A Writer’s Quarter-Century of Hearing & Chronicling Bill Monroe

Twenty-five years passed between the first time I saw Bill Monroe play and the day I covered his funeral. In the interim, I had many chances to hear him perform, to meet and interview him, and to study his music. After I became a journalist, I also wrote many articles about Monroe, as well as sections of a handful of books.  Along the way I encountered William Smith Monroe (1911-1996) as a musician, a man, and the founder of bluegrass. Monroe was a tall, attention-commanding figure whose singing, mandolin playing, and songwriting changed the way people heard and played music.  Writers including Neil V. Rosenberg, Jim Rooney, and Tom Ewing had more direct contact with Monroe, but I did spend a good bit of time around him and got to know him. For a 1989 profile published in the highly regarded Journal of Country Music, I wrote: “He’s a laconic, eyes-averted interview subject who can startle you with a direct, blue-eyed gaze and almost mystical theories of life and musi