The Venue

Headwaters of a Legend Born December 30, 1937, in New York City, John Cowan Hartford grew up in St. Louis, Missouri where he cultivated a passion for the Mississippi River and music.  Upon seeing Flatt & Scruggs perform live at the Chain of Rocks Amusement Park in St. Louis in 1953, John was immediately drawn…

As John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers were to British rock guitar, Muddy Waters was to electric blues, and Miles Davis was to modern Jazz, West Virginia’s Lonesome Pine Fiddlers (LPF) were to bluegrass music. The group was a training ground, a triple A ball team if you will, for a genre that has grown exponentially since its beginnings…

Bluegrass music was thriving throughout every corner of downtown Owensboro, Kentucky with the inaugural Great American Bluegrass Jam.  Held on March 17th-19th, the bluegrass weekend concept evolved from the city’s effort to reinforce Owensboro as a destination for all bluegrass fans.  On Friday, things kicked off early at the Holiday Inn Riverfront as pickers were…

Photo by Jamie Plain Determination and a Dream Icons are created by following their own paths.  Jimmy Martin’s legacy in bluegrass music is the result of determination, blind dedication to the music, and the courage to do things his way.  Inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 1995, Martin’s influence within the genre…

For fifty years Elderly Instruments of Lansing, Michigan has been a central home for the warm sound of vintage instruments and an incredible selection of new instruments by luthiers from the US and abroad. A large brick building in Lansing houses thousands of musical dreams, a knowledgeable and friendly staff, but one more magic quotient….

Nearly seventy-eight years after Earl Scruggs first joined Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt, Chubby Wise, and Howard Watts on stage at the Grand Ole Opry—and defined bluegrass music as we know it today—the music is still thriving.  To a large extent, the continued success of the bluegrass genre is due to the hundreds of bluegrass festivals…