey REAL Southern Gospel Music man!”  I turned around and saw an elderly couple seated on a bench in the hallway waving for my wife…

Traveling to a “bluegrass roots and branches” music festival in Kentucky is like ordering lobster at a restaurant in Maine or gumbo in Louisiana. Expectations are high. If they don’t know bluegrass music in Owensboro, Kentucky—less than 40 miles from Bill Monroe’s birthplace—then who does? And how could an event named “ROMP” (an acronym for…

Photo by Ed Henry When Bill Monroe reportedly said, “Bluegrass has brought more people together and made more friends than any music in the world,” he could have been describing the history of the Seven Mountains Bluegrass Association (SMBA), which is celebrating its fortieth anniversary this year in York County, Pennsylvania. As Monroe’s quote continues,…